Shooting in Low Light

As we went through the holiday season I am sure you had many opportunities to take pictures in low light situations. I have read many articles on the subject. My pictures use to get very grainy, until I discovered ISO. You can read about it HERE  

When I took these pictures below I had my ISO set to over 2200+  depending on how dark the area was.  Also look around for how the area is lit.  Try to get behind the spot lights, so you get more light.  I have a wide angled lense so it automaticly lets a bunch of light into the picture.  But having the higher ISO setting let me turn off my flash.  

ISO 2400

Of course having a tripod would help steady the photo but I didn't want to lug it around with me.

ISO 2500



ISO 2500



This was WAY up in the ceiling and I set it to 3500.  I didn't even notice the red until I loaded the picture on my computer. 

So next time you are at your childrens concert open up your ISO as high as it will go and shoot away! 

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Frosty

We woke up today to a frosty wonderlamd.  So I grabbed my camera to catch the frostiness.

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Birds

I love watching birds. I have several feeders in our backyard. But trying to get a photo of them is a bit tricky. They move fast and are startled easily.

On our trip to Colorado we saw some interesting birds. The key to shooting birds is a good zoom and shoot in your sport mode that has the continuous shooting. My pictures are not in great focus but those darn birds move so fast. I gave it my best shot!

These Lorikeets were at the KC Zoo.  We were able to feed them nectar in a cup.  That gave me the opportunity to get a good picture of them.

This Mountain Blue Bird was sitting on desert grass in

Red Rocks, Colorado.

We found the Ptarmigam while waking a trail. 

 He was hard to see because they camouflaged well.

We caught a shot of this Steller Jay

sitting on a pole at a trailhead.

You can get some great bird shots right in you backyard. Hang a birdfeeder outside your window. Put your camera on tripod near the glass. Dress in dark colors, so you don’t scare them away. Set you camera on continuous and snap away. I would love to see your pictures. Happy Shooting!



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Photo Assignment

As the trees turn brilliant colors go out and celebrate the season by taking a few pictures. 

These were taken on my recent travels. 

 Your pictures don't have to be of trees. They can be anything that reminds you of autumn. They can be pumpkins, kids dressed in costumes, corn mazes, pumpkins patches, fruits and veggies..... Take your camera for walk and get shooting.
Thanks for stopping by....................

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Perspective

Down the street are Civil War battlefields.  I went a little snap happy with the cannons.  It is a good practice to take photos from different angles. 

 So go out and find something interesting and take multiple pictures at different angles.  You may like what you find!  Have fun..........

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New Book & Photo Assignment

I found this book at my local library.  It gives step-by-step instructions, pictograms, and before-and-after comparisons that provide a complete course in capturing a landscape's natural beauty. Renowned photographer Tim Fitzharris reveals foolproof techniques he has used through decades of fieldwork in a wide variety of settingsTim gives great tips on how to capture spectacular vistas. While on our trip to Colorado I tried to use some of the tips to make my landscape photos better. Tim says that the lighting is one of the most important things in capturing the great landscape picture; I had to shoot in full sunlight. Sorry, when you travel you have to shoot whenever you are at a particular spot.

Tips:

• Allow ¼ - 1/3 of frame for the sky.
• Include overlapping terrain features
• Include as many planes as possible to create a greater depth of field.
• Shoot from different angles

This book contains so much information to pass on to you, so go to your local library and check it out. It’s a great read and learning tool.

 

This week assignment from Better Photo:

Capture a Scenic Landscape

• Compose your scene, pay attention to graphic elements such as line, shapes and forms.
•  Look for interesting shadows or reflections.
• Try to make all elements lead in a nice way through the picture

I took these picture out in Colorado.

 My layers/fields in this picture are the sky, the snowy mountains, rocky hills and tundra field. 

By the way this is Red Rocks National Park, CO.

Can lanscapes be vertical?  Sure....  Here my layers are the sky, the tree, the rock and grassy area.  I focused on the two sides of the rock and let the grassy area pull your eye up to the tree at the top.



Rocky Mountain National Park



Here we have the sky, cloulds, trees, grass, water and reflection.  Can you see how each picture has different layers and elements to make it pleasing to the eye?  I really enjoyed taking these pictures.  While they are not the best lighting, I learned a lot about composition.

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Photo Assignment

This week's assignment is

MAKE GREAT BLACK &WHITE PHOTOS

I was going to delete this picture until I notice how the land drew your eye left and the clouds drew you eye right.  Since it was a cloudy day the land and water seemed to blend together.  So I changed it to B&W and I liked it much better.

Black and white photography is classic.  It helps you to focus on important elements in your picture.  Below, I took a picture of this gate with the lions head.  In color it seemed busy with all the stuff behing the gate.  By turning it black and white it helped to focus in on the lion.

Black & White tips:

•   Shoot in color and convert your picture to B&W use photo software.  I use PICASA.
• Look for lines, patterens,shapes, and forms as you frame your pictures.
• Remember to "save as" a copy so you still have your color print.

• 

  I liked the curve of this buildings doorway.

Soooo many shapes in this one!

Happy shooting.............

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Photo Assignment

I have been reading my book and have come to the picture assignments. 

The first one is to Photograph a Flower Close-up

 I found these sunflowers on a walk the other day. 

• Set your camera to MACRO setting or use a Macro lens. I use my macro setting.
• If your camera won't shoot you may be TOO close.
• Take pictures from different angles.  Move around and look through the viewfinder for various positions.
• Make sure there isn't a disstracting background.
• Afterwards study the picturse to see which shows off your subject best.

Happy Shooting!

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While this is a very nice camera strap, I thought I could make a cover that would feel better around my neck and look cute!
I followed the directions from this post.

 

I dug through my fabric drawer and found these three fabrics.

I measure the width of my strap and added an inch for the sleeve. Then I measured the length I want the strap. Mine was 36 x 2 ½ I cut two pieces.

Next for the ruffle I made each strip ¼ inch smaller.  I made the ruffle twice as long as the strap sleeve.  Mine came out a bit bunchy so you could do less. 

Iron the ends down and make sure the two sleeve pieces are the same length.  Sew the ends.  Lay the two sleeve part right sides together and sew a ¼ seam down one side.

 Iron down a ¼ inch seam on both sides of the ruffle strips. Then stitch each side down. I did a zigzag stitch.


Sew a basting stitch down the middle of each ruffle strip. Tie one end of the threads and pin to on side of the sleeve. Pull your thread from the other end of the ruffle piece and spread the gathers out over the sleeve. Do this for both ruffles.

I made mine a bit bunchy.  Try a little less ruffle.

Pin down the ruffles ever few inches.

Sew the ruffle down the middle onto the sleeve  

Then tuck in your ruffles and pin down the sleeve.  Make sure you tuck in the ruffle so you won’t sew it the seam.  I pushed it in as I sewed it.  Turn sleeve right side in and put on strap. 



Tuck tuck tuck



I am not thrilled with the color combos of mine, but they were in my fabric drawer so I made them work.  The ruffled sleeve reminds me of a Hawaiian lei. I used a soft flannel and It feels real nice on my neck! 

Thanks for stopping by.......................

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New Site & Book

To understand my camera better I

 bought some books to read. 

This is a great one for a beginner/intermediate photographers.

~ forty+ tips on how you can instantly

improve your picture taking.

~ Gives you 20 photo assignments to practice.

Plus much more. 

As I go through the book I will share my pictures.

Next I found this photography site called Adorama They have good videos about photography (techniques, technical, equipment...)

Check it out!

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How Did I Get Started?

It all started with this:

My first camera was given to me as a birthday present at the age of 10? Not really sure if that is the exact year but close. You remember the old film cameras with the cube flash. Each picture precious because it cost MONEY to find out what it looked like.

Then came the POLAROID.


I loved this baby because you could see your picture in five minutes. The film was expensive so this camera went to the wayside quickly. Although I wish I had kept it for the retro affect.

 Then the 110 Camera:







This is the camera I had during my teen years. This camera took trips to family gatherings, vacations, friends, school trips, and my honeymoon. It was stolen during a cruise in 1984. Sad day!


 
 

I went through a few more point and shoot cameras before the age of DIGITAL! Then I lost all control and took pictures of everything. My poor family puts up with my obsession with taking just the right shot. Hopefully I will get better and won’t have them “hold” that pose forever…..



My inspiration comes from the world around me. I see beauty in the simple things, such as backyard nature, family times, travel adventures, architecture, and art. I enjoy art museums, books on photography and reading creative blogs.


I am not sure where my obsession with photography will take me, but for now I enjoy sharing my pictures with family and friends. Thanks for stopping by………….

 

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