Ack! It’s Coming After Me!

Tags

Beginning photography, Camera, macro, Macrophotography, nature photography, Photography

Lately macro photography has become so fascinating that I practice it a lot.  Macro is the type of photography that is done very close-up of smaller objects.  The other day I took a series of pictures of a flower in my backyard that grows by the fence and is very tiny.

It’s obvious that I had a great deal of trouble getting focussed on the teeny little bloom, and I had my nose almost to the ground trying to get a clear shot.  Only one of the pictures made it into that post and even it was out-of-focus.  I even processed it and couldn’t get it totally right.  All of these photos are ones that didn’t make it into that post.

The reason I’m showing you my “dud” pictures is because of what happened next.  I had the camera so close to the head of the flower that the camera almost touched it, and the flower was so close to the ground that when a big ol’ earthworm suddenly rocketed out of the ground at my camera right when I was pushing the shutter button, it startled me to the point that I almost dropped the camera.  It looked like a snake was about to hit me in the face!  My heart skipped a beat, and the little flower, needless to say, was not in focus.  The worm was flapping back-and-forth, so by the time the camera finished the shot the worm had changed directions, thank goodness.

All this to say, that if you like to take photographs, and especially if you are a beginning photographer like me, you have to be ready for ANYthing!  Lol, you just never know what is going to pop up in your photos!

Fellow blogger Jerry, who does a lot of macro photography (and does it very well!), had a bloggersation with me that reminded me of this earthworm story.  I thought I’d share it hoping it might give someone a chuckle!

Hope all of you have had a mighty fine day today!

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Setting Up A Photography Light Box (Sort Of)

Tags

baby, baby photograph, Beginning photography, Camera, DIY, DIY light box, Do it yourself, Humor, Lightbox, Photography, photography light, photography light bulb, photography lighting, tracing paper

Well, I’ve been at it again.  

First of all, I’ve mentioned quite a few times that I love taking pictures but that I’m a real amateur when it comes to photography.  I’ve learned a lot, but I have a long way to go. That said, I must admit to something that happened to me a few weeks ago and has been eating at me ever since.

I was scrolling through the blogs I follow, when I came upon the daily post of a blogger friend we’ll call Cindy (well, we’ll call her that because that’s her name), and she always takes gorgeous pictures, so I like to look at her blog, among others.  So, low and behold, her pictures suddenly became even more stunning!  Then I noticed her post said that these pictures were taken with her new camera!!!  

Well, I just had to see about this, so I read her post (here) and looked at her pictures of her new camera until I was just green with envy.  Cindy, it seems, had been using a camera with similar capabilities to mine (and had still taken better pictures), and now had acquired a camera with fabulous features that I very much had been wanting for myself.  Curses!

So then I just decided that I was tired of my pictures looking like they were taken by a blind person with no fingers, and started taking steps to amp up my game.  City Boy had already told me he wasn’t getting me the Mother Of All Cameras until I learned to use the camera I had.  Fair enough.  I would show you a picture of my camera but I can’t take a picture of my camera WITH my camera.  And, well, you’ve seen the kind of pictures my cell phone takes.

So, I decided I would start with trying to improve my food pictures (don’t look at the food posts in my blog yet; I haven’t started improving) and later happened to stumble upon another blog that had a great post for making a DIY photography light box (here).  And it was not difficult, woohoo!

I already had most of the materials, except tracing paper, so I asked City Boy to pick me up some on his way home from work IF it wasn’t too expensive.  “I’ll use something else if it’s over (x) amount,” I told him.  All he heard me say was “tracing paper.”

He came home with a tablet of tracing paper with the price sticker still on the front.  I almost flew at him like a rabid monkey when I saw the price.  Actually, I calmly asked him why he paid so much.  “You said you needed tracing paper,” he said.

Overpriced tracing paper, tag removed

So, anyway, I made the light box and was pretty pleased with it.  Sure, it looks like I picked it up ready-made at the city dump, but I never claimed to be that handy at cutting a big glass-pack moving box with a pair of sewing scissors.  

Frank is pretty nice to indulge me sometimes.  Last week he took me into the city to look around a photography supply shop and see what I could see.  What a mistake — I wanted everything!  After discovering that the hobby of photography was an expensive one, I had a salesperson come over and help me, and I decided that I should get some special photography light bulbs to use with my light box (plus, they were the cheapest least expensive things in the place).

All happy with my decision, the salesman asked me which kind of bulb I wanted.  “There’s a difference?” I asked.

I was told that one gets very hot, and the other one doesn’t and also lasts longer than the “hot’ version.  I almost went for the one that doesn’t catch things on fire, when I discovered that there was a nearly $60 price difference per bulb.  Okay, well then, I’d just have to run a fan when I took pictures.

So, thinking I was happily decided, I was then told that the “hot” bulbs required a special ceramic light socket.  How much was that?  Theirs were $119 apiece.  Dang, foiled again.

For about the third time, I went out to the truck, dejected, and told City Boy the news.  He had been waiting in the truck with Lucy (because, of course, he can NEVER go anyplace without her).  Frank sent me back into the store after telling me to pick up some of the “hot” lights because he was sure that hardware stores carried work lights with ceramic sockets that were a whole lot cheaper less expensive.

Into the store I went again, happily decided.  Or so I thought.  The salesman asked, “How many watts do you want?”  “Wha…?” I asked back.  “There’s 250 watt and 500 watt.”

“Um,” I stammered, “will the 250 be bright enough?”  He demonstrated it.  Blinded and feeling my way out of the store after my purchase, I was mildly confident I hadn’t just wasted $10.50.

A day later and a trip to Home Depot wiser, we were the proud owners of one work/photography light, for starters.

My maiden voyage with using the light box was without the photography light — I was still a little nervous about burning my house down.  I grabbed the first thing I saw to put in the light box (my box of Easter decorations was still sitting next to the garage door in the utility room waiting to be taken out), and just used natural light.

With some Princess House in the light box, I tried it with just natural light coming in from one side.

Then I finally got brave and powered up the photography light (fingers crossed).  Except maybe I shouldn’t have used mirrored plaques as my subject, since it kind of reflected the camerawoman.

This is with only one photography light, placed above the light box — the ideal light setup is supposed to be a light on either side of the light box as well.  We really wanted to see how it went before we went full throttle on this.  What do you think of the results so far?

Cindy, my fellow blogger with the new camera, has been extremely supportive of me, and I am not the least bit mad at her for getting her new camera — it’s fun to kid around from time-to-time, and I am pleased that she is having a great time with her fantastic new acquisition! 

Of course, my blog would not be complete if it didn’t INclude a picture of Precious Baby before I CONclude this post (I take great pride in my corniness).  Have a wonderful, wonderful day, and I’ll sign off with this picture of Precious Baby at the zoo looking at the penguins!

Slow Winter Night

Tags

Beginning photography, Camera, Christmas, Christmas tree, Dog, Humor, moon, winter, winter night

The one thing about the weather getting colder and nights getting longer is that there is less to do.  For those hearty individuals who don’t mind roughing it in the cold weather, there are still outdoor things to do, but the rest of us namby-pamby souls have to find more things to do indoors.

Fortunately, there is Christmas decorating to do, and festive music to play while we’re decking the halls.  But, some evenings are just made for being ordinary, and there’s nothing wrong with that for old folks like us.  So, the other night was no exception to the rule.

Here in small towns certain services are limited.  There is only one cable company that services us, and its prices are higher than a cat’s back, so we have satellite.  There still wasn’t much on that night…

Really??!!  Don’t ALL murder victims wind up dead?

Lucy wasn’t really interested in doing much of anything, either.  I figured she would get underfoot while I tried to do some Christmas decorating, but I finally found her.

Her room also doubles as our office, and City Boy got her the biggest bed he could find.  The Little Dog is about the size of a cat; why on earth would she need a bed that size?  It sure makes the office that much smaller–Lucy is not a bit spoiled, oh no.

A plastic bin of decorations made its way into the living room, and I also took that opportunity to put the first gift of the season under our tree.

Looks lonely, doesn’t it?  That right there is a gift from me to Frank.  I’m hoping one from him to me joins it there soon.  It’s all about me, me, me.

In the middle of everything Frank came in and said I just had to step outside right then.  Turns out he knows I always try to stretch my picture-taking skills, which are sadly lacking, and thought I might like another challenge.  He also thought it would make a neat picture.

And, City Boy was right on two counts.  It WAS a challenge (I took several pictures of it to even get one as good as this), and it WAS kind of neat-looking, the moon with all those clouds wafting around it.  One day I’ll figure out how to take night pictures without the purple dot.

Well, back to decorating.  City Boy decided to give Lucy a bath since she was just laying there, easy to find.  Lo and behold, she had disappeared.  Frank had taken her collar off earlier, and he only does that for one reason.  And the Little Dog has figured out that reason.

So, they ran around the ottoman for awhile, and Frank finally caught her and took her in to take a bath.  I got done decorating and still had the camera out, so I entertained myself playing with it.  I discovered some new little settings, and messed around with them a bit.  

This is the “Soft Focus” setting.

This looks just like the way my pictures look when I can’t hold my hands steady enough and I don’t wait for the camera to focus.  Guess I didn’t need that setting.

Next was the “Sparkle” setting.

Whoa, this brings back memories.  When my vision was messed-up this is the way car headlights looked at night.  Don’t really want THAT blast from the past. 

Okay, so, I have no idea what I did to get this…

I’ll just call this the “Really Orange” setting.  With that, I put the camera up for the night and decided to lay in bed with the tv on and read a book.  

Then this movie came on tv about a husband who disappeared after forgetting to put a present under the Christmas tree for his wife….yeah, that might be worth a look….

Tips From Very Low On the Totem Pole of Amateur Photography

Tags

Adobe Photoshop, Beginning photography, Camera, Pet, Photography, photography tips, Pioneer Woman

In this blog I’ve mentioned that I love taking pictures.  I mean, I really love it.  That said, I am still in the learning process of taking decent pictures.  You know, pictures you would be proud to post on Facebook (or one of the many sites for people like me who are addicted to wasting time) and not have to claim that somebody else took them.  And, by the way, I’ve seen some pictures posted on these social sites that make mine look GOOD.

I am pretty decent at learning technical things, given enough time, and I am in good company when it comes to enjoying taking pictures and wanting to take good ones.  Many people are not ready for the really technical side of taking pictures, and feel that too much of that, at this point in their experience, takes the fun out of it for them.  I can sympathize, and have discovered some things that have helped my picture-taking ability without being overly technical.  

Maybe (or not) some of my experience so far will be of help to others who just enjoy taking pictures of things they love but don’t have a degree in it or anything–here are a few things that I am trying to learn to watch out for:

With Outdoor Pictures–

• Environmental factors:

If you like taking outdoor still pictures, you have to work around the fact that things outdoors do not stay still.  Wind, pets, other people’s pets, cars passing by, etc., are things I sometimes forget to think about ahead of time that can alter the environment a person is taking a picture of.

I must have taken 100 close-up shots of a drop of water dripping off of a leaf on our front yard bush, and only got one picture that was barely passable.  Wind kept shifting the position of the droplet, raindrops kept getting on my camera, the dog kept knocking me over, I had to stop to put the dog in the house, my hands were getting numb from the cold, and on and on.  And, luckily, that brave little raindrop kept hanging on to that leaf.

Wind, Rain, Raindrops on the camera lens

Any time you take pictures of the great outdoors, you have to learn to be impervious to weather and repetition, and be patient.  Be aware that you may have to take many pictures to get “the” picture, or at least one that is usable.  And to make sure that you can take all the pictures you need to, invest in an SD card with a lot of room for your camera.  Mine is an 8 GB one and I have rarely run out of room on it while I was taking pictures.

• People factors:

Speaking of outdoor photography, how many times have you tried to take a great picture of a scene along life’s highways and byways and caught a vehicle passing through your shot just as you pushed down the shutter button?  Snap.  And there’s your picture of a gorgeous sunset with a City Utilities truck on one side sticking out like a zit on a forehead.  You get my drift–life does not hold still for the camera.  Sigh.  So be patient and keep trying.

With Indoor Pictures–

They can be a pain.  One time they’ll turn out great, and the next time (same time of day, same camera settings) the picture will be washed-out, green, dark, blurred or whatever you don’t want it to be.  Try as I might, I can’t always get it right, and sometimes I decide that my camera is the problem.  Well, it makes me feel better to think that.  And don’t discourage yourself thinking Photoshop will cure every bad picture and then be disappointed when it doesn’t.  Some photos are just DOA right out of the camera, and that happens to everyone who takes pictures, even the pros.

• Lighting:

Part of the difference is that indoor lighting can change on a day-to-day, or even minute-by-minute, basis.  Natural light, incandescent light, fluorescent light, dim light, bright light, etc.  Many cameras have adjustments to accommodate for these different light sources, and then some of the light variations have to be adjusted on your computer with a photo processing program that may be included with the software provided with your camera, or with programs like Photoshop or a popular free alternative to Photoshop, Gimp.  

To increase your chances of getting a good picture to start out with, try to flood as much natural light into the room as possible.  As far as I can tell, it is the most flattering light for photographs.  I’ve also found that it matters where the light source is coming from.  A window, for instance, which is located behind the subject you are photographing will create backlighting, which is more difficult to work around.  A light source located behind the camera will flood light onto your subject, but since  you are standing between the light source and your subject, watch out that you are not casting a shadow on your subject.   Also be attentive to the intensity of light,  and that the bright light may be washing out your subject if there is too much of it.  Light coming from the side of your subject is generally the easiest to work with, if you are able to position yourself accordingly. 

• Software programs:

If you find that you need to process a photo on the computer, there are many programs available, including the two I mentioned above.  I use the one that comes with my camera in addition to Gimp, naturally.  If it’s free, I’m willing to try it!  Copy your original photo, then try to alter the copy.  It always pays to back up your originals.

Camera settings and photo software programs can be very daunting until one learns them, and lots of patience is required.  For instance, I have used nonessential (dud) pictures to practice with Gimp, one feature at a time, until I learned what I could do with each feature.  An example of this: To sharpen not-so-sharp images, I have discovered a great tool in Gimp called Unsharp Mask.  The name fooled me for a long time because I thought that the word “unsharp” meant, well, less sharp.  When I found out the opposite was true and started to learn how to use it, I got all excited and would get a little heavy-handed with it.  By the time a processed photograph made every pore on someone’s nose sharply defined and environments were looking like eerie places far, far away, I knew I needed to calm down a little.  It’s a learning process and one just has to allow themselves to make mistakes and know that many folks before them have made the same ones.  Again, just be patient with yourself — it’s worth it.  Later on, if you want to really get into indoor picture-taking, you can invest in professional lighting, equipment and software programs and learn techniques to use them.

• Equipment:

Another huge help for the beginning photographer who wants to take decent pictures: Invest in a tripod.  Even a rinky-dink one is better than nothing.  I’m using my son’s telescope tripod that he left behind when he decided he was man enough to go live with his sister.  Some of my pictures still come out fuzzy because that tripod does not have the stability made for taking pictures, especially on carpet, but I get more good pictures with the tripod than without.  One made for taking pictures will cut down on the number of fuzzy pictures that come from camera shake.  Some cameras also have settings for action photos, which also cuts down on blurriness from motion.  

All of the crystal-clear, sharp, steady-handed photos that I see other people take puzzle me because I sometimes feel like I must have Parkinson’s or something.  I’ve watched people just fling the camera up, snap the picture, and get results worthy of an award.  Some of that comes from learning the best camera settings for the situation, some of it comes from just plain experience and getting more steady-handed with practice, some of it comes from processing the photo on the computer, and then some of it is just plain giftedness.  If you’re a beginner like me, and especially if you want to take indoor still pictures, start by using a tripod any time you can until you get the  hang of holding the camera absolutely still.  

• Animals:

Great outdoor picture of Lucy

Indoor picture taken before learning about camera settings; fuzzy, yellow

As far as pictures of pets, that takes practice as well, because animals are unpredictable.  Until I learn better techniques, I currently try to take pictures of our dog Lucy outdoors (my forte’), or sitting next to an open door with light streaming in.   Take the course of least resistance, I always say.   At least Lucy has stopped hiding from me when I get the camera out.  She knows it’s futile.

When it comes to pictures I take, I end up processing them using the “delete” button so often I should have carpal-tunnel.  That’s the beauty of the digital age.  I do wish I had kept some of my out-takes to illustrate some of what I’m talking about, but then I guess the future will bring plenty more bad pictures I can show off.

Some of what I have learned was easy to catch on to, and some things just befuddle me no end.

• Food:

Taking food pictures is about the toughest part of picture-taking for me.  Maybe I shouldn’t say that, since it might call attention to the bad food pictures I post with recipes here.  But I’ve started trying to observe other blogs that post food, such as Pioneer Woman, for one.  Light floods her impeccably clean kitchen and ample counter space while she takes free-handed pictures of the food she prepares and serves lovingly in immaculate cookware and dish ware.  I wonder why her pictures always turn out great?  Oh, wait–I think I may have just answered my own question.  I actually love watching Pioneer Woman and reading her blog, and suddenly now I need to go clean my kitchen.

Related articles

• Why Tripods Are Important For Photography (pixiq.com)
• Happy Camera Day: The Top 10 Most Useful Blogs For The Aspiring Photographer (savings.com)
• Getting Started: How to Hold Your Camera (nikonusa.com)
• Mouthwatering Photography (getthecamera.com)
• Low Light Photography Tips (gdmkimages.wordpress.com)