A year on...

... and loads has happened - not all of it good, actually most of it was crap. But I am still here. Well, in a different place actually, as we moved house at the end of 2011. Just a couple of miles up the road, and back into the village where we used to live before we went travelling. I have learnt a lot about myself in the last 12 months, and a lot about those around me.

And I've had a total career change.

Over the last 12 months I barely picked my camera up at all, often I went out without it. We even went for a long weekend in Amsterdam and during the whole time there I only took 4 photos. Apart from that I think the only photos I took were of the kids on their birthdays blowing out the candles on their cakes - a bit of a photo tradition.

I had lots of long conversations last year with a new friend who helped me immensely. We agreed that we knew I would be feeling better when I started taking photos again.

A month or so back I was in the car with my husband, and we were driving down a narrow lane near here, and I said "What a fantastic picture that would be if I had my camera here.". It was simply a view down the lane, with hedges on both sides and some puddles. But the lane was twisty and the low winter sunlight was catching the puddles so beautifully. As we drove on I saw more views that I knew would photograph well. I knew I was getting better.

My husband suggested that I buy the camera that I had been after for ages. A Canon 5d Mk11. After all I had been working for months and we hadn't touched my money. I bought it.

Since then I have been back looking at the OCA website. I'm really drawn to the People and Place course. I have obviously dropped out of the TAoP course in as much as I won't be getting it assessed any more. But I think I shall pick it up again and work through at my own pace. I'll post on here, but I expect it'll be in fits and starts again. I'm not putting myself under any pressure to complete it all. I am going to do it for the fun of it. And if I enjoy it, then I'll think carefully about doing the People and Place one.

So I need to re-read this blog, and then I need to find all my coursework which I've not seen since we moved, and I need to rediscover the fun in photography.

Here goes...

Oh dear.....

It's now February, so Happy New Year !  Unfortunately for me I haven't done any more of my OCA course.  I'm a bit depressed about the state of affairs really, but it shows just how easily thing can slip and get away from you.  Of course, I have a million excuses, but ultimately it comes down to not enough discipline to say "NO" to other things and get my head down to what I need to do for ME.

I have finished my 365 project www.flickr.com/photos/sue-in-nz which I am delighted about.  But I haven't really used the camera for my stuff since then ! 

So my plan is to read through what I've done, read what I have to do next and get on with it !

Simples

Have you been wondering.....

.....where I've been?  No?  Oh, ok....

Well anyway, I've not been able to do much photo work (again) for various reasons, all of which I should have ignored, but none of which I did ignore.  We've been debating changing the cars and had decided that we'd wait for a few weeks. Then we decided that we really *had* to change my husband's car but mine would have to wait a few weeks.  Then we went and changed *both* cars.

And my injured knee is still very much injured and painful and worrying me as it's stopping me doing the training that I should be doing already for next year's London Marathon.

And we've had half term when I found out that the kids' homework was NOT as up to date as they'd have me believe, and as a result they have been hogging my laptop.

And yesterday I felt really poorly and spent the whole day on the couch.

All in all I have sometimes struggled to get my 365 photo done (many of them have been poorly thought out as I've forgotten them til the last minute).  Not the way I wanted this year's photo work to go.

But I have decided to save up for the 5D Mk3 when it comes out !

And now it's November and assignment 2 should have been in to the tutor in September.  Ooops.....

A week on....

...and no further forward.

I had hoped to get to the beach today where I planned to take photos of some nice yellow sand, and then whatever colourful things I could find along the way.  This would have helped me build up a nice library of colour photos I could use in the future.  But the weather was very grey and cloudy when I got up, and it's only just lifted really, and my son needed something doing in town.  So I am hoping to get out that way tomorrow if the weather is a bit better.

I also have my eye on a new lens, a 70-200 L IS USM jobbie.  I have been saving for a new camera body, but this one seems to be ok now after its little hiccup the other week, and I think that I really ought to put the money towards a good lens.  So while I was in town today I checked my balance and I'm really really close to having enough money :-)  I just want to make absolutely sure that this is the lens I want (I'm fairly certain it is, having read all the reviews) before I commit my money.

Project 31 - Analysing a Colour

For this project I have to find and record individual colours.  This will be an on-going project and I will keep adding to this post continually. 

Green

This first photo was taken in Rotorua, New Zealand where the light quality is superb and colours are much more vivid.  There appears to be thousands of variations of a single colour.  I said when we lived there that there were more shades of green that I'd ever thought possible.

                       

By comparison this is a photo of the grass in my back garden in England.  Still some variation in colour, but not much !

Blue

Again taken in New Zealand at Hataitai, Wellington.  The blue sky and water in the harbour gives the image a relaxed feel.

Purple

This is detail from a Michaelmas daisy.  It shows a lighter shade of purple, more lilac with definite blue tones.

Yellow

This is a yellow chrysanthemem which shows various shades of yellow, caused both by light and shadow, and also the colouring of the petals.

Hooray

Well the photo uploader seems to be working better than it did last week, so I'll press on.

Dentist first tho.....

Project 30 - Colour Control (manually operated cameras)

For this project I had to find an object of a strong definite colour and photograph it with the cameras automated exposure setting. Then I had to take the same photo over and under exposing it.

I initially wanted to photograph a bright red dress I have, but the folds of the material meant that there were always shadows and variations in colour on the photos. So instead I chose to photograph a blue chair back.

This is the image taken on my camera's auto exposure setting. 1/125 sec f6.3

This was taken at 1/125 sec f5.6.

1/125 sec f5

1/125 sec f7.1



1/125 sec f8

By over-exposing the blue becomes lighter, and by under-exposing it becomes darker and stronger.

I have 2 black Labradors and I have found I have a problem getting their true colour in a picture if I use the camera's auto-exposure.

 

This was taken using the camera's auto-exposure setting.  It was 1/15 sec at f7.1.  The dog was lying on a dark brown couch under a window and the whole image has been lightened by the camera's auto setting.

This one was taken on fully manual at 1/15 sec f9.  By under-exposing the image slightly, the dog's fur is a truer black, but is still lightened by the sunlight from the window, and it isn't so dark that detail is lost.

I think that this project is so very useful, and has reminded me to use the manual settings on the camera more than my usual Av mode.