To all ye who want to paint with light ...

I should have started this blog many moons ago as I started experiencing the joys of rediscovering the art of photography. But as the saying goes - it's better late, than never!
So, here I am, in the hopes of recording what I learn as I progress from ignorance to enlightenment; about what my eyes can see that my camera can capture; and, what my mind imagines and my camera paints with its capabilities.

Please feel free to add any comments and share your wisdom (tips or tricks) that you have picked up along the way.

And do check out my How-To and Birding pages as well.


Sunday, December 12, 2010

Day 222 - Frozen

We had buckets of snow this morning and I was itching to go out.  However, consideration for my camera kept me indoors while the snow came gliding down in huge flakes - like bits of fluffy cotton.

I looked out of the window and saw some kids with their siblings and parents building snowmen and snow castles.  I don't know what I was thinking when I asked my son if he wanted to go out and do that with his friends.  The answer was of course an expected "NO! Why would I want to do that?!  I play in the snow on schooldays!"  So much for trying to get him to go out.

So, once it stopped snowing, I picked up my gear and left to go to the riverside, hoping to find some birds.  I carried bird seeds in my pocket, and was worried that the poor creatures were going to be hungry since they couldn't really go out foraging in this miserable weather.  As expected, however, I hardly saw any birds, except a few chickadees, and another warbler-like bird that I saw vaguely, but couldn't get a proper shot of.  So, I scattered some seeds around the place and moved on.  Maybe they found them and fed their hungry selves?

I was out for an hour and a half, until the wind started to pick up and it started to drizzle.  There was freezing rain in the forecast, and I didn't want to be out in that, and neither wanted to damage my camera.  So, I just stashed everything into my bag and beat a quick retreat.  

Here are some shots from the afternoon:

208 mm, f/7.1, 1/50s, ISO 800, Manual Mode, AWB

Didn't really get a good shot of the chickadee which was sitting high up on this tree, quite a distance away

250 mm, f/8.0, 1/60s, ISO 1600, Manual Mode, AWB, Flash fired at -1 stop to add fill light and freeze the swaying branch as there was a lot of wind

208 mm, f/8.0, 1/60s, ISO 1600, Manual Mode, AWB

90 mm, f/2.8, EV +1, 1/100, ISO 400, AWB, Shutter Priority, Flash fired at -1 stop to freeze the motion as there was a lot of wind

146 mm, f/5.6, 1/30s, Manual Mode, ISO 100, Flash fired at -1 stop

4 comments:

  1. Haha, I liked how you asked your son if he wanted to play in the snow, too bad he didn't want to come along but good thing you beat the icey rain, that would of not been a good thing. :D

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  2. Good shot despite the weather. Yea, winter can be tough when your photographer.

    What you could do is, take one your printed photo and take a macro of it. Might get an interesting abstract shot out of it. I have done that before and might go back to it after Christmas.

    www.thequietone.net

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  3. nice series, Toni. I especially love the 3rd photo. the last one is great as well.

    by the way, i've searched our local meetup group about their trip to the yosemite but it was not around December. It was sometime March of last year. I'll try to find some other stuff and I'll forward it to you..that is, if I can find them..:)

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  4. @Photogenicbliss: Yeah, I don't have a second camera like some people I know! ;) So I had to take care of the only one I had! LOL
    @Cathy: Thanks! I'm really intrigued by your suggestion and must try it out! You have really creative ideas!
    @Noreen: Thanks, Noreen! And thank you so much for doing all the asking around. But please don't go out of your way - I was just wondering if you had an idea. Now I'm feeling bad that I'm making this a real chore for you. But please know I really appreciate it!

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