Fly Away

I attended a friend’s wedding recently, and of course my camera came with me!!!! Although I was taking pictures of the happy couple, I couldn't help but slip a few arty shots in along side!

The theme of the wedding was based around birds; it was mostly white and cream with roses, white birdcages and doves as decorations. They were stunning and really caught my eye (and my camera…). As we walked out of the ceremony, I noticed that at the tables, paper doves were perched on each glass with a name written on it, which served as a place setting.

It caught my eye because it stood out; all the paper doves were placed on the same side all the way around the table, with white roses in the middle. I decided to take a close up of the glass to focus on one dove. I used a wide aperture to get a shallow depth of field so that the glass and the dove were the main focus of the picture.

I love the opportunities that are presented with different types of events. I’ve done a lot of event photography recently and the opportunities are endless!

Bex

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Luminous

I must apologise for leaving Mat to his own devices for the past few days; I've been snowed under with work!! I had a free afternoon today so I decided to mess around with the filters again. There’s been torrential rain all day, so I was confined to whatever I could find around my house.

I used a +1 and a +2 close up filter in conjunction with an 8-point starburst filter. Using these close up filters meant I could get a lot closer to the top of the lamp (whilst standing on a chair…!) without struggling to focus. The 8-point starburst filter adds more mystery around the lamp, instead of using a 4-point filter, which would give the conventional cross effect.

I boosted the contrast and increased the sharpness to make the starburst effect more prominent. I did this on the camera before taking the shot, so I didn’t need to do any editing afterwards. I wasn’t sure how much use the filters would be, but I thought they’d be good as a bit of fun. I’m quite impressed at some of the shots that I have got with them!

Bex

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A Gem of a Picture

I managed to find a huge set of twenty-eight different filters earlier this week, so Mat and I have spent most of this afternoon finding out what effects each filter created. We didn’t actually go out for the wander that we’d planned in the end, as they arrived when we were about to leave- we got a little distracted!

To test the filters we were using any items we could find within arms reach. One of the filters was a close up; this magnifies the zoom, and allows you to get closer to the subject. I used this in conjunction with a starburst filter to get the effect seen in this picture.

I used two of my bracelets with glass beads as I though they may reflect light well. I used ISO 800 to allow for the front beads, which were in shadow of the filters! The flash illuminated the beads at the back, and gave some interesting reflections. I used a wide aperture to get the shallowest depth of field possible.

I didn’t have to do any editing in Photoshop, as I was pleased with the initial image. For an experiment, I think it came out quite well - I can’t wait to use some filters on our next photography wander!!!

Bex

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Confetti

Mat was left in charge of the blog yesterday; I had a party to go to! As I sat down to our meal I noticed the table decorations- cups filled with different sweets and confetti over the table. I left the camera on the table while we were sat down, and I pressed the shutter just to see what happened.

This is how I’ve got some of my favourite shots (e.g. Start off Small- 2^nd April). I’m pleased with how well it worked, and I love the perspective of taking it from the tabletop.

It was quite dark so I had to use flash, which I think can sometimes ruin a shot, however I think it worked quite well here. I really like how the photo turned out. I had a great evening; hopefully you did as well.

Bex

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Distractions

I will readily admit that I am incredibly easily distracted and, like most people, when I need to do work everything becomes much more interesting- today was no exception.

Mat and I have had a lot going on recently, and I brought some work home with me to finish off during the course of this evening. The glorious sunshine we’ve had over the last few days hasn’t lasted and instead we have rather reluctantly welcomed back the rain.

I try to make the best of situations, and one characteristic of rain is that it can give some interesting shots. This afternoon I was in my room when it had just stopped raining, and there were raindrops on my window. This seemed a lot more interesting than work, so I grabbed my camera to try and get some interesting photos.

I took a few that I thought were successful, and this is one of my favourites. I used the macro setting on my camera with a smaller aperture to create a more shallow depth of field. This meant the raindrops on my window were in focus while the trees behind were blurred.

After my impromptu break I did continue my work, so I apologise for yet another late post!

Bex

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Sky View

I took this photo on a recent trip into the city centre. At the moment there is a London Eye- style wheel in the main square. On our last trip into town Mat and I had a trip to the top! Before I got on I was admiring the spectacle of this 60 metre high wheel and the glorious weather.

I took a few pictures that day but this is my definitely my favourite because the lens flare really shows how sunny it was.

During this changeable English weather I think we could all do with a little bit of sunshine!

Bex

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Coffee Under Glass

This is my first proper post on our blog, and while wandering around our local town today I noticed this coffee shop so I spun the camera on it’s side, focused just above the door, waited for a gap in the flow of people and took the snap. As I don’t have my own DSLR yet, I borrowed Bex’s Olympus to take the snap. Nothing special or amazing but I thought it would make a good picture. Maybe next time I’ll take something more creative?

Mat