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“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.” ~Victor Hugo
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO Speed: 75
Modifications: adjusted brightness and contrast
Last week, for the first time this year, I heard birds singing. I think that was a sign which indicates either I have auditory hallucinations, or spring is just around the corner. My camera has been hibernating since the first week of January, but since spring will be here soon, it has to prepare itself for yet another nature photography season. It has seen better days, but it would have to do for the time being.
Time and again I hear whining about my Flickr photo gallery, like "bugs again? When will you ever get tired of those?" I never paid attention, but today I realized that some people really find them creepy. I don't want my gallery to be the reason why some people get nightmares or suffer from sleepless nights. I won't delete the spider photos, but just to prove that I do have a heart, let's skip the bees and talk about the birds for a change. Hope you like my lucky shots of bigger winged creatures:
1. Lucky bird, 2. Untitled, 3. by her lonesome, 4. Tweet!
They obviously didn't mind my presence because I was was able to take photos at close range. Either that or they were too confused to care. The 'lucky bird' was a poor fella because it had an accident, it hit the glass of our living room window while I was gardening. I took photos of it a few minutes after it had regained consciousness. The bird in the 'Tweet' photo was also a casualty because I think fell of its nest. It was too young to fly, and that was the reason why I manage to stalk it. Boy, it's so cool to be at the right place and at the right time. I therefore conclude that I'm one lucky bird, not the kind that eats bugs though :-)
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'.
