Point and Wonders

Part of what inspired me to do this blog is chillpix's blog page. Chillpix doesn't claim to be professional but enjoys experimenting with his camera and posting them on the blog for feedback, ideas and just to share. In my opinion he has some really good pictures.

Photography is something I really enjoy. I have no formal training in photography other than some online research and trying different things with the camera. I've never had a really good camera...just some inexpensive, yet decent point-and-shoot cameras. However, I've maximized its ability by reading the manual to see just what the tool can do, then I practice with different picture compositions and different software editing programs. That's the great thing about digital photography--you can afford to goof-up.

Although, software can't really save a bad photo, it can do a lot of things to mostly improve the way the camera affected the picture, but also to touch-up some blemishes from whatever cause. Most of the time we use the software for things such as cropping out the finger on the edge of the picture, removing red eye, instant facial blemish removal, adjusting the contrast for more solid color and less wash-out (follow the steps on a DVD THX optimization wizard, usually found in the setup menu option of a THX dvd. This will give you a feel for what proper contrast looks like,) and adjusting the color for more natural color. We have some decent photo-editing software which allows us to makes some cosmetic enhancement to the pictures. One of my favorites is Gimp. A powerful, yet free, photo-editing program comparable to Adobe Photoshop.

By the way, the picture behind the blog title actually is a picture of our back yard...and those are real deer. We don't have a big yard, but we have enough foliage to make it look bigger than it really is--then add the deer (who unfortunately don't come around much any more) make it look more wild than it really is. The picture of Peter Iredale is one of my favorites because of the perspective--plus it rarely gets uncovered like that--its usually buried further in the sand.

Here are some more of my favorite pictures:

Dandilion Hosting an Ant. This is done with the macro setting. I really like pictures with depth: when the background is blurry and the subject is crystal clear. I also like the bold, simple color contrasts in this particular picture.

Stick the dandilion above in a popcorn popper, and this is what you get. I've always liked dandilion-fluff pictures, because they challenge the focus. All of the little intricate details of the seed's parachutes provide a lot of clean texture when they are in focus. Again the depth and the contrasting colors along with the detail make it fun to look at. Unfortunately, macro pictures with this clarity and depth seem to be more accidents than the norm with our camera. Not to mention the luck of finding a dandilion with fluff intact.

Sparkling Apple Cider is one of our favorite beverages--it makes me thirsty just thinking about the cool, sweet apple juice flavor with the tiny carbonation bubbles that accentuate the flavor rather than cover it up like sodas do. Okay I digress from my topic. This is a more recent picture/experiment with a new point-and-shoot camera we bought a few months ago. I did this one with a tripod and no flash. I incorporated 3-point lighting, which tends to make the subject look more natural. Basically you have the main lighting, then you throw in some some dimmer side lighting to reduce harsh shadows (like the ones you usually get with a flash), finally you throw in some back lighting which provides a little outline of the subject and sets it apart from the background. In this particular picture the side light (from the left) prevents silhouetting from the candle. I thought the back light turned-out pretty well, although pretty weak--its the blue light/reflection from the computer monitor. I thought it added a nice accent having a cool color highlight to contrast with the warm orange tones.