Theme 1 - The garden and Park

After taking the photographs at the Hilton nature reserve I decided to take some more photographs in my mum's garden. Instead of using the small Canon camera that I used previously for the close-up images of the garden (one of my previous blogs) I used the camera and tripod I had borrowed from college which was the Canon EOS Digital DC 8.1V. This was the same equipment used to take the images of the lake at Hilton and I have selected a few of my images taken below and I have described the settings used for each photograph.

The garden

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

Here I wanted to take the photograph at a downwards angle so that I could show the detail of the flower and have the ground as the background of the image. Because the background has darker tones the white of flower was able to stand out more. Your eyes are drawn to the white flower and the rope in the back brings your eyes to the back of the image. I also like the cobweb coming off the flower as it gives more of a raw feel.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

This is the same flower as before but taken from the other side of the plant. I like the positioning of the flower because it falls central to the image and the positioning also works well because the buds come out from the middle and are drawn outwards.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

I like the background in this image and the natural tones of the wood and greenery works well with the white of the flower but it would have been nicer if the flower was straighter and more central in the image.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

I like the positioning and angle of the flower in this image and the softness of the flower works well with the harshness of the wooden fence in the background. Again the tones are neutral and work well together and I like the detail of the middle of the flower buds. The main focal point is the tip of the flower and the way the flower is angled brings your eyes downwards and out.

 

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

After taking a photograph of this flower in the previous image I wanted to concetrate on the detail at the tip of the flower and get more of a close-up shot. I wanted to use a short depth of field in this image to create a blurry background and I like the outcome of the image overall.

ISO = 400, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

ISO = 400, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

ISO = 400, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

I have taken images of these plants before using a different camera so wanted to try taking photographs of these again using the tripod and the camera from college. I like the positioning of the main purple plants in these but I feel there is too much light and the colours of the plant and leaves are not sharp enough.

 

ISO = 400, f/14 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

I like the composition of this flower and the position of the subject to the camera but this came out to bright and got lost against the sunlight.

ISO = 400, f/36 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

After some alterations to the f stop I was able to capture more of the colours on and around the subject as less light was let in from the higher f number. Even though this improved from the last image there is still too much light being let into the camera lens. If this was taken higher I feel the outcome would have been better.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

This was probably my favourite flower in the garden so I knew that this was one that I wanted to take photographs of. Firstly in the above I wanted to take an image of the flower bud facing straight towards the camera and at a central position and again using a small depth of field. I think the image works well overall and I like the way the sunlight has helped to highlight the edges of the flower.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

This was the same flower but taken from a different angle so that the flower points towards the centre of the image. This image has also shown how it has worked with a different background. I think because the flower is quite sharp and is such a statement by itself the brick background might be too harsh. I think it needs a softer background to contrast more.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

This image has a similar composition and angle to the previous image but it is at a wider angle which shows more of the background. This background is soft compared to the brick in the other image and the palm leaves mirror the shape of the purple flowers buds which is quite nice. It might look better if I was to crop the photo to make it more portrait and square to give just a hint of the background.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

I like the sharpness of the flower in this image and the tripod played a big part in getting the effect I wanted as it enabled me to keep the camera steady. This has both harsh and soft elements in the background and I think its nice that you can see the chairs and you can see the wall figures as it gives a homely effect.

ISO = 200, f/22 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

In this image I wanted to get the fence and greenery in the background as its not only a contrast in textures but also in tones and lines. The green leaves to the left of the photograph look round, the fence has the straight lines and the flower buds are pointy so this works well together. The purple and green of the main subject stands out against the brown fence.

The park

ISO = 200, f/18 = , Shutter speed = 1/60

ISO = 200, f/18 = , Shutter speed = 1/20

These two images were taken at my local park (Shobnall). I wanted to take a photograph of the trees but make it interesting by taking into account the positioning and the angle of the subject. I didn't want it to be central to the image and after looking at Tony Howells work I took inspiration to this (see below image) and do my own version and have a go myself. The first image was too dark so I changed the shutter speed to alter the amount of light being let into the camera. The second image looks much better to the first and I do like how the image has turned out, however, I think that it needs to be at even more of an angle. I also wanted to create some shadowing by using the sunlight and the position of the camera but unfortunately I there wasn't much direct sunlight that day so I had to work with what was available.

    

Summary

Using the tripod for the close-up images really helped to steady the camera and using a better camera also made a difference to the outcome of my images. I am going to try and improve on positioning and aperture to get even better photographs.

Health & Safety

With the main images being taken in my Mum's garden and there being steps up and down onto the decking I had to be careful with my stepping when taking the photographs to enure I didn't miss my footing. With the equipment I made sure that I kept it on my person and secure to me in the park so that I wasn't a target for theft. I slowly and safely opened up the tripod so that it wasn't damaged and so that nothing got trapped.