Practice and Discovery

I've been using a point and shoot camera for quite awhile now. It is a fact that most people are a bit shocked to discover. And I kind of like it like that ;) Because the most important place a photo is created is in the mind of the person taking it. Technology helps of course, but anyone with a decent camera can take some sweet looking pictures with an eye to composition and some in the skull know how and willingness to depress the shutter button ;)

That said... a photo friend recently discovered that I use a point and shoot and offered to let me try out her Nikon D5000 for a bit. What follows are some photos from the first 24 hours I had with it. I started out using it in an auto-mode before tweaking the custom settings the next day (Turning it to VIVID mode, warming the Auto-White Balance to a bit more orange) so I would have less editing/tweaking post-shooting. :D Umm.. that may sound like techno-babble to some of you :S



So.. find the VIVID/Saturation setting in your camera and pick that. This makes your pics funkier ;)



In Auto-White Balance settings make it warmer. Warmer = more orange. Kind of like when you shoot in the evening and stuff looks prettier. Don't set this too much or it can look icky. If I can notice it's changed then I feel it's too much. But have fun and find your own levels/expression!! :D

After you've taken your pictures and put them on your computer you can do some fun editing little things. Again this isn't as "spooky" as people make it out. Fiddle and have fun! Try increasing the CONTRAST a bit to make the darks darker and brights brighter. This usually makes the image stand out a bit more. And for fun.. maybe try dropping the saturation a bunch. Or pump it up. This doesn't have to take a long time. It can be a really quick process of moving some little bars this way and that.



Anyhoo... less talk more photos right? ;) I used the "Looking Up" technique here as a vulture was circling overhead



Don't forget to look down too ;)


Here's a photo begging for a caption..


and a look across a lake


that photo above has been desaturated and also heavily cropped from the larger original image. In fact the larger originally image kinda sucked. lol But I was still able to find the above deep in it.





Ok... so.. speaking of moving little slidey-bars in post-processing.. If you up the contrast fairly strong and balance it with moving the brightness up.. you can blow out the background and create some images that have a strong simplicity about them



and this series featuring our British Columbia Provincial Flower (The Dogwood Blossom)




About 30 feet down the road from where I took those dogwood photos there is a clump of trees and weeds where locals seem to be dumping grass clippings/yard waste. Sound ugly? Could be.. guess it depends if you look and how you look.

Look to the right with me ;)


and lets look a little deeper


And now a pause. If you play with those little contrast/brightness levers or graphs or wiggly things you can make get some really odd results.

I recommend you try ;)


Now back to our regular programming.. see if you can spot the various techniques and tricks mentioned above in these last few photos. What I have done.. you can do! :D






There you have it! :D Fears and the unfamiliar may tell you to stop..
but look beyond them and there is a world of wonder awaiting ;)



I look forward to seeing what you guys see!
May you have a wonderfilled day!
The Maplemusketeer

ps Just got back from a 6 day roadtrip/adventure to visit friends and amble about.. SO EXCITED about some of the really really neat things I saw that I get to share with you soon! :D But I have to go to work now ;) so we'll talk soon :D lol