Along The Edge

This photo I had taken a while ago from one of the many short walks that Bex and I have been on. We were walking along a public footpath when I saw a single tree but with a larger group of trees standing behind in the distance. I thought that if I took a photo then cropped it into a near square format it would make an interesting composition.

To capture the photo I used the camera in aperture priority and selected an aperture of F8 to ensure both the foreground and the background was in sharp focus. I didn’t use the flash as this would have caused the sky to white-out. I also boosted the sharpness in the camera because I wanted all the detail in the hedge to be very clear.

To edit the photo I cropped the photo down as planned but I also adjusted the light levels. I did this to boost the contrast and darken the sky a small amount. I like the effect that I created by cropping the photo down, it focuses the attention onto the groups of trees. Before I cropped the photo it looked very cluttered and the eye wasn’t being led to the correct focal points.

Not sure exactly when our next photography wander is going to be but I’m sure we will be going on one very soon. I think it would be interesting to go down to the duckpond when it is frozen over. It might make some interesting reflected patterns?

Mat

Ripples

Mat and I took his dog for a walk today; I had my camera with me as ever. We walked down through the local nature reserve towards the lake. As we were walking, I spotted this bird on the edge of the water. It kept putting its beak in the water to drink, and while watching I noticed that as it’s beak emerged, droplets fell and created ripples on the surface.

The ripples caught my attention so I decided to try and capture it before Mat’s dog chased it away! I had my telephoto lens on, which saved me time, as I didn’t have to change lenses. I used a fast shutter speed to try and capture the ripples without them being blurred.

I was really impressed with this picture, as I accidentally caught a droplet just as it fell into the water. I also like how if you look carefully, the reflection of the bird can be seen, slightly distorted by the waves. Later, I sharpened the image and increased the contrast to make some of the smaller ripples more visible. I regret not using a smaller aperture as the bird is slightly out of focus, but at the same time I think it points the attention to the water.

I love this picture; I was really impressed by managing to capture the detail of the water. I have a busy few days coming up, so Mat will be doing most of the posts. I’ll be back in a few days- hopefully with plenty of photos in tow!

Bex

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Crystal Clear

I’ve reached the end of a rather busy time where Mat’s been left to do a lot of posts.

I took this picture during our picnic on Sunday but hadn’t had a chance to upload it. The heat was beginning to get a bit too much, so we moved into the shade of a willow tree by the stream. It was shallow and incredibly clear, so the stones could be seen through the ripples. I thought it’d make an interesting picture, so crouched down by the water’s edge so I could take the picture at less of an angle.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I should upload this picture, as to me it looked a bit out of focus (the effect of the water), but after looking for a while, I made my mind up. I like how you can see the ripples in focus on the top left of the picture, while the rest of the picture is slightly blurred, giving an interesting effect.

I must apologise for the late post, but a friend and I went out for some greatly needed retail therapy!

Bex

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Small reflections

This morning, Bex and I went for a walk in our local wood. It had been raining and had just stopped when I saw this piece of grass with the fresh rain dripping from it, and thought it would make a good photo.

I cropped it to focus the attention on the droplet itself. When the taking the photo I used a large aperture to blur the background and keep the attention on the grass and the rain droplet. I love how the reflection is really clear on the raindrop with the reflection of the grass.

I know this is very similar to one of Bex’s earlier photos, but I really like the effect of the water droplet so I thought I would ‘reflect’ Bex’s idea in my own shot!

I really like going for walks after it has rained in the morning because of how the grass and the trees reflect light off of them. When is your favourite time to go for a walk, morning, afternoon, or evening?

Mat

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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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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