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“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
~Anne Bradstreet
A smoking tulip
Location: Anttola, Eastern Finland
Date: May 23, 2008
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710IS
Exposure: 0.002 seconds
Aperture: 5.6
Focal length: 5.8mm
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness & contrast levels
Autumn is here whether I like it or not. So I've got no choice but to divert my attention to beautiful things before this season makes me clinically insane. Now kindly join me as I reminisce about lovely days of spring.
Spring means colorful flowers are back to life. My favorite spring flowers are hepaticas and tulips. I took several photos of them 3 months ago. To make my photos less boring, I experimented with different angles. I found out that shots that are focused on the tulip's inner parts are not that appealing. Whenever I take photos of chrysanthemums I do my best to focus on the flower's center but that didn't work well with tulips. Since the top view wasn't great, I took photos from the bottom, logical isn't it? I took the "smoking tulip" photo by holding the camera inches below the flower's receptacle and hoped that the focus would be on the petals. It was a trial-and-error process, but seeing how the tulip's color stand out against the blue sky was a delight. That perspective also gave the illusion that the tulip was so close to the clouds making it look like a colorful chimney. If you want to try this unusual POV, it's necessary to use flash otherwise the petals would look too dark because of the shadow from the flower itself.
More spring beauties:
1. Kiss the cloud goodbye, 2. You've reached a better place ...
Hepatica
Location: Vantaa, Finland
Date: April 20,2008, 6:22PM
Exposure: 0.017
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal length: 5.8mm
I picked this dainty flower in the woods and brought it to our balcony for photos. The evening light was just right for taking photos at the time. The flower's lime green part looks like a candy, it's interesting, hence I did my best to focus on that. Some said that the petals didn't look nice and that aperture wasn't right for the photo. Okay, fine.. so there are imperfections in the image, no big deal. What matters is that I know that my effort was perfect. I also had fun shooting and the most important thing is I have images that will brighten up my mood..helping me keep my sanity.
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
~Jim Rohn
Location: Pähkinärinne, Vantaa ,Finland
Date taken: May 26, 2008 at 2.56pm EEST
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec
Aperture: F/4
Focal length: 5.8 mm
Modifications: adjusted brightness & contrast levels, cropping,
noise reduction, added vignette
I picked this lady bug photo for this entry because I want to talk about my little accomplishments in the field of photography. If you think you couldn't bear reading this entry,
that's fine with me, just let me go on blabbing before I hit the sack. So here it goes...
In August of 2007, my shield bug photo was used for the article Ancient Giant Insects Breathing Easy. I was novice then, so the thought of my photo being good enough in the eyes of another person somehow felt nice. But who knows? Maybe the writer was just too desperate for images :-)
I was in the Philippines earlier this year. While I was there, my butt got featured in Manila Bulletin's Picture Perfect section.
I didn't expect to see 6 of my photos in a national broadsheet. It was a big thing for me. It was also the first time for me to see the printed versions of my work. They didn't look bad. Picture Perfect is a good read for hobbyists. They sometimes feature tutorials & camera reviews. Unfortunately, I can't read anything from their column anymore, it always says "no other news". They should have that fixed. It worked in early summer though. Mr Eric Lirios wrote an excellent article about a certain point & shoot user :-) But because I was already here in Finland then, I didn't get to see the printed version right away. I had to ask someone to send me a copy of that paper. It was so wrinkled when it got here. I haven't taken a photo of it yet.
This morning I got a copy of JPG magazine from the mail. My spotted tortoise beetle photo is on page 94. It was among the photos that were chosen by the magazine's staff & JPG's members to be published for their Creatures feature. There could have been a short story about that pic, but regrettably, I noticed their e-mail too late. Darn! Maybe I was too busy with Flickr then.
So what's next? I don't know yet. I still learn new things everyday. Among my goals is to prove that in photography sometimes you won't need heavy gears for your work to be recognized. I guess I am doing okay.. so far.
A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.
~Phyllis Diller
" 
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Location: Vantaa, Finland
Date & time: September 25, 2007 at 3.23pm EEST
Exposure: 0.002 sec
Focal length: 5.8 mm
Modification: cropping
It's another gloomy day here in the country. It's been raining and the temperature is 10 degrees centigrade. Not a good day to go out & take photos. The weather really affects my mood. I don't like autumn because it's the prelude to the dark winter and it's sad to see less of my favorite subjects.
A few hours ago, I was looking at the photos that I took at this time of the year because I wanted to know which insects will still be around 'til late autumn. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the above-posted pic. I took that photo after a long day at work. It was not that cold then, so I decided to walk around the nearest pond hoping to see lady bugs or any insect. I was so happy when I saw that dragonfly. I slowly walked close to where it was. It made a stop on a blade of grass and when I was about to press the shutter it flew to a tree, bummer! I had no choice but to get on my feet again and walk to the tree where my subject was resting. I took 5 photos of it. I was a bit surprised because it didn't seem to mind the camera even if it was very close to its face. It flew after the 5th shot and I headed home with dirty jeans. I didn't notice that I was kneeling on wet grass when I was taking photos. When I got home, my husband knew what I had been doing outside, based on how disheveled I was.
I laughed when I first saw this dragonfly pic from my laptop. It was smiling at me! Cool isn't it? Thanks to the nice natural light, because I didn't have to do much to the photo. I just cropped it.
Migrant hawkers should be around 'til late September, I just hope that I could spot some of them here. I wouldn't mind getting my jeans dirty again especially if they will smile for me.
"From small beginnings come great things"
~ Proverb
My first sharp bumble bee photo
Location: Savonlinna, Finland
Date & time: 2007:06:28 14:22:31
Camera: Canon Powershot A540
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal length: 23. 2 mm
Exposure: 0.002 sec
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness & contrast, color levels
If you want to see the unprocessed image click here. I cropped it the wrong way, my bad. What was I thinking? The head of the bee almost didn't make it to the frame. There should have been more space in that direction. I also wasn't close enough to the subject. The DOF is okay though, and that pollen on its leg adds interest to the image. I only noticed that when the image was already in my laptop. I was quite amazed and the rest, as they say, is history.
I upload my best (to me) photos to my Flickr gallery. I get comments from other members and sometimes e-mails. They basically ask the same questions, I don't mind replying though. So while I'm at it, here are the top 10 questions from viewers of my gallery with my corresponding answers:
1. What's the camera that you use?
For those of you who have Flickr accounts, you probably know that under the photo tags there are more information about the photo. The camera model is there, and if you will click on "more properties" you wil find the EXIF data of the photo. Everything is there: settings, time, the color of my shirt when I took the pic, yeah everything. But I never whine whenever they ask me that question. My standard reply is: a Canon Powershot A710 IS.
2. Do you use a macro lens?
I don't because I don't have one. I don't even know if I can attach anything to my camera.
3. Do you use a tripod?
Nope, my husband has a tripod but I don't use anything that is not mine :-) lol! All of my photos are hand held shots because a tripod may just get in the way if I would stalk bugs. I am quite clumsy, I may trip on it or something.
4. It's crisp, how did you do that?
Natural lighting is the best. I don't take photos on an ugly weather.
5. Where do you find your subjects?
They are everywhere.We have a big backyard where I find different kinds of insects & spiders. I find true bugs on leaves. Bees are always close to the flowers. Spiders are sometimes under the leaves. Bigger beetles always crawl on soil, but ladybirds are on leaves where aphids are close by.
6. Why don't you get a DSLR?
Because I don't want to. It's too heavy and looks too darn complicated to use. It took me half-a-year before I got used to the buttons of my compact camera, so it would probably take me years to learn how to use a DSLR.
7. Why bugs?
I hate to answer a question with a question, but my initial response is: why not? Taking photos of insects is very challenging. Like I've said many times before, anyone can take photos of buildings and landscapes, but not everyone will be patient enough to chase tiny winged creatures. It's the thrill of the chase.. literally.
8. Did you take those photos yourself?
This is the most annoying question ever. I got rashes from stinging nettles just to take photos of ladybugs. ..I was chased by an army of mosquitoes on the way to the forest to look for butterflies I also got bitten by ants while taking photos of hover flies.. and I will be accused of uploading photos that I didn't take?! I don't understand how people can be so cruel. I answer them with a polite 'yes' even if they got me so irritated.
9. What camera can you recommend?
I don't know. I really don't. But if it's a compact point & shoot don't get a camera because it's cute slim and very light. It's super lightness is a disadvantage because you may not be able hold it steadily while taking a photo. You will get out-of-focus images as a result.
10. What's your messenger ID?
I never reply to that question :-)
Hi everyone! Welcome to my photography blog. I want to share with you my views on photography thru this site. I consider myself as a beginner in photography because I've still got a lot to learn. I am enjoying the learning process though. I am grateful for those people who shared their knowledge with me back when my photos were super crappy. I am not saying that they are perfect now, but I get nice comments from those who know more about the craft. So if they were telling the truth, then I guess I could say that I have improved.
According to the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "We know accurately only when we know little; with knowledge doubt increases." I couldn't agree with him more. The more I learn about photography, the more I realize that my knowledge about it is quite miniscule. There are still so many technical terms that are unfamiliar to me. To be honest, sometimes I think that I may never learn those in this lifetime but it doesn't matter because my photos aren't ugly- at least according to my belief :-)
