Getting Patriotic

This weekend will be a time of celebration and patriotism! As we approach her Majesty’s diamond jubilee, everywhere you look there are union flags and it is this season’s most on trend print. The diamond jubilee isn’t the only thing I’m exited for, as tomorrow Daily Wanders will have been active for 2 months!!!

I took this picture during a wander through a local market, and every single stand had union flag printed items on it. I particularly liked this, as the flags fitted into everything else in the market. I used flash in this picture, which I think may have been a mistake. However, later on I lowered the brightness and I think it was salvaged.

I hope you have some good plans for this weekend. I’m going out with Bradley Stoke Radio, and it should be a very good day!!!

Bex

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Snow Problem

When Bex and I were walking through town in the lush sunshine on Saturday, we decided to cool down by having a snow cone between us. It was our first snow cone and was actually very nice (even if it did seem identical to a slush puppy...)! I thought I’d take a photo of it, I know it’s pretty much a snapshot, but I thought it was worthy to be today’s upload.

I love how the ice crystals glisten in the light reflected from the pop-up flash, and I really like the contrast between the blue ice and the red ice. By using a moderately large aperture I managed to take the background out of focus which centres the attention on the snow cone itself.

The snow cone tasted very nice and I would recommend them to anyone who wants to give it a try. Bex and I will have to get out on another photography wander soon, and take some more nature shots, (and maybe some macro photos!), but I still want to continue with the street photography. What should we upload next, nature or street?

Mat

Road to Nowhere

Today’s photo is from our recent trip into town. It was in the morning and was very quiet; the sun was lovely and bright and there was plenty of light around. Bex and I were walking to the main shopping centre when I saw this little alley. I thought it was rather quaint and worth taking a photo of. I really like how the alley seems to stretch on forever in the photo. Also, the colours came out very well, really showing the detail in the blockwork and on the shop fronts. There is a lot of contrast in the photo, with the bright red on the left and the lush green on the right; and the inside of the alley with the wall on the outside.

I’m thinking of what camera I should buy myself, so I don’t need borrow Bex’s all the time. But I’m stuck between two at the moment: the Pentax K-r and the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G2. Any advice or recommendations would be very helpful.

Mat

Swaying in the Breeze

This is another photo from when Bex and I went into town at the weekend. It was towards the end of the day when we were on our way back, so all the stalls were closing down and packing up and the wind had picked up a little. On one of the stalls there were some scarves hanging up, the wind was causing them sway so I thought it would make an interesting photo.

I really like how it came out and how you can tell that they were caught in a breeze. I put the photo through Photoshop to increase the contrast and lower the highlights, this really brings out the bright colours and how they contrast with each other.

I said that I would do a more arty photo and here it is, so what do you think? I look forward to our next trip into town, and soon we will hopefully do some long timed exposures.

Mat

Oddities

I joined Mat yesterday for a wander around our town centre, and we ended up at a local indoor market (as previously mentioned in “Pocketful of Sunshine” 9^th April). I love our indoor market, I don’t normally buy anything but I love how there are so many different stall holders- it really gives all the stands their own personality.

I took this picture at one of the stands that sells items for small children. I loved how the odd socks were all hung up in a line over the stand. I decided I wanted a shallow depth of field so only the first few socks were in focus so I used a large aperture. I also increased the red tones and increased the contrast on the camera before shooting.

I love getting lost and going on adventures- it makes things more interesting and means I find strange places like this.

Bex

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Summer Street

Today me and Bex went to our local town again for some summer shopping. While walking to one of the shops I thought I could try some street photography, and that's when I saw this shot.

I used the maximum aperture possible to give a shallow depth of field and a really long focal length (around 300mm). I used the long focal length because it 'bunches' everything together and gives a shallow depth of field, it gives the impression that the street is really busy and overcrowded with people (which it was anyway!).

I think that the photo has worked very well, it came out exactly as I wanted it to when I looked through the viewfinder.

Hopefully I'll get out again to do some more street photography; and maybe combine some arty creativity into it as well?

Mat

Cooling off

It’s been unbearably hot all week and I’m beginning to feel summery! Clearly I’m not the only one, as I found out when I saw this dog in the local nature reserve today.

I haven’t had a lot of time to myself recently, so I especially enjoyed my walk today. I walked down to the local lake and sat by the water for about half an hour as I watched the world go by. At one point, a woman and her dog walked down the pathway. The dog was clearly feeling the heat so took a running jump into the lake, landing with a huge splash, then emerged and shook off.

I was quick enough that I managed to capture the dog shaking off the water droplets. Later, I uploaded the pictures to my laptop but I couldn’t see the water droplets clearly, so decided to try it in black and white.

I love how clearly the droplets can be seen. I think it works really well in black and white and I love how the sun reflects on the water. Let’s just hope the weather stays this nice all weekend!

Bex

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Works like a charm!

I’m back! I would just like to apologise for disappearing from existence for the last week, and to say thank you to Mat for keeping the blog going. I’ve had a lot going on in my life recently, and I also have some set up shots I’d like to show off!

I’m afraid that I am a firm believer in luck and superstition, and have spent most of this week saluting lone magpies! This picture is from the group of set up shots Mat and I took at the weekend. I took a lot of pictures of my jewellery, because I like the effect it has when reflected.

This bracelet is my little piece of good luck, and much to Mat’s annoyance I wear it everyday (jangle, jangle…). As much as I find it amusing to see Mat being driven insane by the racquet, keeping my good luck charm with me keeps me calm.

I always find it interesting to look at charms in shop windows, even though I haven’t ever bought myself one to add. It helps pass the time though!

Bex

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Aim for the skies

I managed to get a chance to go out today, in between revision and other homework. I went down the woods for a little photography wander with Bex and her camera. While I had the camera I saw these trees, what I liked about them is how some of them are in shadow while the others are in the daylight This gives the photo some interest, because of the contrast between the left side of the frame and the right side. I edited the image in Photoshop afterwards. I increased the colour temperature and the saturation, while making the shadows darker; this increased the contrast even more.

This is why I love nature; you can go out whatever the weather and take great photos really easily. I randomly looked up and I found this photo. Why don’t you go out and take some photos of nature while the weather's still lovely?

Mat

Contrasting reflections

Today I fancied doing a really arty upload. I used yet another photo from this weekend's set-up shots. This photo is one of Bex's necklaces on the black perspex, which gave some good reflections. After I took this photo I edited it in Photoshop; I turned the contrast up to it's maximum limit, I was quite surprised with how it came out! I thought that I would leave it as it is and upload it; this has to be my ‘artiest’ upload to date and I’m very surprised and pleased with how it came out.

I’m so impressed with this photo I think I’m going to do another one soon! (Unless Bex tells me otherwise!)

Mat

A Stolen Piece of Nature

Once again this is another photo from the weekend; so I apologise for that, but we took so many photos that it will take us some days to upload all of the best ones. I really do like this one; I love how you can see the dandelion clearly in the reflection of the black Perspex. I also love how if you zoom in on the head of the dandelions the seeds are very clear and you can see every little detail of it!

I think I’ll have to upload something other than set-up shots at the weekend. Even though there are many very good shots, I don’t want to bore you all with the same type of shots.

At some point, Bex and I are going to take some long exposure photos of the motorway that runs near to us. What do you think: more of the set-up shots, or some long exposures?

Mat

Jelly beans

This is another photo of our set-up shots from yesterday, taken on Bex’s Olympus DSLR camera. We used some jelly beans as a subject (even though they didn’t last very long!). I really liked the reflections given off by the Perspex sheets and the different, bright colours of the beans themselves. The photo is very crisp and the contrast is good as well. We really enjoyed doing our set-up shots, and there will be many more in the near future.

Today is our 50^th post! Bex and I would really like to thank every one of you for being so loyal and returning to our blog, day after day. We both really hope that you will stick with us for more of our daily wanders in the future.

Mat

A Bugs Life

Today me and Bex took some set up shots with some new mirrors. On our way home we picked some dandelions to take photos of. I was taking a photo of them when I saw an ant appear from underneath one of the stalks. When I saw it I thought "I just have to get a photo of that!" I had the flash gun fixed to the camera which came in very handy in capturing the reflections on the black perspex. I cropped the photo quite close, so the ant is clear in the photo. I adjusted the light levels a bit to tone down some of the white outs caused by the power of the flash gun.

I really liked doing the set-up shots with Bex today, and we plan on doing many more with the perspex mirrors. But what of?

Mat

Better late than never!

I must first apologise for my lateness of the post, but as mentioned previously today is my birthday, meaning I’ve been busy all day. The second thing I should apologise for is the fact that I dug out an old picture from my laptop, but I’m not going to.

Today was a milestone birthday for me, and I feel that if there is any time for reflection then that time should come today.

This picture of two dragon flies on a plant was taken at the Eden Project during a holiday to Cornwall. I loved how the water droplets were captured. This was before I became obsessed with cameras, just a shot. I took this picture with a regular compact camera, and I can honestly say that this is the first image I took and was proud of.

This picture really was what sparked my passion for photography, so although I didn’t have time for a new picture, I think it fits in rather well today. Again, apologies for the late post! Now, goodnight!

Bex

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An odd thing

I have chosen a rather random picture today, and of course; it’s of a rather odd thing to go with my rather strange mood.  Before I confuse you any further, allow me to explain.

It’s my birthday tomorrow, and for the last week I have been annoying all my friends by giving them a daily countdown. This afternoon I went for a walk in the woods, slightly with the intent that I might calm down a bit by the time I got home (no such luck!).

As ever, I was attached to my macro lens. I spotted this fungus on a fallen branch, which wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but I liked how it seemed to glisten in the sun. I used low-key mode to try and make for a more dramatic shot.

Hopefully I will stop being quite so irritating after tomorrow! Have a good rest of the evening.

Bex

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Midday Fireworks

I’m afraid today’s post is rather abstract. I tagged along at another Bradley Stoke Radio outside broadcast at the weekend. It was a glorious break from the rain, meaning there were a lot of people around and there was an amazing atmosphere!

In terms of scale, this was a rather large outside broadcast so there was a lot going on. One of the things we had was a bubble machine. However; it attracted me as well as younger children (all be it that I was attracted for a more artistic reason!).

Because of the sunshine, you could see rainbows on the bubbles, which I thought might make a good photo. I got my camera as close to the bubble machine as I could to try and get the most bubbles in the picture, and I used a shutter speed of 1/20 to try and make the bubbles blurred, as I was only interested in the rainbow that could be seen through them.

I ended up with this, which I think worked very well. I needed to mess around with the contrast in Photoshop afterwards, but over all I love this picture! It reminds me slightly of the photos you see of car headlights on a motorway. If you fancy taking a look at Bradley Stoke Radio then you can do so HERE.

Bex

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Distractions

I will readily admit that I am incredibly easily distracted and, like most people, when I need to do work everything becomes much more interesting- today was no exception.

Mat and I have had a lot going on recently, and I brought some work home with me to finish off during the course of this evening. The glorious sunshine we’ve had over the last few days hasn’t lasted and instead we have rather reluctantly welcomed back the rain.

I try to make the best of situations, and one characteristic of rain is that it can give some interesting shots. This afternoon I was in my room when it had just stopped raining, and there were raindrops on my window. This seemed a lot more interesting than work, so I grabbed my camera to try and get some interesting photos.

I took a few that I thought were successful, and this is one of my favourites. I used the macro setting on my camera with a smaller aperture to create a more shallow depth of field. This meant the raindrops on my window were in focus while the trees behind were blurred.

After my impromptu break I did continue my work, so I apologise for yet another late post!

Bex

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Seeing signs

I took this photo quite a while ago when on a trip into town with Bex. I have already uploaded a picture from this occasion, but rediscovered this picture as I haven't had time to go out. Bex and I stopped to have some lunch when this man walked past with a large picket sign. I quickly grabbed Bex’s camera and took the shot, even though it was a rushed, spur of the moment photo it didn't need any work in photoshop (proving how good D-SLR’s really are!). I still haven’t had a chance to go for a new wander but hopefully I will have some new material next weekend.

What do you think of your local town? Ours is a great place to walk around on a sunny day; but what’s yours like?

Mat

Finer Things

I've finally had chance to get out and take some photos! Today, I went to our local woods with Bex. When I (eventually) got the camera off of her, I took this photo of a tree that had been cut down years ago. I decided to use the flash to highlight the details like the fungi and moss which were clinging on to the side of it. I used quite a wide aperture (F3.9) which meant that lots of light went through the lens which, when coupled with using the flash, meant that the white highlights on the fungi became more noticeable. I really like how the flash picks out very fine details.

Again, next week I may not get many chances to take any photos. I shall try my best otherwise it’s up to Bex; which is probably no bad thing as I reckon she’s the better photographer!

I think that the flash really helps when picking out detail, but what do you think works best; using flash or increasing the ISO?

Mat

A chapel from far away

I’m back!!! Sorry I haven’t been around as much this week as I have been previously; I have been incredibly busy with coursework and upcoming exams.

This isn’t a very recent photo (about a month old). This picture is from a holiday in Woolacombe, Devon. There’s a small yet lovely chapel that Bex likes in the area and she decided to show me; I’m glad that she did because it really is beautiful. I borrowed her camera and took quite a few photos, but I think this one came out the best. I changed a few settings in Photoshop as ever, this time I increased the pink tint, I think that this worked really well and looks quite vintage.

I really need to get out and take some more photos, but what of?? I think that I should take some pictures of either macro nature shots, wildlife and animal shots, or industrial and building shots. What to take? You decide.

Mat

Early Morning Mist

I know I said I was hoping for some brighter weather, which I happily received today, so that I could take some more sunny pictures. However, I found this picture on my laptop from a recent holiday.

The weather hadn’t been the best, with a thick patch of fog every morning. I saw the fog settling on the hills during a walk around the harbour. It was early so it hadn’t disappeared yet.

I saw a team of people rowing past, and thought it would make an interesting photo. When I got home I adjusted the contrast to make it look more dramatic.

I love the drama in this photo, but I will make the most of the sunshine soon! On the bright side, it's not yet another macro shot...

Bex

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Swaying in the Trees

There has been a lot of miserable weather recently, and I would really like to inject a little sunshine into your day. I took this last week, on one of the only days over this last month that it’s been sunny.

I’m not sure who put the bracelets there to start with, but I love how unexpected it is. The colours of the bracelets blend in to the blossom on the tree, so I didn’t notice them until the wind made the branches shake.

I put the camera in macro mode and added a light red filter. I used a larger aperture to get a shallow depth of field, as I only wanted the front branch in focus.

Hopefully there’ll be some more sunshine soon!!!

Bex

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The calm after the storm

I had an incredibly busy day today, so I only had the time for a short walk around my local area. The weather has been rather miserable, and I was lucky enough that I was free and could seize the short dry spell we had this afternoon.

It has also been very windy today, so I didn’t find many good photographic opportunities. I had been walking for about 20 minutes when I saw this lone dandelion, which caught my eye for the simple fact that it was one of the only plants left with seeds in tact. I put the camera into it’s macro mode to try and capture the most detail of each seed.

Later, I cropped the image to remove some of the background as there was nothing behind the dandelion, and to remove some blades of grass caught at the bottom of the photo. I also converted it into black and white and increased the contrast. I love the depth of field in this picture, as the background looks much better blurred. I think this works really well as a portrait shot, and it draws attention to the amount of detail.

I may try some more effects in the future, just to see what happens.

Bex

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Alright, me love?

Some may say that today’s title lacks inspiration, but I’m taking the “does what it says on the tin” approach!

On Sunday, I took a bus into the town centre. I was having one of those days where I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my time, so I put my camera in my bag and headed to the first place that popped into my head (it’s more fun that way!).

Even though my city is home to someone rather well known, it’s quite rare to see street artists, so it brought a smile to my face seeing this man right in the centre as I got off the bus.

I am firmly on the side of the fence calling this is art, not graffiti, and I really think it makes for a more interesting shot to see the artist, instead of just the picture left behind.

You may notice that Mat’s been rather quiet recently. He’s had quite a busy week, but he will be back soon with plenty of new pictures!

Bex

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Sweet!

For today’s post, I am admitting to the theft of what seems to be Mat’s current catch phrase!

Today was May Day meaning you might have got an extra long weekend. May Day is the time when we like to welcome in the brighter weather, perhaps with music and fairs in your local area. Where I live is no exception, and each year there is a choice of at least 3 events. However, today tradition was thrown out the window; we seemed to be celebrating the rain that has felt somewhat endless over the last 3 weeks.

I have always gone to a local village to celebrate May Day and even though the sun wasn’t shining as it should be, nobody seemed deterred by the need to take shelter in the marquees.

I always find indoor photography more of a challenge, as artificial lighting can sometimes have a different effect to natural light. I took this picture in one of the marquees with a string of lights overhead. I don’t class this picture as a success in the conventional sense- but I like how the colours have become slightly over saturated; I think it gives a more vintage effect.

I love this picture, and I’m pleased that it didn’t need editing and is different to what I might normally post.

I hope you had a lovely extra day off, and have a wonderful May!

Bex

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Getting close

I didn’t get a chance to take any industry photos today, so it’s more of the nature close ups again!! Today’s subject is a piece of fungus on a fallen log. I got in really close with the macro setting armed and took the shot.

I used aperture priority and opened it wide open to give the shallowest depth of field possible. I think this effect worked really well, and because of the higher shutter speed and taking the photo at a lower angle the shadows became a lot darker. I think this photo worked very well, although I think it may have been a little too dark.

I will take some more industry shots soon.  But what do you think I should do, now is your time to vote: Industry and man-made, or nature and landscape shots? Perhaps tweet us and tell us your favourite shots? http://www.twitter.com/DailyWanders

Mat

Tangled

Today, I went to visit a relative who lives quite near to me in a more rural area. We both have a wood within walking distance of our homes.

I brought my camera with me as always, as I thought there might be some interesting pictures, so that I could deviate from always choosing pictures of my own area.

The wood I visited today is a lot smaller than the one in my area, meaning that an awful lot less people go walking in there and it’s left to grow on it’s own terms.

I spent about two hours walking today, and I was on my way back when I spotted this leaf tangled in a spider’s web. From the looks of things the spider was long gone, but I loved how some dust had stuck to the silk.

I took the photo in macro, and used the flash to try and capture the web with more detail. I think this worked really well, as not only the spider’s web, but the leaves also, have been captured with all the finer details.

I love finding new places to go, as I think sometimes going to the same places too often can become monotonous.

Bex

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Nature's close ups

Following on from yesterday, I thought today's post should be a nature shot. While on a short walk near my house, I spotted this flower next to the path. I was lucky enough that Bex had let me borrow her DSLR a few days earlier so I took the photo in the macro setting to really focus the attention onto the flower itself. It really enhanced the colours, bringing out the greens and making the reflections brighter. Using the macro lens helped by having wide field of view and causing a deeper depth of field.

I’ve done quite a lot of close up nature shots (I’m starting to sound like Bex now!), but I fancy a change, maybe my next upload will be of some sort of industry or another man-made phenomenon. What do you think, carry on with the nature close ups, or go with something new?

Mat

Flutter by

Bex and I went outside of our normal photography area today. We decided to follow a new path, happening to run along the edge of a forest, when we stumbled across an old shed. It was locked and there were no windows so we had no idea what was inside, but in my opinion what was hiding on the outside was of far greater interest to me and the camera! I spotted this little butterfly by chance, just as we were about to move on, so I took a photo before it had a chance to 'flutter by'! It was quite a quick photo, so it needed some editing in Photoshop. After I cropped it and changed the levels some what I think it came out quite well.

You have to be quick to take photos of nature, if your slow then you'll miss some great opportunities. What do you look for in nature, animals and wildlife, or plants and flowers?

Mat

Stumped

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my favourite way to relax is going for a walk with my SLR and setting myself the challenge of finding the most interesting shot possible- the type of shot that you notice something new every time you look at it.

This afternoon I went for a walk around my local nature reserve accompanied by my umbrella. It started to rain more heavily so I walked through the woods for shelter. When Mat and I go into the woods, we normally sit on a fallen tree to watch the world go by. I was alone today, but decided to stop there never the less. As I walked up to the log I noticed this strange fungus on a tree stump next to the log.

I took this picture in aperture priority to try and get a deeper depth of field. Having looked at this picture a few times so far, I have noticed the pattern on the fungus, the different shades and the texture on the underside.

Keep looking, perhaps get your friends to have a look and see how many details you can spot.

Bex

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Time to celebrate!

Today, Daily Wanders celebrates being one month old with over 1500 page views. Having such a large audience after such a short space of time is something I feel rather proud of, and it seems odd to think that just over a month ago we were discussing how to go about starting our blog.

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been creating my photography wall. Yesterday I got to the fun part of putting everything together. While choosing the pictures for my wall I came across this photograph of a firework. This was taken a few months ago at a national fireworks competition in Plymouth.

In order to get a clear view I had to balance on a wall, which was made harder by a slow shutter speed. This particularly impresses me because it wasn’t taken on my SLR for fear of it getting dropped or stolen, but on a normal Samsung compact camera. I didn't have to edit it in Photoshop at all, so perhaps there is hope yet for compact cameras?

I hope you have enjoyed following us on our adventures this last month as much as we have enjoyed writing about them. I look forward to many months to come.

Bex

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