Week 13 View 52

Week 13 View 52

Today I decided to return to a set up I have not done for a while and that was Oil and Water shots this time I added a disk to some of the shots to try and isolate one or two of the oil drops so they have the more dominant colour.

Upon uploading to my computer I found this image that was taken today during my session and I simply could not ignore it as the colours were so vibrant and reminded me of an oriental sun that you see in those old karate movies. I have uploaded a few other shots but for some reason this one held my attention a lot longer.

Sunrise

Other shots I took

Thanks for reading

James

Week 6 View 52

Week 6 View 52

Well I have two days this week for view 52 but decided to do my shot today so I can try other things tomorrow. I think for now you will be pleased to know I have come to an end of my smoke the ideas are still plentiful but my mojo is suffering for it so for now I will give it a rest until later on in the year.

I had a few ideas on the go today simply to try and ignite my mojo but it just wasn’t meant to be life’s stresses have got the better of me and it was hard to focus my attentions on what I was doing but rather on what was going on inside my head.

I took images of two different subjects today a Teapot and a Pomegranate. I decided to go with the Pomegranate (even though I prefer the Teapot) because I felt it held a little more interest. This particular shot of the Pomegranate has been mirrored but this time I only mirrored the smoke as I liked the comp of the Pomegranate (by the way this took some playing around with to get it right).

As usual say what you see ;0) I see a farmer/fisherman.

Interesting fact about the Pomegranate....

 The myth of Persephone, the goddess of the Underworld, also prominently features the pomegranate. In one version of Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter (goddess of the Harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus, the highest ranking of the Greek gods, could not allow the Earth to die, so he commanded Hades to return Persephone. It was the rule of the Fates that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persephone had no food, but Hades tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds while she was still his prisoner and so, because of this, she was condemned to spend six months in the Underworld every year. During these six months, when Persephone is sitting on the throne of the Underworld next to her husband Hades, her mother Demeter mourns and no longer gives fertility to the earth.

More images from today's set here

Thanks For Reading
James

Happy New Year To You All

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year wherever you are in the world. This year I have decided for me will be one of the most productive years I have had. After losing my business it has given me a great opportunity to restart my life try out new things and look for new jobs I may never have tried if I wasn't given this opportunity. Above all that I would love to improve my photography and to start the year off I have joined a group on flicker called "View 52" which is basically a short version of the 365 project. Basically all you have to do is take one image per week for 52 weeks if anyone would like to join in please feel free to call in at View 52

Thanks Again for Viewing
James

ISO Explained As I see It

What is ISO?

In Simple terms ISO is the sensitivity of light to the sensor/film. By now you would have seen settings like ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 etc. 

So What do these numbers mean? 

Basically a higher ISO number means that the film/sensor is more sensitive to light. So at ISO 200 it is two times more sensitive than ISO 100 and at ISO 400 it is two times more sensitive than ISO 200 and so on and so forth. This setting is great for the digital age as you can change your ISO whenever you need to without changing your memory card as back in the film days you would have to change your film when you wanted to change ISO. 

When Do I Use ISO?

ISO is used when you are in a situation where the lighting is very poor and you are unable/don't want to use flash I.E sporting events, indoor weddings, parties, evening shots. And we use it to increase the shutter speed to enable us to hand hold the camera/freeze motion as at ISO 100 you will find the shutter speed will decrease a hell of a lot during low light situation so in order to get the picture you desire in a low light situation you may need to play with the ISO settings.

What's The Downside To Higher ISO?

There is only one answer to this is my eyes and that is NOISE (grain in your pictures) used correctly a little noise can add to the image but used incorrectly it can make an image look awful. You need to remember this ISO tends to show itself more in the shadow rather than the highlights so noise will become more apparent in dark scenes.

What ISO Settings Do You Advise?

Personally I feel this is down to your individual taste and the situation you are in. For me during normal conditions I use between 100-200 ISO and for indoor low light situations I use 400-800 ISO. I have not done any night time shots without flash so have not stepped over 800 ISO as yet

I hope this has helped shed some light on ISO

Thanks for reading

James

My Day Shooting Water Drops

Got the shot of was after the infamous shield shot. However not the angle I wanted but I got it so I am happy now I need to work more to make it more frequent

These a a few of the images I took today. If you like the effects of water droplets I really urge you to try it out  it is so much fun

Thanks For Reading
James

Time For A Bit Of Water Art

This is a subject I have really began to enjoy shooting and I am sure you will see many many drop shots from me as I am still yet to get the shield effect drop.

I have been chatting a lot to people on flickr and looking at drop images and have picked up some great tips along the way and the improvement I have seen has been very noticeable.

Here are two images of my first ever attempt and shooting water drops: -

As you can see these are not the best images but that is the whole point at the time I was happy with the fact that I had actually captured the drops I didn't really pay attention to the picture itself. When I did which took a while and to be honest after I kept trying out new methods I noticed picture one was very grainy and the focus was not that great and image 2 even though the form is great the focus was poor.

I have moved on since these original images (well I hope I have) 

Here Is My Most Recent Attempt At Water Drops Taken Only Yesterday

As hopefully you can see the images are far more interesting they have some colour to them that have given them some life the focus is far better and they generally look far better than my first attempt.

Have you ever wanted to try drops but thought I don't have the kit?

Well then take that thought out of your head. Yes it would be great to have a fully kitted out studio with fantastic instruments in which to create the drops and fancy lights. But back here in the real world all you need is a sandwich bag full of water suspended above pierce a small hole with a needle, a paint rolling tray full of water and I used a table matt with pink birthday paper wrapped around it as the background stood it up behind the tray, and then used a flash gun attached with a cable as I don't have a wireless one pointed the flash directly at the background and this then cast the purple look I have in the images above. Also a macro lens would be the best option but you can also do this with your kit lens just turn off the auto focus and then place a pen where the droplets fall and manually focus onto the tip of the pen move the pen away and fire away

I hope this helps you a little I know it did me

Thanks For Reading

James

Find Direction And Motivation

A few things I have picked up along the way


Are you sitting in front of your computer now thinking how will I improve my photography?

I know I was but I am not about to start telling you as I don't think I am qualified to do so. The only advice I can give you is get out there with the camera and shoot as often as you can (I know you are probably sat there thinking this is all photographers say but its the only way) this makes you aware of the world around you and makes you start taking notice of every little detail, a shooting bud, a tiny insect, a moody sky, a perfect candid moment etc etc. Once you have learnt to view the world through a photographers eyes (and you will know when that happens when you start noticing things on your travels you wouldn't have paid attention to before) then you will be ready to sit down and start to learn the science behind the settings (and let me warn you this is a science and not something I have fully mastered yet).

Will I learn fast? (sounds silly but I know the frustration of "I just don't get it")

Well this is down to the time you put into it. For me shooting nearly everyday has made me aware of the settings and where to apply them for each situation. And in the space of 11 months my photography has improved tremendously and that's thanks to Practical Photography and Flickr

Should I join a course?


For me this is something I strongly think is a must. Not just to learn about settings but to give you focus as I am sure like me you were taking photos not of things that are not interesting but not in an interesting sort of way. Any one can take a picture but its how it is viewed that makes that picture and to hold that attention you must create a master piece and this will all be down to its framing, composition, depth of field, point of view and so on. I am not saying go out and spend hundreds of pounds on sitting courses but find something like I did with Practical Photography join your local camera club, go to college or simply just open an account with flickr. Just by joining in with one of these courses, clubs or internet groups gives you plenty of things to focus on and gives you a direction and motivation to shoot more often. Flickr for me has been a godsend as there is plenty of groups to join and fun things to join in with and in time you will find out what sort of photography it is you enjoy most. For me at the moment still life and macro has kind of become my thing which shocked me when it happened but I just love the way things look close up and I love experimenting with water drops, smoke, fire anything really that can create some great finishes.

Do I Need All The Expensive Kit?


In an ideal world we would all love the expensive kit but that is simply not possible unless you are one of the fortunate. But I will touch on this in another post as there are many ways of getting "similar" looking shots to the pros with things lying around your home (no I don't compare my shots with pros with the best kit but I do try and get the look just on a budget because sooner or later you will want kit you simply can't afford and with these items it will get you closer to the shot you want)

What if my shots are not up to standards?


Let me tell you we are our own worse critiques you will never know how good/bad your shots are unless you put them in front of like minded people then you will find out shots you think are great others don't get yet images you think are bad for some reason other people love them. Its nice to love your own shots but as Ansel Adams once said "there are two people involved in a photograph the photographer and the viewer" and in every shot you need to try and please the viewer and the only way to find that out is to get viewers hence flickr is a great resource.

In The Space Of 11 Months I Have Gone From The Fungi Above To The Beautiful Blue Flower Below

So don't forget the main tip I can give you is get out there take photos and join some sort of group or course to gain direction and motivation


Thank you again for viewing my blog

Turning Bad Into Good

Photography for me has always been fun but never something I have had time to learn properly. At the end of 2010 my business was really being hit hard by the recession and so was my mental being, due to the stress. I decided I needed to control this stress if not for my own mental well being but also for my family no one wants to see a son, husband, father missing out on the most important years of his life worrying about things that are simply material. So I purchased my first DSLR from my brother in law a Nikon D40 in the hope that not only it would give me some light relief to get away from my stresses of business but also that it would help with my product images for my business.

So The Story Began


It must of been in the January of 2011 I decided its time to really master my camera after viewing some fantastic images that I found on flickr. I suddenly realised in my hands I had a very powerful tool but not a clue how to use it outside of its auto mode and I made a pact with myself that for once I am not going to run away from something I didn't understand I was going to hit it face on and get to the bottom of it. So I went out and purchased my first ever addition of Practical Photography knocked myself up a brew and sat down with my magazine in hope it would shed some light on what it was I was going to do. Then I stumbled across an article advertising a FREE DSLR Bootcamp style course, my prayers were answered I had found myself a course that was not going to cost me a bean other than the magazine subscription. Finally I can learn how to use the camera and most of all I don't need to spend hundreds of pounds to find out if I have a flare for it. I was under no illusion even though it was free I was still very nervous as I had no clue on what I was doing and was in fear that there will be nobody on the course that was as fresh to photography as I was. I took sometime lurking Photo Answers Forum to find out what sort of thing I had signed myself in for by this I mean was I going to be good enough or were my images going to stand out like a sore thumb as my standard was not up to par. After about a month of lurking in the shadows I found somebody had kindly put a link to a flickr group that was set up as a platform for all members that were going to sit the bootcamp course to share ideas, fears and general photography advice. As soon as I found this group I was off it suddenly became apparent that there was a great mix of photographers from beginners like me to people I think should be pro and to top it all off they were a seriously enthusiastic friendly group of people with one major thing in common with me to improve on something they really enjoy. For me it was the best thing I had done for some years I really started enjoying shooting anything and everything and posting my images to flickr to see what other people thought of my shots as sometimes family's advice is a little blinkered. Suddenly images I thought had met the briefs for bootcamp were being fairly critiqued by all types and standards of photographers they were finding faults that somehow until mentioned I was missing, this if anything just drove me to be better not to prove to them that I could do it but to prove it to myself, train my brain if you like to notice the minor things that only a photographer would notice. Months went by the course started to get harder and harder yet thanks to my new flickr friends the fire was kept burning with there constant advice and pick me ups. So I kept battling on and made sure I had uploaded a shot for every module this constant pressure kept my mind occupied for months it also kept my stress levels at a low which is good as sadly in August with only 2 more modules to go I had to close my business as the recession had finally taken its toll and I could fight no more. Sadly this did have an impact on me and with this even though I made sure I still completed the last two modules however due to the situation I had found myself in the quality was not what I wanted to finish off with in fact I think it was worse than when I had first started before the course began, however it suddenly dawned on me that the relaxation I get from taking photos had helped me get through these hard times I had suddenly found myself in. Obviously my situation was upsetting but the photography helped me turn that upset into something positive and that was taking better photos as I had now found time to really think my shots through and this then in turn took my attentions of feeling sorry for myself away.

You Only Get One Life Live It

Thanks For Reading
James

Thank you To All My Flickr Friends For Helping Me Improve And Without Knowing It You Have got Me Through Some Hard Times




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