Learning how to shoot sun sets

There were some wonderful sun sets and evening skies locally last year and having only just bought the new digital slr, it was once again a big learning curve to try to capture a photo that actually what was in front of me justice.

It was though a great way to learn about the balance between shutter speed, ISO and apperture and sometimes I got it just about right and other times failed miserably.

I am really looking forward to getting out again this year and trying to improve on last year's results and here are one or two of my evening skies from last year....

F6.3, 18mm, 1/60

F4.8, 32mm, 1/60 with flash left on to highlight foreground

F5.6, 55mm, 1/60.

I like the contrast in the above photo between the harsh concrete in the foreground and the soft colours and moon in the back ground

Shame about the fly....

August 7th now and had new camera for a week and slowly starting to get to grips with one or two of the finer points. I disappeared off for a couple of hours in the morning over to an old canal cutting that has been turned very nicely into a series of lily clad waterways with lots of wildlife and plenty of nice fish.

The level of light gave me few excuses not to produce something today so the self imposed pressure was on.

Settings for the picture above were Focal length of 90mm, F/5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/200 sec and a zero exposure compensation.

A view of one end of the cutting taken with 55mm, 1/400 sec and F/5.6

One thing I have wondered a few times is.... because I wear glasses for reading and looking at the PC screen and whilst wearing them, I look at my photos and think "yep, thats in focus" do people that don't wear glasses see them different? I would hate to think that because I take pictures to suit my eyesight that everyone with 'normal' or different vision is seeing them all as being out of focus?

I Liked the way the you can see the surface film clinging to the under side of the leaves and lifting above the water level. Taken using a focal length of 175mm, F/5.6 and 1/200 sec shutter speed.

Anyway, amongst this latest post are a few pictures from that day at the canal cutting.

Back soon



Cliff

Oh yes, the offending fly I referred to in the title is sat on the pink lilly!

Getting there slowly

Fuschia in the hanging baskets in the garden close up with rain drops on them. Settings: 55mm. 1/400 sec. F/5.6 0E.C.

So, the next day I spent almost all my spare time reading different photo websites looking for guidance and for the first time in my life, read through an entire instruction manual and whilst I understood a little of the French and Spanish sections, I really struggled with the Japanese, Urdu and Welsh! (Only joking of course, Nikon don't publish their manuals in Welsh).

And a few more fuschias this time with 44mm, 1/160 sec and F/5.6 and no exposure compensation (I hadn't got to grips with that yet)

My brother Jim, who has been using his DSLR for years had given me loads of good advice. One of the best though was to look at http://www.kenrockwell.com/. This is a superb site and I don't mind plugging it as it has so much information on there about everything that you couldn't read it all in a day!

I learnt loads from Ken's website and ended up making laminated 'cheat' cards to put in my camera bag so that I always have a quick reference for a given situation until I know instinctively or naturally what settings to apply.

This grass/bamboo plant grows at an alarming rate! It is cut down to 6 inches from the ground each winter but by Summer it is 10 feet high. It is very 'architectural' though. Settings for this one were focal length 34mm, 1/1000 sec. and F/6.3.

It rained most of the day two with just a 8/8 grey claggy cloud cover, so it wasn't much of a photogenic day anyway but between showers, I did take these few in the back garden.

Getting Started

Borough Hill Lakes. I like the sun on the background trees.
01/08/09. 21:41. 55mm. F/5.6. 1/30 sec. 0EC

So, there I was, on 1st August, my shining new Nikon D5000, Nikkor VR 18-55 and VR 55-200 lenses and not really a great idea of what to do with them all!

These first pics were taken that same evening. I am a bit of a sucker for a good sunset and sure enough August 1st provided one and off I went up to a small fishing lake on the outskirts of Daventry to take my first pictures.

It is silly really, but I felt a bit of pressure to provide some decent shots. Maybe it was because of the cost of the new kit or because if anyone saw me they would assume that I was a photographer rather than a rank beginner who was lucky enough to have a decent camera.

Anyway, here are some of the keeps from that first outing with their over-exposures and incorrect settings for all to see!

Borough Hill again and a stunning sunset, the kind of which, I will hopefully be able to soon do justice. Settings: 18mm. 1/100 sec. F/5 and 0 Exp Comp

A VERY amateur 'photographer'

Sunset taken near Barby, Northants.

17/8/09, 21:46, FL 18mm, F/8, 1/30sec, -3.33EC

Hello! Welcome to my new blog.

At the moment, I am about as good as blogging as I am at taking photographs, so this is two new experiences in one but hopefully each will evolve together to provide an interesting record of my photos over the coming years as each improves in tandem with the other!

I was very careful, if not slightly embarrassed to use the word 'photographer' in the title, or even for that matter the phrase 'amateur photographer' as both imply a fairly advanced level of competence.

The fact is that I only bought my new digital SLR (a Nikon D5000 and a couple of lenses and filters) on the 1st August 2009 and believe that it will take many months or even years, before I can say "yeah, I'm a bit of a photographer as it happens". A bit like calling myself a mechanic because I changed some spark plugs and an oil filter or two over the years!

But trouble is the term 'A bloke who has a camera and likes taking a picture or two' is a bit of a mouthful, so hence the title is as it is.

Over the coming weeks and months, I will carry on posting my pics here and hope that you as well as me can see an improvement in the quality of my happy snapping and enjoy sharing with me some of the scenes and subjects I find interesting.

I will try to post the EXIF data with each picture I take too and please feel free to offer lots of constructive criticism as it will help me greatly to learn how to do better next time.

Cliff