I'm Back!

I'm back from two weeks' holiday in north Norfolk, on the east coast of England. The beaches there are huge and beautiful and I love it dearly.

I was determined not to take the 'usual' photo of the colourful beach huts that line the back of the beach at Wells-next-the-Sea so instead I took my shot from behind one of the huts showing the view from its deck. I love the ice cream colours of this one - they reflect the sky and sand so beautifully.

This is my beautiful Irish Wolfhound, Misty. I had just set up my exposure for a bush of bright red berries at the top of this slope and taken the photo when I saw Misty approaching so I was all ready to take a quick photo of her while she was silhouetted against the blue sky. Ideally I would have chosen a smaller aperture to get full depth of field, but I was pleased that I got a photo of her as she's notoriously camera shy!

I took lots of photographs while I was away and will post more of them here over the coming week but I was disappointed that only a few of them really pleased me. But I guess that's the way it goes with photography and I feel I'm beginning to highlight the areas where I'm weak so that I can work on them.

But I had one or two successes. I took this photograph from below the shrub, looking through the leaves to the washed blue sky. I adjusted the levels slightly in Elements to accentuate the wonderful autumn colours and am really pleased with it.

It's good to be back home and I'm looking forward to learning more and more. And I ordered myself a 50mm f/1.4 USM after much research and that should arrive in a few days. Wow!

Off on my holidays

What a jolly toadstool this is - I think it's a Fly Agaric. It reflects my mood with its happy colour because I'm off for two weeks' vacation. Staying in the UK so hoping the weather will be OK! But I don't know whether I'll have any internet so may not be able to post again for a couple of weeks. If I can I will though.

And I'm hoping for lots of photos!

The Creative Exchange - week one

My offering for The Creative Exchange is this dead leaf, just clinging on to the plant before it falls. I can't remember the name of the plant but the leaves are very large. I was experimenting with isolating one thing against a blurred background and I'm quite pleased with it. I'm not sure about the green leaf showing behind - I think it detracts a bit from the washed out tones of the rest of the photograph. But it's early days and I think this is the most creative offering I have so far. I'm pleased with the focus - just what I wanted.

And the main thing is I'm really enjoying myself :-)

Out and about with my new lens

Today my new lens arrived - 55-250mm EF-S 4.0-5.6. I know it's not the sharpest kid on the block but it's a start for me to experiment with. I'm exploring the wonderful world of Canon lenses and making myself a wishlist on Evernote.

 I was trespassing with my Irish Wolfhound round a fishing lake, looking for pictures to take when this crow started yelling at the top of its voice from a branch right by us, alerting all the fishermen. We beat a hasty retreat!

I spent a long time on my knees in the garden experimenting with different exposures for this shot. I'm not really that happy with it but it was the best of the bunch. Shot at f/22, 1/13 sec, ISO 800.

I couldn't resist these colourful peony leaves - a sure sign that autumn's well on its way.

I have one more shot from the day's experiments which I'm saving for tomorrow and White Cotton Tee's new Creative Exchange challenge. It's my absolute favourite and I have to admit a little surge of pleasure every time I look at it. It feels like a step forward. Watch this space...

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!

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.

Experiments with reflections

I've been experimenting today with taking photographs of reflections. Nothing very arty yet like reflections in water. I tried that yesterday but it was so overcast and dull the photographs were too dark.

The reflections theme is in response to Kat's challenge on her wonderful blog. It's also part of an exercise I'm doing on bracketing which is where you set up the camera to take three quick shots of the image, one with the settings you choose and the other two +7 or -7 (or +3 and -3). Then you can compare the different exposures and choose the best picture. I'm really chuffed to say that my manual setting was the best of the three for this shot.

I love the colours (or lack of colours) in this photo. It's almost black and white but not. It's a corner of my bedroom which is in the loft so the light comes in strongly and is reflected round the white walls. The strong frame of the mirror makes a good composition I think.

I'm a little embarrassed about this experiment because I hate having pictures of myself taken - I'm totally un-photogenic! But sticking a camera in front of my face makes me a little easier with including it.

Getting the exposure right was a bit of a balancing act which inevitably ended in a compromise. I wanted to be able to show the intricate carving on the little mirror (which I love) but unfortunately doing that made the image in the mirror somewhat over-exposed. This was at the other end of my bedroom, next to another window and the sunlight coming in was very strong. I may try it again when the light's less harsh.

Natural patterns

This is a photograph I took last year on a beach in Scotland. I love the patterns in the rock formations and the subtle differences in the colours.

It was a sunny day and there was a deep shadow on the left of the photograph which obscured some of the beauty of the rock forms. I adjusted it in Photoshop Elements and I think it looks OK now. I'm a rank amateur as far as taking photographs is concerned so I'm always worried that I haven't got it quite right.

I also find it difficult working on the laptop because if I alter the angle of the screen it alters the colours and contrast in the image. I guess the only way to really find out if it's right is to print it out properly on decent photo paper. But since this is most likely to only ever be viewed on a computer screen the problem remains.

I've been taking lots of photos recently because I have a new camera, a Sony NEX-5. I have two lenses for it - a 16mm pancake lens and an 18-55 zoom. The only other one they make for the camera is an 18-200 zoom, although there is a convertor which makes the whole range of Sony a lenses plus some Minolta lenses available. I'm thinking about Christmas and need to have a plan of action ready in case someone decides to give me a lens!! I shall have to do some research...