Monday 15 February 2010

Snowdrops

I've been meaning to photograph the snowdrops in our garden for a few days but been waiting for the right light etc - gave up waiting today and had a go anyway!

I used the Macro settings on the camera to reduce the depth of field - still not too confident on using the manual settings - think I need to read up again.

Sunday 14 February 2010

A sunday afternoon walk by the sea

The sun was starting to go down - not enough to give a reddish tinge to the sky but it was giving a silvery light to the clouds and the damp sand.
There were loads of shells on the beach but this striped one stood out.
I liked the contrast between the smooth light rocks in the foreground and the dark seaweed behind.

Monday 4 January 2010

Sunset over the sea....

Another one from Christmas Day. Nothing better than a brisk walk on the beach to help the digestion!

I have cropped this one after taking it to draw more emphasis to the sunset, whilst preserving the rough waves and sense of distance. I also tried to make sure the horizon was on the top third.

(Shutter 1/100, Aperture f/5.6, focal length 55mm, Brightness 6.1, ISO speed 125.)

Sunday 3 January 2010

Dancing flames

Playing with my camera on Christmas Day evening - we don't have a fire at home so I am always fascinated by the way the flames dance around.

(The shutter speed was 1/640, the aperture f/5.6, focal length 55mm, brightness 1.8 and ISO 400. Not really sure what all these mean yet but I've put them here to come back to when I do - have found what looks like a fab online photography course at thesnappytraveller.com so am starting to work my way through the lessons.)

Saturday 2 January 2010

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello!

Welcome to my new blog - I am just starting to get into photography again (after not having much time to do anything due to young kids...) and have started this blog as a way to record the things I'm learning and to share some of my photos (and hopefully see how they improve over time!)

I have been plying with a compact digital camera for a few years now - handy, quick and OK for general snaps, and have a film SLR lingering in the back of the cupboard which is great, but isn't used as I'm too mean to want to pay for film and processing for practising new things. I am also impatient! With the digi camera I can see what I've taken immediately, and take a new shot if it's not right - with the film camera I end up waiting months before getting the film processed, and whilst this provides some pleasant surprises on occasion, often I end up feeling disappointed that the shots are not quite right.

So, with my new digital SLR ( a Sony Alpha 230 for any one vaguely interested) here starts the beginning of my journey!