Food Lookout

I took this photo earlier this year on the trip that Bex and I went on to our local town. I remember this trip because of the very friendly squirrel I found. It obviously liked the attention of the camera, because while I was taking some photos of the squirrel it didn’t move very often. So I managed to get a good set of photos while I was there.

This is one of my favourites because I managed to capture the squirrel just before it ran off, so it was looking towards a scrap off food behind a wall so I couldn’t follow for more photos. I really like the pose I captured the squirrel in just before he ran it ran off.

To capture the image I had the camera in shutter priority so I had complete control of the necessary settings. I then set the shutter speed to 1/500^th of a second, this was fast enough so that any movement made by the squirrel would be frozen and any camera shake would be removed. I didn’t have my flash gun with me during the photography wander, but it wasn’t required because the sky was partially cloudy which caused the light to be diffused perfectly. I overexposed the photo by 1 and 1/3^rd of a stop to compensate for the brighter background.

To edit the photo I cropped the image down to focus the attention onto the squirrel. I also boosted the contrast to give the photo a little extra vividness. I was experimenting with the colour tone and the saturation; I tried increasing the colour tone while decreasing the saturation. Which increased the reds while decreasing all other colours, because the squirrel is predominantly grey this creates a stronger contrast and makes the squirrel stand out more from the background, particularly as the squirrel is standing on a small patch of green foliage which jumps out from the background.

I’m very impressed with how the image looks after I edited it; it looks very different from how it came out of the camera. I think the photo looks a lot better after I edited it, the composition looks a lot better and the lack of colour I think makes the squirrel stand out from the background a lot more than before.

Mat

Watching The World

I took this photo earlier this week while I was out walking with my camera. I was passing through the nature reserve and I saw a bird that had landed on a tree and just appeared to be watching the nearby world.

To make the most of the composition I had the camera in aperture priority with an aperture of F6.3 selected. This aperture gives the best compromise of depth of field and still allows an adequate shutter speed to be used. I composed the photo so that I had a branch in front to give some foreground interest, and to also as lead in lines to the bird. I didn’t use the flash gun because the sky was quite cloudy and therefore the light was diffused.

I didn’t edit the photo as I was happy with how the photo looks. The exposure was spot on and the colours had been replicated perfectly. I liked the composition so I didn’t crop the photo either.

Hopefully Bex and I will get a chance to go out on a photography wander of some sort this weekend. The weather is looking good, warm and slightly cloudy; perfect photography weather!

Mat

Landing

Bex and I managed to go out for a wander today, but we didn’t take out cameras with us. So I decided to upload another photo from last weekend’s wildlife photo shoot. I had paused momentarily when I saw a pigeon flying past me out of the corner of my eye. I turned round as it flew past and brought my camera to my eye and took a series of photos as it landed on a branch in a nearby tree. Unfortunately quite a few of the photos were out of focus or slightly blurry, but this one and a few others were pin sharp.

I had the camera in shutter priority with a shutter speed of 1/640^th of a second programmed in to remove any camera shake and motion blur. I also had the ISO set at ISO 800 to ensure that a moderate aperture was selected by the camera. I had overexposed by one stop, when I reviewed the photo it looked a bit too bright form my liking; but this was easily eradicated in the editing stage.

To edit the photo the first thing I did was to lower the overall brightness of the photo to combat the overexposing. I also increased the contrast to make the photo look more dynamic. I also cropped the photo as there was quite a lot of dead space surrounding the pigeon; by removing the dead space it focuses the attention onto the main subject.

I’m glad that I got a good photo of the pigeon as it landed. I had quite a few attempts of taking photos of moving birds last weekend but unfortunately most of them were out of focus or blurry; but I think I am slowly getting better at my wildlife photography.

Mat

Standing Tall

Mat and I went for a walk through a small town on the outskirts of the city yesterday. He didn’t take his camera as just wanted to go for a walk, but I couldn’t be parted as ever!!

During one part of the walk, Mat sat down on a bench with a coffee (in –5 degrees!), while I chose to continue walking. I found a small clearing, just off the path, so decided to see what was there. I walked into the clearing to find a small shaded area, surrounded by trees- almost impossible to find if you weren’t looking. Small patches of light broke through the cover of the branches, providing thin beams that shone pointed to the centre. I tried to focus on one burst of light, taking the photo up the trunk of the tree to give an idea of scale. I used an aperture of F8, as I wanted the tree to be in focus, while making the background slightly blurred.

I increased the contrast in Photoshop, while slightly decreasing the brightness to make the image appear more dramatic. I decreased the saturation slightly, as I had changed the hue to make the green tones more prominent, and didn’t want this to be obvious when looking at the image. I’m pleased with this image, but regret not using low-key mode, as it could’ve made the image seem more dramatic without having to sacrifice details, as with post-processing.

Bex

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Bright Horizons

Mat and I went for a walk today. Having had other things to do in the morning, we didn’t leave until late afternoon so didn’t make our way back until the sun started to set.

There is a field, near to where Mat and I live. In this field, a pond has been built, with a small fence to keep dogs from destroying the habitat, and seating inside the fenced area. On the way back, we decided to stop for a rest so sat down next to pond. I looked behind, and could see the sun setting behind the trees. I loved the pattern of the pink clouds in the sky, and the bright stripes of colour. I decided to include a tree in the foreground, as I thought the image would look uninteresting, as there would be no foreground without this. However, I decided to keep it to one side, as I wanted the focus to stay primarily on the background.

I increased the contrast and decreased the brightness in Photoshop, to make sure that all of the foreground detail was lost. I also decreased the hue and increased saturation to make the pink tones appear more prominent. I also sharpened the image slightly, to emphasise the individual branches of each tree and to pick out the individual clouds.

Bex

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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

Shining Through

I know I’ve uploaded some very similar photos recently; but I really liked a lot of the photos and couldn’t decide which to upload so I decided to upload all of them! This photo was taken on the return journey; we had paused for a short break to just watch the world go by. We were just leaving when I saw how the light was catching the leaves on the side of the hedge. I really liked how the bramble branch has been picked out by the light, and how the light shines through the leaves.

To make the most of this composition I used a medium aperture of F8, this gives a large enough depth of field without showing too much of the background. I preselected an ISO of 400 to enable the use of a fast enough shutter speed. I didn’t use the flash on this photo as it would have over powered the natural light and destroyed the effect I was aiming to capture.

I didn’t change anything during the editing stage as I was happy with how I had captured the image. The camera had calculated the exposure perfectly so I didn’t change any of the light levels. Also the colours had been replicated perfectly so I left them as they were.

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to go out for a walk again this weekend, if not then I’m sure I’ll be able to find some photos in my computer’s hard drive. Maybe I’ll look through some of our previous photography wanders.

Mat

Hanging Catkin

Once again I am uploading a photo from my trip out to the nature reserve on Tuesday. This one was taken on the same bush as the one I uploaded yesterday, but from a different angle. I was also aiming for a different effect. I wanted more of the bush to be in the final image.

To get the effect that I wanted I used a short focal length (20mm) so that as much was kept in the frame as possible. I also selected a narrow aperture of F11 to keep as much in focus while allowing the use of a medium shutter speed. I also used the flash to boost the contrast between the background and the subject.

To edit the photo, I boosted the contrast further to enhance the effect I was trying to create and I also lowered the shadows to make the photo more dynamic. I increased the colour tone and the saturation to make the greens more prominent and to give the photo more ‘punch’.

Hopefully Bex and I will have a chance to go out for a wander at some point over this weekend, if the weather is nice enough that is. Otherwise we might do some indoor photography instead.

Mat

Untouched

Mat and I went for a walk this afternoon, as, for the first time in a long while, it was actually sunny! We didn’t have very long so only walked through the local nature reserve. Mat was experimenting with flash, so I abandoned him and set off in seek of my own adventure while he set up his shots. I have missed taking macro photographs, but the bad weather has prevented me from doing so.

I normally end up abandoning the path in favour of fighting my way through trees and bushes to the most untouched areas; for this photo I did just that. I found a small clearing in the trees, which wouldn’t normally be seen unless you were looking for a gap. I stumbled through the gap, into a sort of hollow area between the trees. There were a lot of plants along the ground; this being one of them. I took a few shots at various apertures and decided that this was my favourite, as I liked that the front few leaves, the stem and petals of the flower were all in focus. I used flash in low-key mode, to make the scene look more dramatic.

I sharpened the image in Photoshop, to pick out details in the leaves and the hairs on the plant stem. I increased the contrast, and decreased the brightness, to make the image more dramatic. The increase of contrast made the yellow too bright, so I decreased the saturation. While trying to find the best level for the whole image, I tried under-exposing and really liked the effect.

I’m really pleased with the product of my walk. I usually have on and off days; an “on” day being where I’m pleased with a lot of the photos I’ve taken. Today was definitely a good day!

Bex
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Branching Up

Bex and I managed to get out for a walk today; we went slightly out of our town today to a park that we haven’t been to for quite a while. We decided to sit down and watch the world go by for a while, we were about to move on when I noticed three trees standing on their own; which I think made a very interesting composition.

I used the camera in aperture priority and selected an aperture of F11 to ensure the whole scene was sharp front to back. I under exposed by two stops to silhouette the tree and to enhance the blue sky. I composed the photo so that the tree was in the left hand side of the frame.

I didn’t edit the photo, as I was happy with the effect that I had created. The levels were as I wanted them and the composition was spot on what I wanted. I thought I might spoil the effect if I changed the composition or the light levels.

Tomorrow Bex and I are going to the Focus On Imaging Show in the NEC at Birmingham. We’ve been very excited about this trip for a long time! Both of us have planned the day out to the last detail. We will let you know how we get on when we get back.

Mat

Along The Edge

This photo I had taken a while ago from one of the many short walks that Bex and I have been on. We were walking along a public footpath when I saw a single tree but with a larger group of trees standing behind in the distance. I thought that if I took a photo then cropped it into a near square format it would make an interesting composition.

To capture the photo I used the camera in aperture priority and selected an aperture of F8 to ensure both the foreground and the background was in sharp focus. I didn’t use the flash as this would have caused the sky to white-out. I also boosted the sharpness in the camera because I wanted all the detail in the hedge to be very clear.

To edit the photo I cropped the photo down as planned but I also adjusted the light levels. I did this to boost the contrast and darken the sky a small amount. I like the effect that I created by cropping the photo down, it focuses the attention onto the groups of trees. Before I cropped the photo it looked very cluttered and the eye wasn’t being led to the correct focal points.

Not sure exactly when our next photography wander is going to be but I’m sure we will be going on one very soon. I think it would be interesting to go down to the duckpond when it is frozen over. It might make some interesting reflected patterns?

Mat

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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Vibrant Skies

I really wanted to take a sunset photo, so this evening I went out with my camera to hunt down the sunset. The weather was perfect for taking sunset photo because there was just the right amount of clouds.

To get the best effect I used a medium aperture (F10), by doing this the whole scene was in sharp focus. 

Also I used point metering and metered off the sky and underexposed by 1/3^rd of a stop. This combined effect puts the foreground into silhouette and makes the sky look really vibrant. I thought the most interesting composition would be if I had the foreground in the bottom of the frame with the sky being the most dominant part.

I thought the photo could do with some editing so I changed the histogram, I made the highlights brighter and increased the contrast, this made the sky even more vibrant. Also I cropped out some of the top of the frame; I did this because the sky was over dominating the photo. With this editing done the photo looks much better now.

I’m glad that I’ve finally got a good sunset photo, hopefully I’ll be able to take some more in the future.

Mat

Old Barn

To make a change away from all the festival photos that we’ve been showing I thought I would upload a photo that I took a while ago. This one is from one of our holidays away together, when we had gone for one of short wanders.

We had walked down a country road for a short while when we past a small farm yard. The land owner saw us walking along the road with our cameras and we got talking, after a while he let us take some photos around his yard. When I saw this old cow shed, the composition was perfect so I had to take a photo. I thought it would look interesting if I took it in sepia. To improve the composition I used a small aperture (F11), by doing this it means that the whole scene is in focus. I also underexposed the photo to introduce a moodier atmosphere.

While editing the photo I decided leave the photo exactly as it was. I think the photo came out just right. The composition is exactly how I wanted it and the sepia effect suites the scene perfectly.

I haven’t uploaded any black and white/sepia photos for a while. The next time I’m out I think I shall sneak in some black and white photos. I really love the effect of black and white photography, and I shall do some more when I next get a chance.

Mat

Waterways

I didn’t manage to get out today, so I looked through my computer for some photos that I have taken previously.

This one was taken on the holiday that Bex and I went on in early July. It was taken while on a walk beside the canal. I really enjoyed the holiday and took plenty of photos; this is one of the best ones though. The canal was very calm as there was no wind, so its reflection was just like a mirror. I used a small aperture to get quite a deep depth of field. Because of the small aperture I had to boost the ISO so I could take the photo without a tripod.

I decided the photo didn’t need any editing done to it. The only thing I noticed was that a person was on the path on the right hand side. So I cropped the photo a bit to remove the path and make the scene more photogenic.

I like how the photo looks; it comes across very tranquil and peaceful. The effect is spot on what I was trying to recreate when I took the photo.

Yesterday the blog turned 5 months old! Also we’re very close to 4,000 page views. So just a quick thank you to every one of you; without you the blog wouldn’t be what it is.

I’ve enjoyed running the blog this week, but I’m away from this Saturday for a week; tomorrow being my last post after that I shall leave you in Bex’s capable (and better) hands for the week. She tells me that she has been taking many photos. Also she plans on uploading the best ones to the blog, just for you.

Mat

A Trip Out

Today my family and I went to Blaise castle for the day. The weather was amazing, with the sun blazing down. While taking a rest in the shade I saw this statue. I really liked how symmetrical it was with the background bursting out from behind.

I had left the camera in automatic as I was taking a lot of photos and didn’t have much time to change the settings. I think the camera did a very good job with calculating  the exposure. The only thing I would have done was to take the photo with the low key feature. But also I would have liked the white to be a bit brighter.

After taking the photos off of the camera I decided to correct a few details that I wanted to change. I made the shadows darker and increased the brightness; this created the low key effect that I wanted. I also cropped the photo equally on both sides; this improves the symmetry of the statue in the frame while also focussing the attention onto the statue.

I'm enjoying the good weather and hope that it will stay around as I’m planning a few more trips out around the countryside.

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

Oh, what's occuring?!

Today’s title sums up our day incredibly well! Today Bex and I went on the Gavin and Stacey tour in Barry Island! It was such an amazing day and we both had a great time. Now down to the post: to mark this day I thought I should upload a photo from the tour.

This photo features the church from the very last episode of Gavin and Stacey, when Dave and Nessa are about to get married and Smithy runs in at the last moment to stop them before it’s too late!

I really like vintage architecture such as churches; why I thought I should upload this photo (along with the Gavin and Stacey link). The church was beautiful, and the gravestones provide some foreground interest and can act as lead-in lines towards the tower of the church.

The photo was taken in a hurry as the tour-guide was rushing off to the next stop, so it required some editing in Photoshop. As the photo wasn’t fantastic I had to make the best out of a bad situation; but I think it was just about good enough to upload.

We really enjoyed going on the tour today, everyone was friendly and talkative, and the tour-guide was very informative. We would highly recommend the tour to any Gavin and Stacey fans out there.

So, what’s occurring?!

 Mat

Taking a Walk

I’ve had another busy day today so haven’t had chance to take any pictures. I’ve delved into the depths of my laptop again, and found this picture from a recent holiday.

I love nature shots, and I think that sometimes a busy shot is better than focusing on one thing. In this picture I used a shallow depth of field so that the tree was in focus, with the background blurred. However, in this picture I didn’t use the shallowest depth of field possible so that there was still some detail in the sheep, with the least amount of detail behind. I love this effect because it gives a lot more interest to the picture and shows the vast countryside.

It’s occurred to me that I’ve finally broken away from my beloved macro shots! I hope you have enjoyed the change, but perhaps soon I shall get back to my favourite type of photography.

Bex

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A Green Break

Today Daily Wanders celebrates two months of being active! Thank you for being so loyal to us and we look forward to doing all our future uploads.

Now for today’s post: This afternoon Bex and I managed to escape for a bit to take some photos. The weather was very nice with plenty of sunshine and after about 30-40mins we needed to have a rest from the glare under a tree for a few minutes.

While under the tree I noticed how the light shone through the leaves, I really liked this and had to take a photo of the effect! I used the macro function, turned the ISO to 100, boosted the amount of green, and used an aperture of F4.5 coupled with a shutter speed of 1/25 to control the amount of light.

I really love how this photo came out, with the light seeping through the leaves and blasting through the holes eaten by caterpillars.  I also like how you can see through the leaf because it’s so thin, and how the veins in the leaves are very clear and show the structure of the leaves so clearly.

Unfortunately this will be my last post for about a week; I’m going on holiday! I shall ask Bex to keep you all informed on how it is going and will hopefully upload some photos of it when I get back. For now I will leave you in the very capable hands of Bex and her stunning photography. I hope you all enjoy your holiday.

Mat