Thank you for your comments, Stan. It is a interesting place, with wonderful grounds too. The ticket is valid until the end of September, so I will be going again.

Cheers.
Philip

Thank you for your comments, Nigel.

My K-5 II is usually set to Natural, with contrast +1 and fine sharpness +2. White balance is usually on Auto but, as in most of these, I find that Cloudy sometimes gives better colour with indoors ambient (mainly window) light. D-Range Highlight and Shadow are always on. Chimping and using the Histogram usually results a JPEG image that is nearly OK, and can be tweaked in software to give the screen image or print (usually A4) that I like.

Conventional describes me pretty well! - A euphemism for boring? I am trying to spot a few unusual opportunities - how about this one, taken in the Armoury:

9. Trousers



Cheers.
Philip

This is Hatfield House in Hertfordshire:

1.



The photos here were taken last Wednesday, all hand-held, using a Pentax K-5 II and the 18-135mm WR zoom. The following indoor shots used only the ambient lighting, all except the last being captured at ISO 3200. Adjustments and corrections were applied to out-of-camera JPEGs using PaintShop Pro X6...

2. The Marble Hall



3. The Chinese Bedroom



4. The Long Gallery



5. The Winter Dining Room



6. The Library



7. The Armoury



...and this at ISO 200 -
8. The Chapel Window



Any comments always welcome.

Cheers.
Philip

I like this colourful set, Nigel - the colours look good and the flowers are wonderful, especially #3. I prefer #1 to #7 - I like the way the wall on the left and the pillar on the right help to frame the composition (and #7 is not quite vertical).

Cheers.
Philip

Nigel,

Apart from the points mentioned by others, the feature that bothers me is the appearance of skies in each of 2, 3 and 7. I don't know what it is but they just don't look right to me when compared with the other photos, as they appear to characterise different weather conditions to those in 1, 4, 5 and 6.

Cheers.
Philip

That does look like a really fascinating town that I must make the effort to visit. John, I presume you have chosen to angle your first photo, but should the second one be rotated clockwise slightly?

Cheers.
Philip.

A nice colourful set, Nigel. I agree with most of the other comments here and would like to ask whether these shots were all taken in the same session? The reason I ask is that they seem to make two groups - in 1, 4, 5 and 6, compared with 2, 3 and 7, the white balance seems different, and the sky/cloud has a completely different character.

Cheers.
Philip

Correction -

In this view of the cathedral, the difference in top/bottom viewing distances will still have a noticeable effect on perception from the position of the photographer. Therefore, even though the perspective needs correction in the image as shot, there should still be a slight convergence of the verticals for this photo to look right.


Philip

If a realistic view is desired, then verticals need correcting with careful judgement. Making all vertical lines vertical does not necessarily work, and it does not work here, as it is dependent on the viewpoint from which the image was captured. The corrected version has the effect of making the top look too wide.

Our perception is honed by experience to expect objects further away to appear smaller than those nearer - this is perspective. So, if we are at ground level looking up at a tall building, perception expects the top to look smaller. This effect decreases as we move away from the structure, because our distance from the top becomes more similar to our distance from the bottom.




In this view of the cathedral, the difference in top/bottom viewing distances will still have a noticeable effect on perception from the position of the photographer. Therefore, even though the perspective needs correction in the image as shot, there should still be a slight conversion of the verticals for this photo to look right.

Cheers.
Philip

I totally agree Steve - that Photozone review has probably deterred quite a few people from buying what is actually a very competent lens. We need to be wary of Photozone reviews, and instead rely much more on users' comments and the evidence of their photos. This lens not only has the qualities you list and evident in your images but, being WR, it is also a pleasure to be able to use it in all weathers.

Cheers.
Philip