Lesson 3 Pictures

As well as the pictures posted already below is a selection of my favourite other photographs I took on the lesson:

Lesson 3 - 30th April 2012

So lesson 3 came around fairly quickly and we were greated by Mark at the front the college and I was informed of the sad news that the learning centre can no longer be used and will soon be knocked down, it's kind of sad as I was there 12 years ago when I first left school!

After taking the class register we jumped in our cars and headed up to the Courts car park, the scene of lesson 1.  The idea behind today was to head down to the River Dee to try and pick up some pictures of Herons and hopefully skylines and landscapes if the sky is looking clear. Once the light starts to fade we will head back up to towards the roundabout by the Courts.  We are hoping to pick up the lights of cars during to show the trail the light leaves.

So we headed down to the banks and Mark was trying his best to get us notice pictures that we (as beginners) may not notice and the first example is the way the light reflects on the court building, this photo is shown below:

The picture to the left shows the light reflecting on both sides of the building as well the interesting textures in the sky







As we headed around the side of the courts an interesting oppotunity presented itself, the alleyway we were in was dark but at the end of the alley it opened up into the Courts Car Park where the sunlight was beaming.  Mark took a position in the archway as we tried to photograph him as best we can, my results are below:

I can see from this picture that the better angle would have been straight on using the Archway as the photograph order, this was a rushed photo as the light faded straight away which meant the contrast didn't work.







So we headed down to the River Dee hoping that the light and texture would produce some great photographs.  We spent some time on the Handbridge bridge overlooking the River Dee and I tried to listen to what Mark was saying.  Mark made good points about how you can use the sky as a good lead in, not just objects on the ground. 

Mark has a go with my camera as well and showed me by changing the Aperature to F8 (the highest you can go with my camera) he showed me how to make the water look blurred.  What makes the next photo even more remarkable is the fact Mark was able to pick an area of the running water that had a colour reflection, something I hadn't even had seen:


The type of photo will come to me with practice!











I spent some time taking pictures down the River Dee hoping to capture these before a Heron caught our eye!  We followed the Heron down the banks of the river trying not to scare him away!

My favourite Heron picture is this one:


I like the the picture makes it look like the Heron is ready to pounce in the wild, the water is sharp and makes this photo for me.  This photo was taking in 'A' or 'Av' Mode on F4.  I tried the the picture on F8 also but the water was just a blur








We finally headed ack up to the Courts and Mark got us to set up our cameras on the Tri-pods, I must admit I now know how to use it properly!!  We set up next to the round-a-bout and started to snap the traffic going past.  We were after a blured effect on the lights and by doing this we set our camera to 'A' mode and I set my F rating to F8 and started taking pictures.  It took a while as timing is key but the effects are amazing and I didn't realise it was that easy! The location could have been better but what I didn't realise at first was why we were there.....  The first photo shows what I believe is my best attemp to this, the second photo shows the sunset reflecting from the building across the road, now it was clear why we were there!!

I really like the blurry effect of the traffic passing but it's still too light

It's a shame this photograph isn't in focus, the sunset looks absolutely amazing though and it's this type of photo I need to look out for, possibly an evening trip to Liverpool is on order as the light on the side of the Echo Arean would be awesome




So during lesson 3 we mainly learnt how the Aperature feature on the camera effects on moving objects once the F rating is high.  Mark also continued to get us to look for lead-ins everywhere as well as trying to get us to appricate landscapes and features.

Overall I didn't think I learnt alot from this lesson but I came away with some good ideas and some interesting photograph techniques which I know I can work on.  I plan to pop along to one of the bridges over the M53, M56, A41 or A55 and try to practice with a bigger Aperature rating, higher F rating on the camera.  I will post the pictures up once I've done it.

Lesson 2 Pictures

Below is a number of photos I took during my second lesson which shows my willingness to be creative. As the lesson went on I started to see pictures in places I didn't know pictures existed!

I hope you enjoy viewing these as much as I enjoyed taking them:

This is my favourite photo by far and it can still be better, the light reflecting on the surface with the rain looks really good

This photo is the roof from the front of our college, it has an amazing design which needed to be photographed

Again this is another one of my favourites, it is a photograph of one of the outside walls from our college looking straight up, it's a shame the sky wasn't blue!

This was my first astract attempt and it's fairly random!  This is the bottom of a black bucket which has what appears to be dry paint in it, the contrast looks pretty good

Lesson 2 Tip - The Basics of Taking A picture

Before taking a photograph there are a few essential things to think about, all of which will improve the photographic experiance:

1 - Always wrap the camera strap in your hand
This is obvious, if you drop your camera you'll regret it

2 - Stance
Always keep your feet in a T-Shape with your feet flat to keep you good posture

3 - Which Way Up
Will your picture look better Landscape or Portrait, think about the picture you are taking before deciding

4 - Breathing
Take deep breaths which will relax you and reduce potential camera shake

5 - Hold Camera Correctly
Personally I make sure I have 1 hand underneath, again to reduce potential camera shake

6 - Use Focus Lock
By depressing the button on your camera half way you will be able to gain focus, do this before depressing the button fully to take your picture, you don't want to miss out on a great picture because the focus is all wrong

And finally.......  my tip is to keep smiling, your photo will be better if you are enjoying it!

Lesson 2 - 23rd April 2012

So I headed to college this week in high spirits, hoping that I would learn as much as I did in Week 1.  This week didn't start off as positive though as our planned trip down to the banks of the River Dee was called off due to the weather.  So off we headed to the classroom.

Mark informed us that we would be splitting into 2 groups, the first group was for the people that had been on the previous course with him, off they went to find Abstract photos, the rest of us remained behind to learn about Abstract photos.

Mark informed us that the skill of finding a good Abstract photo is being able to identify pictures out of nothing, looking out for shapes, forms, patterns and colours.  Primary colours such as red, blue and yellow are an advantage as a good abstract photo will bring you straight into the picture.  Abstract is all about getting in close and making sure you get a good focus

Mark then reminded us of the basics of photography (see next blog) and off we went for a wonder around the college taking pictures of anything we could find.  Mark was looking for us being creative with our pictures, taking photos from various angles and trying to identify a good Abstract.

We also took photos which followed on from last week, so we were looking at Portraits and Objects with a good lead-in.

Towards the end of the lesson we headed back to the classroom for a recap of what we had learned from the lesson.  We also took the opportunity to have a look at some work from fellow class members so next week I have decided to print off a few of my better pictures to show around, it will be good to get Mark's opinion

Finally we were given homework for next week and that was to learn how to change Shutter Speed, Aperture, AV and ISO on our camera.  I have already decided to teach myself the effects of each one as well to hopefully give me a good head start.  Tripods are also a must as we once again are planning to head to the River Dee for some late evening shots

All in all I'm delighted with how it is going so far and I can't wait for next week

Lesson 1 Tip - Basic Positioning for Portraits

The final tip I took from the first week was in regards to Portraits, different rules come in to play depending on your subject.  If you are taking pictures of Children it is better to get to their level, this is clearly shown by the 3 pictures below of my eldest daughter Dannielle (taken from The 3 Height Rule).  The first picture shows the subject being over powered, the second picture is just right whereas the third picture gives you the sense of the subject overpowering you.  Again, depending on what you are trying to achieve the photo’s each serve their own purpose, for me the best portrait is TO BE FINISHED

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Adults are a different kettle of fish, as long as you’re not a million miles above your subject it would appear that you get a better picture.  This is shown in the two pictures below of a fellow student.  The first is a picture taken from a lower level and the second from a higher level, as you can see the picture from above brings out the features of my fellow student.  Now whether these rules work in general I will soon find out as I take more photographs

Photo taken from below

Photo taken from above

Lesson 1 Tip - Basic Positioning for Landscapes

This is something we only briefly touched upon in Lesson 1 and is something I’m looking forward to doing more of in lesson 2.  The idea behind this basic positioning appears to be fairly simple.  Depending how you would like the object you are picturing start by select the correct height for the photograph.  Next, try to focus on a good lead in (see earlier tips from this week) as your Landscape pictures will generally be in Landscape style and the object you are picturing can be easily lost.  A good lead in will help the picture especially if you are using a wide angle lens.