ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture

Part of the next step is to learn and understand the use of ISO, shutter speed & aperture, the next steps is to take a series of controlled shots (ie constant light conditions) and then vary the camera settings for each of the three elements. I plan to take a series of shots for each of the different ISO settings on my camera and then adjusting the shutter speed and aperture for this ISO setting. I will then upload these images to my Picasa web photos and link them to my blog. Steve has suggested that we start using our cameras on full manual modes from now on. This will allow us to get a greater understanding of our camera and how to change the settings.

Snowdon Jan 2010

Walked up snowdon on Saturday and took both my camera's with me. I was hoping for a clearer view from the top however this was not the case so did not take any pictures with the Canon 500d. I did have my panasonic compact digital camera with me. One of the great things with this camera is the fact that it is easy to get out and just take quick pictures and for this walk it was ideal. The lighting and weather was not the best so pictures not as good as I would want.

to see the pictures click here

I will speak to Steve about what I can do to help improve photographs in bad weather conditions

Snowdon

The plan for the weekend is to walk up Snowdon so will be breaking in the new walking boots and be taking my Canon 500d with me and see what shots I can get for the course.

Other Equipmnet

I have the following equipment with my camera that will assist in taking photos.

Canon RS60-E3 remote shutter release

This is a very new piece of equipment in my camera bag and will allow me to take a picture without having to press the shutter button on the camera. This will be useful when using my 75-300mm lens and also my tripod. As pressing the shutter button on the camera can cause a slight movement in the camera and this can effect the image and make it come out blurred. By using the remote shutter release and this will help reduce this problem I can also use other functions in my camera setting such as "mirror lock" to help.

Vebond CX560 Tripod

This is the tripod I use for taking shots when I need to keep the camera very steady. It came in useful in November 2008 when taking photographs for my friends wedding. I used it then for all the group shots as it was important for the photographs that I eliminated and camera shake. Also when used in conjunction with the remote shutter release reduces camera shake even more. I also find it useful to use when I am using my 75-300 lens as at full zoom any slight movement is multiplied quite a lot and can mean the difference between a good shot and a great shot. The issue I have with this tripod is that it is quite bulky so not ideal for taking on walks.

Manfrotto 678B Monopod

This is a relatively new piece of equipment to my camera bag and again like the tripod allows me to hold the camera relatively still when taking photographs. This will not keep the camera as steady as the tripod however much more than holding the camera with no support at all. The main advantage of the monopod over the tripod is that it is smaller and easier to carry than the tripod and it also doubles up as a walling pole.

Lenses

For my Canon 500d DSLR I currently have 2 lenses

Canon 75 - 300mm lens

This lens is a Canon EF fitting and is the biggest telephoto lens I have allowing quite a large range of zoom. The lens has both manual and auto focus settings although I tend to leave this on auto. This is the lens I primarily use for close up work and a lot of my full face shots I take. The advantage of this lens allows me to get good close up photos even when I am not too near to the subject. I will be using this lens a lot during the course and speaking to Steve Davies about possibly seeing if the college have any lens with an even bigger telephoto range.

The issues I have with this lens is that as it has not got "IMAGE STABILIZER" that my smaller lens has which means at full zoom is very hard to keep it steady enough whilst taking pictures. Another issue is that if the subject moves when you are at full zoom it is hard to pick the subject back up again and you have to zoom out and re focus. This has led to a lot of missed opportunities in taking pictures especially birds.

I will be speaking to Steve to see ways of helping me over come these problems.

Canon 18 - 55mm Lens "IMAGE STABILZER"

This is the lens that came with the camera and has a Canon EFS fitting it has a zoom range from 18 - 55mm and is probably the lens I use most often as is great for general photography. As this lens goes down to 18mm is great for taking "wide" and landscape shots. It is also great for taking natural history shots if the object is relatively close although will be good for taking bigger shots of animals with a great landscape as a backdrop.

Day 2 at college

We now have a log in for the Apple Mac's at the college so able to get in and update my blog while at college.

Steve Davies has given us some ideas on how we need to complete the blog when looking at other photographers. We are allowed to copy and paste from their sites etc however it is our own words he will be interested in.

I need to look at photographers in my chosen area "Natural History" and then see if i can take ideas from photos they have taken. Also Steve has suggested we maybe try and recreate one of the photos they have taken.

Steve has said he can advise on what equipment we may need to recreate these photos and how best to go about it.

We have also been told by Steve to update our blog to show evidence of what we have done such as "went out today to take some wildlife pictures but did not take the right lens with me"

Picasa Up and running

Yeah at last, managed to link up my Blogger page with my Picasa web albums so now the slideshow at the top will change to my latest pictures.....

To visit my Picasa web page click here

RSPB & Blackbrook

Twitching

Right tried out the new Asolo walking boots and spent the day going round the RSPB reserve in Coombes and Churnet and Blackbrook park.

The RSPB reserve is about an hour away and looks to be a good place to go in the future for taking photos. I will aim to try and spend longer than the 2 hours I did there today and look to get there early to see what else I can take pictures of. Ideally I will find a few quiet areas and set myself up to take photos. Did not really get the shots I wanted as the smaller birds (except robins) do not want to pose for the camera. I did however see a buzzard so will want to go back with longer lens to get better shoots.

I took with me my Canon 500d and my 18-55 lens and also my 75-300 lens. I took most of the pictures with the 75-300 lens as this enabled me to get good pictures of the birds without getting too close.

Blackbrook was okay to and only 99p to get in (upto Feb 5th) and had a very large range of birds although very wet and snow half melted so not great backdrop for photos. May go back in spring to see if it is better.

To see some pictures Click here

Click below to see websites


RSPB Coombes and Churnet


Blackbrook park

Cameras

I have the following 2 cameras for use at home which are:

• Canon 500d DSLR (click for specification)

This is the main camera I will be using for the course as it is fully manual and will allow me to adjust settings such as appeture and exposure. This will allow me greater freedom and allow me to take the pictures I want and not what the camera believes I want.

I also have 2 lenses for this camera giving me a range from 18mm upto 300mm.

I also have a compact digital camera which is:

• Panasonic DMC-TZ4 (click for specification)

This being a smaller camera it is easier for taking out when mountain biking and with a super wide lens allows for some great landscape shots. Although there is manual settings this is more automatic than my Canon.

Photographers

Having searched the web for Natural History Photography I have come across the following people. (click on a name to visit their website)

• Laurie Campbell
• Andy Rouse
• Neil McIntyre
• Steve Bloom
• Sue Tranter
• Geoff Simpson
• Simon King

I will speak to my tutor at the next lesson on some other photographers he may know of that I can use. I will look at each of these photgraphers work and complete a blog on each one. I will look to try and take some ideas from each of these people and see if i can use it in some of my photographs whilst developing my own style.

Decision Time

Having looked through my old photraphy have decided to focus on "Natural History" for this course. I will have more access to this type of photigraphy as not only will I be going out on walks and riding my bike I also have a year membership at Twycross zoo.
I will now focus on some professional photgraphers in this area to look at different styles and ideas.

Still Life

Portrait

Social Documentary

Natural History

Landscapes

Digital Manipulation

I have not done a lot with this so this is only example I have!

Close Up

Action and Movement

Choosing an area.

First thoughts on choosing a type of photgraphy to focus on during this course as noted in a previous blog are Landscape or natural history. However I am going to look at the other types of photography on the course and post up a couple of samples I have taken for each one. (if I have them)

Flickr is working.........I think?

Well after setting up my Flickr account I have had a few hours soent trying to get the photos to stream to my blog.......I think all is working now (well the slideshow at the top is) so now need to upload more photos.

Flickr is set up

First things first, I have set up a Flickr account so that I can upload photos onto web!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

What should I specialise in?

For the course I need to choose one area to focus on and produce 12 portfolio images for critique.

The areas to choose from are:

• Action and Movement
• Close Up
• Digital Manipulation
• Landscape
• Natural History
• Social Documentary
• Still Life
• Portraits

My initial thoughts are between 2 of the following to focus on:

1. Natural History
   
2. Landscapes

The main reason for this are my leisure activities which are walking and mountain biking will give me a greater chance to get these images and these are what most of my photographs are of. This means I can see a greater improvement in my photography.

Equipment I Have

I have the following personal photographic equipment.

• Canon 500d DSLR
• Panasonic Lumix Compact digital camera
• Canon EF 75 - 300 Telephoto lens
• Canon EFS 18 -55 Lens
• Tripod
• Monopod
• Canon Remote shutter release

I will give more detail on all this equipment in a later post

Day one

Logged on College mac and set up blog