Landing

Bex and I managed to go out for a wander today, but we didn’t take out cameras with us. So I decided to upload another photo from last weekend’s wildlife photo shoot. I had paused momentarily when I saw a pigeon flying past me out of the corner of my eye. I turned round as it flew past and brought my camera to my eye and took a series of photos as it landed on a branch in a nearby tree. Unfortunately quite a few of the photos were out of focus or slightly blurry, but this one and a few others were pin sharp.

I had the camera in shutter priority with a shutter speed of 1/640^th of a second programmed in to remove any camera shake and motion blur. I also had the ISO set at ISO 800 to ensure that a moderate aperture was selected by the camera. I had overexposed by one stop, when I reviewed the photo it looked a bit too bright form my liking; but this was easily eradicated in the editing stage.

To edit the photo the first thing I did was to lower the overall brightness of the photo to combat the overexposing. I also increased the contrast to make the photo look more dynamic. I also cropped the photo as there was quite a lot of dead space surrounding the pigeon; by removing the dead space it focuses the attention onto the main subject.

I’m glad that I got a good photo of the pigeon as it landed. I had quite a few attempts of taking photos of moving birds last weekend but unfortunately most of them were out of focus or blurry; but I think I am slowly getting better at my wildlife photography.

Mat

Early Waters

Today I decided to get up before dawn to try and capture the sun as it was rising. So I got up and set up my camera equipment about twenty minutes before the sun was due to rise. Unfortunately the sky had mostly clouded over by the time I set up but I decided to carry on anyway.

I put the camera into manual and set the AF into manual mode as well so I could have complete control over every setting. I had set the camera up on my tripod. I set the aperture to F10 to keep the whole scene sharp from front to back. I had preselected the ISO speed to ISO 100 to keep as much detail as possible; I then completed the exposure with a shutter speed of 30 seconds. As I was using a tripod I didn’t need to worry about the long exposure.

To edit the photo, I rotated the rotated the image, and increased the contrast. Before, the image looked a bit flat so by increasing the contrast it makes the photo look punchier. I also increased the saturation to make the sky more orange and to make the photo look more vivid.

I enjoyed my early morning photoshoot, it was a pity that the clouds had set in, but I still enjoyed it. Maybe sometime soon I will go out again to try and capture the sun rising.

Mat

Blurry Water

I took a lot of photos on our pre-dawn walk, this one is one of my favourites so I decided to upload it. We were down at the duckpond and the water was flowing at a reasonable rate; I thought that I could make an interesting blurred effect by using a slow shutter speed.

To create the effect I wanted, I put the camera in aperture priority mode, I did this because I also wanted a large depth of field. I selected an aperture of F13, this gives a massive depth of field but also it means the camera has to choose a slow shutter speed. This gives both of the effects that I was aiming for. I used ISO 100 to ensure that the amount of detail was as high as possible. Because of the slow shutter speed I was using I mounted the camera onto my tripod to ensure the photo was as sharp as possible.

To edit the photo I tweaked the RGB curves to give the photo a warmer feel to it, also by increasing the red curve I made the photo look more autumnal. As the exposure time was very long I also sharpened the photo and then reduced the noise that this produced. Also by increasing the brightness the photo now looks a lot more vibrant.

I’m very pleased with how the photo now looks. I’m slowly getting used to my new camera, and I’m very much enjoying the process of learning how the different features work. I’ve now purchased a flash gun to use with my camera, hopefully I will get a chance to test it this weekend; if I do then I will upload a photo of it to show you.

Mat

Frosty Branches

As planned Bex and I got up extra early to go out for a pre-dawn wander. We were hoping to take some photos of the sunrise. Unfortunately the weather was against us and the sky was full of dark clouds, so unfortunately we missed the sunrise. But we did take some other very interesting photos around the duckpond. I found a bush that had lost all of its leaves but was covered in frost; I really like the effect that it made and decided to take a photo.

To make the most interesting composition I used a narrow aperture of F5.6, this limits the depth of field to just the bush that I had focused onto. I was using the camera on my tripod so the shutter speed selected didn’t make a difference on the overall sharpness. Because of this I selected ISO 100 and the camera paired this with a shutter speed of one second. I didn’t use flash because I didn’t want to spoil the effect of the frost on the branches.

To edit the photo I cropped the photo down to a square format. But I kept the bush towards the right hand side of the frame to keep the composition interesting. Also I tweaked the RGB (Red Green Blue) curves because I wasn’t satisfied with how the colours had been replicated. I decreased the amount of blue to make the frost look whiter. I also decreased the red to remove the colour cast created by the gravel path. I didn’t need to sharpen the photo because I had taken the photo on ISO 100 so no noise was created.

The weather this morning was quite disappointing but it didn’t deter us from our photography at all. It just proves that whatever the weather there are great photos to be taken all year round!

Mat

Boating

I took this photo on my walk down the canal; at the mariner was a group of small sailing boats. The boats are owned by the local sea cadet unit and where moored up for storage. They made an interesting composition so I thought I would take a photo of them.

To create the best composition I stayed on the opposite side and used a long telephoto lens to narrow the field of view down. I wanted quite a large depth of field so I used an aperture of F8, this was coupled with a shutter speed of 1/80^th. As I was using a focal length of 88mm the shutter speed was a bit slow but the photo looked sharp when I zoomed in to check the sharpness. I didn’t use flash because I didn’t want the highlights to become blown.

When editing the photo I didn’t change anything because I really liked how the photo had come out. I like the composition that I had created and the exposure had been calculated perfectly by the camera. The photo looked sharp under inspection so I decided not to sharpen it.

Bex and I are planning to get up extra early tomorrow to take some photos in the early morning mist, maybe even catch some of the sunrise! So we should both have some very interesting photos to show you tomorrow.

Mat

Blue Moon Sunrise

This is another picture from my early start at the balloon fiesta yesterday morning. I feel I should explain the title as well as my picture on this occasion. Anyone who knows me personally will also know that early mornings are not my forte! With this fact in mind, this is the first sunrise that I have seen, and I definitely started on a high!

This was the first balloon to have taken off, just a few minutes after 6am, when the sun was just beginning to rise. I’m not entirely sure why, but when I took this picture the basket looked like a silhouette while the rest of the shot was in colour. I like it; it makes it seem more anonymous- like they represent actions instead of people.

I had to use an incredibly high ISO (1000) as it was still quite dark, so I couldn’t pick up any details. However, it introduced a lot of noise to the picture. Despite all the noise in my photo, I absolutely love it! I’m impressed at how I managed to catch the flame. The colours of the sunrise have been picked up brilliantly, and it’s amazing how you can see the bottom of the balloon being lit up. I can’t wait till next year’s event!

Bex

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Baptism of Fire

I had an early start this morning as I was going to a balloon fiesta, so I feel I should apologise for the probable illiteracy. Each day, the balloons are launched at 6am and 6pm, meaning my alarm went off at three this morning!

I hadn’t been to a morning launch before, but decided it would be good to go, as it would have plenty of photo opportunities! I took this picture at about 5:30 this morning, which is why the background is quite dark. The sun was just starting to rise, and the clouds were beginning to turn pink. The most light was coming from the balloons being inflated.

I used a telephoto lens to get as close as I could (while leaning as far over the fence as possible!). I had to use ISO-250 with a shutter speed of 1/320 to allow me to capture the flame in full, and to leave the background quite dark. I increased the saturation and contrast in Photoshop, in order to pick up the colours that were cast. Apart from this, it didn’t need any editing!

I had a great morning of photography, managing to take 998 shots, making it incredibly hard to choose a single picture! I’m really pleased my results, I can’t wait to go back tomorrow for the evening launch.

Bex

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