Randomness

Some random photos I took this weekend.  OK ... not really random per se, as they were of our weekend project, but random in that they don't really have a theme or fit a photo technique category or anything.

Is it level?

Cousins: Alex (16) and Annie (9 months)

Vacation Photos - 5

No trip to the Northern California coast is complete without a jaunt through Redwoods.  I LOVE redwoods.  I am fascinated by them.  I am amazed by their enormity.  I am in awe at their stature.  They have character.  The "speak" to me.  I can't get enough of them.  When walking through the forest I forget that I'm supposed to be taking photos and just stare at them.  Take in all their beauty.  Like the ocean, I could stare mindlessly at redwood trees for hours.  

Looking up; low-angle; sun-burst
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/100s; f/4.5; ISO: 200

Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 70.0mm; shutter speed: 1/15s; f/4.5; ISO: 200

Went to take a close-up of the flowers and there was an insect on them.  It stayed there long enough to get a couple shots.

Flowers; Close-up; Insect
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 48.0mm; shutter speed: 1/125s; f/5.3; ISO 400

I was captured by the fence construction.  Really simple, but with the moss growing on it, it made for great a photographic subject.

Close-up
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 40.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/13s; f/5.3; ISO: 400

There was this cool tree that had obviously been burned some how.  Not sure what happened, because it's the only tree in the area that is dead due to fire, so it must've been something small.  The sun was behind the tree, so I had to work around the sun, and attempted to get fancy sun burst through the holes in the tree.  This was the best one.  I think if I had more time I could definitely get something better, but for a backlit photo of this nature combined with my inexperience, I'm pleased.  Perhaps a lower ISO setting in dealing with the bright sun, then I can decrease my shutter speed so the tree isn't underexposed.

backlighting; sun burst; tree
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 55.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/15s; f/5.6; ISO 400

Another low-angle photo showing the massiveness of the trees.  I love the braided look of the bark on this one.

Tree; low-angle
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/8s; f/5.0; ISO: 400

An attempt to get a landscape view of part of the forest, using the path for a leading line, leading out of the forest.

landscape; trees; forest
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 30.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/4s; f/4.0; ISO: 400

Same idea, but showing the height of the trees.

forest; tree; landscape; leading lines
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/10s; f/9.0; ISO: 400

Vacation Photos - 3

More vacation photos.

The first two were an experiment.  I wanted to get Audrey's footprints, but she wasn't heavy enough to make imprints in the sand.  While they are very similar photos, the second one is my favorite.  I liked that I had the focus on the water, so the out of focus footprints lead to the in focus water ... as opposed to the in focus feet leading to out of focus water.  It believe the little adjustment makes a much stronger photo.

footprints; beach; water
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 45.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/2500s; f/5.3; ISO 200

footprints; water; sand
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 55.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/2500s; f/5.6; ISO 200

landscape; beach; ocean; water
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 34.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/125s; f/22; ISO 200

This one was super cool.  I was trying to not drop my camera bag in the water, not let Audrey run away, prevent my shoes from washing away in the waves, and get the angle that I wanted on this rock.  I shot 3 or 4 (all without really looking because I didn't want to lay down in the wet sand) and this was my best shot.  I was quite impressed with how it turned out, since I didn't have time to fully compose the photo or  really even look at what I was shooting.  If I were to get this shot again I think I'd go for focusing in on the water drops in the background.  I like how the water leads up to the rock, but I wonder what would happen if the water led to the drops.

water; leading lines; beach
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 50.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/320s; f/8.0; ISO 100

Vacation Photos...

Just returned from a long overdo vacation.  Not only was it great fun and relaxing, but it was a chance for me to practice many of the photography techniques I read about and wanted to try or have been working on.  I took probably close to 1,000 photos, uploaded 200 to my flickr page, and have about 30-40 I want to share.  So I'll do this in phases and in no particular order.

Sleeping Baby; low-light
Nikon D3100; focal length: 52mm; Shutter Speed: 1/3 sec; F-stop: 5.6; ISO 3200

Spiral Staircase from below; low-light
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/3 s; f/5.0; ISO: 3200

Leading Lines
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 45.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/200s; F/7.1; ISO: 100

Flowers
AUTO MODE: Panasonic DMC-FH20; Focal Length: 5.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/125s; f/3.3; ISO 160

Flowers
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 42.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/500s; f/5.6; ISO: 200

Flowers, hands
NIKON D3100; Focal Length: 40.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/1000; f/5.6; ISO: 200

Leading Lines

I read a blog on leading lines and how to achieve the effect.

This was the best shot of my first attempt.

Using a Nikon D3100, my 18-55 VR lens. My F-stop was at 3.5 - the lowest this lens will go.

My focal point was the computer charger.

I used the lines in teh floor leading to the charger, the foot of the entertainment center leading down to the charger, and the bottom shelf of the entertainmetn center leading up to the charger. Additionally, the rail fo teh swing leads over to the charger also, but not quite as well.