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When the dark unfolds its wings
Do you sense the strangest things?
Things no one would ever guess
Things mere words cannot express
~Beauty underneath, from the musical Love Never Dies
Love Never Dies
Location: London, UK
Date & time: 2 November,2010. 23:24
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/3.2
Focal Length 8.3 mm
ISO Speed 400
Modifications : Adjusted contrast, cropping, noise reduction
No one can beat the course of nature, that's a fact. At the moment, the temperature here in Kerimäki is -4 degrees Celsius. That simply means that whether I like it or not, I won't see my favorite subjects for at least 4 months. So what's a shutterbug to do? Two things: leave, or live with it. I left gloomy Finland last week for the bright lights and lively atmosphere of London. Although I didn't manage to take nature photos on account of the weather, I'm still happy with the shots I brought home.
For the past few days, my Flickr uploads were mostly photos of London buildings. I reckon that most of my Flickr contacts thought they were visiting someone else's photostream. One even said that he misses my macro shots, lol! I miss them too, more than you will ever know, but I had to make do with the buildings. Why? Because they were the only available subjects after shopping or watching musicals.
I regret that you won't learn much from this blog entry --surprise, surprise-- as I don't have much experience in night photography. I only get to give it a shot whenever I am in other countries (excuses, excuses!). Anyhow, I just created this blog entry to relieve me of boredom and to show you that the darkness can transform something nice into something majestic. Take a look at the photos of Royal Albert Hall below.
1 September 2010, 16:33
2 November 18:11
The second photo looks better by a mile, don't you agree? I rest my case :-)
I think anyone can take good photos of buildings at dusk or night time, but selecting settings could be a bit tricky for beginners. Since I can't be of help with tips, check out this site for some useful info.
If you're wondering how I managed to take some decent night photos, well.. I won't keep you in the dark. I'm known for keeping things simple, perhaps I owe it to my innate laziness. When taking photos at night, I choose the well-lit buildings as subjects. With my camera's scene capture type set to 'night' or 'fireworks', I find a good angle to shoot from, and then I take one or two photos. They don't always turn out great, but then again, that's quite normal. To minimize noise, I use Neat Image. My 'method' may not be the proper way to do it, but it works for me and my camera. I'm happy as long as the shots don't look too mediocre.
Below are some of my after 8 shots taken in London and Kuala Lumpur.
1. Her Majesty's Theatre, 2. National Gallery, 3. Dusk, 4. Just to break the monotony
I don't when I would have the chance to do night photography again. Actually, I don't know if I'd get to do any kind of photography for the next 4 months. If I will travel in December, for sure you would see new photos from me again, if not, then that means I'll be on hibernation mode 'til spring. *sobs*
“Review your goals twice every day in order to be focused on achieving them.”
~Les Brown
I had a lovely summer, it buzzed with activities and I enjoyed every minute of it. In three months' time, I worked in different health care facilities, took care of our garden, traveled outside Finland twice, and of course I took pictures of nature and some man-made structures. Looking back, I couldn't believe how I managed to juggle all of those. It was a fun and productive season, and boy it sucks how fast time flies.. sigh. Anyhow, in my previous blog entry I was brave enough to mention that I was getting bored with my photography style. I bet some of the people who has been viewing my work since I started showing them off on web galleries do feel the same. Because of that, I thought I should try my very best to make my macro photos look like art pieces, not just mere insect and flower photos that would look good on textbooks where kids could label every part. So... was it a success or a flop? You're about to find out..
A for effort
I tried my best, but I'm giving myself an F because I am simply not satisfied with how the flower macros came out. Yeah, my standards are way too high for an amateur, nothing can change that. However, I should get an A for effort and for always believing that my camera can do wonders. Actually, I deserve more than an A, I think I should get a medal for my false beliefs. I took at least a hundred photos of flowers, I set the aperture to f2.8, and voila! Only 10% turned up to be decent enough. Backed with my years of practice shooting on macro mode, I know quite well which part of the subject to focus on. The difficult part is adding drama to the image, allowing it to tell a story and making it look visually appealing at the same time. Since I do not excel in the creativity department, I ended up deleting so many shots because they looked so dull. Oh, I've still got a lot to learn. Below is one of the few photos that passed my standards, the aperture was f/3.5 though.
Passion for detail
I took that flower photo in a park when I was in a photowalk with my best friend. I was telling her about depth-of-field and its impact on the photograph.
For the record, I owe her big because she was the one who told me that I have to press that tulip button on my camera if I want to take close-up photos. If not for that tip, I probably wouldn't discover the wonderful world of macro photography. It's just but fitting that I share with her some photography tips, just the basic stuff because that's all I know :-)
A for confidence
Some hobbyists have inferiority complex secondary to the use of less expensive gadgets. Oh am I ever so glad I didn't develop that condition.
In fact my 'student's camera is way better than mine, but that didn't bother me at all. I gave her macro tutorials in the lovely parks of London. I enjoyed it so much because it made me realize that I actually know some photography stuff. I owe it to the people who take time to comment on my photos. My lack on insecurity as far as cameras and gears are concerned, also plays a significant part. I don't mind rubbing elbows with DSLR users, in fact the best part of my vacation in the Philippines has always been the photowalks of Pinoy Macro, my favorite Flickr group. I bet not all point and shoot users would feel comfortable being surrounded with guys using heavy cameras and powerful lenses, but I've got confidence in me :-) Most of my favorite shots were taken when I was with those macro masters. Perhaps it's due to the positive energy that I get when I hang out with them. Check out the photos below, you non-believers.
Bonding session
1. in the spotlight, 2. I'm a lady!, 3. Steady, 4. exotic little thing
A for going beyond macro
Whenever I travel, I see to it that butterfly sanctuaries are part of the itinerary. Sometimes I take the beautiful man-made structures for granted. Last summer, however, was different. I finally gave in to the long overdue request of my sister who wanted to see the more photos of the places I visit. So I revisited the buildings of the Finnish capital, took photos of the London street scenes, castles, and other lovely sights. It went well, me thinks. After all, buildings and bridges do not move. It was just a matter of choosing the best angle to shoot from.
Parliament House, Helsinki
1. Buckingham Palace, 2. London bridge, 3. Hampton Court Palace, 4. View from London Eye
Straight A's? That's too good to be true, so to balance things kindly allow me to bash myself as well. I already mentioned one F because I failed to deliver impressive flower macro shots, but it doesn't stop there.
F for post-processing skills
The functions of most stuff in the photoshop tool box remain a mystery to me. I can't even upgrade to newer versions because of my fear that it would again be a struggle to learn the basics. I barely exert effort on learning photoshop because it's time consuming. I would rather take new pictures than sit down and try to make an old one look better.
F for technical knowledge
I've been shooting for 4 years and I’m still confused about ISO. My attention span is exceptionally short for articles that mention numbers. I asked my husband about that many times, but I can't remember much about what he said because I always get lost in his beautiful blue eyes. I just end up saying: to hell with ISO settings, the world will not end if I don't know how to adjust it :-) Moral of the story: don't get tutorials from handsome guys, you won't learn much. Don't say I didn't warn you.
So there you have it. Now you know how this shutterbug spent summer. I tried, I failed, and I've still got more room for improvement. Oh, and I have always been a lady, haha! I had to point that out because one forum member once called me 'sir'.
“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress.”
~Charles Dickens
It's been almost half a year since my last blog entry. I can't believe I didn't even write about spring this year. Well... a lot has happened, I didn't even get to take photos for about 2 months. That was an extremely long break for someone who normally shoots almost everyday. I'm not about to reveal the reason behind the hiatus, as I'm not comfortable announcing every bit of my life's details to everyone. That's not my thing, perhaps it will never be. I created this blog for my nature photos and its purpose should remain the same. And so without further ado, let's get down to business...
Since the last week of May, I've been taking photos whenever the weather is right and I am not busy with part-time jobs. Yeah, back to the old ways, but I've got a confession to make.. I'm getting bored with my style. I'm bound to take photos of the same flowers and insects every summer as long as I live, and as early as now, it feels like my bag of tricks is already empty. I really need to try new things.
I would still love to shoot on macro mode, because that's all I can do. I've been thinking about nature abstracts. Roe, one of my Flickr contacts has a very impressive collection and I wish I could be even half as good as him in that area photography. However, there are a few obstacles, and the most significant is my lack of artistic ability. Macro abstracts are not just about details, it involves a lot of drama, that's why it's not going to be easy for my robotic self. It may also require Photoshop skill, that's also something that I don't have. Moreover, the limitations of my camera may keep me from producing impressive shots. Oh well, I'll try not to let such hindrances to keep me from learning about macro abstracts. I need to unleash my artistic ability, whether I have it or not :-)
I think this flower close-up isn't too bad:
Hieroglyphics of angels
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off
I can't wait to experiment more on flower close-ups, but right now we still don't have much flowers in our backyard. It would be quite boring to look at photos of yellow weeds all the time. I'm waiting for the lupines, poppies, daisies, and lilies to bloom so that I can try the tips from this site. It's cool to learn something new again, it somehow reminds me of my first few months of exploring the complexities of insect photography. I think that if I would devote time on learning about nature abstracts, producing decent shots should be an attainable goal. After all, it shouldn't be as physically challenging as chasing bugs. In case it won't work after millions of tries, I can always go back to my photogenic tiny creatures who are also back in business at this time of the year. They're too cute to ignore especially when they don't mind my presence. The butterfly in the photo below, allowed me to take more than 10 close-up photos. It seems that my lucky star is also back :-)
Her good side
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: Off
“In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer”
~ Albert Camus 
Fire in the horizonCamera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 30.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
ISO Speed: 5
Modifications: Cropping, adjusted contrast, noise reduction
Date taken: 25 January 2010 at 4.40pm EET
Location: Savonlinna, Finland
I am one of the creatures who head south during winter time. This year, however, is an exception. I was in the Philippines from the second week of November and I flew back north on the 29th of December. I would never leave the lovely tropics at that time of the year, if it wasn't for residence permit renewal. But well.. here I am now, wishing that the temperature would at least be just around -5 degrees Celsius or zero so that I wouldn't have to wear too many layers of clothes.
I miss taking photos of flowers and bugs, but what can I do? It's still a long wait to spring. Days without taking photos can be quite dull. Photography keeps me sane, and that's the reason why I occasionally brave the extremely cold weather. Moreover, I know that some people would be delighted to see images of winter, and they also inspire me to keep on shooting.
Taking photos of trees, sky and sunset is a piece of cake, in contrast to shooting bugs from a few centimeters. Again it was just a matter of waiting for the right kind of natural light. Cloudy weather would make the snow look grey, and the scenery would look quite depressing. It's the clear blue sky that motivates me to take photos. The soft light at sunrise should be lovely, but I rarely wake up that early, hence sunrise shots are totally out of the question. Thank goodness there's always the winter sunset, which is a splendid sight to behold.
I don't have a lot of creative ideas for winter images. I am quite sure that no matter how glorious the sunset is, and how awesome the snow-covered trees are, viewers would soon get bored looking at hundreds of sunset photos taken from the same location. During the summer months, I am confined to our garden and backyard, but nowadays, I really need to get on my feet. It's a good way to shed off some extra pounds though.
Trying new things is not my cup of tea and it's one of the reasons why I've limited my so-called abilities to macro photography. I'm glad that I'm slowly getting the hang of expanding my horizon, as far as photography is concerned. Waiting for spring and summer can be a drag, good thing that I'm finding ways to make the most of the present season. The white color predominates winter, but that is not a reason to ignore the other colors that brighten up the scene.
Here are some pieces of evidence to prove that winter is not always ugly:
