Just Bargin'...

This is my favourite spot on the Kennet & Avon Canal...not that I know much of it, mind you.

But I do love the way it curves round, giving a clear view of anything coming and in summer, it has really great reflections of the trees and branches.

Being quite dark and in the shadows, finding a good balance between picture noise (iso level) shutter speed and aperture wasn't as easy as one would hope and whilst this slow moving old marvel was far off for quite a time, by the time it got closer than this, it was looming large and beyond the shortest end of my Tamron SP 70-300mm.

I had the VC (Vibration Compensation) kicking in each time, (hand-held) for which you need about 1 second for this to stabilise properly. Enough depth of field to cover the barge and its owner, so maximum aperture was out and I didn't want movement blur. It is a testament to this lens that I didn't need to add any post-sharpening, except for some on the man's face, as he was slightly beyond the zone of best sharpness. He only looked forward in two out of all my shots and this was essential to my picture. You can also see a trace of engine smoke along the top of the barge and to the figure.

I also got rid of a jogger - literally threw her in the canal (cloned out, actually) and whilst this figure gave some balance, she was going the other way and as I did one before, one after and compared, a friend agreed on this one.

Some selective colour enhancements - I didn't want to do old tyme sepia or b&w, for a start, there were some lovely colours going on. Also, selective shadow detail extraction and a warm-up on the right hand 'sunny' side.

Looks good as 'large', too!