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

Sea View

I was looking through my laptop this morning, trying to gather inspiration for a photography wander in the afternoon. As it happened I never actually got chance for my walk, but during the process of looking for inspiration one image caught my eye particularly- this one!

I took this picture a few months ago, during a recent holiday to the ­seaside. On the evening of the first day, I walked out onto my balcony to take in the scenery. As I looked to my right, I spotted the peach coloured clouds of the sunset and decided to take a photo.

I had to do a little post-processing, but only so much as straightening the image and cropping it slightly; it had all the small and inexcusable errors of a snapshot! I didn’t edit anything past this as I liked the original image, and didn’t want to lose the natural colour.

Admittedly it was more of a snapshot than a photograph, but I absolutely love it! I really like how the stone walls of the other balconies are painted white and pick up the colours of the sunset. I love how the balcony walls act as a frame. I also like how the Perspex at the end adds a final piece of interest to the picture, making the whole sunset image more curious.

Bex

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Autumnal Amble

I’m back… sort of. I was feeling a little brighter today so Mat and I went for a walk around the outskirts of town. Towards the beginning of the year, we found this place by accidentally getting on the wrong bus (don’t ask). It may have been cold and late whilst we were anxious to get home, but it was a nice place to wait for the correct bus.

I explained to my family that evening, and they told me how I could get back there. Since then we have visited the same place a few times and different points in the year. It’s amazing how as the year progresses, it changes completely; it seems almost as if you’re visiting somewhere new each time. I think my favourite season of the year to photograph is in autumn; it sounds a little cliché, but the colours of the leaves really do add so much interest!

It’s really odd to see when walking, as one road is completely green then as soon as you turn the corner you are faced with a sea of fire. The vast stretch of pavement is lined by trees each side with benches in between. Around this time of year you completely lose sight of the floor as it gives way to a carpet of colour.

In this photo I used a custom white balance (6000K) to make the colours warmer; I also increased the contrast and sharpness on the camera. I haven’t done any editing after this as I was pleased with the photo and didn’t want to make the colours appear artificial.

This is one of my favourite places to visit, as it doesn’t seem possible that you could ever tire of it. It’s difficult to get to, but really is worth it and I can’t wait until I can go again. There’s also a very nice café near by – coffee please!

Bex

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Tiny Leaves

Bex and I managed to get out for a walk today as planned. So we walked around our local area as we didn’t have much time. We walk the same area quite a lot but take different photo each time, as we see something different each time.

While walking there was an open area of grass that was surrounded by a hedge. I liked the area as there was a lot of photo opportunities, I thought that I should do some macro photography in this area. So I put the camera into aperture priority to give the smallest depth of field possible and I moved as close as I could to the leaves. By moving in close and using a large aperture the depth of field was only a few centimetres. I like this effect because very little of the leaf is in focus with the background blurred completely out of focus.

I rotated the photo so it was in the correct orientation and I cropped it down slightly to improve the composition. I also increased the colour temperature because I like having a little extra ‘warmth’ to my photos. I didn’t change anything else because I like how the photo was exposed and the colour recreation was perfect.

I’m away for the weekend, hopefully I shall have a chance to take some photos. If not then I’m sure Bex will be able to do a great job of supplying some amazing photos for you.

Mat

Bursting Lights

I know I very recently added a similar photo to this but I had taken a lot of photos while in the tent with the flashing lights. I was debating which of the photos I should upload; this photo or the one I uploaded previously, in the end I gave up and decided to upload both of them.

This photo, I actually took before the previous one. I took this in the same manner as the other photo, with the camera in manual mode. I took this photo very quickly because the lights were changing very fast and I didn’t have much time to set up the camera in between shots. This photo had a shutter speed of 1/30 and an aperture of F5.6; I also preset the ISO to the maximum setting the camera had (ISO 1600).

When I edited the photo I Increased the contrast but also I turned the highlights down a bit. I did this to make the white more pure but also so the light didn’t white out. After this I cropped down the photo so the pattern was more into the upper right corner, I think this helps the composition because it looks like the light is bursting out of the corner into the frame. As I used a high ISO there wasn’t much I could do about the noise level, so I used the noise reduction tool to dampen the noise levels to a reasonable amount.

It’s the weekend again! Bex and I have been planning a wander for this weekend, so hopefully the weather will hold out and we can carry out our plans.

Mat

A Bridge To Not So Far Away

Yesterday I went for a wander with Bex in our local nature reserve. This was before we had a chance to look at her new set of twenty eight filters! In the nature reserve there is a brook which flows all the way through. About half way down there is this small wooden bridge that crosses the brook.

I thought the bridge would make an interesting photo if I got the composition right. By only including half the bridge in the frame I thought it would make the composition more interesting. I used a high F-stop (F18) to add some depth to the photo and to keep as much of the bridge in focus. I didn’t use flash because the end of the bridge would white out, and the overall effect would be spoiled.

When I took the photo off the camera I decided to make the shadows darker and the increase reds. I darkened the shadows to create a moodier atmosphere to the photo. I increased the reds to bring out how the bridge looked in real life.

I’m really looking forward to trying out Bex’s new set of filters (if she will let me!). Maybe we might take a few on our next wander with us. We’re planning another photography walk in the next few days, so hopefully we shall have some more photos to upload for you.

Mat

An Unknown Plant

The weather was really nice today so I was sitting in the garden enjoying the nice weather. I noticed in one of the trees, this plant that was hanging down. I’m not sure what specific plant it is, but I thought it might make an interesting photographic opportunity.

I used the widest aperture I could to ensure the background was blurred appropriately. I also used the flash to pick out the white of the plant. The wind was blowing quite fast so I had to use a fast shutter speed, this meant I required a moderately high ISO.

When I edited the photo I decided to increase the brightness, this has the effect of making the white clearer. I also made the shadows darker, this focuses the attention onto the plant itself. Also I cropped the photo so that the plant was towards the left part of the frame, I think this enhances the composition of the photo.

Overall I think the photo has worked very well, and I’m quite pleased with the editing that I did. I will try to find out what plant this is, if I find out I shall let you all know.

Also a quick congratulations to everyone who received their GCSE results today, I know you all worked very hard to get the grades you received. So very well done to you all.

Mat

Wild Flowers

I managed to get out today during a quick break, so I thought I would go out for a quick walk with the camera. On my walk I saw these wild flowers, I really liked how they were bunched together without anything surrounding them.

When I took the photo I used quite a small aperture to retain a large depth of field. It was quite dark so I used the flash, by doing this the background became blacked out. By using the flash it meant I could use a low ISO and retain the full detail in the flowers.

When I took the photo off the camera I thought it needed some editing. The flash wasn’t quite powerful enough, so I had to boost the brightness to make the flower look a bright white. I also cropped down the photo to concentrate the attention onto the flower.

I really like this photo, the editing worked very well. The photo looks exactly how I wanted it to. I would like to think that my editing is getting slowly better.

Mat

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

Secluded

Bex and I went for a wander down the local nature reserve for some inspiration and photographic opportunities. We walked past a bush which normally I would have walked past but I saw it from an odd angle and thought it looked rather interesting.

I walked closer to crop out the rest of the bush, and also to alter the perspective. I used the widest aperture I could to blur the background. By blurring the bush, it stops it from being a distracting background. I used the pop-up flash as a fill in flash, because the group of leaves were in shadow.

When I took the photos off the camera, they needed editing quite a bit. So I increased the contrast while also reducing the brightness. This has the effect of blacking out the background and focussing more attention onto the main subject.

Overall I really like the effect of the photo with the background being blacked out and the leaf being very sharp in the foreground. I think the editing was very successful.

Mat

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 

Falling

I managed to get out for a quick wander today even though it was raining; I thought I could get some interesting effects. As I was walking the rain started to get worse so I darted under a tree for some shelter. While under the tree I noticed how the rain was clinging to the undersides of the leaves.

I really liked how the raindrop had stuck to the underside. I really think the composition summed up the weather and the atmosphere of today. I took this photo with a slight underexposure to create a more gloomy impression. This worked really well because the leaves are much darker without losing any detail in them but the rain drop is still very clear.

The only editing I did was to crop the photo down to reduce the amount of background because it was a distraction. By reducing the area of the photo it focuses the attention onto the rain drop and the leaves around it.

I like the effect of this photo; I think it sums up the weather we are having completely. I really do hope that we have some more sunny weather soon!

Mat

Coloured Lights

This photo was taken last Saturday after the Gavin and Stacey tour. We got back home and I was randomly thinking about how I love the creative light effectives that other photographers make.

I thought that I should have a go myself; this was one of the results. I turned off all the lights and borrowed Bex’s phone as it was brighter. I settled the camera onto a table and used a long exposure time of 5 seconds. When I released the shutter I moved the phone around in front of the camera lens in a ‘swinging’ shape, this created the curve effect that can be seen.

The photo didn’t come out completely perfect; so I asked Bex to edit it for me. She increased the contrast on the photo to make the colours really stand out from each other, also by increasing the contrast the colours become really bright and vibrant.

I was really impressed with how it came out; Bex is very good at editing and I really like what she has done with the photo.

I really like how the photo has come out, Bex did a very good job with the editing. I enjoyed playing with the light effects and I plan to make some more in the near future. What do you think though? What sort of light effects should I try next?

Mat

Getting Creative

My life has been rather busy of late so I must apologize for all the 11pm onwards posts, which to some readers may mean the next day. With being busy, there will inevitably come stress. I am one of those people who manage to channel stress into something marginally constructive.

I decided to create a “creativity wall”- quite simply a wall full of my favourite pictures, lyrics, and everyday quotes. This evening I sat down in front of my laptop and began my search for the most smile inducing pictures.

While hunting, I found this picture from a recent holiday in Devon. Mat and I went for a walk around the countryside, and although the concrete underneath shows that it wasn’t particularly rural, I love the effect this gives. Had it not have been for sitting down to soak up the sunshine (which currently seems more of a myth if you live in England!) then I wouldn’t have noticed the interesting set up.

I love how much detail is in the shot, especially on the leaf. Photography is definitely my favourite way to unwind. What’s your creative outlet?

Bex

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Naturally Set Up

Recently, I have uploaded a lot of macro photography and feel I should have a change. However, today is not the day for change as I took this photo.

I didn’t have a lot to do today, so decided to go for a walk in a different place to where I’d usually go.

After about 20 minutes of walking I found a small path, so decided to see where it would lead. As I followed the path I came across a small patch of bluebells, with one standing alone in front of a tree. I loved the pattern of the bark acting as a background. I used manual focus to try and get the bluebell in focus.

I’m really pleased with how successful this picture was, and that I didn’t need to edit it. I feel it’s a bit like nature setting up it’s own shot, what do you reckon?

On another note, please bear with us while I update the site, because I’ll happily admit that I’m not brilliant with computers. Give me a few days and we should be back to normal, but until then you can carry on visiting us to see our regular daily posts.

Bex

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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