The Young At Rest

I was looking through the firework photos and I found a few more that I liked, but I thought I would break the pattern today so I don't completely bore you with fireworks. So as I haven’t got much material at the moment, I thought I should look through my computer and see what inspiration I can find.

While I was looking through some previous holidays from a long time ago, when I stumbled across this one. This was taken before I got really serious with photography so the quality wasn’t perfect. But I had managed to get the composition right. I waited until the lamb was looking next to the camera, as I thought this would create the best effect.

To edit the photo I corrected the white balance by adjusting the colour temperature, and I also decreased the highlight brightness. By correcting the white balance the sheep are now properly white and by adjusting the exposure the highlights have been blown out to much.

I plan on going out for a wander this weekend so I’ll see where that takes me. Bex sends her apologies, unfortunately she has been ill quite recently and so has been unable to do a post. She is getting better and will hopefully be able to carrying on posting towards the end of this week.

Mat

Out to Sea

I didn’t get a chance to go out today so I thought I should look in my computer for some inspiration. I found this photo from a holiday a few years ago. The photo was taken with a compact camera so the quality isn’t fantastic, but I think its good enough for an upload.

The photo was taken towards the late afternoon, so I could create a more natural photo. Also with the sun behind me I didn’t get any bad reflections from the water. I underexposed the photo to retain detail in the sky; this also darkened the shadows on the rock which gives a pleasing effect to the photo.

As the photo was taken on a compact camera it needed some editing to get it up to a good enough standard for the blog. The photo was quite ‘flat’ straight from the camera, so I increased the saturation and the contrast. I like the effect that this gives the photo, it makes it seem much more realistic.

Now after a fantastic weekend, it’s back to normality. Hopefully the sunny weather will stay around, but otherwise it was very nice while it lasted.

Mat 

Stormy Horizon

I’m missing my holiday already, so I thought that I should upload a photo from it. This image is from one of the long walks that Bex and I went on the Saturday; the weather had been changing rapidly all day. The constantly changing weather presented some great photos, but also caused some problems while taking them; (as the camera isn’t water proof)!

The clouds had just started to break apart after a short spell of rain. I thought the clouds looked very dramatic, so would make an interesting photo. I tried to do something slightly different so I tried to get some of the ground in the photo as well. I really like how well the photo has worked, with the tree in the corner giving some perspective and ‘size’ to the composition.

I thought that the photo could be improved slightly through the use of Photoshop. I adjusted the histogram to crop out the shadows, losing all detail and turning them into silhouettes. I also increased the brightness of the highlights to increase the contrast and make the clouds look more violent.

I think the edited photo looks a lot better now than it did straight from the camera. I really like how the silhouette of the tree stands out against the sky. We both have plenty of material from our holiday to keep the blog running for quite a while now, but it won’t stop us going out for our photography wanders! I hope everyone who is on their summer break is having as good a time as we are!

Mat

Setting

It’s mine and Mat’s last evening on holiday together so after we ate we decided to go for a mini photography wander along the local canal. It was about 9pm so the sun was beginning to set.

We didn’t get very far down the canal; the cameras took over and we sat on a bench to take some shots of the sunset. It’s been a cloudy and somewhat miserable day- the clouds hadn’t lifted by the evening.

I love how the trees are just silhouettes; the black really makes the colours in the sky stand out. I increased the saturation in Photoshop when we got back. I know it’s not the most impressive sunset ever, but I loved the colours and wanted to share my last evening on holiday with you.

Bex

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Tree Vista

We’re still on holiday and having a great time! We went for a quick walk today in the park. The view was fantastic; I saw just a single tree on the horizon. I really liked the view of the tree on it’s own on the side of the hill.

I thought that having the tree in the right hand third would make a more interesting composition. I managed to expose the sky, the tree and the foreground correctly, which really enhances the photo. I like how the wispy clouds in the sky can still be seen clearly travelling across the bright blue sky.

The only editing that I did was to crop the photo down and to rotate the photo slightly to ensure that it is vertical. Apart from that I didn’t change anything else, because Bex’s camera had chosen all the right settings (once again!).

We’ve still got two more days left of our holiday, and I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Mat 

Another Time

Bex and I are on another holiday together! (Lucky us). We arrived quite early and decided to go for a short wander while there was a gap in the rain.

We walked along a public footpath that went across a field. The clouds where composed perfectly at the time, and the sheep where spread across the foreground, which created some interest without causing a distraction. Overall I really like the composition of the photo, and taking the photo in black and white makes the clouds contrast more against the sky and the foreground.

When I put the photo onto the computer I cropped a small amount of sky from the top and increased the mid-tone contrast. I also lowered the brightness of the highlights. I did this to increase the detail in the sky and to increase the contrast in the foreground.

I think the photo works very well with the foreground interest, the sky and the clouds flowing across. The editing also helped to improve the photo overall, increasing the contrast between the sky and clouds.

I really like this photo, and hopefully I can take some more like it, or maybe some macro photos instead. I’ll wait to see what’s in front of the lens when I’m out on our next wander.

Mat

Taking a Walk

I’ve had another busy day today so haven’t had chance to take any pictures. I’ve delved into the depths of my laptop again, and found this picture from a recent holiday.

I love nature shots, and I think that sometimes a busy shot is better than focusing on one thing. In this picture I used a shallow depth of field so that the tree was in focus, with the background blurred. However, in this picture I didn’t use the shallowest depth of field possible so that there was still some detail in the sheep, with the least amount of detail behind. I love this effect because it gives a lot more interest to the picture and shows the vast countryside.

It’s occurred to me that I’ve finally broken away from my beloved macro shots! I hope you have enjoyed the change, but perhaps soon I shall get back to my favourite type of photography.

Bex

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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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