Wednesday, August 1, 2012

A 366 day photo adventure - August 2012

And so begins the eighth month!

2012.08.01
After school this afternoon I looked at a couple of sites on the internet about taking photos into the setting sun. By the time we walked out onto the rock platform at Don Heads the sun was about to disappear. I took a few shots trying out the techniques and I did get a couple of suns sitting at the base of the cliff with the star effect coming out from it ... but I've got a fair way to go before I show one on here. After sunset, I tried some water shots on the rock platform.


f/22, 1 sec (tripod but not remote release), ISO 200, Spot focus,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.02
My experimenting tonight did not work! Watching the Olympics as well as school have been time consuming, and the rain didn't help either! :-) It was very late when I tried some water splashes, but holding a jug of water over a container with one hand, working the shutter release with the other and meanwhile looking through the eyepiece is stuff for  contortionists and I am not one!! Also, the light was not good enough to have fast enough speeds for sharp splashes. I had fun changing this on Picasa with a filtered black and white and giving it a border, but it is still not a good shot!


f/2.4, 1/250 sec, ISO 6400, 60mm macro lens,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Tungsten
2012.08.03
We spent the late afternoon at Lillico Beach. I had my macro lens on, but think I'd have been better this evening to have the kit lens and the nd filter. Although I tried shhoting in RAW, my photos did not have the depth of colour that was around at the time as the sun was setting but I have been able to tweak this a bit in Picasa and then given it a border.

f/25, 1/2 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 60mm macro lens,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.04
Steve and I went for a late afternoon walk around Pig Island this afternoon. We left late afternoon when the sun was shining brightly and finished after sunset. I'm sharing the beautiful reflection in the purpose built channel of the Mersey River at Bells Parade at the beginning of the walk, and a sunset shot over the river near the end of our walk. It was a lovely day. I had the camera set at RAW+Fine. I have not had time to fiddle with more than one or two images yet and these two are the "Fine" versions of the image, not the RAW image.

f/13, 1/40 sec, ISO 100, 18mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture Priority, WB: Auto
f/20, 1/25 sec, ISO 100, 22mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto

2012.08.05
It was wet, windy and cold so I decided on an indoor shot tonight. My wonderful husband had preached two great sermons today, both of which brought in the message of Psalm 51, so I decided to try a small aperture, spot focus using my macro lens on the first verse. The one problem was that my Bible is written on and old, and so the page was not crisp and clear and it picked up markings from the other side of the thin paper. I gave it a "glow" in Picasa which lightened the stains through the paper, then vignetted it in red and gave it a polaroid frame.


f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO 640, 60mm macro lens,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Tungsten lighting
2012.08.06
I have a lot to learn about how to take snow photos! I had a few decent ones, but a number of washouts when we went for a drive up to some snow this afternoon. For a few I put the camera onto the automatic Snow programme, and this is one of those shots. I did this to find out what aperture and ISO it used. If you'd like to check out some others I took then look as this: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150944966746319.408897.693971318&type=3&l=02adf6f6c2

f/10, 1/250 sec, ISO 280, 60mm macro lens,
Matrix metering, Snow programme setting, WB: Auto
2012.08.07
Between rain today and visitors tonight, I found it difficult, for the first time, to get motivated to take a shot for this day ... and this, I think, shows! I had the idea of using the four things I have that were given to me by my uncles when I was born, but I am not creative in the placing of things unfortunately. I found an old doily that had belonged to my Grandmother and placed them on that, but arranging is just not my forte. I also needed a reflector or I should have used flash to counteract the shadows.


f/11, 1/3 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 22mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Tungsten
2012.08.08
We went down to the local beach after sunset today. The tide must have been a "king tide" and there was a large surf running. The steps down to the beach were covered in debris that had been tossed up and I had to grab the tripod at one stage and lift it high. My shoes and jeans got rather wet but it was fun. I was trying the variable nd filter at various stages and mostly used shutter priority with differing time shutter speeds. This one was rather special and i felt it needed a border to highlight it.


f/22, 30 secs (tripod), ISO 100, 24mm focal length,
Centre-weighted average, Shutter priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.09
I had to fit the shots into  a few minutes before an appointment tonight and, not having time to really find a good position, the lack in the shots show!


f/22, 5 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 40mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.10
I had some fun tonight taking long exposures of Steve moving his hand ... problem was that his neck hurt from trying to hold his head still! Anyway, I learned quite a bit from it about movement! I then took some portraits of him watching the Olympics with very minimal light in the room. I changed this to B&W in Picasa and then placed a border around it to frame it.


f/11, 1/2 sec (tripod), ISO 400, 55mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB:Tungsten
2012.08.11
I had a fiddle on Picasa with one of the birds I took this afternoon. I realised that I was a trifle shaky when I took this as it was not fully sharp, but I enjoyed the framing of a cropped Mr Kooka.

f/5.6, 1/1250 sec, ISO 400, 300mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB:Sunny
2012.08.12
We went down to the bridge over the Mersey for the setting sun and watched a myriad of colours change rapidly as the sun set and in the ensuing twilight as we came back down to the river bank. I decided to try a frame around this one, and it is interesting to see the difference between the two - the frame seems to complete the shot. This must have been the last shot I took with the white balance on Sunny because I changed it to Auto when it was getting dark.


f/11, 1/5 sec (tripod) ISO 100, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.08.13
We had a lovely walk to the bottom of Leven Canyon today. The water was roaring through the canyon rather ferociously after all the snow of last week, some of which still remains on Black Bluff ready to make its way down the Leven River. I had to be content with photos from the bridge over the canyon. I took some at speed to show the pounding of the water and some with the nd8 filter on, this being one of them.


f/22, 2 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.14
Having spent the day flat out doing housework, today's photo came down to taking a shot tonight of the flowers I had picked for the table from the garden this afternoon. I didn't use a flash, just the lighting in the dining room.


f/3.2, 1/50 sec, ISO 2000, 60mm macro lens,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Tungsten
2012.08.15
Before school I glanced outside to see water drops all along the clothes line, so I grabbed the camera and put on the macro lens with a spot focus and a narrow depth of field before heading out into the gloomy morning (the sun had not risen yet). I took a couple, but the line was too high above my head and so I decided to look at the drops on the broccoli leaves. This is one and you can see the lens hood reflected in the water drops. It has been slightly sharpened in Picasa, although the original had very clear droplets too.

f/5, 1/800 sec, ISO 2000, 60 mm macro lens,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB:Auto
2012.08.16
There were very heavy downpours of rain interspersed with sunshine this afternoon. I tried an experiment which did not work when I got home from school late. Although it was still raining at the end of a shower, the sun was shining in a very mellow fashion on the back vegie garden. I took a shot with my mobile phone and emailed it to myself to see if that worked and then I took a quick shot with the camera. My intention was to compare them, but unfortunately the phone photo is still floating in cyberland somewhere! This photo needed a different aperture as the gum tree in the back is not a clear as I'd have liked (as well as being affected by the rain), but it gives some indication of the mellow light, even though I forgot to change the white balance to sunny. I tweaked this in  Picasa before adding the border, but even so, it is a boring photo.


f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO 400, 48mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.17
The sky on the way home from school was amazing and so I shot up to the Bluff Lighthouse  after getting my camera. As can be seen, there was a band of exceedingly dark cloud over the water which itself was an eerie colour. Unfortunately I have a white patch above the lighthouse where the sky was still light (but not for long). I changed from matrix metering to spot metering and got far better balance as can be seen in the second photo where the clouds had come closer in to shore, and so today I can say I really learned something.


f/13, 1/25 sec, ISO 100, 18mm focal length
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB:Auto

f/22, 1/5 sec, ISO 100, 18mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.18
I had a bit of a wander through our front garden with the macro lens this afternoon ... an enjoyable time in the sunshine. I'm sure this lavender is not supposed to be covered in flowers in winter, but it is. I gave this a small dusky pink vignette on Picasa.


f/7.1, 1/125 sec, ISO 400, 60mm macro lens,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.08.19
After church at Don this afternoon we went to our friends' farm as they have a wonderful old piece of farm machinery on the hill behind the homestead and I was wanting to use it for some portraits of the two of us. I used the remote on a 2 second release which gave me time to hide the remote from view. I had a lot of fun with this and then more fun this evening as I have framed many and changed some to black and white in Picasa.


f/11, 1/13 sec, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny

f/22, 1/2 sec, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens,
Matrix metering,  Aperture priority, WB: Auto


2012.08.20
The sun came out late this morning after a good shower of rain. I loved the raindrops congregated on the daffodils, and so I could not resist putting one in for today.


f/16, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, 60 mm Macro lens,
Centre-weighted average metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.08.21.
I am part of a facebook forum on flower photography and this week's theme is "pink". My garden is devoid of pink at the moment [the peach and nectarine trees are just starting to blossom, but not far enough to give the effect of pink yet]. However, we are very fortunate to have a wonderful, very tall camellia on the other side of the fence and is my outlook from the kitchen! I vignetted, framed and wrote the text using Picasa 3, all to fit the theme.


f/11, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, 300mm focal length,
Centre-weighted average metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.22
After Parent/Teacher interviews at school it was really late, but while Steve went for a run I took the camera onto the rocks near the Bluff for a few after sunset shots. No nd filter was needed to smooth the water tonight! I have fiddled with this, doing some editing as well as a frame on Picasa.


f/22, 30 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 18mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB:Auto
2012.08.23
There was a storm brewing after school and so we decided to go to a near-by beach and find some birds before it hit. It was incredible to watch this storm brew out over the Strait as it was one of the eeriest ones I have ever experienced. We just made it back to the car before the hail and rain began to belt down. This is accurate colour and has not been edited whatsoever (as is the case with most of my shots).


f/8, 1/40 sec, ISO 800, 55mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB:Auto
2012.08.24
Today a local man ran from Launceston to Devonport to raise money for a three year old who has cancer. Many of the students from the local High School have supported him as he has done long runs for different children with cancer over the past few years. This shot is with a lass I used to teach at the end of the 100 kms. He looks fresh as a daisy having run that large distance in approximately 10 and a half hours, while she had spent most of the day collecting money along the way. I congratulate Tim for his generous heart and all those who helped him along the way! We'd had lots of rain during the afternoon but it held off as Tim, and those who ran the final bit with him, came into Devonport. 

f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, 55mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB:Auto
2012.08.25
We had been away all day and there had been a lot of rain, but as we came home there was a burst of sunshine, so I grabbed the camera to take some flower shots. I kept my 55-300 kit lens on as I didn't really have time to get my macro lens as the clouds were coming back in rapidly. First blossom on my dwarf peach.


f/5.6, 1/320 sec, ISO 500, 300mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB:Sunny
2012.08.26
As we drove in to Mole Creek for this afternoon's service we felt the temperature drop quite a long way from what it had been on the coast. The snow on the hills was rather pretty, especially with the yellow of the wattle that is blooming. Under the sun there it looked rather pretty despite the cloud that hovered around the higher peaks. For the first time for ages I had forgotten to check the aperture etc and had just taken a shot ... but I put that down to the fact that I had only a few seconds to grab a shot and go inside. Despite my forgetfulness, I actually like the scene.


f/5.6, 1/2000 sec, ISO 400, 55mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.08.27
I am not obsessed with the cold and the wet, but I have not had many options to shoot with the weather at the moment! This was very, very late this afternoon and it was very, very cold and dark clouds abounded (but for a little while had ceased to leak). Because it was so dark I put the ISO up quite high. Text added in Picasa.


f/5, 1/60 sec, ISO 1000, 60mm macro lens,
Metering: centre-weighted average, Aperture priority, WB:Auto
2012.08.28
After a discussion at Camera House I decided that, even though it was late, I'd have to put into practice a suggestion that the resident salesman/photographer/teacher gave me about depth of field for portraits after he'd looked at the ones I'd just had printed from 19th August. So Steve became my bunny and I have a range of facial expressions, but I really like this one with the sparkling eyes.


f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO 400, 300mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB:Auto
2012.08.29
We had some sun at the end of the day and so spent an enjoyable half hour around the Bluff Lighthouse, despite the cold wind. The waves were crashing heavily on the coastline and then the sun began to set behind the clouds. I took some shots of the Lighthouse in silhouette, which effect I really like.


f/13, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, 58mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB:Sunny



2012.08.30
On the penultimate day of the month I'm posting a weed! Walking along a track beside the beach at the end of Teatree Lane today I couldn't help noticing the infestation of weeds. However, they were rather pretty purples and whites, being in flower as it is nearly spring, and so I took some shots - this is of the onion weed.


f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 100, 300mm focal length,
Spot focus and spot metering,
Aperture priority, WB:Auto
I was also intrigued by some of the plant life growing among the rocks and pebbles on the beach [it really should be called Pebbly Beach] and so I am sharing a second shot that also had both spot focus and spot metering. Because I am trying to get the effect of blurring behind and the key subject being the thing one's eyes are drawn towards, I have been working with the spot focus and it seems to have worked.

f/5.6, 1/320 sec, ISO 400, 300mm focal length,
Spot focus and spot metering,
Aperture priority, WB:Auto


2012.08.31
We had a lovely long stroll along the Mersey at Latrobe, albeit very slowly because we were finding plenty of things to shoot, when it was definitely time to go home. The sun had just set and the cold night temperature was falling rapidly. We were nearly back to the car walking along the road when I spotted a face in a tree. Obviously the council had had to cut back a branch that was intruding onto the road. Other than the fact that I forgot to change my white balance, still having it set to 'sunny', I loved the shot just for the amusement of the subject matter. I was also rather fortunate that I could hold the camera steady when it was a rather slower shutter speed - normally, because of my shaky arms, I have to use a tripod, but I didn't have it with me. As we drove home the 'blue moon' [a second full moon in a calendar month] was rising, so I added text, caption and border to the shot just for fun.


f/5.6, 1/20 sec, ISO 400, 220mm focal length,
Centre-weighted average, Aperture priority, WB:Sunny

This month has been a difficult month to shoot a photo a day because of the rain, the cold and the late afternoons after work. However, tomorrow is Spring so it really only can get better weatherwise. Today also marks two thirds of the way through this challenge - I wonder what the final third holds?


Sunday, July 1, 2012

A 366 day photo adventure - July 2012

The second half of the year begins! Thank you for coming on my learning journey with me!


2012.07.01
Late this afternoon we had a short drive out of town to some of the local vegetable farms as I wanted some shots of the rich soils and the rows of brassicas that are growing at the moment. The sun was very low and so the colours were intense. I loved the light and the stain of the red soil on this fence post beside the road.


f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 320, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.02
We had a lovely picnic at Warrawee Reserve at Latrobe today and enjoyed the wrens that flocked around. I had the camera set to a spot focus as well as spot metering, but this wren came right up onto the picnic table as we were eating and being so close, I probably should have had it as centre-weighted metering rather than spot.


f/5.6, 1/250 sec, ISO 500, 270mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture Priority, WB: Sunny

Slightly sharpened with contrast and colour tweaked minimally in Picasa

2012.07.03
Having worked on school work all day, I went outside late this afternoon, still with my 55-300 lens on. I deliberately kept the spot focus on to see how it would go. However, I changed the metering to centre-weighted average and that, in hindsight, was possibly not the correct decision (but, I am not worried as this is a learning blog challenge!) If I had had this on spot metering too, I think it would have only been the violet in focus as was my objective and that the leaf, too, would have been blurred. By not having the leaves blurred I've lost some of what I aimed for - everything leading the eye down from the green, over the rockery edge to the touch of purple. I was a little shaky today and the tripod would have made for a fully sharp flower image. I gave the slightest of tweaking for sharpness in Picasa 3.

f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO 500, Centre-weighted average metering,
Spot focus, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.04
We went for a short drive through some country lanes after school today looking for birds for Steve. I took this shot through the open window on the opposite of the car. I loved the effect of all the birds on the farm gate with the one that was different being in the spot focus. I cropped it to get the wires to the house out of the frame. I'll put the original and the cropped here to show the difference the framing makes. The light of the late afternoon sun is really mellow, but when I tweaked the contrast and colour in Picasa, much of the mellowness disappeared unfortunately.


f/7.1, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, 240mm focal length,
Spot metering,  Aperture priority, WB: Sunny

Cropped and slightly tweaked in Picasa
2012.07.05
We shot out to Port Sorrell after school this afternoon and were rewarded with, not only the setting sun, but also low tide on the Panatana Rivulet. I did some shots in Aperture priority with the boat reflections and then practised (played around with) manual settings directly into the setting sun over the mud flats. I was thrilled to bits with quite a few shots this afternoon. Unlike the past couple of days, I have not tweaked these at all. These two are straight out of the camera.

f/11, 1/25 sec, ISO 250, 55mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
f/7.1, 1/2000 sec, ISO 250, 55mm focal length,
Manual settings, matrix metering, WB: Sunny
2012.07.06

Because Steve's 150-500 lens came back from repairs yesterday, we again wandered country lanes seeking birds after school. This literally is a "Lane", named after the people whose farm is at the far end. This was late, only about 15-20 minutes before sunset and I loved the country lane feel, as well as the evening light. There really is something about Tasmanian light!

f/11, 1/40 sec, ISO 320, 55mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.07
We shot over to Bridport. This was taken at the caravan Park after sunset. Don't you love the colours of the rocks and the milkiness of the water in the ocean compared to the clarity in the rockpool?


f/22, 8sec (tripod), ISO 100, 62mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Cloudy
2012.07.08
After church in Bridport, we did some shooting around the coast and then at the port on the river which was at low tide. It was still and sunny!

f/22, 1/50sec, ISO200, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.09
I didn't have the opportunity to take any shots until almost sunset and as we were travelling past Boat Harbour we went down to the shore in the hope of getting some nice coastal shots. It was sunny to the west and darkening clouds to the east and this of course gave great colouring! Being so late, I upped the ISO and the shutter speed, but, if that is my shadow, I did not watch the shadows as well as I should. I know I did for some shots, but that does not look like the trunk of the pine trees growing along the beach front!



f/6.3, 1/1000 sec, ISO 500, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny

2012.07.10
Despite the scattered showers we able to have a lot of time taking shots of the coastal scenery at Black River and Rocky Cape. For this one I had my variable nd filter on at a very windy, overcast Rocky Cape where we had lunch.

f/22, 0.62 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Cloudy

 
2012.07.11
We wandered around some of the historic sections of Ross in the Midlands today and enjoyed the Old Ross Burial Ground set high on the hill overlooking the town. It was dark and on the verge of sprinkling and, unfortunately, this happened without my knowledge with small spits spoiling the last three shots. I felt the loneliness of those silent graves covered in long grasses and gorse bushes.

f/11, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, 22mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Cloudy
 2012.07.12
Steve and I spent a wonderful lunchtime at the Domain in Hobart today. The 55-300 lens was on as there were many, many birds around. I took numerous shots using different apertures and speeds but for this shot, one of my favourites for the day, I had put the camera onto the speed programme. It reminds me of the ads for Rosella Soup from my childhood!


f/5.6, 1/200 sec, ISO 1600, 300mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Speed programme, WB: Auto
2012.07.13
We travelled up the east coast of Tassie today under brilliant blue skies after the morning fog had cleared. This shot was taken of the Hazards at Freycinet National Park as the sun was setting. I think I kept the white balance on sunny, not yet knowing what is the best setting for this time of day. This was definitely one of those times where I would have liked to have had a wide angle lens!

f/22, 1/15 sec (tripod),  ISO 400, 18mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.14
Today was a walk up to the Wineglass Bay lookout in brilliant sunshine that wasn't to last. It is a walk that is an hour to an hour and a half return, but there were birds for Steve and flora and landscapes for me, so it took us nearly three hours! We also went to Cape Tourville to observe the amazing coastal scenery around the lighthouse. It was a relaxing day which we thoroughly enjoyed. I have put this one in, another that really needed a wide-angle lens, because it is a scene I had never seen before, as the boardwalk around the cliff side of the lighthouse is a fairly new 'invention'. Now we need to go on a day that hasn't turned overcast!

f/22, 1/2 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 18mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Cloudy
2012.07.15
The last day of our holidays began in brilliant sunshine and it wasn't till after lunch when we were on the way home that the weather turned and Steve had to battle very strong winds. This is at Sleepy Bay, a pretty little part of the coast in Freycinet NP, which, being so red, reminds me of the gritty sand and interesting rock formations in some of the gorges in the Red Centre!

f/22, 1/3 sec (tripod, ISO 100, ND filter, 22mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.16
Between trying to write school reports and getting ready for an appointment, I thought I had best "grab a shot"  when I made lunch, a delicious earthy soup I'd made and frozen earlier for such a day as this, sprinkled with blue vein cheese. I didn't set the shot up, just had it on the placemat made by one of our delightful grandchildren. I know a touch of green would have been better, but I certainly did not want it going cold!


f/4.2, 1/60 sec, ISO 800, 26mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Automatic Food setting, WB: Auto
2012.07.17
I made my gluten free bread, pizza and fruit loaf today. I cut the fruit loaf to have a slice for dessert and so I took my shots, practising with spot focus. Unfortunately I don't have my macro lens back yet and the kit lens does not have the width of range of aperture that I needed to blur the loaves and concentrate the spot as much as I'd have liked.


f/5, 1/25 sec, ISO 640, 26mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.07.18
Today was one of those days I had dreaded ... by the time I was home from school and had a hot cuppa, it was both cold and late. However the sky was full of stunning clouds as we drove down to the beach. It had been a day where we had many passing, heavy showers. I took some shots into the setting sun but had them washed out [something I still need to learn more about] and then I put on the variable nd filter and did some experimenting. I'm not really happy with any from tonight, but it was definitely all a learning process. This is looking east with a mixture of lit cloud, storm cloud and flawless blue sky.


f/11, 0.62 sec (tripod), ISO 100, 48mm focal length,
matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.07.19
After school today I went into the garden. It was cloudy and latish, so I put the ISO up to 500. I used a spot focus with a centre-weighted average metering as I was concentrating on flowers. I still do not have my macro lens back and my shots would have been clearer with that lens. I wasn't happy with the colour of the azaleas after seeing them on the computer, and so I did some in-camera editing, changing to both B&W and Sepia. With the Nikon you have a range of three sepia shades and this shot is with the sepia on the "Lighter" setting.


f/7.1, 1/40 sec, ISO 500, 40mm focal length,
Centre-weighted average metering, Aperture priority, WB: Cloudy
2012.07.20
We had a family gathering tonight before our daughter heads back overseas. Trying to get eight adults, four children and one dog into a family snap is hard work! After much hilarity, we had one where most people looked as they should. People just plonked them selves wherever they wanted, so this is very informal!


f/3.5, 1/60 sec, ISO 800, 18mm focal length, Matrix metering,
Flash (auto, strobe return), Portrait program setting, WB: Auto
2012.07.21
We had a state conference meeting today. Our daughter was the main speaker and I took this shot from a distance in fairly dim lighting, but I love the profile view of a beautiful young woman.

f/5.3, 1/50 sec, ISO 800, 240mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Tungsten lighting
2012.07.22
We were only home for about an hour today and I grabbed a couple of shots in the garden between our two church services. However, I was not very happy with any of them, probably because I was rushing just to get one, rather than trying to increase my understanding of the camera and techniques! This was the first I took, as I had seen the play of the shadows on the back fence from inside the house, but I couldn't get the area I wanted into the shot ... garden stakes were in the way. This shot is indicative of the lack of time and care taken today and is, I think, the worst shot of the year so far. Back to the learning tomorrow! However, it is also a good reminder that the human eyes picks uall, but blocks out some of the surrounding aspects, and the camera only picks up what is in the frame ... a fact I forgot today.

f/11, 1/60 sec, ISO 100, 50mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.23
On our way home from a funeral in Launceston, we detoured to the abattoir in Longford to get some meat for the freezer. One of the meats purchased was a few kilos of chicken wings, some of which I marinated for tea. I took the opportunity while they were marinating to experiment with some settings, and decided that the aperture, with a high ISO and the white balance set on Tungsten gave the most correct colour. I tweaked this shot on Picasa to see how it would go as a shot for a recipe and am quite pleased with the overall effect.

f/5, 1/50 sec, ISO 1250, 35mm focal length, no flash,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Tungsten,
Picasa 3: Straighten, sharpen, glow, border, text
2012.07.24
It was very overcast this afternoon and the waves on the high tide were steely grey. Although this looks as if it may have been shot in black and white, this is the actual colour of the rocks and sea at our local beach today. 


f/22, 2 sec (tripod, remote shutter release), ISO 100,
55mm focal length, matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Cloudy
2012.07.25
I left school late this afternoon and it was very dark and overcast. However, when I pulled up in the Reg Hope Park there was a slit in the clouds with light rays shining through and across the water. I only had time for a couple of quick shots before it went again. I had the white balance on cloudy, but wish I had set it to Auto as it came out of the camera slightly green tinged. I fixed the colour in Picasa and slightly sharpened it, but maybe I did a bit too much. I'll put both is and hopefully you can give me some feedback.


f/11, 1/40 sec, ISO 400, 30mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Cloudy

As above
Picasa 3: Colour, contrast, sharpening and saturation tweaked a little
2012.07.26
Again I was late after school, and again it was dark and gloomy as there had been stormy weather on and off for much of the day. After taking some shots across Bass Strait, I turned around to observe, not only another coming storm, but also the scene of a farmer burning off. I loved the drama of the white grass smoke against the blackness of the sky.


f/11, 1/50 ISO 400, 68mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Auto
2012.07.27
Steve had looked after the grandchildren all day and I stayed late at school completing half year reports, so we both collapsed after we had the little ones to bed. The only photos were of Steve watching the footy!


f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 1000, No flash, 62 mm focal length,
Spot metering, Aperture priority, WB: Tungsten light
2012.07.28
We took the littlies to Anvers today for a chocolate hit, having just collected my macro lens that had returned from Tamron ... [mind you, they did not send back a report on why it had stopped auto focussing!]. I took shots of each of the children with the macro lens on to test it out [it does focus again :-) ... phew!]. I decided to put this one in because of his concentration on the chocolate milkshake ... and because my six year old granddaughter didn't like the best one where she had such a great expression on her face!

f/9, 1/20 sec, ISO 400, 60mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07
After dropping the grandchildren back to their parents when they alighted from the plane in Launceston today, we had a bit of a quiet "old couple" wander! The old [by Australian standards] architecture of Launceston is wonderful, and this church is just one example. It was latish in the afternoon and the light was touching parts of the spire beautifully. I liked this angle where all the components seemed to be lifting the eye up towards the sky ... and for me, the symbolism of the church helping to lift the eyes on high could not be passed!


f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.30
I was rather late out today! This was taken about half an hour before sunset. The river was flat, as was Bass Strait and it was about a medium tide, and so I enjoyed the fact that today the notice was irrelevant.


f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, 55mm focal length,
Matrix metering, Aperture priority, WB: Sunny
2012.07.31
It was a lovely "spring" day in winter today, and so I took some photos of the bulbs and perennials that are poking their heads through the weeds, finally using the macro lens which has been fixed. I don't know what these tiny bulbs are called, but their pale mauve with purple veins contrast well with the orange-yellow centre. They were growing in dappled sunlight and still had the dew drops on them.

f/16, 1/100 sec, ISO 200, 60mm macro lens, Spot focus,
Centre-weighted average metering, Aperture priority,  WB: Sunny

And so I have completed 7/12 of my year's challenge, with the knowledge that I now know that I have so much more to learn than I even realised at the start. I am beginning to look forward once more to retiring so that I can really put in some time to read books, and maybe even join a Camera Club, but until then I shall plod along enjoying what I do. Again I ask for any feedback that you can give that will be beneficial to my journey.

See you in August!