While I was in Lincoln Cathedral on Saturday photographing and listening to the orchestra, I tried out a number of different shots and styles, some of which worked better then others.
This shot was taken with a Leica M8 and 50mm Summilux at f/6.7 and 1/8 second.
The slower shutter speed does mean its not tack sharp, but I do find it a pleasing image if one that has not quite worked as I wanted.
My first shot of these scene was sharp but thats in the reject pile; the reason is I shot it wide open and you cannot make out the background. This one while not so sharp, you can at least make out the background.
This picture I feel teaches me three things, its not necessary to have a sharp picture to have a pleasing picture, a lesson I have mentioned before here in this blog. Two, while shooting wide open with a fast lens is an overused style over the last few years, its does not always work and that depth of field is not only a relationship of aperture but also of where you are focusing; the close you focus the less depth of field you have. Lastly noise, I shot the Cathedral photographs with my old Leica M8 which with its CCD sensor has significant noise above 640 ISO and that is generally the limit I shoot with it, but in situations where you have good light ISI 640 while producing noise, the noise is not objectionable.