Visual Chinese Whispers 2

Aha - look what I made from Justine's eggs! I knew I had this somewhere :-)

Chinese Whispers

This photo is in response to Justine Gordon's chinese whispers challenge. It's quite an old photo taken several years ago with my old Canon EOS 300. I searched all my photos and couldn't find anything suitably eggy but Justine's eggs definitely look like gull's eggs to me!!

Pine Cone

I'm still experimenting with exposures and have been wanting to photograph this strangely beautiful pine cone for a  long time now. It's been sitting on my window sill for many months after I found it in the woods. It's as if it half opened and then changed its mind and decided to go back to sleep. I may use it as a model again when I start collecting lenses. For now it's back on my window sill.

To photograph it I took it outside and put it down on our patio area which, as you can see, has grown quite a bit of moss. I have a small table and chairs out there and the moss carpet makes it very special to me. My husband is mumbling about getting some dreadful chemical out to kill the moss while we're away on holiday. Grrrrr...

Decaying Rose and Exposure Experiment

I'm killing three birds with one stone today. I did say, when I posted the picture of my autumn rose a week ago that I'd record its decay.  I also said a couple of days ago that I'd posted my last pictures on my old camera and the next would be on my new 550D. And I'm currently reading Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure which I'm loving for its down-to-earth, non-technical speak.

This is my rose, looking rather brown around the edges and a little less than perky. It was taken at f/5, 1/400 sec., ISO 400. The exercise was to start at the widest aperture, adjust the shutter speed until a correct exposure was indicated and take the picture. Then reduce by one stop, adjust shutter speed and take another picture and so on through all the f stops available.

This is the final exposure at f/32, 1/13 sec., ISO400. Obviously the exercise is to show how to use the aperture setting creatively, either producing shallow or great depth of field. I didn't use a tripod which is why the position of the rose is slightly different.

The lens I'm using at the moment is the original 18-55 EF-S lens from my old EOS 300D which I sold years ago. I'm waiting for a 55-250 zoom to arrive and will then start saving my pennies for the 10-22 EF-S. Both of these are relatively cheap but have reasonably good reviews and will get me started. One day I may feel I've advanced enough to get a couple of really good lenses. May have a look at the 50mm prime lens recommended by Justine Gordon!

Cars and Aeroplanes

These are the last photographs taken with my Sony NEX-5. I collected my new Canon 550D today and as I write this the battery's charging up!

These were all taken at the Goodwood Revival meeting. For those of you who don't know, this is held annually at the Goodwood racing circuit in Sussex, UK. The three-day event features racing cars from the 1940s, '50s and '60s. There are also vintage aircraft from World War II, some of which take part in flying displays and 'dog fights' over the circuit.

This photograph of a flying boat was taken from the rear, looking up along the fuselage to the twin engines. I was shooting into the sun and was a bit worried about exposure but I think it looks fine after a couple of small tweaks in PSE.

This is a bonnet ornament on the water tank cap of an old car. I wish I could tell you what it was but, stupidly, I forgot to take something to make notes in about my photos. I think my husband who was with me might have been a bit cross if I'd taken too long over my photography too. It's best to try and do serious photography on your own, especially when you're on a learning curve!

This is the famous Jaguar bonnet ornament, instantly recognizable. I quite like the reflections in the headlight. I took another shot straight on which had a nice symmetrical arrangement of lights on and around the grille but it did't work out as well as I'd hoped.

It was a great day out - not too hot but mainly sunny. I found that shadows got in the way of a lot of the shots I wanted to take - there were a lot of people there and the shadows confused many of my attempts.

The next photos I post will be taken with my new best friend!

Autumn Rose

There's something about these lovely autumn roses that invokes a nostalgia for the summer that's just gone. This one is so beautiful and so delicate that I just had to capture it before its petals start to fall. I'll try to photograph it through the phases of its decline if the wind doesn't cause that to happen too quickly.

I set up the shot using aperture priority using a large aperture to blur the background but the shutter didn't seem to be able to set itself automatically - it was continually overexposing. So I set it to full manual and this worked fine. I wonder why that is.

But I've decided to upgrade my camera to a Canon EOS 550D because I'm so enjoying photographing again I thought I'd get a really nice, versatile camera while I can. The huge choice of lenses definitely influenced my decision plus the fact that I had an EOS 300 some years ago and just loved it although I'm hoping this new one will be a little lighter. I think I have to make a compromise between versatility and weight.

Autumn Berries

Suddenly the hedgerows are full of berries, a sure sign that autumn really is on its way. I hate the fact that summer's coming to a close but autumn is a season of such wonderful colours that I always get excited about the first signs of leaves turning to red and gold. That hasn't happened yet and the trees still have their late summer green hues; it isn't the fresh green of spring now though, but a duller, darker green as if they're building up their energy for the competition to be the brightest, most over-the-top tree on the block!

I'm still playing around with my new camera, trying out different settings. I prefer to use full manual because then I can see what I'm setting up and can try to figure out why. I still need to get more experience with focusing, especially with shallow depth of field. I would have liked the bunch of berries above to have stood out against a more blurred background so I have a lot more experimenting to do yet.

The wonderful colour of the leaves in this last photograph caught my eye; they were in the middle of a hedge dividing two fields and all around was green except for this burst of pink. I have no idea what it is - at first I thought it had berries on it but when I got closer I saw that they are delicate little seed pods. Ain't nature grand!!