Look Before You Jump

I found this photo while doing the previous blog post, this photo was taken chronologically first but I preferred the previous photo, which is why I uploaded it first. I had first seen the squirrel scurrying around in this tree. It stopped on a branch and leaned over looking like it was about jump to the ground (which it did after I captured my photos).

I didn’t have much time to capture the image I wanted, so I put the camera into shutter priority and selected a shutter speed of 1/640^th of a second. I chose this photo as I knew it would fast enough for all eventualities; it is fast enough to remove almost any movement by the squirrel and it will remove any camera movement even at the lens longest focal length. Fortunately I had enough time to take a short series of photos before the squirrel jumped off the branch onto the ground.

To edit the photo I cropped the photo for a tighter composition around the squirrel because there were quite a few distractions behind the tree. I didn’t change anything else because I was happy with the exposure and the colours had been replicated perfectly.

Hopefully at some time next week Bex and I will get a chance to go for a photography wander. The weather looks to improve so hopefully there will be plenty of new flowers bursting into life in the nature reserve and lots of wildlife hiding and waiting to be found.

Mat

Wall Climbing

Again this is a photo from the weekend before last. The park we had our lunch in was surrounded by a short wall. Ivy was growing all over the wall; it looks like it climbs its way up the wall from the ground. I wanted to capture the effect of how the ivy grows up the wall.

To capture the effect I composed the photo so the ivy was in the lower right hand third of the frame, and I left plenty of space in the top left third. I did this to give the impression that the Ivy is growing up the wall. As the whole scene was in the same plane I selected an aperture of F5.6 and I locked the ISO in at 100, this gave a shutter speed of 1/125^th of a second.

I didn’t edit the photo because I was happy with how the photo was straight from the camera. The exposure was perfect and the colours had been replicated exactly how I wanted them to. Crucially I didn’t need to crop the photo because the composition was exactly how I wanted it to be.

I really like how the ivy appears to be climbing along the wall. I still have a few more photos that I can upload from our trip into town, but hopefully, Bex and I will be going into town again tomorrow. If I take my camera and capture something interesting, I’ll upload for you to see.

Mat

Brambles

Both Bex and I had some time off yesterday, so we decided to take a short walk around the local nature reserve. We were walking around when I spotted a small bramble bush; I thought that one of the ends sticking out made an interesting composition.

I had my flash gun and tripod with me so I set up the flash gun on the tripod to the right of the bramble bush; so that only the right side of the bush is lit up. I wanted to try this effect out because I have seen it before a few times and wanted to try it out myself. I used the camera in manual mode and selected a shutter speed of 1/40^th and an aperture of F8; I chose this aperture to ensure that only the bramble bush was in focus. I underexposed the flash by one stop to get the effect that I wanted.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast and lowered the highlights to stop them from clipping. I also increased the colour tone to give the green leaves more punch. I also cropped the photo down slightly as there was some dead space to the left of the frame. Finally I converted the photo into JPEG format.

I’m very pleased with how this photo turned out, I like the moody effect the flash gun has made. I shall defiantly be experimenting more with different flash gun setups.

Mat

Watching the World

Perhaps not the world, but certainly a small part of my local area! I took this photo during an early evening walk around the harbour this evening. Although it may feel a little depressing that Christmas Day has passed and the days are incredibly short, I don’t let it get me down!

I went on a trip to my local harbour this afternoon. I took my tripod, my wide-angle lens and my telephoto. I took this particular photo on my wide-angle lens to try to get a larger view of what was across the water. I used a slow shutter speed coupled with a high ISO to enable me to use a narrow aperture (giving me a larger depth of field). I have seen a few photos of busy towns that have tried to convey the passing of time. I took inspiration from these photos and tried to use their results in my image. Each of the shots I saw were dark and focused on lights and signs, so I tried to do this in my photo. To add to the image I incorporated the reflections on the water and used a starburst filter.

To draw more attention to the lights, I edited the image in Photoshop. As a general improvement I sharpened the image and removed noise. I decreased the brightness slightly and increased the contrast by about 50% to lose most of the detail in the shadows.

Overall, I’m pleased with how this image turned out, and I’m pleased how I can see some small features that are similar to my w sources of inspiration, while retaining some originality. If you want to see the kind of images I took my inspiration from, search “night city” on Google.

Bex

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With a Twist

I love old books! This may seem rather out of the blue, but it’s not as uncalled for as you may initially think. Mat and I went into town today, and despite the constant lashings of rain, I took my camera. During the late afternoon, I walked towards a local market that runs all year round. It’s here that the book comment begins to make sense.

The market is unlike others, in which the stalls are actually furnished shops the size of a stall- one of these is a bookshop entitled “Beware of the Leopard”. I love it as it’s the type of shop that’s a muddle and prevents you seeing over the top of each isle; it’s completely floor-to-ceiling with different works. I found a small photography book from 1944; I loved it and have spent the entire evening pouring over it until my head was ready to explode with inspiration. On the way back from the market I walked through a courtyard, which led onto a small church. I took this photo in the courtyard during the brief deficiency of rain.

The photo had little colour in, and was rather uninspiring. I’ve always been told that if colour adds nothing to the photo, then it’s absence is probably a good thing- I ignored this. I increased the contrast in Photoshop to lose detail in the skyscraper behind and to increase the prominence of the clouds. I then sharpened the image to make the noise show up more, adding interest to the sky. While debating over the presence of colour, I accidentally over-saturated it. I decided I liked this so experimented further. I increased the hue to give the picture some warmer tones.

I’m really pleased with the effect of this image; ignore anyone who tells you the fore mentioned rule- they’re wrong. Rules- 0; Becky- 1.

Bex

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Fiery Reflections

While at the harbour light show the organisers had set up a number of small fires to keep everyone warm. It had been raining before the event and there still some puddles that had been left behind, all these puddles created some very interesting reflection effects. One of the puddles was right next to one of the fires, and behind the fire was a crane that was illuminated by a green lamp, the reflection created looked very interesting and created a very different composition to normal.

To capture the composition I used the camera in portrait format to capture the whole scene. I focused on the reflections of the fire to ensure it was in focus. I used a small aperture of F8 to ensure that as much of the scene was in focus. As it was late at night there was very little light around so I used the cameras highest ISO of 12800 to enable the use of a faster shutter speed.

To edit the photo the main thing I did was to sharpen the photo. I did this because by using the highest ISO a lot of the sharpness had been lost, after this I reduced the noise because the high ISO had introduced a lot of noise. I boosted the contrast and the brightness a small amount because I thought the photo looked a bit ‘flat’. I didn’t alter the composition because I like how I had captured the photo.

As promised I still have a few more photos that are upload-able. So I will be showing you a few more over the next few days. If the weather holds out Bex and I are planning on going out for a wander. I haven’t used my Pentax for a while so I might use that as I’m getting film withdrawal symptoms!

Mat

Reflections

I didn’t get a chance to go out today so I looked through my computer and stumbled across this photo. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to upload it! I had taken it on one of the many wanders that Bex and I have been on.

For this photo I used a tripod as I wanted the image to be as sharp as possible. I filled the frame half with the water from the pond and half with the sky. I did this to create a reflection effect on the water, I have seen many examples of this and I wanted to make my own version of them. I used the camera in aperture priority and used an aperture of F16. This ensured sharpness from the front to the back.

I did minimal editing to the photo I increased the overall brightness and lowered the highlights. I did this to increase the contrast manually. I really like the effect this created because the contrast between the clouds and the sky is much more prominent now, and makes the sky look a lot more violent. I also increased the colour temperature to make the photo look more vivid.

I am really pleased with the effect I had produced with this photo, when the weather is right I would really like to have some more attempts at taking reflection photographs. Otherwise  I shall try some other landscape photos if the weather isn’t good enough.

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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New Begining

I’ve finally got my own camera! Yesterday I purchased a brand new Canon 600D with an 18-55m lens and a Tamron 70-300mm lens. I’ve taken a lot of photos already; earlier today I took some more set up shots. I set up my new camera on a tripod then put some mugs onto an old wooden table using a black sheet as a backdrop.

I used manual mode so that I could have complete control of the camera. I selected an aperture of F18 to ensure that everything was in sharp focus. As there wasn’t much light I had to use a shutter speed of 15 seconds to get the correct exposure; I also used the built in flash for extra light and to gain a more creative effect. I used ISO 200 to help keep the shutter speed to a reasonable length. Also, I had to use the tungsten white balance to counteract the lighting of the room I was shooting in.

I tried to edit the photo but my Photoshop skills aren’t as good as Bex’s so I asked her to edit it as I wanted it to be perfect (this being the first photo from my camera). She decided to straighten the photo as I had taken it on an angle by accident. She also increased the contrast to make the shadows more prominent and sharpened the photo a small amount.

I’m really enjoying using my new camera; I’ve been trying different functions and effects that I haven’t used before. I will be playing about with it for a long time yet! Hopefully I’ll get a chance to photograph some wildlife soon as this is one of the main reasons for buying a telephoto lens.

Mat

A Trip In The Past

Following on from my previous upload, I’ve managed to get away with uploading another photo from the railway trip. Instead of using one of the photos from the railway itself I thought I would upload something different.

While I was there a classic bus with a private tour turned up, they had all got onto the train by this point so only the bus was left. I thought it looked quite solitary and made an interesting composition. To enhance the composition I used an aperture of F16, this gives the maximum depth of field to ensure sharp focus from the front of the frame to the back. Also to make an interesting composition I used the rule of thirds; by placing the bus in the lower right of the frame it makes the composition much more interesting.

When I uploaded the photo onto my computer I cropped the photo down, I did this because I caught the edge of a zebra crossing in the bottom of the photo, by cropping this out it makes the photo look more authentic. Also I converted the photo into black and white; I did this to make the photo look like it came from the same time period as bus.

I won’t be uploading any more photos from my trip to the railway, these two where definitely my favourites. I’m planning on going out for a wander in the next few days so expect some newer photos to be appearing very soon.

Mat

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

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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The Calm After The Storm

Today there was quite a lot of rain, not quite a storm but still a substantial amount. After the rain had passed and when I had a spare moment I decided to go out for walk. I didn’t have much time so I didn’t venture out too far.

The rain had settled and created some very interesting effects. To capture the droplets of rain on the grass I used an aperture of F5.6 this keeps the droplets sharp but also blurs the background to create a pleasing composition. I tried using the flash on this photo but I wasn’t getting the results I had hoped for; so instead I didn’t use the flash and the photos came out much better.

The only editing I did was to crop the photo down; I positioned the piece of grass into the top left corner of the frame. I think this improves the overall composition. I didn’t change anything else because I was pleased with the rest of the photo.

Bex is back from her holiday and has shown me the photos that she has taken, from the few that I have seen they all look fantastic and some may be on the blog very soon.

Mat

Dramatic Red

I wasn’t able to go for a photography wander today so I looked through my computer for some more inspiration. I was looking through the photos from a fairly recent trip to the local duck pond, and I stumbled across this photo of some lovely red flowers.

This was one of the first photos that I had taken on the walk, we had just started arrived at the duck ponds and where looking around for photo opportunities. We walked round a corner and this red flower ‘jumped’ out at me. It was late evening and the sun was creating some very dramatic light effects. The light was focused directly onto the flower with the surroundings in shadow; I really liked this effect as it creates a very moody atmosphere. As it was quite late I had to take the photo with the aperture wide open (F4), which created a shallow depth of field. Also I had to use quite a high ISO to counteract the low light levels; this unfortunately added quite a lot of noise into the photo.

When editing the photo I reduced the overall noise and sharpened the photo. I also increased the brightness, I did this to emphasise the mood created by the lighting. Overall the photo has come out very pleasing I think.

Bex and I have planned to go out tomorrow, so hopefully we shall have some new material to upload for you very soon.

Mat

Old Inspiration

I haven’t had much of a chance to go out for any photography wanders recently so I had a look through my computer for some inspiration. I had to go all the way back to July to find this photo!

Bex and I had gone out for a wander in the local nature reserve, the weather was very nice and we were out for most of the day. I spotted this dead flower hiding away in a bush, it looked interesting so I took a photo of it. The first few photos I took the composition weren’t quite right, so I changed my position by about 90 degrees and took a few more photos. This is one of the latter photos that I took, and I think the composition worked very well. It just proves a small change can make a big difference!

I didn’t do much editing to the photo, I adjusted the exposure by a small amount, and I decreased the colour temperature by a small amount. By decreasing the colour temperature it makes the whites clearer and look much more pleasing.

When taking macro photos, making very small changes will have a very large effect to the end photo. So I always take my time when doing macro photography to make sure I get the desired effect.

Mat

Close Detail

I managed to get out today for a short wander, so I went down to the local wood. I like it in the woods because it is peaceful and very tranquil, I can sit down and just watch the world go by while I think.

While I was sitting down I noticed this really pretty flower. I used aperture priority to use a large aperture and create a shallow depth of field. By creating a shallow depth of field the background becomes blurred and isn’t as distracting. Also I used the pop-up flash to reflect off the flower and create a luminous effect.

The photo needed quite a lot of editing so I increased the saturation and heavily cropped it down to focus the attention onto just the centre of the flower. I really like the effect of focussing the attention, it creates a really interesting effect to the photo.

I’m away for a while but I’m still able to carry on blogging. I’m very busy so won’t be able to take many photos, if I don’t get a chance I’ll look inside my hard-drive for some inspiration.

Mat

Inspiration

I took this photo a while back while out wandering with Bex. The weather was very nice so we had gone for a walk in the local nature reserve.

I used the aperture priority mode so I could use the maximum aperture. This has the effect of making the subject very sharp while blurring the background. Having the subject in the centre of the frame creates a better composition because of the symmetry.

I tried editing the photo but every time I tried I didn’t like how it looked, so I asked Bex to try to edit it. She increased the contrast, while decreasing the saturation and brightness. I really like the effect of the editing she did. It looks much better than how my editing looked.

I really like the photo and Bex’s editing, it looks exactly how I wanted it to when I took the photo.

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

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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