The End of a Winter's day

Hi! It's been sunny and lovely in East Anglia. Just about time to prepare the garden for summer. I have been contemplating on getting more border and flowering plants to brighten it up. Despite the fact that it's still cold the temperature have gone up slightly for Spring plants to come out.

With this change in the weather I have noticed some lovely sunsets appearing once in a while which to me is always something to keep an out. Recently this gave me the opportunity to explore my camera. I nearly gave up on my DSLR as I thought I was desperate for an upgrade and started using the compact camera hubby got me. Most of my disappointments was due to the fact that I haven't got much knowledge on how to use it. When you have a camera such that ,it could actually  be daunting as it required some time and patience to explore the advance program. Others may find it easy but not in my case.

But something happened that turn my view 180 degrees. First when I got back the result of my first module my tutor thought the shots I took from the compact camera was too noisy..don't ask me.. This remains a mystery but I thought the camera wasn't as good as I hope it to be plus my lack of experience. Then one day hubby came home with a Photoplus magazine. I have a slight reservation with this sort of magazine because of the cost and me being a reluctant learner. So hubby thought instead of buying something for himself he'd get this for me. After I read through I realized that the mag was catered for Canon users and most of the unresolved issues I had with my first camera were solved. Eureka!!! I thought. I asked myself why I didn't seek more help and did research? So I'm back using the DSLR again and been experimenting on overriding the cameras metering system and changing exposures. Below are sample photos of sunsets I took as we near the end of Winter.

 

After Dark

Hi there! How have you been? For some reason these last two days resting seem like a weekend to me. As much as I want to I couldn't do a lot these days however there are things that I have to get going. I just realized that the first module I have to submit for my course is quite overdue. And still I have three more photos to find.

So packed with the equipment I had asked my personal driver (a.k.a hubby) to drive me from one town to another. Learning this trade certainly requires patience, endurance, and stamina. Well the last I'm still working on.

I am not very good with technicalities but I truly have to get a grip on how the camera works and get the most of it. To be honest working with different shutter speed to get various effects on the photo is yet a work in progress on my part. But I'm starting to get used to it, I guess.

After finding the right place to photograph, we stayed for an hour to get enough shots.

These are some of the images of the bridge in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire. The slowest speed my camera allowed me was 8 seconds which gave the effect in the last photo.

0.8s/f/2.8 ISO 100

5.0s/f/6.3 ISO 80

8s/f/8.0 ISO100

out and about

Hi there!

I hope you are unwinding as the weekend draws to an end. I have been trying to be proactive today despite the cold and miserable outlook outside. I asked hubby to drive me around the area to take industrial photographs. Where we live most of the industries have got to do with farming and processing of farm goods.

Since it's winter not many workers are out to do some work so I had to look for alternatives. Battling the unyielding weather I tried my luck. The lack of light source is a problem for  an amateur like me. According to some sources the ways to tackle this problem is decreasing the shutter speed of your camera and make sure you change the aperture. In this way you allow enough light to get in. You also need a tripod to avoid blur and camera shakes. Unfortunately today the clouds weren't there to give a dramatic effect at least so we had to pack up and head home.

Image of a wind farm. ISO 200/ F9.0/1/400

Mix 'n Match

It's been a quiet day for us and hubby's getting better. It was a bit cold today although the sun was out. I didn't get the chance to sort our photos from holiday and just got around to downloading them. While doing it I just thought it's a pleasant day to take some photos outside. The leaves have changed their colors as autumn has arrived. You would be surprised what you'll find if you are looking.

I wonder who owns this one.

raindrops keep falling...

mixed up..