Thursday, January 08, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Kerry Sunrise..
...Two words I love to see beside each other. Actually, it was quite overcast, but I still took a couple of shots. Just like when trying to give up cigarettes for the New Year, sometimes I think it's best to have one last blowout before actually quitting. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. There's quite a lot more to come - this weekend was quite the landscape binge.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Happy New Year
If there's anyone reading this, I'd like to wish you a Happy New Year. I trust that the hangover (in the literal sense at least) of 2008 has worn off by this stage. 2008 was, overall, a good year for me photographically. I didn't get any more gear, but I tried a lot of stuff and came away with some photos which I love. As my stuff is quite weather dependant, particularly the landscapes, the last few months have not been as productive as I would have liked. I think that the summer made up for that though.
I don't see myself as having any major breakthroughs or epiphanies in my photography this year - I think it was more a year of honing skills rather than learning new ones. The main skill which I have honed has been the ability to see 'photographically' - I've developed some kind of internal viewfinder which can be switched on in my brain. I have a fair idea without even bringing a camera to my eye the effect that various compositions and focal lengths will effect a picture. I can tell what will work in 2D and what won't, and how to give illusion of depth where none exists. Of course, I still have a huge, probably infinite amount more to learn, but this is an example of how I think I've improved.
What about 2009? Well I have a number of resolutions which I will try to follow. I'm going to try and be as consistent as possible with my photography, and take pictures very regularly rather than in big lumps as I often do now. I'll also try and blog more often. As for specific photographic subjects, I think it's time to slowly ween myself off landscapes, at least to a certain extent. I would like to get more photos of people, and maybe try and do some street photography, if I can get over the terror. Limerick is not beautiful, but it's real and vibrant and interesting, and the streets of the town could be a wonderful photographic subject. I'd also like to try and do some formal studio stuff, even if its just using my little flashes and some other cheap lighting equipment. As I said, last year didn't bring many new skills, so portaits and studio lighting would be one I'd like to pick up in 2009.
Ok, that's enough of that. I took some photos on the first day of the year, although I was a bit wobbly due to being still slightly drunk from the night before... The light was suprisingly bad, and it was very difficult to get a properly exposed shot without a very long shutter speed. This brings me to my last New Year's Photographic Resolution: Stop complaining about the light!
I don't see myself as having any major breakthroughs or epiphanies in my photography this year - I think it was more a year of honing skills rather than learning new ones. The main skill which I have honed has been the ability to see 'photographically' - I've developed some kind of internal viewfinder which can be switched on in my brain. I have a fair idea without even bringing a camera to my eye the effect that various compositions and focal lengths will effect a picture. I can tell what will work in 2D and what won't, and how to give illusion of depth where none exists. Of course, I still have a huge, probably infinite amount more to learn, but this is an example of how I think I've improved.
What about 2009? Well I have a number of resolutions which I will try to follow. I'm going to try and be as consistent as possible with my photography, and take pictures very regularly rather than in big lumps as I often do now. I'll also try and blog more often. As for specific photographic subjects, I think it's time to slowly ween myself off landscapes, at least to a certain extent. I would like to get more photos of people, and maybe try and do some street photography, if I can get over the terror. Limerick is not beautiful, but it's real and vibrant and interesting, and the streets of the town could be a wonderful photographic subject. I'd also like to try and do some formal studio stuff, even if its just using my little flashes and some other cheap lighting equipment. As I said, last year didn't bring many new skills, so portaits and studio lighting would be one I'd like to pick up in 2009.
Ok, that's enough of that. I took some photos on the first day of the year, although I was a bit wobbly due to being still slightly drunk from the night before... The light was suprisingly bad, and it was very difficult to get a properly exposed shot without a very long shutter speed. This brings me to my last New Year's Photographic Resolution: Stop complaining about the light!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Star Trails
It has been, yet again, an unfortunately long time since I've been out taking photos. Finally, the night before last, I went to West Clare to try and get some photos of star trails. I've tried this before, but never with much success. This time was definitely better. I think the main thing I have learned about taking pictures of star trails is that it is very important to have a strong foreground. I like the photo with the trails moving around the North Star, but the photos with stuff in the foreground have more potential, I think. I'm going to have to try this again.
Technically the photos were fairly simple. You need to have a remote release for your camera. The first two of this set are single exposures, of about 30 minutes long each. The photo with the more complete trail is a combination of five exposures of varying lengths from five to thirty minutes. This is because the camera can only take exposures of up to half an hour, but also because it's apparently bad to leave the shutter open for too long. I tried combining the exposures in the GIMP without much success, I had much better results with a program available here.
We had a rare perfectly clear night, and also a perfectly clear sunrise the next morning. I'm starting to realise just how much of photography, for me at least, is dependant on the quality of light. In the early morning, with the golden light grazing off everything, creating wonderful texture and colour, I felt like a photographic Midas. Anything I photographed seemed to look wonderful, no matter what the subject. My favourite examples of this are below, the reeds and the stone wall; two subjects that could have been extremely boring in any other type of light. It really pains me to think how rarely we get days like this in Ireland. I can't imagine what it would be like to wake up to this beautiful, textural light almost every morning of the year.
Technically the photos were fairly simple. You need to have a remote release for your camera. The first two of this set are single exposures, of about 30 minutes long each. The photo with the more complete trail is a combination of five exposures of varying lengths from five to thirty minutes. This is because the camera can only take exposures of up to half an hour, but also because it's apparently bad to leave the shutter open for too long. I tried combining the exposures in the GIMP without much success, I had much better results with a program available here.
We had a rare perfectly clear night, and also a perfectly clear sunrise the next morning. I'm starting to realise just how much of photography, for me at least, is dependant on the quality of light. In the early morning, with the golden light grazing off everything, creating wonderful texture and colour, I felt like a photographic Midas. Anything I photographed seemed to look wonderful, no matter what the subject. My favourite examples of this are below, the reeds and the stone wall; two subjects that could have been extremely boring in any other type of light. It really pains me to think how rarely we get days like this in Ireland. I can't imagine what it would be like to wake up to this beautiful, textural light almost every morning of the year.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
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