Happy Mother’s Day!
Day 125- Back to Basics. . .
Aperture priority- hmmmm….
When I first got my DSLR (last July), I alternated between the Aperture Priority setting and AUTO. I learned manual fairly soon and, by November, was using it 90% of the time. I am back to trying to improve my camera skills again (hello, white balance!) and have been rereading some of my photography books. It certainly seems that a lot of pros primarily use settings other than manual- at least they advise us learners to use them. Aperture priority is definitely the biggie, because it directly affects depth of field.
So today I took this photo (actually a series of photos) using aperture priority. It certainly was quicker!
But my real problem continues to be not checking all my settings when I first pick up my camera.
Here I am reading a photography book. The first thing I read about was white balance- and soon after- ISO. So what do I do when I start my shoot with aperture priority? Ignore all the other settings!
So that is why this photo was taken with the white balance set to “tungsten”- from taking a photo inside earlier in the day. I was so proud when I changed it to that setting. . .
And the first few photos I took of my lavender? Well, the ISO was 1600! OMG!
I think I may need to go to photography boot camp!
f/4.5, 1/100, ISO 200, 35mm
Day 120- Geraniolicious!
One of our geraniums- macro style!
Day 119- Twist of Fate
Driving through the countryside today, my husband and I stopped at a strawberry stand, where we bought the sweetest berries you could imagine, and at an herb farm, where years before I had taken a class on using lavender to make soaps, lotions etc. We bought some lavender plants, but the highlight of our trip was the iris farm! They had a huge variety of irises in bloom- all different varieties and colors. We couldn’t resist buying a few plants- although we have never grown them before. This lovely variety is called Twist of Fate.
f/9, 1/125, ISO200, 135mm
Day 112- Hey, Spring!
Clouds, sunshine, rain sprinkles- I think Spring is here somewhere! Here are some spring flowers to remind us that, yes, it IS Spring!
f/8, 1/640, ISO 800, 85mm
I played and played with the exposure settings for this photo. I found I had to be a full stop more open in order to get the histogram right. Then I realized that it was, of course- all together now- the EXPOSURE COMPENSATION BUTTON!
Groan.
I love my camera, but having to use the same button for exposure compensation as for setting the aperture sometimes plays havoc with my settings.
I created a desaturated version of this image that I am playing with in Photoshop (adding textures), but can’t seem to get quite right. I’m putting it away for now, as I hope to get something else done beyond photography today!
Texture Tuesday
One of my poppy photos seemed suited for processing with textures, so I am participating in this week’s Texture Tuesday on Kim Klassen’s site.
I used Kim’s sweet treat and silence textures for this image.
Day 108- Up Close and Personal
It’s Macro Monday- time to get up close and personal with one of my geraniums. . .
f/9, 1/160, ISO 250
I am getting a better handle on this macro thing- I remembered (after a few shots) to use a small aperture in order to get adequate depth of field. Macro is much easier outside than inside!
Day 105- Garden Path
Today is a day to catch up and do some errands- with photography not really on the list. I think it took me all of five minutes to find my photo of the day. With all the azaleas in bloom, the path in our side garden is looking colorful and Spring-like. I decided to go for a shallow depth of field to emphasize the azaleas in the foreground.
f/1.8, 1/1600, ISO 500, 35mm
melinda anderson photography 