Back in business

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
~Robin Williams

Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Modifications: Cropping, adjusted brightness and color levels
Date & time: 25 April 2009 at 14.29 EEST
Location: Kerimäki, Finland

Spring has sprung! I couldn't help but get ecstatic about it. Yeah, I took nature photos during the winter months, but I was in Asia from Mid-December 'til February. To me, winter is not the best time of the year to take photos, lack of light always makes my photos look dull. Moreover, I always get blurred photos because my hands get shaky, thanks to the extremely cold weather.

Good lighting is a major ingredient of stunning photographic compositions. It's wonderful to be in here in Finland during spring and summer because of the lovely natural light. When I was in the Philippines I had a chance to meet my fellow macro addicts for a photowalk:


The weather wasn't perfect then, I had to use flash most of the time, as a result, 80% of the photos were quite dull. Although most of my shots sucked, I absolutely enjoyed shooting with the pros. I would definitely join them again on my next vacation. For the mean time, I'm back doing solo photowalks. I have a higher 'success rate' here in our own yard, thanks to the lovely spring sunshine. I took 20 photos a couple of days back, and most of them are good -according to my belief. Here are two new photos:



If you you want to give macrophotography a shot, keep in mind that it is about showing off the details. This can be achieved by taking photos when natural light is at its best. I still get emails from photographers who are curious about the brand or type of macro lens that I use, news flash: I don't have one yet. If Santa Claus will give me a DSLR plus the kind of macro lens that would best suit my usual subjects, of course I would accept it. I am not counting on it though because I can't be nice all year. My little camera is still okay, but it is no longer as efficient as it used to be. Its manual focus still works perfectly, which means that I can still make do with it.

I have always been focused on improving my so-called skills, setting goals have always been helpful. For this season, I will experiment on abstract macros and minimalism. Of course you would still see shots bearing my usual style. I hope that my photos in the weeks to come will be better than my 2008 spring collection. It's a tall order, but with the wonderful spring sunshine, I see better photos in the horizon. Do I sound ridiculously optimistic? Well.. blame it on spring :-)