Perched

I took this photo on my recent trip to our local duckpond. While looking across the pond I saw a branch sticking out of the water, soon after this a bird flew down and perched itself on the branch. I waited until the bird was looking to the left so the composition looked how I wanted; then I took the photo.

To capture this photo I used the camera in shutter priority and selected a shutter speed of 1/640^th of a second, this was adequate to freeze any movement the bird might make. I underexposed the exposure by two stops to counteract the metering. I framed the photo so the bird was in the right side of the frame looking to the left I also made sure that the reflection of the bird was included in the frame.

I didn’t change anything in the editing stage because I was happy with the effect I had created. I really like how I had composed the photo and the exposure was spot on. I didn’t change the exposure as I didn’t want to spoil the effect I had created.

I’m going away for a few days so it will be down to Bex to run the blog, I hope you all enjoy the photos she uploads. I know she has got some amazing photos that she wants to upload.

Bex

Traveled

Today, some friends and I travelled to Bath to visit the Victoria Art Gallery. I’ve never visited that part of the country before, so navigating the winding streets was our main opposition. Presently, the art gallery is home to a photographic exhibition, presenting the works of Roger Mayne; a medium format and 35mm film photographer. I wasn’t allowed to take my Olympus as it came under the bracket of a “professional camera”, so I borrowed Mat’s compact and set off!

We got to the exhibition around 10am, and being that it was mid-week, mid-morning, it was almost like a private showing. This photo isn’t completely original; I had seen this style of composition used by another photographer and decided that I would like to attempt similar.

I really liked the outcome but wanted to make it my own, so edited it in Photoshop. I introduced a vignette to draw attention towards the centre of the shot. I had accidentally under-exposed so increased the brightness in Photoshop, along with the contrast. This is when I spotted that the reflections had captured the frames on the other wall; not deliberate, but I liked it so decided to incorporate it into the image. I have left the labels because I like to be reminded of the name of each photo; after all, naming it is the best bit!

Bex
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Flying High

I managed to get out for a walk today, so I went down to our local duck pond. I’ve recently purchased a Manfrotto monopod and though this would be the best way to try it out. When I got down to the duckpond I attached it to my camera and took all my photos with it on.

This photo was a bit of a happy accident; I was panning with the camera set in shutter priority and a shutter speed of 1/2000^th of a second programmed. I was following the bird and because of the metering I was using, (centre waited) the exposure was under-exposed. But because of this the bird becomes silhouetted against the cloudy backdrop.

To edit the photo, I boosted the contrast and lowered the highlights. I lowered the highlights so the clouds become more prominent. By increasing the contrast the silhouette effect becomes more dramatic. I didn’t crop the photo as I liked how the bird is surrounded by clouds and sky; I also like how the bird is flying across the frame.

The monopod came in very handy with all the photos, it effectively removed the camera shake from hand holding the camera. This enables the use of slightly slower shutter speed (1-2 stops), which is very helpful when there isn’t much light around. I will definitely be using my new monopod on future photography wanders.

Mat

Choppy

I had a free day today so I took a trip to the local harbour for a walk as, for the first time this year, we’ve had some sunshine!!! I decided to go for a boat ride; unfortunately, the sun disappeared and the waves were a little on the large side to say the least. I took my camera with me as usual, along with both my wide angle, and telephoto lens.

As we were on our way out, I tried to capture the ocean spray, so used a shutter speed of 1/800 with an aperture of F7. I increased the contrast in Photoshop, which made the colours less realistic. I decided to play on this, so increased the hue to get a more purple tint as opposed to the original blue-green tinge. I then increased the sharpness to emphasise the droplets of water.

I’m pleased with how the different tones of colour have resulted in two distinctly separate shades of blue. I tried to make the best out of a situation that wasn’t ideal, and I think it worked quite well – often the way! The idea for this photo comes from the theme of movement, emailed to us by Ken. Thanks Ken; I hope you like it!!

Bex
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Past Holidays

Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance a chance to go out for a walk today so I looked through my computer for an image to upload. I usually find the photos from my holidays in Wales to be good for inspiration. I found this photo which really struck me with the well balanced composition.

I used the camera in the landscape setting and the camera selected an aperture of F8.5 for a deep depth of field and a shutter speed of 1/140^th of a second to complete the exposure. I turned off the flash because it would make no difference to the photo.

To edit the photo I cropped out the bottom as there was nothing of interest. I also increased the contrast to give the photo more ‘punch’ and vibrancy. I didn’t change anything else because I was happy with the effect I had created.

Unfortunately Bex hasn’t been having much luck with her laptop recently; she is hoping to get it fixed very soon. She has told me that she has a lot of photos prepared for you, and that she has missed doing the blog recently. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to go out for a walk later in the week, to capture more photos to upload for you.

Mat

Dull Day

We didn’t get a chance to go out for a walk today, so I looked through my computer again for some inspiration. I found this photo, it was taken on quite a dull day, but it had potential so I decided to use it and edit it to release its potential.

I took this photo in program auto mode, with the camera choosing to use an aperture of F5 and a shutter speed of 1/60^th of a second. I didn’t use the flash as it would not have reached the hedge so would make no effect to the photo.

To edit the photo I de-saturated it to make it black and white. I then adjusted the amount of red in the photo to increase the contrast and to ensure the sky didn’t white out. I didn’t edit anything else because I was happy with how I had taken the photo.

Hopefully Bex and I will be able to go out for a photography wander tomorrow, if the weather is nice we will probably go down to the local duckpond.

Mat

Traveling

I had some spare time to myself today, so I thought I should go out and take some photos. Instead of going to one of my usual photography spots I went somewhere different, I went down to our local railway station. I took a variety of photos, a mixture of different trains and the passengers occupying the station. There was one particular photo that I wanted to get so told myself I wouldn’t leave the station until I had taken that photo.

The photo that I wanted to take was of one of the guards walking down the platform next to the train, but I wanted him to be isolated from the surroundings. To create the effect that I wanted I put the camera in manual mode and selected the widest aperture of F5.6, I then selected a shutter speed of 1/500^th of a second to freeze the action. I used AI Servo focus to track the guard and I left the ISO selection to the camera. As the guard walked nearer to where I wanted; I tracked him with the autofocus until the composition was as I wanted. When I got the right composition I took several photos with the camera in continuous drive mode.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast and lowered the highlights to stop the sky from whitening out. I didn’t crop the photo because I really like how I framed the photo with the other staff members and passengers surrounding the guard. I also like how the photo is framed within the train, platform and the canopy of the station I think this captures the hustle and bustle of modern life.

Hopefully if the weather holds up Bex and I might be able to go out for a photography wander this weekend. It’s been a while and we both have some interesting ideas for our next uploads.

Mat