Last week saw me in Austria for a ski holiday. After much deliberation (and some threatening from my wife) I decided to leave my DSLR at home. The risk of breaking it in a fall (I'm not a very good skier) or it causing problems on lifts etc (I'm really not a very good skier) was too high for me to take the chance.

I'm not sure it was the right decision. From an artistic point of view the mountains and the weather was fantastic for photo. We had days of snow, days of glorious sunshine and days which swapped between the two. But, given how much I fell over, it probably made sense...

I did take my E550 with me on a couple of days though. Some of the photographs came out quite well.

 

You can see a few more pictures here.

The reality is I probably forgot every lesson I'd learned about landscapes due to a combination of altitude, hangover, lack of fitness and general "wowiness" of the view. Still, if next Christmas your postcard looks suspiciously home made with a view of some mountains in the snow, you might be able to guess why...

I'm not the sort of person who learns things by reading them in a book or magazine. It doesn't matter how many times you tell me something or I read about other peoples experiences. I just need to go and do it myself. It seems this applies both to learning how to do something and to learning how NOT to do something...

Which is why today I found myself out in Donegal with only my ice cold fingers bluer than the language I was using as I discovered I hadn't cleared my now full memory card after my last picture frenzy. Of course, I carry 4 memory cards don't I. Well, no. it seems I don't. I'd left those in the car along with some other kit I deemed to heavy to bother with for the 20 minutes I was out and about.

So, todays lessons?

1. When you're finished uploading photographs from the memory card. Remember to reformat it!

2. Buy a pair of gloves!

I took a wander through my local park again today. I'd be lying if I said I was happy with the photographs I took. For the most part they're all pretty uninspired pictures of leafless trees, though maybe with the wonders of Photoshop and Lightroom something might come of them.

Whilst wandering around, I came across some old tree trunks which must have been left from some storm. Some of the patterns in the wood were quite pretty. Take a look...

I'd say the second picture kinda looks like an old man asleep (if you consider you're looking up from between his feet), but you'd all think I was mad so I won't say that, no siree.

They feel quite soft and not as sharp as I'd like. I must have a conversation with someone who knows stuff about cameras and ask them to show me how to get my camera sharper, or get them to check my lenses to make sure they're ok.

 

Speaking of which, if you read this and know a good way to clean the outer side of the lens (not the bit hooked to the camera), can you let me know? I've no idea if the same cloth I sue for my glasses is sufficient or if I need a doofer thing-ma-bob.

John mentioned durhamtownship to me last week during the photography thing and I finally got a decent chance to check it out last night. It's a photo blog by Kathleen Connally recording the area she lives in.

When he said it was a fantastic example of a photo blog with some amazing pictures, he wasn't understating the thing.

If you haven't visited already, take a look at durhamtownship. It's pretty bloody brilliant.

Inspired by the Macro article in this months Digital SLR Photography and conversations with Stuart (who's thinking about buying a macro lens and has hopefully mentioned this to Louise) I decided to have a play with my Tamron 55 - 200 lens yesterday.

I'm still not completely clear on what the difference is between a proper macro lens and a really good zoom - I'll need to read up on this a little further I guess. But, since my Tamron has the word macro printed on the barrel it drove me into the back garden for a play.

One thing I did notice is how hard it is to focus at extreme zoom. Even when I resorted to using a tripod I still had some problems with sharpness (and the bugger of it is I could only see the problems when I looked at the picture on my monitor later).

Whilst outside playing around, I ended up taking some pictures of some clothes pegs on the line. The initial objective of the photo was to get a nice 'macro' style shot of the spring, but the breeze, the difficulty focusing and the fact I kept accidentally hitting the line meant it never really worked out. However, I did end up with a nice depth of field shot (or at least I think so) of the pegs on the line.

There is some softness in the picture and you can see the vibrations in the line to the right of the shot, but I kind of liked it.

(1/15sec, f/8, focal length - 200mm, ISO - 100, 19/01/08 15:50)

In terms of post processing, the exposure has been increased slightly, plus small increases to contrast, vibrancy and saturation. Just because it looked nicer.

If I'd to take it again, I think I'd try to get a different coloured peg, either as the first one or for somewhere down the line to add contrast. I'd also be a bit more patient and let the line settle before clicking.

for those of you interested, the results of the competition I mentioned yesterday can be found here.

I was and am still really impressed by 'City Rain' in the colour prints section.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the third round of the NIPA inter club competition. As well as finally being a chance to meet John in the flesh, it was an opportunity to see what photographers in Northern Ireland were taking, the effects of different styles and get an idea of what actually works.

It also ended up turning into quite a handy overview of the power of layers and filter masks when editing images!

Looking at the photos on display my over riding reactions alternated between 'Wow' and 'I really suck at this'.

It was interesting to see how the judges had scored certain pictures. Shots I felt were breathtaking seemed to score average to high marks, whilst some of the winners (whilst brilliant, have no doubt) wouldn't have been on my top ten.I'd never considered things like the frequency the subject turns up in competition (lets be honest, if we live in Belfast we'll all take photos of the City Hall at some point). Equally people with the capacity to travel all around the world shouldn't win because their picture is from a far off land.

I believe the judges mentioned some/all of the pictures would be online soon and as soon as I get the link I'll post it.

I came away from the night inspired to keep on at this, though I've a brand new appreciation for how much I need to learn.

 

Still, as long as its fun...

It was 6 months ago today that I bought my digital SLR. In that time I've taken over 1800 photographs and tried a number of different techniques and tools.
I guess some have worked better than others.

So, what have I learned?

Aperture Priority.
Probably the first thing I learned when I turned the camera from its seductive automatic mode was the aperture setting. Controlling the amount of light that gets through the lens it has a major effect on the length of time needed for the exposure and the depth of field in focus in the image. I also learned photographing a washing line in the rain will get you some strange looks from your wife...

Shutter Priority
If aperture controls the amount of light, then shutter priority controls the shutter time. Useful when taking pictures of fast moving objects or for intentional blurring effects and maybe something to remember when taking pictures of remote control racing cars (my brothers one comment on 100 photos I took one Sunday - "Why are they all so blurred?")

Shutter Priority versus Aperture Priority
These work together. The smaller the aperture, the longer the exposure time needed. Simple as that. Except it's not is it? Basically you seem to trade these off against each other to get the effect you want. Want a large depth of field (for some panoramic stuff), then you'll need a long exposure. When working in one of these modes, the camera will always manipulate the other setting. you can use a little under exposure or over exposure to help get the effect you want.

When in manual mode, you're on your own kid...

ISO Speeds
Basically how sensitive the sensor will be to the light presented. The higher the ISO, the less light needed. But, the higher the ISO the more potential for noisey pictures (unwanted grain). Mostly I learned it's important to reset it to 100 after you've been using it on a higher setting or you can end up in a pickle.

Tripods
The value of a good tripod is becoming more and more apparent. something sturdy, quick to erect and stable is essential for all but the most simple of snaps. And something you can trust is good too. The tripod I have is fit for purpose, but will probably be the first piece of kit I change as I find it impossible to get level.

Post Processing
When I started out on this, I'd feared I would be a purest in terms of post processing, demanding all photos were as is out of the camera. But image manipulation is a seductive mistress. (I'll try to show you in the next post I make).
It starts simple a little cropping, maybe some straightening and then before you know it you're in there burning shadows, cloning out annoying artefacts and generally making all manner of changes. Fair enough I say. Go for it.

I'm sure there are other technical things I've picked up over the past 6 months but what’s amazed me is the emotional or artistic side to it.

I don't want to come across like one of those "no one understands my pain, here's a poem" people*, but...

I’ve also started to appreciate the impact of properly framing a picture. Using things like the rule of thirds and perspective (which I’ll try to explain when I understand it a bit better myself) to make a landscape jump out at you. Or making sure a persons eyes are in focus to improve a portrait.

The thought process that goes into a single photograph amazes me. When I'd looked at a finished picture in a magazine I'd never considered that the photographer had maybe spent hours waiting for the perfect light, moving around to get the perfect line and spent hours puzzling out the perfect settings. Even one of those things wrong and a great photo ends up just a good one. (and if I could even get a good one I'd be delighted).

These days I've a habit of finding myself walking along framing things in my head, spotting abstracts and pictures and wondering if they'd work. I also find I never quite manage to capture what I thought I was capturing, either emotionally or artistically. Still, it's a learning experience.

Hopefully I'm improving. I guess as long as I'm having fun, that's all that matters.


*I have nothing against artistic people or poets. I quite like a good poem. I just can’t handle teenage angst very well. Oh, and Goths. I tried to be a Goth once, but it was so depressing…. And being ginger meant I could never quite pull off the look…

We took baba to the park today. The weather seems to have turned properly wintry at last with low temperatures and clear skies and since we were out and about and wrapped up anyway it seemed the thing to do.

I'm always keen to get out into my local park, something tells me there are good photos there just waiting for me to get enough skill and confidence to take them. Maybe next time...

In the meantime, I took this of some swings which had been abandoned until warmer weather brought the kids back.

 

The adjustment to grayscale was performed using Lightroom and a couple of minor tweaks were made to exposure and the curves stuff to try and make it a bit more dramatic.

 

Interestingly, by the time we'd finished our walk, summer must have arrived as there were a few kids about and the swings looked a lot less forlorn.

 

Oh, and for those that'll ask - Web Woes? Still ongoing. Defeated by the lack of a working KVM switch. I'm ordering one now.