Photography potpourri

October 20, 2008

Some of the photography blogs I follow had great posts this past week that informed, amused and inspired me. Thought I'd pass along the goodies. But first a little goodie/tutorial of my own.

While washing dishes on Sunday morning out of the corner of my eye I saw the sun catching the prism in the window. I ran to grab my camera and clicked away.

To capture this effect I used a very small aperture (f32) so I'd get the rays of the flare. Learned this trick here. Because I was shooting in aperture priority and focusing on the prism (lots of light) the camera would of tried to counteract all that light by having a very short shutter speed. So, instead of switching to total manual mode, which I'm kind of scared of, I metered on the wall next to the window (darker than the prism) to trick the camera into having a longer shutter speed. A longer shutter speed let in more light so the overall picture wouldn't be too dark (see example below). Make any sense?

Here's the one I like (from above):

And the one I don't like as much because I think it's too dark:

I must of metered this wrong since the camera choose an exposure time of 1/30 sec vs 1/8 sec for the green spectrum shot. In case you're fraction challenged like me 1/30 is a smaller number (less light) than 1/8.

By the way I took about 30 photos and really only like this green one. Practice makes almost perfect. Still not there yet.

If you're still with me, here's the other goodies I promised:

Information

Wondering where to develop those photos "piling" up on your hard drive? I wonder the same thing. I wasn't happy with my last Snapfish order and I'm looking around for alternatives that are hopefully truer to what my photos look like on my monitor. There's probably just some special magic or voodoo that's necessary to get your photos to print just like you see them on your computer. Maybe the trick is simply to choose a better developer. Anyway, I'm trying to work this one out and appreciated Miz Booshay's advice over at Pioneer Woman Photography. With the (sometimes) annual Christmas family photo mailing coming up I should get on this soon.

Amusement

Pure photofunia over at Dolce Pics. Haven't had the time to try this yet but looks like it could be addicting. Perhaps it's best I avoid it. How about an Amazing Picture-Takin’ Geotaggin’ Solar-Powered Super Bike. Simply crazy, but I like crazy (sometimes). And no I don't want this for Christmas.

Inspiration

Need the courage to pick up a camera and start clicking, or pick up the brushes and start painting. What about textiles to start stitching? Jen Lemen recently posted some encouragement on my favorite photography inspiration blog, Shutter Sisters. Read, be inspired to discover the artist in you.

Thinking that your inner artist might be a photographer but you're lacking what you believe is the necessary hardware? Before I got my fancy pants camera (the only "thing" I own that I truly love) I was using a Canon S60 point and shoot. If I was still using that point and shoot I would be sure to make use of the tips posted by the newest contributor over at Pioneer Woman Photography. Ivoryhut exclusively uses a point and shoot camera and is sharing her tips and techniques to encourage and help other photographers. Yay for point and shoot cameras!