Potpourri

This is one of the photos I took on my recent photo shoot. After using the flowers and the vase, I looked around and found a bowl full of potpourri. I thought this would make an interesting composition if I took the photo in black and white.

For this photo I just used the natural light that was landing on the bowl as using the flash would spoil the effect I was aiming for. I had the camera in manual mode, and I selected an aperture of F16 to ensure the depth of field was adequate, I then programmed a shutter speed of 20 seconds at ISO 100 to complete the exposure. I set the white balance to the daylight setting as I was using natural light. I framed the photo so the bowl was in the right hand side of the frame.

To edit the photo, I de-saturated it to remove the colour. I then increased the contrast to make the photo look punchier. I didn’t change anything else as I was happy with the effect I had created. I didn’t change the white balance as I had already preset it to the daylight setting.

I like the way this photo has come out, I’m glad I didn’t use the flash on this one as otherwise it would have spoiled the effect I was trying to create.

Mat

Conversion

I was thinking earlier today that I hadn’t done a black and white photo for quite a while, so I decided that the upload I did today would be a black and white photo. I used a photo that I took quite a while ago; I knew it had good potential but I wasn’t sure how I could give the photo more punch.

I chose to convert this photo to black and white because the main interest was in the foreground and by converting to black and white would make it stand out more. Also by converting to black and white I could increase the amount of red which would create a lot more contrast between the clouds and the sky. I really like the effect of converting to black and white because it makes any photo look very different and some details that would normally be missed are made very clear.

To capture the actual exposure I used the camera in aperture priority with an aperture of F7.1 and I focused on the bush in the foreground to make sure that it would in sharp focus. The camera selected a shutter speed of 1/125^th of a second to complete the exposure. I had preselected ISO 100 to ensure the image would have very little noise.

I really think converting this photo to black and white has made a huge improvement. With many photos, but not every, converting them to black and white makes an improvement. So by experimenting with black and white some interesting photos can be made, and details that haven’t been seen will reveal themselves to you.

Mat

Old Machinery

Unfortunately Bex and I didn’t get a chance to go out for a photography walk today; so I looked through my computer for a bit of inspiration. I looked through one of the country walks that we went on. I found an interesting photo that I thought with a bit of editing could look quite interesting.

When I took the photo I initially thought that a wide composition would look the most interesting so I focused on the machine and used a narrow aperture to ensure that the whole scene was in focus. The camera selected a shutter speed of 1/80^th of a second, and as I was using a focal length of around 30mm this was more than fast enough.

When looking at the photo on my computer I had a rethink in terms of the composition. I thought that if I change the composition from a wide angle shot to a closer one, the photo may look more interesting. So the main change I made was to crop out most of the image. After this I sharpened the photo I reduced the noise a small amount. This ensured that plenty of detail was left after the heavy cropping.

I’m pleased with the effect that I created by editing the photo. It does show that you have two chances to make a good composition; either: while taking the photo, or editing the photo.

Mat

Back In Time

My laptop is back and (almost) working! Of course, I’m now behind with photos so have had to upload another old shot. I took this photo during a walk through the courtyard with the church (previously mentioned on 22nd December).

A woman was feeding the gulls while leaning against one of the trees. After she left, the gulls continued to fly around, lingering at the prospect of more food. I used my wide-angle lens and tried to get back as far as possible in order to get a lot of detail into the shot. I took the photo on super high quality to make it possible to look at small details, such as the bird with bread in its beak and the individual leaves on the trees.

I tried to focus on textures in this image. I included a lot of ground to make the pattern on the floor more prominent. I increased the sharpness in-camera to pick out the detail of the leaves, and used a narrow aperture to increase the depth of field so both lampposts and all trees were in focus. Unfortunately, this means that the building behind is also in focus- but I like the arches and I think it works well. I used a custom white balance to make the image feel warmer, but I haven’t edited the photo at all! Sometimes I like to take a busy shot, as it gives you more to look at and focuses your attention on tiny details in every section.

Bex
x

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

Distractions

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

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

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

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

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

Bex

x