Tracks of Time

I didn’t have much to do today, so in an effort to fight the boredom I caught a bus and went to the harbour for a walk. On one side of the harbour is a small café and, next to this, a railway. It’s mostly disused now, only serving tourists on a steam train during the summer. There are no barriers along the tracks so, during the winter, children play on the them; it also means I have chance to take photos!

I had taken several photos on the train tracks, and was beginning to think about leaving when I spotted these notches all the way along. I’m not sure what they are, but I thought that it would make a good photo. I originally took it in colour, but apart from a little redness from the rust, most of it was grey. Because of this, increasing saturation didn’t look right, so I tried turning the image black and white; I was really pleased with the photo in black and white as it adds to the idea of the subject having age.

I increased the contrast in Photoshop and sharpened the image, but decided to leave everything else, as I didn’t want to lose any detail. I love going for walks when I don’t have a lot to do; there’s always an excuse to take a camera!

Bex

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Take a Trip

My laptop broke today, so I'm going to have to take a trip back in photographic time as I'm currently using an older laptop while I wait for the other to be repaired. However, this is the exception; I went on a wander today with my new lens. I tried to focus on wildlife, in order to test the lens at higher focal lengths. I took this at 200mm as the seagull was landing in the water. It’s been incredibly cloudy all day, so I decided to couple the effect of the clouds with the theme of time.

To exaggerate the effect of the sun behind the clouds and take the theme of time into account, I edited the image in Photoshop. By taking the photo into the sun, most of the colour had been lost so I converted it to black and white. I then darkened highlights and increased the contrast. I sharpened the image and removed noise. I then selected everything apart from the bird and increased the contrast further, in order to make the cloud pattern more prominent.

I liked trying to follow a theme for a change, it made me a little more focused and provided a source of inspiration. I did suffer for my hobby today; I had to towel-dry my hair when I got home!!!

Bex

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Shadows

I finally had chance to go for a walk today, and as usual I took my camera with me! This is probably my favourite image of the day, and perhaps isn’t quite as edited as you might expect at first glance.

Towards the end of my walk around the local nature reserve it was starting to get dark and was beginning to cloud over. I found some strange looking flowers, and decided to take a photo of them up the stem to make them seem bigger in the image. However, the camera metering got a little confused and for some strange reason, it came out black and white!

Although I hadn’t intended to take an image in black and white, I liked it and how it made the clouds look more ominous. To try to make this effect more dramatic, I increased the contrast in Photoshop. I increased it to the point that you couldn’t see the stems of the plants to add mystery. I also decreased the brightness slightly. The combination of this made the clouds look much moodier and added a general sense of ambiguity to the entire image.

I’m really pleased with how this image turned out; it just goes to prove that sometimes the camera knows best; even when it doesn’t have a clue what to do!

Bex

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Vintage Return

As promised Bex and I went on a photography wander today. We didn’t go very far but we found many interesting compositions. This photo I spotted about half way through the walk, we had walked out of town and into the countryside and where about to turn round to return back.

I saw this tree half way along a hedge between two fields. I haven’t taken any photos in black and white for a long time so I thought that I should take the photo in black and white with a sepia digital filter. As I was a long distance from the subject the aperture that I chose would make very little difference to the depth of field so I left the camera in Program Auto. I did preset the ISO to 100 to ensure that there was plenty of detail to the shadows.

When editing the photo I decided to crop the photo down and alter the histogram. I cropped the photo to enhance the composition: by using the rule of thirds I moved the tree into the top left of the frame. By altering the histogram I lowered the highlights and the shadows, I think this made the exposure look more vintage which was the effect I was aiming for.

I’m glad that we got out for a photography wander, because I was starting to get a bit low on photographic material. I’ve now got a good stock of photos for all of you to enjoy.

Mat

Going Places

One of my friends and I went for a walk with my camera last week. We’re both into photography, but we’re both a little crazy so there was just as much messing around as there was photography.

One of the places that we walked was around a local college. The building differs slightly in design as you walk around it, making it interesting to look at along side the grounds. Hannah walked out in front as she was looking at the college, so I decided to take a “natural” portrait shot.

I thought the picture looked quite urban and industrial, although the colours had gone slightly off due to selecting the wrong white balance. I tried to correct this, but while editing I decided to try black and white; I think it worked quite well.

The only time I use black and white is when colour doesn’t seem to add anything into the picture. I feel it’s become an expectation to see colour photos, as that is what we are used to. I enjoy breaking the trend!!

Bex

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Branching Out

I was quite busy today but I managed to get out in the later part of the afternoon. Bex was busy today so I had to go out on my own. The weather was wonderful and I was looking at the beautiful sky when I saw these dead branches.

I thought that if I could silhouette them against the sky then it would make an interesting composition. I had to use quite a small aperture, because the depth of field is irrelevant. Also I underexposed the photo so that the branch is a silhouette. I really like the effect of the branch being a silhouette.

When I edited the photo I darkened the shadows to increase the effect of the silhouette. I also cropped out part of the tree in the left corner.

I really like the overall effect of the photo, also the editing made the photo look much better.

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

Back to Blogging

I’m back (again!); Switzerland was great, the weather was gorgeous with beautiful clear blue skies. What do I get when I come home? Freezing weather and rain! The rain stopped me from going out on a photography wander so I had to find a picture from my computer to upload.

This photo is from a wander a few weeks ago. I took it in black and white because I thought it would make an interesting composition. I used a yellow filter to I wanted to block out the background. Also, I used a large aperture to blur the background and again make the flower the centre of attention.

I really liked the effect that the black and white setting with the yellow filter had on the photo. The blurred background it forces your eye onto the flower. Even though the weather hasn’t been amazing I’m glad to be back and blogging again. I’ll try to make up for all the uploads that I’ve missed .

Mat

Tires and Travels

This will be my last post for a short while as I am travelling to Switzerland tomorrow morning. I thought that as I had such a great time last weekend that I should upload another photo from it.

After Bex and I had lunch, she insisted that she wanted to go on the swings. While she was on one of them, I thought the other might make a good subject for an arty photo. I really like the effect of black and white photos; I thought this one could look good in black and white too. I set up the shot so that the chain was in the centre and only half the tire was included in the frame. I used aperture priority mode, selecting a large aperture, which gave a shallow depth of field and caused the background to blur perfectly. I really like how the light reflects off of the tire. With the use of a low ISO the photo is incredibly sharp, with every detail recorded precisely.

The photo didn’t require any editing in Photoshop. I really liked how the photo looked straight from the camera so I left it as it was.

I’m really going to miss doing my uploads; and I’m going to miss all of you. I shall leave you with Bex and her amazing, high quality photos. I’m sure that she has a whole store of photos just waiting to be uploaded. I’ll be returning on Wednesday and continuing with my blog posts as soon as I can. Until then I hope you all have a great time.

Mat

Empty Swings

Here's another photo from our picnic in the park on Sunday. On our way back from the picnic, we passed some swings. They were empty at the time and they looked quite eerie. I thought that this effect would be emphasised by taking the photo in black and white. I increased the contrast to make the swings bolder against the background. I really like how the supports are lined up, and how all the seats are lined up as well. They both create interesting lead in lines which make the swings appear longer and like they stretch into the distance. Using black and white gives the image a dark and mysterious tone, I like this effect and I think that it works very well for this photo.

Bex and I shall try to get out again soon to take more photos. I'm going to Switzerland on Sunday and won't be back until Wednesday, so once again you will be in the capable hands of Bex.

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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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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Boots are made for walking

Bex and I went for a walk today, we sat down to have quick break, when I noticed she was wearing her new boots. I thought it was a bit of a gamble but once again I flicked onto the black and white setting in her camera and I took this photo. The camera was in auto mode, and had chosen quite a wide aperture so that the grass behind also remained in focus. I really like the contrast between the boots and the grass behind them.

Bex and I obviously love going for wanders, do you? Do you like venturing out into the great outdoors, or do you prefer to stay wrapped up inside?

 Mat

Starting fires

Again, another photo from the weekend, this time of a bonfire being set up. I was still messing around with the in-camera settings so I flicked on the Black and White setting and took a photo, I tried to get the tree in the background to try and gain a bit more interest in the picture which I think worked quiet well. I used an orange digital filter, which means that the trees and the wood aren't discoloured but the contrast between the clouds and the sky is boosted.

I'm really getting into the Black and White landscapes but with large foreground interest. What kind of landscape photos do you prefer?

Mat

Breaking the Rules

This is another of my photos from this weekend; we took so many it may take us a while to get through uploading our favourite photos. I took this picture of a rather interesting cloud formation (or at least I thought it was!). Even though taking photos into the sun is going against one of the major rules of photography, I thought it was worth a try (although I wouldn't recommend looking straight into the sun). I used a red digital  filter with the black and white setting; this boosted the contrast so that it would make the clouds clearer against the sky and as the sun is in the middle of the photo it makes the bottom of the clouds look a lot darker and more moody than it is in reality.

I enjoy taking black and white photos; they emphasise details that the human eye wouldn't normally pick up. What do you prefer, black and white or colour photos?

Mat