Christmas Scenes: A personal photo challenge

Lights everywhere! This truck let its festive side shine! Taken at night. No flash needed - there was enough light on the truck!
 

Little Miss A as a sheep in the church Nativity play. She was a little dazzled by all the people and didn't crack a smile the entire time. Oh, so darling. She looked in wonder at the star, sang Go, Tell it on the Mountain with hand motions, and wondered what Nana was doing on the floor with her camera.

I took this with my Sony using the telephoto lens and I'm happy with the result given the low light and wiggly sheep. I'm also pleased with the touch of bokeh on the angel's wing behind her.
 

Bells and baubles, with more lights.

This is the final Personal Photography Challenge. Donna, our leader and teacher who is always willing to share her knowledge and encourage us along the way, has had to close her blog due to family needs. Donna, if you're reading this, you are in our hearts and prayers. Thank you.

Photo Challenge: Trees

Hooray! It's time for the personal photo challenge, always a great linkup. This month's theme was trees. I took all kinds of photos of trees this month, but it seemed like when I could get out and use my camera, the weather was dull or rainy. On the rare sunny days, I worked. 
 

Back to my archives went I. This photo was taken in August, on our boating excursion. It's a detail of an arbutus tree (a long green limb is seen in the background). Paper thin red bark curls away to reveal smooth green wood. In the USA this is known as a Madrona tree. It needs to be near the ocean to thrive.
 

On to a September tree, photo taken as the sun set over the Sooke hills. A gnarly Garry Oak stands silhouetted against the pale sky, leaves intact but beginning to dry and brown.
 

I'm certain I saw Jane Eyre walk by this pond and tree scene, her dark cloak swirling round her in the drizzle. Mossy trunks, hanging vines, soggy autumn leaves and rain droplets make for a bit of mystery.

There it is. Three trees. Check out Donna's photo challenge links for interesting tree shots.

Today is sunny and there are fluffy white clouds against a blue sky. No time for picture taking, though. 

Technical details: The arbutus tree photo was taken with my dear departed Nikon Coolpix P7100. It was one of its last photos. Sigh.

The next two photos were taken with my Panasonic Lumix. Very little editing was done on any of the photos beyond a little contrast enhancement.

And a reminder that my giveaway for the Gladys Taber book, Stillmeadow Calendar, is still open.  

Still Life Photography Challenge

This month's photo challenge is all about still life photography. As I thought about what I might like to capture via my camera, my mind kept going back to the still life genre of painting that gained popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries. Each item in the arranged painting symbolized something about life and/or death.

I thought more than I snapped for this challenge. Background, objects, composition - so much ponder.

 I used a black velvet shawl as the background for this and the second photos. The lemons and mint are from my garden while the kitchen utensils tell of some sort of cooking going on. Will it be a sauce? Lemonade? Cookies or ?? This speaks of possibilities to me, as well as the appreciation of good tools - measuring spoons sent from my mother to Ecuador many years ago, a wooden reamer that is pleasant to hold, and sturdy metal measuring cups.

When I come home from a walk on the beach I empty my pockets. Sea glass, stones, and shells find their way into collections around the house. Here I added a 1960s vibe to the photo via Picasa edits to evoke the sense of time and constant motion of the sea needed to smooth the rough edges from sharp glass .

This one is my favourite. Last Sunday I wandered through my garden picking a few last flowers, a disparate bunch for certain. The vase is an old one from my mother-in-law, as are the autumn-themed teacups. I set the arrangement on a wooden chair in front of a window (to the right) and put my fabric cutting board behind it, wrong side showing. I added a paper texture to the photo with BeFunky. 

My first takes of this photo had the pumpkin on the other side of the flowers. It was bright, round and cheery. But when I switched positions, the pumpkin faded more into the background and the story came to me. Summer waning, still bright, with autumn, rich and full, waiting in the wings.

The Personal Photography Challenge is hosted by Donna of Cottage Days and Journeys. I'm learning a lot through the links she puts up and her encouragement. Thank you, Donna.

Technical notes - I used my new-ish Panasonic Lumix with the 12-45 mm lens on the Intelligent Auto Plus setting (I'm learning the manual settings, too, Donna) with natural light. 

As a foot note, while looking on line at still life art, I discovered Cornelius Gysbrechts, a 17th century Flemish painter. His trompe d'oeil (fool the eye) paintings look very much like some of today's multi-media art.

Capturing Motion: A Personal Photography Challenge

This month's photo challenge, hosted by Donna, is about capturing motion. I feel like I'm on a steep learning curve with my new camera and this challenge stepped that up a notch. Between the unfamiliar equipment and being away, I haven't spent as much time on this challenge as I would have liked. But I can keep practicing.

This is one of the first photos taken with my Panasonic DMC-GX7, snapped without much thought on the automatic scene setting (bright landscape). The slightly blurred wing tips give the illusion of beating wings although anyone would assume the birds are in flight, and therefore the wings are moving.

1/125 s     f/5.6     ISO 200
 

This photo and the next were taken off my back deck around 9:00 pm, using a tripod and long exposure time (a full minute for the one below). For this photo, I wanted to capture the forsythia bush moving in the wind with the clear residential lights behind. It looks a bit like a blurred mess. The wind was not blowing at the moment I wanted to take the photo, so I jiggled the tree during the exposure. I jiggled it too violently and it looks like a wild storm rather than a gentle breeze.

30.0 sec     f/7.1     ISO 400
 

This is the opposite of above. I was hoping to pan the camera and create movement in the lights. Instead everything is moving, and I've decided to call this photo "As the World Turns."

60.0 sec     f/7.1     ISO 400

I'm sneaking in one more photo because the two above sort of count as the same thing, don't they?
 

I used a tripod, indoors, and gently blew on the candle flame as I snapped the photo. The flame's angle and slight blurring contribute to the effect of motion. I think this photo is a little bit ominous with the dark shadows looming. It adds suspense and makes me wonder what comes next in the story. Kind of a shivery excitement.

1.0 sec     f/7.1     ISO 400 

I can think of all sorts of possibilities with this new knowledge - ocean waves, cars at night from the overpass, little grandkids who can't stay still - thanks, Donna, for this fun challenge.

Do check out the other participants' photos. It's sure to be a "moving" experience.  

Portrait Photography: A Personal Challenge

Once again, it's time for A Personal Photography Challenge, hosted by Donna. True confession time here - I did practice taking candid portraits, but I did not read all the wonderful articles that would have helped me to do a better job. I'll blame lack of time, which is a very lame excuse. But there you have it.

This Little Miss does not like having her picture taken. I fudged a little by saying that I would like to take photos of the zoo animals (aka aminals), and she seemed to think that was okay.
She was playing in the pool and telling wonderful stories, of which I caught only a few words.
 

 Inside or outside; that is the question. This photo was taken in a boat, under a roof, but the sides were open to the light. Since I'm not quick enough with my manual settings, I used the automatic setting, and I believe I chose outdoors for this one. Perhaps indoors would have allowed for more light on my daughter's face. I love the intense pursing of the lips of Little Miss S. This photo was taken at the beginning of the boat trip when she wasn't quite certain of this experience.

Auntie Ashley and Uncle Owen came over for last weekend's camping trip and posed for a quick photo with one niece and nephew.  It's hard to get everyone's expressions just right, especially with little ones.
 

It's summer time and everyone is wearing hats and sunglasses. This is good healthwise; not so good photography-wise. I played with the exposure on this photograph, bumping it up a notch in an effort to eliminate some of the shade on the faces. I love this moment where Little Miss S shows a leaf to her Grandpa. Facial expressions are not evident, but the relaxed posture, the protective arm, and the focus on the leaf all speak of a moment to capture.

I sneaked in an extra photo for this challenge and I'm hoping our wonderful professor, Donna, won't rap me on the knuckles too sharply. A huge thank you to you, Donna who puts up informative links specific to the monthly challenges and is always encouraging me, and others, to do our best with our photos. You are undergoing your own personal challenges these days and I admire your can-do attitude.

 

Stormy Weather Photo Challenge

Taking the photos wasn't the challenge this time around - finding stormy weather was. We've been enjoying sunny days with little variation. I thought I might have to fake some photos with a spray bottle of water, as Donna suggested. This week, though, dark clouds rolled through once or twice for a bit of drama, but usually passed through without any precipitation. Then, early one morning, I heard rain spattering against the roof and windows and, very briefly considered getting up decided that I'd rather stay in bed. 
 

I did go out before breakfast to capture the effects. Raindrops running a course down oregano leaves, each drop elongating before slipping to the next position to finally hang, tremulous, and then fall.
 

You can see how little rain we actually got - just the bottom petals of the delphinium hold a few droplets.

All photos were taken with my Nikon Coolpix P7100, cropped as needed and a bit of contrast enhancing accomplished with Picasa. 

Joining in with Donna's Personal Photo Challenge. Thanks, Donna, for the links to great articles and for hosting this challenge in the midst of your own personal life challenges.

A Closer Look

Donna's Photo Challenge this month was all about macro. These are some of my favorite shots to take, especially of flowers. This month I challenged myself a little by putting my Nikon Coolpix P7100 on Manual mode and adjusting the settings myself. It's still not fully manual, but more than I usually use.

 I also challenged myself to go beyond my usual subject of flowers and looked for things around the house. A close up of this old button card from my button box shows irregularities and wear and tear. Character, if you will.
 

 A feather picked up from the ground. Such amazing symmetry.
 

A ball of yarn. The focus here is to the left of centre so that the outer edges of the ball are blurred. I was happy to see an accidental bit of bokeh show up in the photo.

All photos were lightly edited in Picasa with some intensification of shadow and highlights, and cropping to (almost) square size.

I'll be foregoing my Five on Friday post this week. Check out the other participants of the Personal Photo Challenge hosted by Donna. 

Shadow Shots

Shadows have been in short supply around here. Our days are mostly grey and dull, with little contrast. But here, on a sunny walk with Tim, our shadows are clearly delineated. Don't we look odd? As if we were on stilts. 
 

One morning as the sun beamed happily through my dirty large living room window, I noticed the shadow created by the ivy plant. 
 

On our August 2012 trip to Alberta, most of the photos I took of the mountains were covered with haze from forest fires. On the day we left, early in the morning, the haze cleared and the mountains were clear. I snapped this from the car as we zoomed by.

Donna's photo challenge this month was to capture shadows. It was a challenge. I experimented with shutter speed rather than f-stops and I think I like working with my camera that way better. There's lots more to learn. Post processing included bumping up the contrast a little on the first and third photos, while the second photo has a longer shutter speed. Thanks to Donna for hosting.

Light - A Personal Photography Challenge

Donna, from Cottage Days and Journeys, has another blog where she posts a monthly photography challenge. It's fun, can be frustrating, and is always a learning experience.
This month's challenge was light. Well. It was extremely frustrating for me to not take the photos I envisioned in my head.  I did learn a lot, so it's not entirely a washup. I chose to focus on trying to capture candlelight. Sigh. It's so romantic.
 

 For this photograph, I wanted to highlight indirect light. I used my tripod, set my camera to a long exposure, and had all the lights out except for candles on the mantel. The candles is off scene, but the light glows against the angels. I had to sharpen the photo a bit because even with a tripod, the photo was a little blurred. 

This was just serendipitous. I was shooting while standing on a dining room chair, in macro mode to focus on the pearl garland. I like the capture of the lights from the Nativity Set in the background. 
 

Candles in a row on the table. The matching pinpoints of light on the edges of the tart pans occurred happily unplanned. This was also in macro mode. Other than the first photo, I wouldn't know how to reproduce these effects. 

Check out the posts at Donna's Photography Challenge Blog to see what others have learned about capturing light.
 

Textures: A Personal Photo Challenge

It's time for Donna's Personal Photo Challenge. This month our assignment was to explore the world of textures. I've seen some lovely photos altered with textures and thought it was a complicated process. But it's not! I had fun using BeFunky, a free photo editing program to play with textures in these photos. Above are the original images I used. The rose photo was taken this week with my Nikon, the other two in 2009 with my Olympus point and shoot.

 For the rose photo above, I cropped the original photo, adjusted the light and contrast, then went into BeFunky and added a fabric texture, then scratches to give the suggestion of an old painting or photo.
  

Then I went way back in my photo archives and treated this photo of the Eiffel Tower to a grunge texture. I like the moodiness of the resulting image.
 

For my last photo, I also used an Eiffel Tower image, this one with a brick image. When I saw it I thought of all kinds of things to say about it - "weird" was one of them. But it's also a bit of a play on how the Eiffel Tower is certainly a "gold brick" for France, bringing in thousands of tourist Euros. Then I looked at the brick wall behind the structure and thought that the image could be a miniature Eiffel Tower set against another building. Or perhaps the brick wall symbolizes the building of walls between cultures (which happens all over the world.) Then I decided to stop thinking.

Do you play with textures? There are some wonderful examples out on the web. Check out The Art of Life - her images really speak to me. 

And certainly check out the participants in Donna's challenge - the links are found here.

A Personal Photo Challenge: Food

Donna hosts a photography challenge each month, providing a subject for us to photograph, and lots of links to helpful sites. This month, the challenge was food. And it was a challenge.
 

I took so many photos and discarded most of them. They just didn't look like I wanted them look, nor even as good as other food photos I've taken. 
 

Shadows everywhere in spite of using a foam core board at right angles to bounce light and using the brightest corner of my dining room, with corner windows for light.
 

Frustrated, I went back and looked over some of the food photos I like best and discovered they were all taken outdoors. So out I went, in my sweater and socks, onto the deck, with my pears (second photo) and my salad. Little Miss A watched from inside the house. "What are you doing, Nana? Close the door or the bugs will bite me." Luckily, it's much too cold for bugs.

I was also determined to use more of the manual features of my little Nikon Coolpix, and so I took about a hundred shots of the roasted pears with créme anglaise using various settings. In the end, I find that the settings feature on my camera usually gives me the photos I'm happiest with - I used the closeup setting for all of these. Any editing involved some cropping and boosting the contrast with Picasa. 

For more challenge participants, visit A Personal Photo Challenge. Next month is layering textures - yikes - I know nothing about that! A good challenge is ahead.

Oh, for food photographers, the book Plate to Pixel by Hélène Dujardin is wonderful. It`s a fine primer for food, but also any still life photography. I highly recommend it. 

Doors and Windows

Donna, who hosts the monthly Personal Photo Challenge, suggested doors and windows as this month's theme. I took these photos at a national park, Fort Rodd Hill, with its gun batteries and lighthouse. The photo above is of a small equipment locker up on the hill beside the range-finder.

A view from the lighthouse over the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains of Washington State beyond. I was a little miffed to see the edge of the stroller (yellow) in the photo. Not very good composition.
 

Catches today are often prosaic and boring. I love the graceful lines of this window catch in the lighthouse.

This door and handle has patina from years of use and weathering. I believe it was taken at the munitions storage room.
 

Lastly, windows in the Lighthouse. I like the symmetry of the pair of matching windows and the contrast with the tiny arched window in the lighthouse itself.

The photos were taken with my Nikon Coolpix 7100 on the outdoor scene setting. It was a bright day and I compensated for that by going down a couple of notches on the exposure compensation dial. 

 

 

Water: A Personal Photo Challenge

rushing waters of the Robson River below Mount Robson which runs to the Fraser River and the Pacific Ocean

Donna, at A Personal Photo Challenge, is a wonderful photographer (whose photos can be seen at her personal blog Cottage Days and Journeys.) Once a month, she offers a challenge to photographers or want-to-be photographers like me to hone our skills. She puts up links and suggestions for great photos. 

This month the challenge was water. I wish I had read the links before I went on my trip to the Rockies. I know some things I would have done differently. 

All of these photos were taken with my Nikon Coolpix, without a tripod. For editing, I added in a tiny bit of shadow to highlight the contrasts which are hard to capture on sunny days.

 

calm Lake Agnes, above Lake Louise

 I crouched low to take this photo, trying to capture the expanse of calm water below the glacier.

a boulder and tree strewn glacier fed stream on a cloudy day - the stream feeds Lake Louise

The roar of this stream filled our ears as we hiked along the trail to the Plain of Six Glaciers above Lake Louise. I can only imagine what it must be like during the spring melt.

sparkling ocean waters off Vancouver Island

I'm always amazed at the different looks water offers. From ocean to mountain streams to glacier fed lakes water takes on so many characteristics.

Linking to A Personal Photo Challenge hosted by Donna.