Tag: Leaves

Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus

Posted on Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , 28 Comments

Cheri Lucas Rowlands tells us about the basics of depth of field and aperture and compares the effects of using a shallow depth of field to a a greater one. She asks that we :-

  • Snap a photo of something or someone in focus, against a blurred background.
  • Share a panorama or landscape in sharp focus, in which you can see details far away.
  • Use a camera app to force focus (or blur) in an experimental way.
  • Take multiple photos of the same scene or subject using different aperture settings and publishing the results.

Do you agree that my first photo is rather dull, whereas the second is okay?

Leaves 1

Leaves 2

Can you post some photos that show the effect of changing apertures? Join in at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/weekly-photo-challenge-focus/

January Small Stones# Ten

Posted on Posted in A River of Stones, England, January Small Stones, WritingTagged , , , , , , 18 Comments

A third of the way through January already, winter is creeping darkly along. There is  a suggestion from the Met Office that we may have some snow and ice on Saturday, which I really don’t want. Today at eight fifteen, it was a morning for headlights. So different from yesterdays blue, I got wet but it wasn’t raining. 100% humidity and all of it settling on me, turning my hard work curls to frizz.

I walked the usual way to work, and along the path beside a row of Victorian terrace houses, and with nothing but fog ahead, I glanced down. Leaves from the sycamores across the road dotted my way, in various states of deterioration. In August they were rich, bright green – summer’s rain had stopped them from frying, and autumn was late. It was late October before they were yellow, then gold, bronze, brown.

Now a few deep bronze ones had found their way to the edge of the walls. Underfoot, some clear shapes in brown remained, many very dark. Some had felt heavier shoes than others, and had jagged edges. An awful lot were totally trampled into black marks on the flagstones, decayed, disappearing, and waiting for a hard frost or more heavy rain to wash them away. I wonder if they will be visible next week. I must remember to notice.

Photography, art or techno skills?

Posted on Posted in Art and Design, canon eos 450d, PhotographyTagged , , , 24 Comments

I used to do a lot of photo editing when I first discovered Photoshop but eventually tired of it. I learnt to colour pop, but then everywhere you looked you would see colour popped photos – boring. The current craze for instagram does little for me, it doesn’t seem to require any particular skill or eye for a good quality photo.

Then last year I did a photography course and everyone was furiously editing everything, trying every trick the software offered. It put me off even more and I concentrated on improving my camera skills. That didn’t work, my photography became worse as I struggled to get to grips with manual camera settings.

I’m gradually recovering and on a photo day I can usually get a few shots I’m happy with, probably around 5%! I have three lenses to play with and have often thought that if I just had this lens or that lens then I might get the results I want. But that’s nonsense of course, it’s all in the eye, and sometimes choosing a good way to use software to create an interesting image.

Here I have played with a photo in a few different ways, a couple of which I believe work well and some less so. Do you have an opinion to offer? Do you like some more than others? or maybe you don’t like any of them? Let me know what you think or perhaps post a few versions of a image that you have worked with. As always click for a larger view.