By the Old Canal

This shot really composed itself - as soon as I saw the scene, I knew how it had to be framed and shot.

The lens is the 50+ year old Helios again, of course my favourite, and it's previously proven its might as a distortion-free architectural lens when stopped down to around f/8 - however, this scene is to present it with a bit more of a challenge. This is shot wide open at f/1.5 - which, even at this distance, makes the depth of field shallow enough to separate the house and boat from the trees behind and the path in front. Focused in live view, as a standard modern focusing screen would not show the subtle distinctions in focus at this aperture.

Of course it also introduces a fair bit of chromatic and spherical aberration around the edges, but this only helps to emphasise the vintage feel of the scene that fits the content well.

Editing was intentionally restrained and under-saturated, avoiding the heavy dodging and burning that it would be tempting to use to bring out more colour from the foliage and contrast in general.

Editing: curves, cloning out a few distracting blemishes on the house and a logo on the boat, mild dodging and burning, resize and sharpen.

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