Photographing My Motorbike In Old English Village - Photo Biker 18

Playing around with focal length is a great way to stretch those muscles in your brilliant brain. And when it comes to photography - which requires creative thinking -your brain is the best tool you have to hand.

On my way up to the ABR (Adventure Bike Riders) Festival in Warwickshire, I made a few stops to photograph some beautiful scenery.

That’s one of my favourite things about riding my bike; I really feel part of my surroundings!

My first stop was in the picturesque village of Bibury on the outskirts of the Cotswolds. This place was full of old-age chocolate box cottages. And, as you can imagine, that made for some excellent photography.

First, I wanted to get a shot with my shiny Triumph motorcycle in the foreground. Contrasting the old and new is always good fun. But I needed to fiddle around with focal length to get the picture how I wanted.

Getting a great composition will usually take a bit of trial and error. Plus, there is always the light to consider, and on a cloudy day like I had, that meant getting stuck into adjusting the aperture and depth of field together.

In the video, you will see how I get on with that.

Did I leave it there? Of course not! I’m a photographer, which means I am always keen to build a bank of different pictures and see if there’s something unexpected waiting to be captured…

I had a great time photographing these cottages from a new perspective. I tried out different focal lengths and depth of field to see how I could make the subject (cottages) stand out with alternative framing.

After continuing my journey, I spied a beautiful poppy field which I had to check out.

This new scenery allowed me to try out focal length and depth of field in a new way. Whereas the village photography was more wide angle shots at a distance, I got up close and personal in the poppy field.

I tried out a few angles here, some with the horizon and some with the sky as the background. It’s incredible how much you can change how a subject appears by looking at it from a different perspective.

No matter what you photograph, there’s always a chance to change things up. Your job as a creative photographer is to think outside the box, don’t just go for the obvious. You also need to know your camera settings and how they work together to create the image you’re after.

If you are someone who lacks confidence in using your camera’s ISO and f-stop settings, or you don’t understand the relationship between all these things, I’d love to help you build up that confidence.

When I speak to budding photographers or enthusiasts, the thing that keeps them on auto is the lack of understanding of manual mode. But, you’d be surprised how easy it is to get those skills under your belt. And, once you have them, incredible photographs await you!

Learn more about my Masterclass in Photography. 

Until next time...