Spring is here
Spring is here – a brilliantly bright day to stroll around Brighton and take a few snaps. This early spring, bright but low-in-the-sky sunlight is perfect for contrasty, colourful shots with dramatic shadows. Scenes like this are perfect for the Ricoh GRiiix. Set the camera to highlight-weighted metering, auto-ISO, a fast shutter speed (in bright sunlight like this I can set at 1/1000th sec no problem) and then aperture around f/5.6 and off you go.
Even something relatively small like a Fuji X100 would draw a little attention as I walk through crowds but I can pretty much hold the Ricoh at hip level and shoot away without anyone really noticing. I do miss a few shots this way but maybe one in three are worth playing around with. It’s not difficult to find shots in Brighton with its sort of vintage/kitsch seaside architecture and amusements on a day with sunlight as bright as this. It amplifies the 3D micro-contrast pop of the GRiiix lens. Just look for colourful subjects that you know will contrast well in your shot.
I shoot in RAW and because of the available light ISO levels were low. I use the Positive Film profile in Lightroom, drop the clarity and de-haze a touch (the lens is so sharp I sometimes like to reduce that sharpness). The Positive Film profile is pretty much where I want the shot in terms of colour but for these seaside shots I increased the saturation of the reds a touch and reduced on the blues.. I also pulled the blue hue slightly to the left.