Viewpoint

Both Bex and I have been incredibly busy today so we didn’t get a chance to go out for a photography wander. Her laptop is still broken so I looked through my computer for some inspiration. Once again I looked through some of my holiday photo folders, when I stumbled across this photo; it was taken on a disused railway line on the side of a mountain looking in towards a valley.

I used the camera in aperture priority to make the most of the composition, I chose an aperture of F16 to give a large depth of field, and to keep everything looking sharp. I also preselected an ISO of 100, to give the most detail possible; there was plenty of natural light so I didn’t worry about the shutter speed being too low.

I didn’t edit the photo as I was very happy with the result I had made at the time. The colours had been replicated accurately so didn’t require altering; and the exposure was perfect.

Bex has told me that she is really missing the blog, and that as soon as her laptop is working again she will be blogging as usual. She tells me that she has a lot of photos in mind that she wants to upload.

Mat

Past Holidays

Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance a chance to go out for a walk today so I looked through my computer for an image to upload. I usually find the photos from my holidays in Wales to be good for inspiration. I found this photo which really struck me with the well balanced composition.

I used the camera in the landscape setting and the camera selected an aperture of F8.5 for a deep depth of field and a shutter speed of 1/140^th of a second to complete the exposure. I turned off the flash because it would make no difference to the photo.

To edit the photo I cropped out the bottom as there was nothing of interest. I also increased the contrast to give the photo more ‘punch’ and vibrancy. I didn’t change anything else because I was happy with the effect I had created.

Unfortunately Bex hasn’t been having much luck with her laptop recently; she is hoping to get it fixed very soon. She has told me that she has a lot of photos prepared for you, and that she has missed doing the blog recently. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to go out for a walk later in the week, to capture more photos to upload for you.

Mat

Flowering

On the walk I went on yesterday, after attempting to photograph the sunrise I decided to take some photos of the flowers near-by. As the sun was still rising it created a warmer glow on the flowers which created an interesting effect on the orange pattern.

To take full advantage of the warm glow I used a warm white balance, which emphasises the early morning glow of the sun. Instead of using my standard lens I used my telephoto lens as I wanted a very short depth of field. Also I used my flashgun to give the photo some extra punch. I was using manual mode to preselect an aperture of F5.6 and an aperture of 1/300^th of a second. I left the camera to select the ISO automatically.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast and adjusted the white balance to give the photo more vibrancy. I didn’t change anything else because I liked the effect that I had created. I liked the composition that I captured.

Bex and I are planning a photography wander this weekend so we should both have more photos for us to upload throughout the holiday.

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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Mountain View

I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had a chance to go out for a wander. So again I looked into my computer’s memory for some photographic inspiration. So I looked through some of my holiday photos from a few years ago.

This was one from a trip to North Wales; I had gone for a walk along a river near mount Snowdon. I didn’t have access to an SLR back then so I used my compact camera. I put the camera into landscape mode which boosts the greens but also selects a narrower aperture to normal.

As this was taken on a compact camera, so I had to make a few adjustments. The main was to change the exposure: I increased both the contrast and the overall brightness. This corrected the camera to make the photo much more balanced. I also increased the colour temperature; this brings some warmth into the photo and makes it look much more vibrant.

I really like some of my old holiday photos; some of them are actually quite good. But most of them have required some sort of editing in one way or another. Bex and I have planned to go out for a short wander tomorrow if we both get some spare time. So hopefully we shall have some photos to share for you.

Mat

The Young At Rest

I was looking through the firework photos and I found a few more that I liked, but I thought I would break the pattern today so I don't completely bore you with fireworks. So as I haven’t got much material at the moment, I thought I should look through my computer and see what inspiration I can find.

While I was looking through some previous holidays from a long time ago, when I stumbled across this one. This was taken before I got really serious with photography so the quality wasn’t perfect. But I had managed to get the composition right. I waited until the lamb was looking next to the camera, as I thought this would create the best effect.

To edit the photo I corrected the white balance by adjusting the colour temperature, and I also decreased the highlight brightness. By correcting the white balance the sheep are now properly white and by adjusting the exposure the highlights have been blown out to much.

I plan on going out for a wander this weekend so I’ll see where that takes me. Bex sends her apologies, unfortunately she has been ill quite recently and so has been unable to do a post. She is getting better and will hopefully be able to carrying on posting towards the end of this week.

Mat

Stalls

This is another photo from my holiday, as I still have many to upload and so little time to take new pictures!! I took this photo on the first full day of our holiday when we went shopping.

As described in a previous post, the shopping centre opens out to reveal a long high street with small pathways spiralling off of it. I’ve visited the same place several times, so I’ve been down most of them. The trouble is that they ALL lead to another winding alley, which leads to another and another, and so on.

I walked a little further down the street before turning off this time, and I found two large archways in what seemed to look like a long forgotten part of town. I heard noises so walked in to see what was going on and was faced with the buzz of a traditional market place.

I took this picture using ISO 1600 so that I could get a fast enough shutter speed whilst still being able to use an aperture of F8 to get a deeper depth of field. I didn’t do any editing apart from noise removal, as I wanted to keep the photo as close to the original as possible.

It’s near impossible to find the same streets more than once, but I certainly hope that I’m able to find this one again- I love it!!! Retro sweets anyone?

Bex

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Finer Details

I’ve been dealing with all my work that I’ve had to catch up on after my weekend away, so I haven’t enough spare time to go out on another wander. This serves as an advantage as well as a disadvantage, as I have plenty of photos left to share from my holiday!

I took this particular image the evening we arrived; I had a free day so travelled in the morning. I arrived at around 2pm and sat by the beach with a coffee. At about half past 4 I checked into the hotel. The sun was just beginning to set, and was starting to appear under the band of cloud, bathing everything in an orange haze. This picture was taken from the balcony of my room.

I used a starburst filter in conjunction with a neutral density filter to try to reduce the brightness of the image. This meant that I didn’t lose any detail in the picture, but also added interest to the photo. I love how there are smaller starburst effects along the middle section of the cloud, as well as the main beams from the sun.

I like how once you get past the face value of the picture, you begin to notice minute details such as the smaller starburst effects, and the ripples in the ocean that have been lit up by the sun.

Bex
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Absolutely Quackers!

I’m back, I’m revived and I’m ready to blog!! I had a lovely time in Devon with plenty of retail therapy to keep me occupied!!!

On one of the days we went to a local shopping centre; I love it because it stretches from a main building around many winding streets and alleyways laced with markets and quintessentially British pubs. I’ve visited this particular area before, so I decided to take my camera as I missed out previously!!!

I spotted my first photographic opportunity not long after I walked into the main precinct. A man was promoting a local wildlife scheme, with a little help from a friend! The man walked side by side with this incredibly stylish duck! It was quite funny to watch everyone doing a double- take as they realised that this amusing site was actually  real!!

I tried to take a picture but had to use a high ISO to get a fast enough shutter speed to capture the duck before it moved. I couldn’t keep it’s attention long enough to take a decent photo, but when the man saw me he made the duck face me by walking along side.

There was a small roundabout behind it, which gave this shot more interest. I’ve been really into pictures with a more retro feel to them and as I increased the contrast the noise became more prominent creating this effect. I normally strive to illiminate this but I’ll admit that I liked it! To emphasise this, I sharpened the image, increased the contrast and used a grain effect in Photoshop.

I’m really pleased and slightly surprised that something a little arty can come from a snapshot, but sometimes these photos are the best type.

Bex

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Bridging Leaves

This photo was taken during the wander Bex and I went on a few days go. Bex was taking photos of this leaf when I had an idea. I thought by using an off camera flash gun would make an interesting lighting effect.

So as Bex was taking the photo I held the flashgun for her. She used an aperture of F5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/6th of a second. By using a slow shutter speed the camera is able to sync with the flash gun. Using the flash off the camera created an interesting effect by lighting the underside of the leaf. It illuminates the leaf from a different angle creating a very different effect to normal lighting. We both really liked the effect of  using the off camera flash.

When editing the photo Bex and I had decided to only change the framing and the contrast. By cropping the photo so the leaf was in the bottom left corner of the frame, we both thought this really helped the composition of the photo. We also decided to increase the contrast, this makes the lighting effect ,much more dramatic.

We both really liked the effect of using the off camera flash, I’m definitely going to use it in some of my own photography.

Bex also says hello from her holiday, she had a great time today. And she is missing you all and can’t wait to get back with all her new photographic material.

Mat

Autumn Leaves

I managed to go out for a walk today so I went back to the nature reserve, but I went a different way to normal. I did this because I wanted to find some different places to photograph. It was quite early, the sun was just starting to rise and the low light levels made some interesting photographic opportunities.

The light was spot lighting this tree in particular, so to exaggerate this effect I decided to use the built in flash. This made the background go very dark but kept the leaf very bright and clear. I used an aperture of F5.6 to ensure the whole leaf was in focus but the background was left blurred. Also I reduced the green to ensure the amount of yellow was reproduced correctly.

The only editing I did to the photo was to crop the photo so the leaf was in the bottom right of the frame. I didn’t change anything else because I like the effect of the photo, the exposure was calculated perfectly and all the colours have been reproduced faithfully.

I took quite a few photos today, and I’m sure I will return to take some more in the near future.

Bex says hi from her holiday, she says that she’s missing you already and will be taking many photos throughout her holiday to show you when she returns.

Mat

One Last

I took this picture on my walk yesterday; it was one of the first shots I took on our walk and it’s one of the pictures I mentioned yesterday that I was especially pleased with.

It had been raining that afternoon, so raindrops were still on all the plants around the town. As I was walking past a hedgerow, I noticed a few leaves that had almost broken away from the branches due to the excess rain. I loved how some rain has stayed on the leaf, giving the effect of a lens. I focused on this leaf in particular, using an aperture of F4.5 to blur the edges of the leaf to make the picture seem more surreal. I used low key gradation to make the photo seem more dramatic and emphasise the contrast in the image.

I didn’t have to do any editing, as I was pleased with the original photograph. I love how you can see the veins of the leaf through the water droplets; it seems to add to the mystery of the image. I am going on holiday tomorrow, so I shall leave you in the capable hands of Mat for the weekend. Au revoir!!

Bex

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Water Blur

I didn’t manage to go out today so I used one of my photos from yesterday. Where I was walking there was a large pipe which transports water under the path, it had been raining previously so there was a lot of water rushing through. I thought that I could make an interesting effect out of it if I slowed down the shutter to blur the water.

To suitably blur the water I put the camera in shutter priority and selected a shutter speed of ¼ of a second. At ISO 100 the camera chose an aperture of F18, this gave a large depth of field which enhanced the effect of the photo. Because I was using a long exposure I had to use a tripod to steady the camera.

When I edited the photo, I decided to increase the shadows and the highlights to make the photo clearer. I also de-saturated the photo to make the water look clearer and less orange. I also turned the colour temperature down to make the photo look calmer, because I was aiming for a calm and relaxed atmosphere to the photo.

I will hopefully get a chance for a wander tomorrow. But if I don’t then I have plenty more photos from yesterdays walk that I can upload.

Mat

Watching Waves

I haven’t been able to go for a walk recently as I have had a lot going on. This is another picture from my visit to the monkey sanctuary. I took this picture on the way back from the sanctuary. On our route, there was a ferry crossing, with a small sandy area either side of the water.

As I was waiting to board, I discovered that an old-fashioned chain ferry covered the crossing. The chains had been rusted after several years use; along with the railings that had been exposed to the sea. It was getting late and the clouds were starting to roll in, which made the entire scene look quite dramatic. I decided to play up to this by under exposing slightly. Amazingly, I didn’t have to do any editing to this picture as I liked it as it was.

I love finding odd photos through boredom. I try to keep an eye out wherever I go, just in case I spot something!

Bex
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Going Places

This is another picture from my trip to the seaside. This is the first picture I took during the day and in some ways it is one of my favourites. I needed to get on a train as I was going further away from where I was staying than I could reach by bus or by walking. I took this photo just after I got on the train; others were just getting on, as it wasn’t due to leave the station for a few minutes.

I took inspiration for this shot from another blog that I used to read. It was also a photography blog and inspired Mat and I to set up Daily Wanders. The author did something quite similar, taking a picture on the underground in the middle and looking straight down. It was taken early in the morning so no one was on it.

I made this shot my own by taking it at a busier time, catching people in the picture and taking it from a slight angle. I edited the picture in Photoshop, increasing the contrast and removing some of the brightness to make the photo seem more dramatic.

Bex

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Contradictory

You may recall that during my post on the 5^th August (“Indeed”), I uploaded a picture of a sign next to some graffiti. In this post, I mentioned that the pictures I took of the artwork itself were more like snapshots-which I thought they were… until I found this picture!

I saw this graffiti by chance as I was walking past the wall on my way to a local art gallery on the edge of the harbour. I noticed this out of the corner of my eye. Wondering what it was, I stopped to take a look. I walked over to the other side of the road to get a view of the artwork in full.

I had to use a wide-angle lens at a 45mm focal length. I used a small aperture to get a large depth of field so none of the scene was out of focus. Later in Photoshop, I increased the contrast while decreasing the brightness, and then increased the saturation.

If you hadn’t previously guessed, I’m firmly on the side of artwork when it comes to the “art or graffiti” argument. I love this; I think it’s amazing how every time you look you spot another detail that you missed before.

Bex

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Window to Where?

As I have previously mentioned, I have taken enough photos during my week away to enable Mat to have twice that! Despite fears of boring you, I wanted to show you yet another of my holiday snaps!!

The weather was lovely for the entirety of my holiday- one day in particular. On this especially sunny day I decided to go a beach just over the other side of the harbour. It took a 5-minute ride on a chain ferry (mainly used for cars) to get across.

As I was waiting for the ferry to make it’s crossing, I decided to take some pictures. As I looked out of the window I saw this scene and decided that it might make for an interesting picture. I took a photo without the window frame at first but decided it looked more original with the it included. It makes it seem more surreal, more quirky, which I think is what attracts me to this picture.

Mat says hello, he’s missing the blog already! I do hope I’m not going to completely bore you in the days to come as you still have a few left of my continuous posting!

Bex

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1000 Words

I’m afraid that when you’re a photographer, going on holiday doesn’t mean you leave your job at home! With this fact in mind, I managed to take somewhere in the region of 500 photos each day.

I took this photo on my last full day in the seaside town. I had been incredibly busy over the week so decided to have a relaxing day close to my base for the week. I stayed out for the day- walking through the high street, looking in the local museum and even painting a pot! It was late evening by the time I was walking back to the house so it was beginning to get dark.

I noticed a pile of fishing nets that had been left from the day’s work. They were rusty and looked like they’d been forgotten. I decided to take a picture, focusing on the pattern of the netting. Later in the evening, I increased both the brightness and the contrast then reduced the noise, as I had to use an incredibly high ISO.

I find this shot really interesting, as it’s a snapshot of daily life. A picture tells a thousand words, and this picture is no exception.

Bex

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Indeed

Admittedly this isn’t a stroke of photographic brilliance, yet I like it all the same. I took this picture at the local carnival, on the same day as the red arrows display. Graffiti was painted onto the wall of a derelict building, which depicted a knocked down section of wall with a small scene of the inside of an ancient house.

I took a picture of this scene but it looked more like a snapshot and didn’t seem very interesting. In the bottom right corner of the artwork this sign was written. I found it ironic as where it was written was dirty with paint peeling off. I felt this added to the overall originality of the shot and made it eye catching as much as the graffiti itself.

Later in the evening, I edited the picture in Photoshop. I increased the contrast to highlight the dirt and worn-away pain on the wall. I then lightened the highlights to pick up more detail.

I think the sign sums me up incredibly well; if there is ever a photo opportunity then I will find it! I know it doesn’t exactly count as an amazing piece of photography, but it’s unique and I like it!

Bex

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Converging Arches

I did manage to get out today (between rain showers again). So I went into our local town to pick up some photography supplies. I caught the bus in and walked the long way to the shop so I could take some photos.

About half way to the shop I walked through an indoor market; I really liked the structure that supported the roof. I thought that if I took the photo with the camera facing upwards it would cause the vertical lines to converge making an interesting composition. Also having the arch going through the centre of the frame makes the composition much more interesting, because all the contradicting lines lead your eye to different parts of the photo.

The exposure was spot on so I didn’t need to change the brightness or contrast in the editing stage. The only editing I did was to crop out the bottom of the photo, I did this because the framing didn’t quite come out as I had planned.

Just a quick congratulations to the Great Britain Olympic team for winning two gold medals today! One from the women’s rowing, and the other from the men’s cycling time trials. A very well done to you both! Hopefully these will be the first of many gold medals. Good luck Team GB!

Mat