Blues

We survived January!! That may seem a little over dramatized, but I can honestly say that I despise January with a passion (apart from the sales, of course). In my opinion, January is a punishment for having a month of over-eating and constant partying! Now I’ve gotten my rant over with, I’ll continue.

I took this photo while on a wander through town. I stopped in a coffee shop to escape the snow, warm up and look through my photos. I started casting an eye around the café, and spotted a small plant next to me, adorned with lights and ornaments. It seemed interesting, so I tried to mess around a little.

I used quite a slow shutter speed, to compensate using a narrow aperture. I liked the photo, but it seemed a little dull so I decided to edit it using Photoshop. I tried increasing the contrast, to make the image more vibrant but my computer froze then jolted up to almost +80, but surprisingly I really liked it! To try to improve this further, I increased the hue, sharpened the image and decreased the brightness. I then cropped the image to focus attention and used the healing tool to remove small pieces of distracting detail.

I hope you managed to survive the January blues as well; it’s nice to have a secret method to keeping yourself happy through the winter. No prize for guessing that mine is photography!!

Bex
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Local Walk

Bex and I managed to get out for a walk today so we went to one of our favourite spots, our local duck pond. The skies were clear so a lot of birds, including many ducks, had ventured out for a quick paddle. We spent a good few hours taking photos of the various birds that were there.

As we where photographing birds I had my telephoto lens attached to my camera to capture the birds. As I was using a telephoto lens I used the camera in Tv (Shutter priority) mode to ensure that I used a fast enough shutter speed for the focal length I was using. As I was using a focal length of around 150mm and taking the crop factor into account I selected a shutter speed of 1/400^th of a second. This ensured the photo would be sharp and unaffected by camera shake. I didn’t use the flash because I didn’t want to scare off the ducks.

To edit the photo, the only changes I made were to crop down the photo to focus the attention onto the two ducks, and to remove some of the distracting background as it averted attention away from the ducks. I didn’t adjust the exposure because I didn’t want the reflections on the water to become blown.

We both enjoyed our time at the duckpond, the ducks did to with all the bread that was thrown for them! I’m sure you will see some of the photos very soon.

Mat

Coffee Break

Bex and I managed to go out for a wander today, so we decided to go for a walk around our local town. We had been walking for a long time and fortunately we found a nice little coffee shop just in time. So we bought our teas and coffees and gave our legs a rest. While drinking our teas and coffees I noticed that on another table the previous occupants had left their mugs behind as they went to collect their food; the two mugs and the ketchup bottle made a rather interesting composition.

For this photo I used an aperture of F4.5 to capture a small depth of field. I wanted a small depth of field so I could isolate just the two mugs and the ketchup bottle. I didn’t use the flash as I didn’t want to disturb the other people at the coffee shop. As there was a lot of ambient light and I was using a wide aperture the camera chose to use a shutter speed of 1/250^th of a second at ISO 400.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast to give the photo some extra punch and I also cropped the photo. I cropped the photo to remove a lot of the distracting surroundings and to focus the attention onto the two mugs and the ketchup bottle. I didn’t change anything else because I was happy with the effect that I had produced.

I’m glad we had a chance to go out today I managed to take a few good photos, but unfortunately not many as we had some shopping to do at the same time. But the best of the photos I shall upload for you.

Mat

Following the Path

The snow was fun while it lasted, but I don’t miss the cold hands or the constant slipping; I’m glad to be a little warmer! I went for a walk to the local harbour today, as I had some free time and wanted to get some fresh air. Surprisingly, some of the leaves were still on the trees!

As I walked along the harbour, I noticed some lights were left over from Christmas. They were draped along the entire row of trees, and looking at it straight on, it looked like a path. I took the photo in this position, to try and capture this effect. I did try to take the shot at a wider angle to start with, but the surrounding buildings detracted from it. I used an aperture of F5.6 so the lights would become less sharp as they got further away, focusing attention on the foreground.

I adjusted the contrast and hue of the picture in Photoshop to increase vibrancy. I also sharpened the image so each of the leaves could be seen. I’m pleased with this image, although I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t include more of the surroundings.

Bex

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Under Snow

I really enjoyed the snow we had last weekend (as you may be able to tell!). So I thought I should upload one more. On the first walk we went on I took quite a few photos of various pieces of undergrowth. I thought these looked the most creative under the snow.

For this photo I wanted a shallow depth of field so I used the maximum aperture of F5.6 to give the shortest depth of field. I overexposed by one stop to counteract the cameras exposure system. Because of this the camera selected a shutter speed of 1/160^th of a second at ISO 125. I didn’t use the flash as I didn’t want the snow to become over exposed.

To edit the photo I dropped the shadows and increased the contrast. I did this to make the snow stand out even more and give the photo more punch. At the same time I also increased the saturation a small amount to make the foliage look more vivid.

I think I’ve just about exhausted my stock of photos from the snow weekend. The ever changing weather has created some rather interesting photo opportunities so hopefully I will get a chance to go out during the week with my camera to capture some of them.

Mat

Young Sledgers

Now that most of the snow has gone I thought I should upload more photos of snow! I thought the best photo to upload was one from last weekend, when we went into town to see the sledging.

For this photo I wanted to isolate just the two children on the sledge so I use a wide aperture of F5 which limits the depth of field. I coupled this with a shutter speed of 1/640^th of a second to ensure that the action was completely frozen and the two children remained completely sharp. I left the ISO sensitivity in automatic so the camera chose to use ISO 1600 to balance the exposure.

To edit the photo I decreased the contrast and lowered the highlights. I didn’t change anything else because I was happy with the result I had made with the camera. I tried cropping the image down but I preferred the composition I had made when I captured the image. Then after this I converted the photo into JPEG format from RAW to upload.

Hopefully we may get another chance to go out for a walk soon. If we do then be sure there will be lots of new interesting photos to be uploaded.

Mat

Chasing Light

It was a little warmer today; not noticeably, but enough to make rain fall in place of snow. I took my camera out with me but it spent almost the entire day in my bag, as I was afraid of it getting damaged. Around half past five this evening, a family member gave me a lift to the radio studio so I didn’t have to walk! I still had my camera with me and had been looking at the few photos I had taken that morning. I started messing around, as I liked the regularity of the street lamps. The shutter speed was a little too slow, blurring the lights slightly. This gave me the idea to slow the shutter speed further, to create light trails.

I used a shutter speed of 2.5 seconds, and incredibly, I managed to hold it still! It made light trails a little more interesting by taking the photo while we were driving, as it produced two trails; the lower being passing cars, the higher being street lamps. I’ve sharpened this photo as well as increasing the contrast slightly, but I tried to leave everything else.

I love how you can clearly see the road, and if you look carefully, a bridge in the background. I’m especially pleased with the lower light trail; I love the way it tapers off. I didn’t get chance to take many photos on this subject, so had to make the best of the situation I was in. Despite this, I think I managed quite successfully and will have to try this again soon!

Bex
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Snow Problem

Perhaps I should apologise for the awful pun of a title now! But that’s not the only thing I should be apologising for; the last month has been awash with exams and coursework, and the blog has been pushed onto Mat for most of this month. Thankfully, I reached the deadline today so things should start to be a little more regular now.

In my area, most of the snow has melted and things are starting to return to normality. Most people are a bit sick of the sight of it, but I’m one of those that simply regress to the mentality of a 5 year old and carry on! On the first day that the snow arrived on my doorstep, I took my camera out on an all-day adventure. This is one of the first I took, and okay, it may be a little stereotypical painted Christmas card, but I can’t wait almost a year to upload it! I spotted this photo by chance, as I needed to mail a letter on my way out.

I used an aperture of F4, as I wanted quite a shallow depth of field. I boosted the highlights in Photoshop as I had under-exposed a little; this was intentional as it’s hard to control highlight clipping in the snow, and under-exposing eliminates this. Apart from sharpening the image, I haven’t done anything further to the image as I was pleased the original.

Bex
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Sledging For All Ages!

While watching the sledging in town a group of older students joined in with the fun. They were appropriately dressed for the weather in some rather brightly coloured tiger pyjamas! Proving that you’re never too old to be out sledging in the snow. Instead of sitting on his sledge conventionally he attempted to stand and ride it down the slope; with some rather interesting results.

For this photo I had put the camera in shutter priority and while using Ai focus coupled with continuous drive mode I took a series of photos as he slid down the slope. This was the best photo as it shows him attempting to regain balance on his sledge.

I edited the image by lowering the shadows and sharpening the image. Also I cropped the image down, to use the rule of thirds for a better composition. I did this to make the photo look more interesting and create a more dynamic composition.

I hope the students had a lot of fun that day; it defiantly looked like they were having a good time while we were there! I’ve had a fantastic time in the snow with all the photographic opportunities; the snow makes everything look much more photogenic.

Mat

Sledging

On Saturday Bex and I went out for another walk in the snow. We decided to  go into town to capture some different scenes buried under the snow. But when we got there we found that a lot of people were already there; most of them on some sort of sledge, or tin-tray if a sledge was un-available! So instead of moving onto another area we decided to stay and take photos of the various people who were sledging down the hill.

I tried experimenting with various techniques; the most successful being the panning technique. For this I put the camera into shutter priority and used a relatively slow shutter speed, in this case 1/125^th of a second, to make the background become blurred. I put the camera into Ai Servo mode so the focus would track the subject as it moved down the hill. I also used the camera with continuous drive mode turned on so I could take multiple shots as they slid past.

When editing the photo I was expecting to do quite a lot of work to the photo. But when I did edit the photo I was happily surprised that I didn’t need to change very much. That being said I did change a few things that I thought required editing: mainly the light levels and the noise/sharpness. I increased the contrast and lowered the shadows to make the light levels more dynamic. I decreased the noise quite a lot because the photo was taken at a high ISO, then after this I increased the sharpness to counteract the loss of detail accompanied with the noise reduction.

We both enjoyed our excursion into the city, we were both surprised how different it looked under the snow though. We both took a lot of photos over the course of the weekend and we should be able to show off the snow even after it all melts away!

Mat

Snowy Branches

I took a lot of photos on our wintery walk. I was experimenting with using my flashgun to darken the background while highlighting the foreground. The effect of this focuses the attention onto the subject of the photo.

One of the times I tried this was on a small, snow covered branch. For this photo I used the camera in aperture priority and selected aperture F4.5 to give a minimal depth of field. I left the flash in the evaluative metering mode so that the camera would select the most appropriate power level for the flash. I didn’t need to use a tripod because the shutter speed the camera selected was 1/160^th and this was adequate for the focal length I was using.

I decided not to edit the image because I was happy with the result that I had captured in the camera. I didn’t crop the photo because I didn’t want to spoil the composition that I had made.

Unfortunately the snow is starting to melt, but I still have plenty of images of the snow that I can upload to keep the spirit alive!

Mat

Snowy Grass

While out on our walk in the snow we passed a patch of tall grass. In this I saw a single piece that was separated from the rest and I thought the composition looked interesting.

To portray the composition faithfully, I took a few test shots that I was pleased with so I adjusted the angle I took the photo until I was completely happy with the composition. I wanted the background to be blurred so I used the maximum aperture which gives a minimal depth of field. In the test shots the colours looked very flat on the grass so I used the built in flash to illuminate and provide some contrast.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast and changed the white balance; after this I cropped the image down into a portrait format. I increased the contrast because the photo looked a bit flat before. I changed the format to portrait because it focuses the attention onto just the piece of grass, effectively removing the distracting surroundings. And finally I converted the photo from RAW format to JPEG format so I can upload it to the blog.

I’ve enjoyed the snow very much this year. This is the heaviest snow that I can remember; I’ve had plenty of snowball fights over the past few days! Hopefully there is more snow to come because I spotted a few more photo opportunities and plenty of opportunities for a snowball fight!

Mat

Snowy

It’s the second day of snow for us, and yet another day of amazing photography opportunities!!! Although I must admit that the novelty is beginning to wear off- bring on the Mediterranean warmth!

Today, Mat and I took the bus to a small village on the outskirts of town. It’s been featured a few times in our blog as it’s lined with trees and features long stretches of grass; it’s one of those special places that looks different at each point in the year, making it an amazing place to visit. This is one of the last photos I took before running off for a cup of coffee! One of the central parts of the village is the small square; trees are dotted around the square, along with benches and a small path running through the middle, with lights on each side.

To take this photo, I used an aperture of F5 to blur the background, keeping the lamp the main focus of the image. I haven’t edited this photo much, apart from sharpening it and increasing the contrast to separate the foreground and background more clearly. I’ve really enjoyed my snow day (both of them!), but I do wish snow was a weather condition associated with summer- I’m freezing!

Bex
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Let It Snow!

Today Bex and I went out for a walk, but this time with a difference because overnight it had snowed! Our entire local area had been blanketed under around three inches of snow! This made everything look very different and very pretty.

For this photo I thought that if I used the flash then I could capture the reflections from the ice crystals. So I attached my flash-gun onto the top of my camera and used the bounce card to bounce the light onto the branches. I used the camera in aperture priority and took the photo with the aperture wide open to give a minimal depth of field. The camera selected a shutter speed 1/160^th and ISO 400. Using this medium ISO means ensures that the noise is kept to a minimum, while allowing the use of a faster shutter speed.

To edit the photo I didn’t need to change many settings as I was mostly happy with the result from the camera. I adjusted the exposure slightly to compensate for the amount of highlights and I also increased the contrast to give the photo more punch. I also minutely changed the white balance to make sure that the snow stayed pure white.

I’m so glad that we went out in the snow today, it was frightfully cold but well worth it for the photos that we took. Both of us took a large amount of photos that I’m sure we will upload over the next few days.

Mat

Behind Bars

I know I said yesterday that I had uploaded all of my favourite photos from last weekend, but I lied. I booted up my computer to write a post, and while waiting for it to load the sidebar popped up displaying recent photos. I saw one photo that looked interesting, so enlarged it- only to find out that it was another from my last wander. For this reason, I shall simply apologise and get on with the post!

This photo is from the same location as another I have uploaded recently (Jigsaw). In that post, I explained about the street of collaged buildings, and how the new music venue was standing next to an abandoned building. I took this photo at the side of the old building. This image features the grate itself as the subject; it caught my attention because the bars were rusted, providing contrast between that and the new wire.

The original photo was quite dull, so I edited in Photoshop but tried to do as little as possible. I increased the contrast, darkened the shadows and sharpened the overall image. I also boosted the saturation slightly to make the rusty colours stand out.

I love focusing on smaller details; I haven’t taken any macro photos in a long while and have really enjoyed going back to this. I’m hoping to focus more on this during my next wander, perhaps with the macro filters so I can get even closer.

Bex
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Shadow

This is another picture from my wander with the photography group last weekend- also one of my favourites! I had a list of my three favourite photos that I had taken and wanted to upload- this is the last one.

I used my close up filters to take this photo (+6), but when using flash, a shadow is cast onto the subject. This usually makes for a bit of a sloppy shot, but sometimes it can work in the photographer’s favour. In this photo I used flash and tried to include the shadow to get a gradient effect from the top of the picture to the bottom. I managed to avoid the harsh lines of the shadow by using a wide aperture; using a wide aperture with close-up filters dramatically reduces the depth of field (to about 1mm). This is why most of the edges of the petals are out of focus, but is also what makes the shadow softer.

I haven’t edited this photo apart from sharpening it to bring up details at the centre of the daisy; I liked the original lighting and colour and didn’t want this to be altered in any way. Sometimes photography is about making the best of a bad situation; you need to be able to think creatively outside of the viewfinder, in order to overcome the problems created by thinking creatively inside the viewfinder (filter shadows).

Bex
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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

Jigsaw

Wow! It’s been a very busy week and a long holiday from the blog. I must apologise for abandoning Daily Wanders in favour of a 9-day respite; I’ve had a week full of exams and have barely found time for coursework, let alone our readers or my camera! Finally, I can breathe a sigh of relief and flop down in front of my laptop as it’s all over (for now anyway). Of course, having the week that I did, I haven’t had time to go for another walk since last weekend. This is both a blessing and a curse, as I have missed my walks but still have plenty of photos to upload.

This is one of the first photos I took but, as usual, it’s one of my favourites!!! It was arranged that we should meet the photography group in the café of a local music venue before parting company. As we left, most people walked straight to the harbour, while Mat and I walked around the city centre. The venue is modern and quite large, but is set back from the busiest part of town on a small street collaged with different buildings. This small back street exhibits the modern venue next to a small, run-down building, which looks somewhat like it’s been abandoned- a sort of 3D jigsaw. On the side of this building was a grate over an air-conditioning unit, which pulled in fresh air from its surroundings. Unfortunately, it had also managed to pull in some leaves, which entwined themselves with the grate.

I tried to take the shot at a low angle with a wide aperture to make it seem more mysterious. I also used low- key gradation to add contrast to my shot and make it darker to suit the mood of the image. I haven’t edited this image at all as I was pleased with the original. I can’t wait to go on another walk with my camera. As a hobby, it’s interesting on more than one scale; as well as paying closer attention to your surroundings, you can also end up in a few strange situations. Well, you do if you’re me!
Bex
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Old Machinery

Unfortunately Bex and I didn’t get a chance to go out for a photography walk today; so I looked through my computer for a bit of inspiration. I looked through one of the country walks that we went on. I found an interesting photo that I thought with a bit of editing could look quite interesting.

When I took the photo I initially thought that a wide composition would look the most interesting so I focused on the machine and used a narrow aperture to ensure that the whole scene was in focus. The camera selected a shutter speed of 1/80^th of a second, and as I was using a focal length of around 30mm this was more than fast enough.

When looking at the photo on my computer I had a rethink in terms of the composition. I thought that if I change the composition from a wide angle shot to a closer one, the photo may look more interesting. So the main change I made was to crop out most of the image. After this I sharpened the photo I reduced the noise a small amount. This ensured that plenty of detail was left after the heavy cropping.

I’m pleased with the effect that I created by editing the photo. It does show that you have two chances to make a good composition; either: while taking the photo, or editing the photo.

Mat

A Duck Out Of Water

Bex and I managed to get out today for a walk so we took our cameras with us. Once again we went down to the local duckpond. When we arrived the pond was full of ducks and swans. One of the ducks was standing on the edge of the pond; so I crept as close to it as I could to take a photo.

To capture the photo I was using the camera in shutter priority (Tv mode), and selected a shutter speed of 1/160^th of a second. This shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the action and to combat camera shake. The camera used aperture F4 to complete the exposure with ISO 200. I didn’t use the flash as I was quite close and I didn’t want the highlights on the duck to become clipped.

To edit this photo I adjusted the light levels a small amount and I cropped the photo down. I adjusted the light levels by increasing the contrast and the brightness to give the photo more ‘punch’. And I cropped the photo down to focus the attention onto the duck.

I’m glad that Bex and I got a chance to go out today as I was just starting to get low on photos to upload. I now have quite a few more photos that I can upload and show you.

Mat

Yes Master?

I had some spare time this evening so I went for a walk with my family and our dog. Our dog loves the water, and in this case he ran off into a ditch and got himself completely covered in water! When he came out of the ditch he paused for a moment before running off. For this momentary pause he was standing in a typical (and photogenic) stance that all dogs of his type do.

To capture this moment I was using the camera in Shutter Priority mode and set the shutter speed at 1/400^th of a second. I was using a focal length of around 130mm so the shutter speed was more than fast enough to freeze the action. The camera was using ISO 400 and selected an aperture of F4.5 to complete the exposure. I didn’t use the flash as I didn’t want the highlights to become blown.

The only editing I did to the photo was to crop the photo down to focus the attention; as there was a lot of distracting foliage next to the ditch. I didn’t want to change anything else because I was happy with the effect that I had captured, and I didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere.

Bex and I have planned to go back into our local city again this weekend. So hopefully we shall have some new photos to show you by next week.

Mat

Nature Meets Man-Made

On the short walk I went on yesterday I walked through a small industrial estate, one of the buildings had a disused air-conditioning unit on the side of it. It obviously hadn’t been serviced for a very long time as the unit was very rusty. There had been quite a lot of wind recently and this had blown dead leaves onto the protection mesh and they had become stuck.

The leaves sticking onto the protective mesh I thought showed the contrast that can arise when the natural world meets the made-made world. I thought this contrast made an interesting composition as well. To take the photo I used the camera in program auto mode because as the subject was all in the same plane the actual aperture chosen made very little difference. The camera chose a shutter speed of 1/50^th of a second with an aperture of F4.5 and an ISO of 320. I didn’t use flash because I didn’t want the background to be lit up very much.

To edit the photo I only adjusted the colour temperature and the saturation. By increasing both of these I introduced a lot more ‘life’ into the photo and also made the photo look a lot more vivid. I didn’t change the light levels because I was happy with how the camera had exposed the photo, and I didn’t want to spoil the effect.

I enjoyed my wander around my town; I went a different way to normal and found some new interesting areas to take photographs at. I’m sure I will be going back again soon to take some more.

Mat

Flying Away

I managed to go out for a walk with my camera today. So I decided to walk around my town and see what I could find. I was walking towards our town centre and there was a large group of black birds circling above me, which gave me an idea for an interesting composition.

My idea I had was to capture the birds as they circled past one of the lamp posts. To capture the exposure I set the camera into AI Servo Focus (Continuous AF), selected the centre AF point which is more sensitive and set the camera to continuous drive mode. I panned the camera following the birds in the viewfinder until I saw the composition I wanted through the viewfinder when I took 4-5 photos. I made sure to take multiple exposures to ensure I had the composition that I wanted.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast and lowered the highlights. This stops the highlights from becoming blown and also the photo looked a bit flat before so this makes the photo look more dynamic. I also cropped out some rubbish that had become caught on the top of the lamp post. I had accidently captured the photo on an angle; I tried adjusting this to become vertical, but I put it back because I preferred the composition.

Bex apologises for not uploading a post recently, but this week is her exam week and she has been very busy with her revision so she left me in charge of the blog for this week. She has told me that she has a lot of interesting photos that she took over the weekend as well to show you. I’m sure that you will enjoy them.

Mat

Close Focus Weed

As promised I still have many photos from the weekend, while looking through them I found this one. We had stopped for a quick break in the shade of a tree, while sitting down I saw a small group of weeds. I thought I could create an interesting composition so before we carried on I took a few photos, and I think this one was the best of the set.

To be able to capture the effect that I wanted I knew that I had to focus close to the weed. My standard lens wouldn’t focus close enough to the lens so I borrowed one of Bex’s macro filters; this enabled me to focus much closer to the weed. Also by focusing closer to the weed the depth of field becomes much smaller, this aids the effect I was trying to create. I decided to use flash for this photo because I wanted the inside of the leaves to be illuminated, and I wanted the shadows to be more defined than with just normal light.

The only changes I made during the editing stage was to increase the contrast, the colour tone and the saturation. By increasing the contrast the photo looks more three dimensional than before; and by increasing the colour tone and the saturation the yellow on the weed becomes a lot more pronounced and stands out more from the green.

I like the effect I created with this photo, and I think the editing that I did to the image has improved this effect. I couldn’t have captured the photo without the macro filter I borrowed from Bex though. Between both of us we have a good amount of equipment for almost every photographic situation!

Mat

Peering Flower

I took quite a lot of photos while out on our walk on Saturday. I know I was taking photos in a city but there were a lot of green areas. In one of these there was a small group of flowers. They made an interesting composition so I decided to take a photo of them.

For this photo I wanted a very small depth of field so I decided to use my telephoto lens. I set the aperture as wide as possible which gave the short depth of field that I was looking for. For this photo I didn’t use my flash gun because I tried some test shots and the photos didn’t look as good when compared with the photos taken without flash. I boosted the saturation and the contrast in camera to give the photo some extra ‘punch’.

I liked how the camera had captured the photo so I decided not to edit the photo. I didn’t want to spoil the effect that I had created.

I still have a few more photos that I can upload to show you. So for the next art on start on few days I shall be using the photos that I took on Saturday, I hope you enjoy them.

Mat

Watery Arch

As Bex has already mentioned we managed to go out for a photography walk with a local group. It was our first trip and everyone was very nice and friendly; they all made us feel very welcome. This photo was one that I had taken on the day.

While we were walking around we went past a group of fountains, I thought they made an interesting composition so I took a number of photos. To make the most creative composition I decided to capture the exposure with a slow shutter speed of ¼ of a second. By doing this the water becomes blurred and looks like an arch. Because of the slow shutter speed I put the camera onto my tripod to keep it steady and to be sure of a sharp photo. Also I took the photo in RAW format so I wasn’t limited in what I could do at the editing stage.

To edit the photo I first changed the white balance to put some warmth into the photo then I changed the levels by lowering the brightness and the highlights while increasing the contrast. By changing the white balance the yellow tiles become much more vivid. And by changing the levels the photo becomes much more dynamic, with the water clearly standing out from the background.

I’m glad Bex and I got a chance to go out and meet the photography group, they were all very friendly. If you have a photography group nearby to you, I would greatly recommend giving them a visit. No matter what you interest you have in photography, whether you’re an amerture using you camera for the first time or a professional with thirty years experience, you will all be made welcome.

Mat

Focused

Mat and I went for a walk today; only today’s wander was a little different. We joined a local photography group on a walk around the town centre. The group was fairly large so we split off into smaller groups and arranged to meet later. I feel like I had a good photography day today; in other words, I have a few images that I’m really proud of and this is one of them!

Small shrubs are dotted around the town centre to make the area look greener. I focused on macro shots today, as I haven’t taken any in quite a while! One of the plants had small red berries on the branches. I took a few pictures from further away but couldn’t get close enough to achieve the effect I wanted; to combat this I used my macro filters (+7), which allowed me to focus an inch away from the subject, with a much smaller depth of field. I tried to put the most forward berry in the centre of the frame to focus attention.

I’m really pleased with the original photo, so I haven’t edited it; I love using my filters!! I really enjoyed my wander today, and can’t wait to join the photography group at their next event!

Bex

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Back In Time

My laptop is back and (almost) working! Of course, I’m now behind with photos so have had to upload another old shot. I took this photo during a walk through the courtyard with the church (previously mentioned on 22nd December).

A woman was feeding the gulls while leaning against one of the trees. After she left, the gulls continued to fly around, lingering at the prospect of more food. I used my wide-angle lens and tried to get back as far as possible in order to get a lot of detail into the shot. I took the photo on super high quality to make it possible to look at small details, such as the bird with bread in its beak and the individual leaves on the trees.

I tried to focus on textures in this image. I included a lot of ground to make the pattern on the floor more prominent. I increased the sharpness in-camera to pick out the detail of the leaves, and used a narrow aperture to increase the depth of field so both lampposts and all trees were in focus. Unfortunately, this means that the building behind is also in focus- but I like the arches and I think it works well. I used a custom white balance to make the image feel warmer, but I haven’t edited the photo at all! Sometimes I like to take a busy shot, as it gives you more to look at and focuses your attention on tiny details in every section.

Bex
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Mountain Walks

Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to go out for a photography wander yet. So once again I looked through my computer, I saw a few good photos from my trip up Snowdon so I thought I should upload another one.

This photo was again taken in automatic as the specific aperture used makes very little difference to the depth of field. I composed the photo so the mountain was slightly in the right hand third of the frame and with the horizon towards the lower third of the frame. I did this to make an open and relaxed atmosphere to the photo. The camera chose to metre off the whole frame so that the exposure was an average of the highlights and shadows.

To edit the photo I decided to increase the contrast and lower the highlights. I did this because the photo looked a bit ‘flat’ before. Also I increased the colour temperature and the saturation. I did this to make the photo look more vibrant. I didn’t crop the photo because I liked how I had framed the photo.

I think I’ve just about exhausted the photos that I took on my trip up Snowdon, but If I spot any more I will upload them for you.

Mat

Mountainous

I haven’t had a chance to go out for photography walk so I’ve been raiding my computer today for some inspiration. I was looking through some of my older holiday photos when I stumbled across this photo I took while walking up Mount Snowdon. I love the Welsh countryside, each time you look at it you spot something different.

For this photo I set the camera into auto, because the aperture used would make very little difference to the photo. I composed the photo so that one of the peaks was in the left third and the lakes were more towards the centre to balance the composition. As the weather was quite overcast I put the horizon in the top third to create a more dramatic effect.

To edit the photo I increased both the contrast and the brightness. I did this to make the photo more vibrant. Also to increase the vibrancy I increased the colour temperature by a small amount. I didn’t crop the photo because I was happy with the composition and I didn’t want to spoil the effect I had created.

Hopefully if I get a chance over the weekend I will go out for a photography wander. If not I shall dive back into my computer’s hard drive.

Mat

Future Gateway

Happy new year to you! I must start off today with an apology; unfortunately the internet went down for both Bex and I yesterday, and despite our best efforts we were unable to upload a post for you, so we both hope that you accept our apology. Now down to the photography.

As it is new years day and people are making resolutions for the new year ahead I thought I should upload a photo that could relate to this. This photo wasn’t taken today but instead I took it a few weeks back. Bex and I were out on a walk and we went past this gateway, I liked the composition with the tree so I used an aperture of F7.1 to keep an adequate depth of field.

When I came back to this photo while looking for one to upload, I thought that it would be perfect. I think that the gateway resembles the new year and the field behind it resembles our expectations and resolutions for the new year. This photo is exactly what I was looking for today’s upload; I believe this summarises the concept of the new year resolution perfectly.

Bex and I hope that you all have a very happy new year and if you’ve made a new year resolution, we hope that you stick to it!

Happy new year

Mat