Yachts, Lydney Harbour

Lydney Harbour is the name given to the lock and canal that connected the town and railway at Lydney with the River Severn. It is an early C19 undertaking that was built to ship coal and iron out of the Forest of Dean. Access to the Severn was possible only within half an hour of high tide. The historic harbour area is currently undergoing restoration as a tourist attraction. My photograph shows the old canal nearest the lock that is now a marina for yachts and launches. They are still able to use the lock to get out to the River Severn and the sea beyond the estuary.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

16:9 aspect ratio

During my first decades of photography I invariably found myself working with 135mm film i.e. film negatives or transparencies measuring 36mm x 24mm, with an aspect ratio of 3:2 and now badly named "full frame". When digital came along, after using a few cameras with small 3:2 sensors, I adopted the Four Thirds system with the sensor aspect ratio of 4:3. I was never entirely comfortable with 3:2, particularly in portrait format, and found 4:3 smuch better in this respect. But, over the years I've used cameras that offer both 3:2 and 4:3. In more recent times, following the widespread adoption of High Definition screens on TVs and monitors, and the fact that many images are now viewed only on such screens, I've become comfortable with the 16:9 aspect ratio. These three ratios (with an occasional 1:1) meet all my needs.

Compositions where the interest is concentrated in a wide, narrow area (such as horizons, streets etc) are particularly suited to 16:9, as are these shots of a canal basin in Worcester.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2