In the pink

“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.”
~Pablo Picasso


Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness level

I'm soo missing summer right now. I can't post new photos to my gallery simply because there aren't new ones to upload. I don't have the time nor lovely subjects to take photos of. The last time I was out in the yard taking photos was more than a month ago. Could you believe that? My passion for photography is still pretty much alive, it's just that the weather hasn't been on my side since last month. We've got snow already. Yup, winter- my worst enemy- is here again. No more lovely days in the horizon, take a look at our city's weather forecast:

source: Foreca

I am not a fan of neutral colors, I guess I never would be. I love colors that brighten my mood. Now that almost everything is grey and white, I terribly need an antidote for depression. My saving grace is my Flickr photo page where there are hundreds of colorful pics. The ones with pink subjects caught my eye the most. I love taking photos of pink subjects because they remind me of strawberry ice cream. Pink never fails to make me smile. In addition, it's an easy color to shoot.

Last summer, I noticed that insects are attracted to the color pink. Maybe I owe my macro shots to the pink items in my wardrobe. Here's one example, you non-believers!

I saw that huge dragonfly zooming around the garden. I wanted to stalk it for photos, but to my surprise it went to me instead. It landed on my leg for like 3 minutes and I took a couple of photos. Thank goodness for the color pink. My theory about insects' pink fetish started last summer when our guests who had pink shirts on were often bugged by wasps and other bugs. I also noticed that I have tens of bug-on-pink-flower photos in my Flickr page.


Pink subjects look their best on a nice weather. Whenever I see the need to adjust color levels, I add more blue to get a nice shade of pink. Try doing the same to your photos with pink subjects. Oh and wear something pink when you're taking nature photos. Maybe it will land you a pleasant surprise too.

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 :-)