Sweet!

For today’s post, I am admitting to the theft of what seems to be Mat’s current catch phrase!

Today was May Day meaning you might have got an extra long weekend. May Day is the time when we like to welcome in the brighter weather, perhaps with music and fairs in your local area. Where I live is no exception, and each year there is a choice of at least 3 events. However, today tradition was thrown out the window; we seemed to be celebrating the rain that has felt somewhat endless over the last 3 weeks.

I have always gone to a local village to celebrate May Day and even though the sun wasn’t shining as it should be, nobody seemed deterred by the need to take shelter in the marquees.

I always find indoor photography more of a challenge, as artificial lighting can sometimes have a different effect to natural light. I took this picture in one of the marquees with a string of lights overhead. I don’t class this picture as a success in the conventional sense- but I like how the colours have become slightly over saturated; I think it gives a more vintage effect.

I love this picture, and I’m pleased that it didn’t need editing and is different to what I might normally post.

I hope you had a lovely extra day off, and have a wonderful May!

Bex

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Getting close

I didn’t get a chance to take any industry photos today, so it’s more of the nature close ups again!! Today’s subject is a piece of fungus on a fallen log. I got in really close with the macro setting armed and took the shot.

I used aperture priority and opened it wide open to give the shallowest depth of field possible. I think this effect worked really well, and because of the higher shutter speed and taking the photo at a lower angle the shadows became a lot darker. I think this photo worked very well, although I think it may have been a little too dark.

I will take some more industry shots soon.  But what do you think I should do, now is your time to vote: Industry and man-made, or nature and landscape shots? Perhaps tweet us and tell us your favourite shots? http://www.twitter.com/DailyWanders

Mat

Tangled

Today, I went to visit a relative who lives quite near to me in a more rural area. We both have a wood within walking distance of our homes.

I brought my camera with me as always, as I thought there might be some interesting pictures, so that I could deviate from always choosing pictures of my own area.

The wood I visited today is a lot smaller than the one in my area, meaning that an awful lot less people go walking in there and it’s left to grow on it’s own terms.

I spent about two hours walking today, and I was on my way back when I spotted this leaf tangled in a spider’s web. From the looks of things the spider was long gone, but I loved how some dust had stuck to the silk.

I took the photo in macro, and used the flash to try and capture the web with more detail. I think this worked really well, as not only the spider’s web, but the leaves also, have been captured with all the finer details.

I love finding new places to go, as I think sometimes going to the same places too often can become monotonous.

Bex

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Nature's close ups

Following on from yesterday, I thought today's post should be a nature shot. While on a short walk near my house, I spotted this flower next to the path. I was lucky enough that Bex had let me borrow her DSLR a few days earlier so I took the photo in the macro setting to really focus the attention onto the flower itself. It really enhanced the colours, bringing out the greens and making the reflections brighter. Using the macro lens helped by having wide field of view and causing a deeper depth of field.

I’ve done quite a lot of close up nature shots (I’m starting to sound like Bex now!), but I fancy a change, maybe my next upload will be of some sort of industry or another man-made phenomenon. What do you think, carry on with the nature close ups, or go with something new?

Mat

Flutter by

Bex and I went outside of our normal photography area today. We decided to follow a new path, happening to run along the edge of a forest, when we stumbled across an old shed. It was locked and there were no windows so we had no idea what was inside, but in my opinion what was hiding on the outside was of far greater interest to me and the camera! I spotted this little butterfly by chance, just as we were about to move on, so I took a photo before it had a chance to 'flutter by'! It was quite a quick photo, so it needed some editing in Photoshop. After I cropped it and changed the levels some what I think it came out quite well.

You have to be quick to take photos of nature, if your slow then you'll miss some great opportunities. What do you look for in nature, animals and wildlife, or plants and flowers?

Mat

Stumped

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my favourite way to relax is going for a walk with my SLR and setting myself the challenge of finding the most interesting shot possible- the type of shot that you notice something new every time you look at it.

This afternoon I went for a walk around my local nature reserve accompanied by my umbrella. It started to rain more heavily so I walked through the woods for shelter. When Mat and I go into the woods, we normally sit on a fallen tree to watch the world go by. I was alone today, but decided to stop there never the less. As I walked up to the log I noticed this strange fungus on a tree stump next to the log.

I took this picture in aperture priority to try and get a deeper depth of field. Having looked at this picture a few times so far, I have noticed the pattern on the fungus, the different shades and the texture on the underside.

Keep looking, perhaps get your friends to have a look and see how many details you can spot.

Bex

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Time to celebrate!

Today, Daily Wanders celebrates being one month old with over 1500 page views. Having such a large audience after such a short space of time is something I feel rather proud of, and it seems odd to think that just over a month ago we were discussing how to go about starting our blog.

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been creating my photography wall. Yesterday I got to the fun part of putting everything together. While choosing the pictures for my wall I came across this photograph of a firework. This was taken a few months ago at a national fireworks competition in Plymouth.

In order to get a clear view I had to balance on a wall, which was made harder by a slow shutter speed. This particularly impresses me because it wasn’t taken on my SLR for fear of it getting dropped or stolen, but on a normal Samsung compact camera. I didn't have to edit it in Photoshop at all, so perhaps there is hope yet for compact cameras?

I hope you have enjoyed following us on our adventures this last month as much as we have enjoyed writing about them. I look forward to many months to come.

Bex

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