Week 4

I just had an interview, and I was so nervous, why is it interviews are like that?!?!? I am just terrible at them and completely freeze, but I got the job and start tomorrow, so a little bit crazy, I have spent the day running around getting my documents for them, proof of address, proof to work etc though I was hoping to just crash in front of the tv on my last day of freedom 🙂

This week is a fun self-portrait multiplicity shot that I did in New Zealand, it was sooo windy I was scared my camera would fly away, and so cloudy that the sky is bland, I didn’t have my tripod as I had taken a little drive and a bit of a walk to find this place with a view of the Banks Peninsula, multiplicity is something I want to get more into as well as levitation for a bit of creative fun so will see how it all goes, I will have to juggle it now with my new job but at the same time it will be nice to have some money again!

Multiplicity in Banks Peninsula

Week Two – Midnight in NZ

Midnight in NZ, Lake Tekapo

ah Winter is here and its been snowing the last few days, I am so glad to be inside with the heater going 🙂 it’s not settling though so thats a shame, but its still freezing!

This photo is midnight on a full moon, and a long exposure making the moon turn into a big sunflare on Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, normally when taking pictures of the moon you need to take a separate shot of the moon as well with different settings and then put them together on the computer.

Have a good week everyone 🙂

2013 photography project…

Christmas night in Queenstown New Zealand

I missed New Years as I was flying back from New Zealand to England, in theory I should have had lots of New Years (as I stopped in NZ, Australia, Bangkok, Dubai and England) but instead I didn’t have any, I didn’t think I would mind but it turns out I do.

I have been busy trying to decide on a photography project for this year, i’m going to put all the thief of my photos behind me and start a new year fresh, happy and motivated, so I have finally decided just in time to still be within the first week of 2013!

I’m going to do a Weekly Creative Photography Project and to start week 1 and because I’ve just got back from 6 weeks in NZ, I’ve got a photo from Queenstown, New Zealand a Long Exposure at Twilight on Christmas Day (you may need to click on it to see it properly).

I have had a very busy year last year, getting married twice (don’t worry it was to the same guy!) next week I’ll post a wedding photo, the photographer in New Zealand did a great job at getting some creative shots of us, which as a photographer I appreciated, but unfortunately because I was the bride I didn’t get to take many shots myself, gutted! I guess it’s the one time when I need to just chill and let someone else be in control.

I love New Zealand the photo opportunities there are endless, we made it into Milford Sound but the weather was not on our side, I wouldn’t have minded if the weather was awful but it was just bland, white sky with nothing but complete cloud cover, it did not make for pretty photos, still while I was there we went to Arrowtown, Queenstown, Kaikoura, Pancake Rocks, Hamner Springs, Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook, Akaroa, French Farm, Arthus Pass, Christchurch among others, so I’m sure somewhere amongst my thousands of photos there will be photos to post.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Years to everyone out there, I am a little late but better late than never and I hope 2013 brings you all you dream of!
x

Catch up :-)

2012 is flying by already can you believe its February already!

I thought I would give you an update on my Photos, I have been having talks with TNT Magazine at the use of my London Eye photo, they think they either got it mixed up with a stock photo that is similar or that I sent it in for a competition, I didn’t win or place but was then good enough for them to use it without my permission on their website.

*Update on TNT, I have just received an email saying they have taken it down and because it is such a good photo, I won the recent competition where I will be featured in their magazine and I won a tour for two of Scotland! so Yah TNT Magazine!

and good news on the websites that were giving away my Tower Bridge photo, it has now been taken down but there has been no contact from them to me, but at least its down!

The weather has got cold here these last few days and i’m finding it harder and harder to go out in the cold, though I did go out the other night and got some more London photos so here is one below, not my favourite of the night but my partners favourite!

I must say it has been nice being able to write this blog again, I have been so upset with the stealing of my photos that I have avoided not only my blog but also Facebook, but I am feeling better about the whole thing and i’m going to be back in some form anyway.

Thanks for all your support and thanks to the lovely ladies that comment 🙂

 

24*365 It’s Friday and you know what that means..

It’s the weekend! 🙂 and it’s more getting to know G Fridays

Well today in honour of my partners b’day, I’m doing two photos, one of the two of us and one – a behind the scenes photo taken by my partner!

Oh and it snowed today in London! Cool ah! I can’t wait until it settles properly and I can get out with my camera!

Introducing James…

and one behind the scenes as taken by James

of me taking photos of Seals in New Zealand, Kaikoura (can you see the seal?)

You can walk all around there with no barriers, a few times I almost stepped on a seal by accident, but if you do get to close to them they let you know!

Oh well off to enjoy Birthday celebrations, enjoy your Friday night!

 

Colour and Photography

London Eye at Night

I am always a little surprised when I open emails and see my own photo staring back at me, that’s what happened when I opened an email with an article about Colour and Photography this week, my London Eye photo was staring right back at me!

 

It is nice to be recognised and have your photo as an example of what works, this particular photo is a HDR photo, taken with 3 different exposures, +1, 0 and -1, all combined together to create the one photo.

 

I do like my photos bright and cheerful but sometimes I can over do it, and HDR is in particular a technique that you need to be careful to not over do, I am out again maybe tonight but definitely again on Wednesday for a night photography photo shoot but this time with my new camera, so I’m keen to see if it can do better, though I do quite like this photo, so it needs to be able to capture something really special.

 

But in the mean time, if you want to have a read about Colour and Photography do head over to:

 

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/colour-and-photography/

 

and don’t forget to look out for my London Eye photo!

 

Tutorial – How I did my light trails photo Zoom Zoom Zoom

Have you ever wondered how I did my photo Zoom Zoom Zoom (a light trail past Big Ben), well here I spill the beans on the technique I used to achieve this and how you can too!

If you enjoy this tutorial feel free to recommend it to your friends, and let me know how you get on!

Light Trail Technique

You will need a tripod for this technique (or at least be able to lean your camera on something to keep it sturdy) as you will be opening up your shutter for a few seconds or more at a time and you will need your camera to stay perfectly still. Otherwise you will get camera shake and your photos will be blurry.

You will also need a camera that lets you control your shutter speed, and you will need to be doing this technique during or after twilight, on a night that has little or no wind to help with camera shake.

Here a few settings to get you started, you will need to experiment, as not every situation is the same. The lighting, the time of night, how fast the cars/buses go past will all influence the shutter speed you need to use. To start off, I’d advise that you use the recommended shutter speed (below) and experiment from there.

Here are the settings you will be using:

• Shutter Priority    
• Shutter speed of 6 seconds (use this as a starting point but if you are taking photos – from a bridge for example – you may need a shutter speed of 30 seconds to get a long continuous line of light)
• Or use bulb mode (instead of setting shutter speed at 6 seconds – more on this below)
• ISO 100 or as low as you can get it
• Tripod (turn your image stabiliser off if using a tripod)
• Shutter release cable or your 2 second timer
• You won’t be using a flash!
• Optional tips: Warm clothing, a torch to see what you are doing, extra person for security

 

This technique will take a bit of practice and depends on how fast the cars are going past you, how dark it is outside, and where you are positioned.

Find yourself a safe place to stand off the road but so you can get a good photo of the traffic. Position yourself so you have something of interest in the background (so you can get a photo of the lights of the car going past your point of interest). This technique will also create a striking image from up high on a bridge, looking down and capturing the light trails of cars below you, or from the vantage point of a corner on the road so you can create lights that bend.

Set your camera to the above; remember you will have to play around with your shutter speed a bit until you are happy with the result, start with the 6 seconds and go from there.

Use a shutter release cable or your 2 second timer on your camera so you don’t bump your camera during the photo. Wait until the cars (or even better buses, due to their distinctive colouring!) are about to go past (if you are using your 2 second timer you will need to press this 2 seconds earlier to allow for the timer) and then press the shutter button down, wait and then review.

If you still see the vehicles in your photo you need a longer shutter time, unless that is the picture you are going for.

If you are shooting a long stretch of road you will need a longer shutter speed to capture a long light trail and, if there are gaps in your trail, try a longer shutter speed.

As alluded to, you can use ‘bulb mode’ if your camera has the function to. This is when you can control how long your shutter is open for. You press your shutter down when the car/bus etc enters the frame and press it again when the car/bus leaves the frame. This way you don’t have to guess how long to leave the shutter open for.

If you are having problems with your exposure and you are overexposed, decrease your aperture (by going up in the aperture numbers), and if you are underexposed do the opposite and increase your aperture (by going down in the aperture numbers)

But most of all just practice and enjoy!