Experiments

First of all, I shall lay to rest your shock of being able to read a new blog post while still in daylight! (If you’re British, that is). This evening, Mat and I are going to a concert!! We didn’t want to have a night off from Daily Wanders, so decided to prepare a post before leaving.

This is a photo from a recent walk through my local area. Mat was experimenting with flashguns again so I decided to abandon him, although I didn’t completely abandon the concept of experimenting with light. I tried to take a photo of a curled up leaf, but decided it looked dull and was lost in the background. I used flash in conjunction with point metering, in order to lose some of the background. I ended up taking around 10 photos in order to get the desired effect; each one varying in flash intensity, and the amount I over/under exposed the image. This is taken at F5.6 at a shutter speed of 1/160 at ISO 100.

Some of the photo seemed a little over exposed where it caught more of the flash. In order to correct this, I darkened the shadows in Photoshop. I sharpened the image to pick up final details of the leaf. Another twig stemmed from the branch, which I tried to remove by using flash. However, this left a large black space at the bottom of the photo. I cropped it to make it seem more symmetrical. I love experimenting with photos in this way; it’s part of the fun and makes the end result much more satisfying.

Bex

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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

Snowy Branches

I took a lot of photos on our wintery walk. I was experimenting with using my flashgun to darken the background while highlighting the foreground. The effect of this focuses the attention onto the subject of the photo.

One of the times I tried this was on a small, snow covered branch. For this photo I used the camera in aperture priority and selected aperture F4.5 to give a minimal depth of field. I left the flash in the evaluative metering mode so that the camera would select the most appropriate power level for the flash. I didn’t need to use a tripod because the shutter speed the camera selected was 1/160^th and this was adequate for the focal length I was using.

I decided not to edit the image because I was happy with the result that I had captured in the camera. I didn’t crop the photo because I didn’t want to spoil the composition that I had made.

Unfortunately the snow is starting to melt, but I still have plenty of images of the snow that I can upload to keep the spirit alive!

Mat

Behind Bars

I know I said yesterday that I had uploaded all of my favourite photos from last weekend, but I lied. I booted up my computer to write a post, and while waiting for it to load the sidebar popped up displaying recent photos. I saw one photo that looked interesting, so enlarged it- only to find out that it was another from my last wander. For this reason, I shall simply apologise and get on with the post!

This photo is from the same location as another I have uploaded recently (Jigsaw). In that post, I explained about the street of collaged buildings, and how the new music venue was standing next to an abandoned building. I took this photo at the side of the old building. This image features the grate itself as the subject; it caught my attention because the bars were rusted, providing contrast between that and the new wire.

The original photo was quite dull, so I edited in Photoshop but tried to do as little as possible. I increased the contrast, darkened the shadows and sharpened the overall image. I also boosted the saturation slightly to make the rusty colours stand out.

I love focusing on smaller details; I haven’t taken any macro photos in a long while and have really enjoyed going back to this. I’m hoping to focus more on this during my next wander, perhaps with the macro filters so I can get even closer.

Bex
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Stowaway

I took this picture this evening in a mad “must grab a camera” moment. I was sat in my room doing some work, and being my usual easily distracted self, I was looking around my room to kill time. I spotted something rather odd above my bedroom door as I was doing so, and decided to see what it was.

In general, I hate bugs- but I found this interesting in a weird way, as I haven’t actually seen a cricket before. I didn’t want it to jump, and I was not picking it up- but I did want a picture! I didn’t as such compose my photo; I merely pointed it in the general direction and hoped for the best, as my camera doesn’t have live view.

I liked how it was on an angle, but the bottom left of the image was in shadow. I used the dodge tool in Photoshop to make this lighter so it fitted in to the rest of the image. I also increased the saturation to make the bug stand out, and sharpened it to accentuate the patterns on its wings.

I love how this photo turned out, considering it was a snapshot. I’m pleased I managed to blend the shadows in as it creates a textured background instead of knowing for definite what it is. I think taking the photo on an angle makes a huge difference, and makes the photo more original.

Bex

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Autumnal

I went for another walk today, as I had a free afternoon. I walked to a local spot that I visit frequently. In simple terms, it’s a long path which stretches for about a mile, lined with trees in parallel the entire length. It’s one of my favourite places to go. I didn’t actually have a “free” afternoon as such; I was supposed to be Christmas shopping! I managed to get all of my shopping done with some time to spare, so got a bus to the start of the road and walked the entire stretch with my camera.

The only major problem with lining the street with trees is that they aren’t evergreen and present an issue when you decide you wish to sit anywhere! By the time I got to the end of the path I still had a little time to wait, so I went in search of a bench. I found one, but it was covered in leaves.

I decided to try to take a picture of this, using a wide aperture to blur what was behind and underneath the bench and to focus on the front few leaves. I wanted to make the photo more interesting, so I pre-focused the camera before moving it. This had the effect of changing which part of the photo was in focus, drawing you into the picture. Apart from increasing the saturation in Photoshop slightly, I haven’t edited the picture as I wanted to keep the effect of using natural light and I liked the original image.

I never did get chance to sit down; I’m afraid I’m too easily distracted. It was a shame I missed my bus though- I blame the camera…

Bex
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Baking

As promised I tried out my new flash gun and it is fantastic! It really helps to capture photo indoors and can be used to create some interesting light effects. Bex decided to do some Christmas baking at the weekend and I thought as well as helping her it would be a good chance to try out my new flash gun.

So when I wasn’t helping Bex with the baking or sneakily eating the ingredients I did manage to take a few photos. This one I took just after we had taken the first batch of cupcakes out of the oven to cool down. I thought if I could get close to them and use a wide aperture the distortion created could create an interesting effect. Also by using the flash gun to bounce the light of the ceiling I could illuminate all the cupcakes evenly. I used an aperture of F8 to ensure that the central cupcakes were in focus but the others weren’t. The camera coupled this with a shutter speed of 1/10^th of a second; as I was using a lens with image stabilization built in this shutter speed was adequate.

To edit the photo I adjusted the histogram a bit to increase the shadow areas and also to sharpen the photo a small amount. I didn’t change anything else because I like the effect that I had created, also the camera had exposed the photo as I wanted.

The baking went very well, and everything that Bex made tasted amazing! It’s a good thing that she made a lot because I don’t think they won’t last very long.

Mat

New Ideas

I didn’t get a chance for a walk today so I decided to use one of the photos that I took yesterday. When I wasn’t trying out new techniques I took this close up photo of a group of teasels.

I thought to make the composition more interesting I should try something new; so I took the photo angled upwards. Also I wanted to include some of the other teasels in the frame. I decided to use the flash on this photo because I thought it would light up the inside of the teasel. I wanted the other teasel to be out of focus so I used an aperture of F8, this meant that the whole of the main teasel was in focus but the second was smoothly out of focus.

When editing the photo I decided to make the shadow areas brighter, I hadn’t programmed the flash to be powerfull enough. Also I cropped the photo as to make the teasel more dominant in the frame; I think it makes the overall composition much better as well, having the second teasel in the lower right of the frame. I didn’t change anything else because I really like the effect that I had created.

Bex and I are planning on going for a wander this weekend if the weather is nice. If not we both still have got plenty of photos that we want to show to you.

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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Designer Leaf (It’s all about the labels…)

Mat and I went out for another walk today; this time in the afternoon. We took a few photos, and a few that I am especially pleased with. This isn’t one of them, but I fancied a fun upload, instead of a more abstract shot that I might normally upload.

I took this picture as we were on our way home after a short walk. As we were walking along the path, I noticed this rather strange looking leaf. A sticker from an apple had been left behind, perhaps from a school child walking home. It brought a smile to me, just because it was so out of the ordinary!

The picture didn’t stand out as much as I would’ve liked it to, so I tried to edit it in Photoshop. I increased the contrast, whilst decreasing the brightness to create a more striking effect. I also increased the saturation and sharpened the whole image.

I think it’s nice to relax and see the funny side of things instead of being serious all the time.

Bex

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Flowery Opportunities

I managed to go out for a walk today, so I decided to go round my local area in the hunt of photo opportunities. After walking for around 30mins I saw this small purple flower. I thought it made an interesting composition.

I decided that using a small depth of field would make an interesting composition so used an aperture of F5.6 at a focal length of 40mm. This created the shallow depth of field that I required and made the composition much more interesting.

While editing the photo I increased the brightness to make the flower brighter, and I increased the saturation to make the colours more vivid and attractive. I also darkened the shadows to improve the effect of the photo.

Hopefully I shall get a chance to go out again tomorrow, because I spotted a few more opportunities that I had to miss today.

Mat

Water on the Web

Today I went out for a short walk round my local area. It had been raining overnight, so the rain drops where clinging onto whatever they could. I saw this spider web that had been spun between a lamppost and a nearby bush.

To create the most interesting photo I used an aperture of F4, this ensured the spider and the web where in sharp focus, but the background was suitably blurred. I also used the flashgun to make the web easier to see and to make it shine more; Also using the flash makes the colours on the spider look more vibrant.

When I edited the photo I increased the saturation and the colour temperature to make the photo look more vibrant; also to make the colours on the spider stand out more against the background.  I also increased the contrast a bit to make the highlights and shadows stand out more.

I’ve missed doing very close up macro photos, I’m so glad I got a chance to do some close up work again. I plan on doing some more macro work very soon.; or maybe I might do some more landscape work.

Mat

Decaying Petals

I managed to get out for a walk today so I went to the same place as the other day. It was really nice there and I thought I should go back there again. So I took the camera out with me for my wander.

While I was there today I saw a small group of white flowers, one of them was starting to lose it’s petals. I thought it would make an interesting and different photo. So I used a moderate aperture of F8 to ensure the whole flower was in sharp focus but the background was suitably blurred. There was enough light around so I managed to use a low ISO, this meant that all the detail has been retained. And I didn’t need to use flash.

While editing the photo I decided to crop the photo to put the flower into the bottom left corner of the frame. Also I increased the contrast because I thought the photo could do the contrast being increased. I left everything else as it was, because I like the effect of the photo.

I’m glad I got a chance to go out for a wander today, I really like this spot I’ve found. There always seems to be something different going on.

Mat

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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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

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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Busy Bee

I managed to go out for a walk earlier today before the rain started. When the rain was away the weather was actually very nice. I went down to our local duckpond to catch some wildlife shots.

While I was down I saw a bee flying around some flowers, I followed it until it had landed on a flower. Luckily for me it had gone onto the flower itself and created an amazing photo opportunity. The camera was already in exposure bracketing and in aperture priority. So I used an aperture of F8 to ensure that the whole flower was in sharp focus. This photo came out the best of the three that I had taken.

When editing the photo I didn’t change the actual exposure because the camera got it spot on. The only change I made was to crop the photo to enhance the composition; I cropped the photo so the flower was in the top left of the frame.

I’m glad I managed to get out for a walk today; it was really nice to get out into the fresh air. Hopefully I’ll get another chance to go out soon.

Mat

Delicate

This is another picture from my afternoon of “house photography”. In other words, messing around with my new filters whilst seeking something to take pictures of around my house.

In this picture, I have used a close up filter in conjunction with my macro lens. I decided to use this to try to get closer to the flower in the hope of being able to see finer details that you would normally miss without zooming in and losing quality. I used the widest aperture possible to take this picture as I only wanted the tips of the foremost petals in focus.

 I tried to use a relatively low ISO to minimise the amount of noise in a shot, and a relatively fast shutter speed to allow me to use flash. I decided to use flash as I wanted the top few petals to be illuminated, creating more interesting shadows on the underside.

After, I edited the picture in Photoshop. I increased the contrast so the shadows and highlights on the petals became more defined. I then sharpened the image to make sure that the area I had focused on was prominent. I’m really pleased with this picture, considering I didn’t plan for it to be anything special. So far the close up filters are definitely my favourites! (no surprise there…). Mat and I will be covering a local festival this weekend, so make sure you check back!                        

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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