For most of my photography 'career' I've been a fairly traditional shooter. By that I mean I don't tend to make much use of the technology that is built into todays cameras. There aren't all that many settings that I change or play around with on a regular basis. Growing up a film shooter, I tend to just focus on aperture, shutter speed and composition. I don't even really move my ISO around that much (mostly using the lowest native ISO setting the camera has).
 |
| Rapahoe Pier Structure. Lumix S5 with S20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/100th, ISO 100 |
Now having just said all that, I'm also not a luddite! I use image stabilisation as a matter of course, and will change the ISO if and when I need to. When I owned Fuji I spent endless hours playing around with film simulations. And of course, I shoot in RAW so I can get the best out of my images during post-processing. But usually, that's about it.
I've said on numerous occasions that I'm not a video guy, and would be more than happy if camera releases came in two flavors - with, or without video. My S5, although now 'old' by digital camera standards, has video features that I will never use. It is, in fact, by all accounts, still an amazing camera for video shooters - being predominantly designed with video shooters in mind (according to the hip on-line hybrid content creators). I don't care. Didn't buy it for it's video capabilities - obviously. Because it is also - for all it's video centric capabilities - a damn fine 'camera' for photography. Who'd have guessed?
 |
| Magick is Real. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/50th, ISO 100 |
In terms of photography-centric features, the S5 has a few that interest me slightly - and that I will 'play around with' from time to time. One of those is the high-res mode, which takes the 24MP sensor and turns it into a 60+MP monster! This does have some limitations - the camera must be on a tripod, and the scene you are photographing must largely be static (landscapes and not portraits).
Do I really need 60+MP images to deal with? I suspect the answer is no. In fact I know that the answer is no. But hey, fun to 'play' with - right?
And maybe going out with your camera to 'play' with settings you don't normally shoot with, can be a door back into shooting with your camera a bit more? A bit of a spark to kick-start the creative juices again?
That's how it was for me the other evening when I found myself at a local beach and I decide to play around with aspect ratios.
 |
| Rapahoe Xpan. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/60th, ISO 100. 65:24 aspect ratio |
I was watching a review of the S5 on youtube the other night (as you do), and the reviewer mentioned that the camera could shoot in the 65:24 'Xpan' ratio. I kind of knew this already, but hadn't given it much thought. But as I stood in front of a dilapidated pier structure at Rapahoe Beach, stretching out across the sand, I suddenly remembered about the panoramic aspect ratio of the Xpan. This, I thought to myself, would make a perfect subject for it. And I was right.
I really like the above image, and the subject works perfectly in this aspect ratio. Once I switched the camera's aspect ratio over to 65:24 and could 'see' in this format, it was a hell of a lot of fun trying to compose using the wide field of view.
Not that I don't think the subject doesn't work in the S5's native 3:2 aspect ratio - see the first image in this post. But it's undeniably 'fun' and then undeniably challenging, to compose for a totally different field of view.
 |
| Something fishy. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/5.6 @ 1/50th, ISO 100. 1:1. Mono conversion |
Once I had started exploring the possibilities of other aspect ratios, I started looking for compositions that would fit a particular framing. As an ex-medium format film shooter, I have a love-hate relationship with the 1:1 square format. When I was using medium format almost exclusively, I often struggled with composing in the square format. But every now and again I'll come across a subject and I'll 'see' it as a square image.
I saw the above image of the washed-up fish on the beach not only as a square 1:1 composition, but also as a monochrome photo. I have also added a little film grain when I processed the final image in Camera RAW, to give that familiar film-look. Might not be everyone's cup-of-tea, but I like it.
 |
| Standing Tall. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/8 @ 1/80th, ISO 100. 1:1 aspect ratio |
Of course the square format also works well for colour. The above image reminds me of the colour rendition of Kodak Ektar 100 medium format film. Has that 'look' with the overall green and blue hues. It's actually very faithful to the scene, and I love the colours coming from the S5's sensor. Even the RAW files look pretty good and don't need a lot of punch added in post.
 |
| All in a Row. Lumix S5 with 20-60mm. f/9 @ 1/40th, ISO 100 |
I had a lot of fun shooting in various different aspect ratios during the evening, and it did inspire me to keep shooting and find some interesting compositions. But, because I shoot in RAW mode, the aspect ratio I chose to use in-camera isn't set in stone like it would be if I was shooting jpeg. All of the images imported into Lightroom as a normal 3:2 ratio that makes use of the whole image sensor. The aspect ratio is a crop attached in the metedata. So it can be changed or removed at any stage.
So what's the point in shooting with different aspect ratios if you can just crop later on in post? Good question, and I've asked this myself. And I guess there's two parts to the answer. First, as mentioned above, if you are shooting in jpeg mode, then the aspect ratio (crop) is locked in to your final image. So any final jpeg images straight from camera will be as you saw it through the viewfinder.
Second, it's that 'play' aspect - and also the pre-visualisation - that happens when you are composing with the actual crop through the viewfinder. It's a bit like shooting monochrome on a digital camera. If you shoot RAW, then the monochrome setting is just attached metadata - the colour information is still retained in the original file. But the great thing is that you 'see' in monochrome through the viewfinder. I can't stress enough what a massive help this is when learning to shoot black and white images. Suddenly it's not 'theory' anymore, but actual visual feedback.
Have you shot in different aspect ratios in your camera? Do you even know where to go to change them? If you haven't, then go ahead and have a play. It's a lot of fun. It can also be a very helpful compositional aid. And if you shoot in RAW mode, then no harm - no foul. You can always undo what your clever camera has done.
