Sunday 29th May

I wish picture had scent too. This tea rose smelled so gorgeous I just had to photograph it. The sunshine yellow of the petals looks so warm in this picture. And I love how every petal has a different amount of light and shadow. I think that really brings the rose to life. Lush. It looks almost edible!

Info: 1/200s, f/9.0, ISO 200.

Saturday 29th May

As it was a rather windy day on Saturday, I was attempting motion capture again this time with a child's windmill (currently being used to deter moles digging in the garden). I love the two-tone blues of the windmill. The blues to purples are lush. I like how the different elements and levels of the picture become more out of focus as you move away from the centre. The bright yellow centre is in crystal clear focus, then the blades are blurred because they are in motion, and then the background is out of focus due to a wide aperture.

Info: 1/160s, f/5.6, ISO 200.

Friday 27th May

This picture may actually be kind of creepy... A loose wooden hand surrounded by ivy. I do like how the exposure has brought out the textures in the wood but then how that then contrasts with the smoothness of the ivy leaves surrounding it. The different tones of green go so well against the whites and greys of the hand too.

Info: 1/60s, f/6.3, ISO 200.

Thursday 26th May

I think this is a really peaceful picture. I like the subtle tones of blue in the sky, and how the foliage creates a frame nicely. I love how the lines of the bridge lead into the centre of the frame forcing the eye to follow into the beautiful field of buttercups. Such a beautiful place. I think I'm going to print this one out!

Info: 1/200s, f/6.3, ISO 400.

Wednesday 25th May

I think this is a great picture. Certainly one of my more creative pictures. I hope I've done a good job with the composition though. It maybe could have done with a little more sky at the top of the frame. Next time... It's great how the ripples reflect so beautifully on the flat side of the bridge, hidden in the shadows. But the ripples are made interesting because the water that is can be seen in the bottom of the frame is so still that we don't know where the ripples are coming from. I also like how a small slither of sky is reflected right under the bridge, but at a different angle from the sky at the top of the frame. I just like that there are so many different lines within the picture.

Info: 1/320s, f/8.0, ISO 400.

Tuesday 24th May

Taking landscape photographs is definitely my favourite pastime. I just love the colours in the clouds and the sky, and how the foreground is in silhouette. And how the light intensifies towards the centre of the frame. I tried to almost frame the brightest light, in the centre, by have two taller trees either side of it. However, the willow tree is far larger than the second tallest tree in the shot and therefore does not quite have the effect I had hoped for. Goes to show that it is always important to think about composition before taking the picture and during. I do still enjoy looking at this picture though, it's quite peaceful.

Info: 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 400.

Monday 23rd May

This photograph is a little different from my normal style, but I rather like the abstract nature of it. I guess a big part of this challenge is to try and stretch your creative abilities and try to capture something different. The lens that I used really made the focus of the picture stand out and made it very clear and crisp. Then the wide aperture helped to, obviously, blur the background to accentuate the foreground too. I like it.

Info: 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO 400.

Sunday 22nd May

Not a lot to say about this picture... This is one hungry dog! I'd hate to be the thing she's licking her lips at! I'm happy that I was able to capture this image a clearly as I did, using a fast shutter speed meant that there is no motion around her mouth, just a clear snap shot of a lovely dog.

Info: 1/125s. f/7.1, ISO 400.

Saturday 21st May

I chose this picture for today because of the interesting shapes involved. I like the curvature of the hook against the rigidity of the lantern. I also like the similarity of the reds in the background leaves and the reds in the rust on the lantern.

Info: 1/125s, f/9.0, ISO 400.

Friday 20th May

I saw this beautiful statue in someone's garden and really like the different green tones of both the statue and the surrounding plants. The way the sun is casting shadows on the hat just adds a little something to the image too.

Info: 1/60s, f/6.3, ISO 200.

Thursday 19th May

This might not be the greatest picture I've taken during this challenge, but I find it very interesting. The road was covered with these little splats of paint! Not something you see every day. It looked like there had been a street paint-balling party! I got the exposure right quite quickly, given that I was photographing a grey road. But still a good reminder of basic metering.

Info: 1/200s, f/10.0, ISO 200.

Wednesday 18th May

I was out walking around for ages today and took about 50 pictures but was never really happy with any of them until I was less than 5 minutes from home - typical! I think this is a buddelia tree and there were bees everywhere. They just loved it. The blue of the flowers is gorgeous. It was very hard to actually get a picture of a bee because they do not stand still for very long! Still, glad I was patient enough to get there in the end.

Info: 1/125s, f/5.6, ISO 200.

Tuesday 17th May

I am actually scared of spiders so I'm kinda proud of myself for getting this close. But I just had to. I like how the frame of the door frames the bottom and left sides of the picture and how the crack moves the eye from the spider and out of the frame. It's cool that the spider was black and the door was white too. All in all, I'm happy with the composition of the piece!

Info: 1/250s, f/11.0, ISO 200.

Monday 16th May

I attempted motion capture photography on the tube today. It took a long time to get the aperture right, being underground. I then just played around with shutter speeds to see what happened. It's not a great picture, granted. But this is a difficult technique and you have to start somewhere, right? I only had my 50mm prime lens on me which is why I could not get much of the inside of the tube in the frame. There is not quite enough in this picture to effectively convey the motion happening outside the train. Next time I'll know to use my kit zoom lens and feature more of the stationary components. Also, shutter speed in this instance was tricky because the train was always slowing down or speeding up when I had a chance to take a shot, therefore, the speed was never consistent. Maybe if I'd waited just a few seconds more, it may have been a better picture. All things to consider for next time. I'd like to try this again during my 'May Challenge' to see how I have/can improve.

Info: 1/50s, f/2.2, ISO 400.

Sunday 15th May

I feel so lucky to have been able to photograph this amazing butterfly. There are not as many butterflies flying around as there should be so to even see one is special, but this guy was just walking along the dried up grass in the allotment! I got to spend about 10 minutes photography it moving around and this, I think, is the best picture I took. The colours of the wings are so predominant against the harsh dryness of the grass, and complimented by the green of the weeds at the top of the frame. I also love how the pink of the under wings almost makes a heart shape. A bit girly, I know, but it really caught my eye. What can I say?!

Info: 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 200.

Saturday 14th May

With today's picture, I was trying hard to work on composition. A picture of a flower can be great, but I was trying to take a good picture with three different types of flowers - different colours, shapes and depths. I like how the blue cornflower starts in the bottom left of the frame with the red poppy in the centre then the daisy finishing the composition top right of the frame. There is even a smaller daisy in the bottom right which helped me avoid having a solid green area in that corner. I think this might be one of the best pictures I've taken over the last two weeks.

Info: 1/400s, f/5.0, ISO 200.

Friday 13th May

Apologies for the delay in posting this weekend's pictures, but that's difficult to do without access to a computer, and so here they are.

Friday, I spent a lovely few hours photographing some beautiful ballerinas. It was a sunny, albeit windy, day and this is one of my favourite pictures of the shoot. The colours a great in this, the yellow of the buttercups, green of the grass and trees, and the red of the model's hair all go beautifully together in this image. I just love it! Maybe a little overexposed though. I would have liked to get more colour from the sky. Something to look out for next time...

Info: 1/80s, f/9.0, ISO 200.

Thursday 12th May

You've gotta love London! I was in Green Park today taking some headshots for a lovely woman and the deck chairs were set out for people to use - as is usual for this nice weather. Most of these chairs are green and white stripes, but then I came across about ten beautifully decorated chairs. This one was my favourite. Such vivid greens and purples, just excellent against the cream fabric. It took a while to get the right exposure, the sun kept coming in and out, and the wind occasionally distorted the fabric. But I persevered and really think I got it just right. The wooden frame of the chair made for an interesting frame for the whole picture too - how the downward double lines as symmetrical and cut the image equally. I do love this picture.

Info: 1/500s, f/9.0, ISO 400.

Wednesday 11th May

I think I am starting to find the areas of photography that I really enjoy. Nature and landscapes have always been my passion but today, taking this photograph, I realise that black and white photos can be so interesting. I didn't think I had it in me! This is just a picture of a bike chain, but the light highlighting the silver of the lock and the curves of the chain links, the shadows emphasising depth, even the rust on the gate post. I'm no Ansel Adams but everyone has to start somewhere, I guess! Does anyone else have a passion for b&w industrial-looking photography? I'd love to see some other work too.

Info: 1/800s, f/4.5, ISO 400.

Tuesday 10th May

Had a great couple of hours on Wimbledon Common today. Sun was lush, bit windy but you can't have everything. There was a lovely family of geese swimming about on the pond and this picture looks like the mother is up front double checking everyone made it into the water alright! I hope I got the exposure right. Doesn't look too bright, right? This challenge is helping me learn so much in a very short space of time!

Info: Nikon D60, 1/400s, f/14.0, ISO 400.

Breaking Waves

Breaking Waves, a photo by AEBrabyn on Flickr.

Just had a comment from someone who suggested I straighten this picture, which I have now done. So simple yet so effective! Thanks :-)

Monday 9th May

I think I must have taken about 40 pictures of this flower today! There was intermittent direct sunlight followed by dark shadows - it was under a tree and very windy today. I was in manual mode and each time I thought I got the right settings, the light would change and I would have to adjust. That's the whole point though, I guess. Very interesting exercise and I really enjoyed the challenge of these changing conditions. As an aside, the purple of this wild flower is just beautiful, don't you think?

Info: Nikon D60, 1/320s, f/3.5, ISO 400.

Sunday 8th May

Classic Sunday image, in my mind. Perfect post-Saturday night partying breakfast to set you right for the day! This one was a little hard to get right, (I hope it is now right anyway), because it was lite from directly above meaning that I had to take many shots adjusting both shutter speed and aperture in order to try and get what I wanted out of the shot. Makes me hungry looking at this one.

Info: Nikon D60, 1/60s, F4.5, ISO 800, focal length 50mm.

Saturday 7th May

What I like about this picture are all the various textures visible. The log has shadows which seem to emphasise the textures that it has. I very much like the reflection of the log in the stillness of the water surrounding it. The water has a lovely corner of sky blue in the slow-moving ripples (bottom left) which I particularly like. There are so many different textures shown in the water that I think add real feeling to the picture.

Info: Nikon D60, 1/640s, F4.0, ISO 400, focal length 35mm.

Friday 6th May

Today's post is a little more personal because the picture I have chosen for today is of a good friend of mine's baby. I chose this picture because it captured her sharing a moment with her mother, making faces at her, and just shows how adorable she is. I particularly like how the sun lite up so softly and how I managed to get a good depth of focus. Love the blurred background effect, really makes an impact on the picture.

Info: Nikon D60, s/s 1/200s, F5.6, ISO 800, focal length 50mm.

Thursday 5th May

Sorry I did not post yesterday. Technology is a wonderful thing... when it works, that is! Slight fault with internet connections last night.
So, back online, here is the picture for 5th May. I can't believe I was lucky enough to get a picture of this beautiful dragonfly, or damselfly. It's proper name is a Pyrrhosoma nymphula or Large Red Damselfly. Identified by the black stripes at the end of their body. Anyway, I also like the differences in the water - very still at the top of the frame, then ripples near the bottom.
As part of this challenge, I am only allowed to take one lens out with me. I had my 50mm prime lens for this outing, but had I had my 70-300mm lens, I may have gotten a better shot. Note to self: nature needs a zoom!

Info: Nikon D60, s/s 1/500s, F11.0, ISO 800, focal length 50mm

Wednesday 4th May

I do like this picture. I love the shadows that fall onto the beautiful vibrant green of the leaf. The shadows make such interesting shapes. Like snowflakes, each leaf had a different pattern of shadows that would only last a few minutes until the sun moved and changed them. Then there's the tiny caterpillar trying to shelter in the bush so as not to get eaten, curling its body into a lovely circular shape. I really enjoy looking at the different aspects of the photograph. I hope you get something out of it too!

Info: Nikon D60, s/s 1/320s, F9.0, ISO 800, focal length 55mm.

Tuesday 3rd May

The photo I've chosen for today's posting is, to be honest, not as good a picture as I would have liked. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to cross paths with this black cat, but he just would not stand in the spot I wanted him to. This resulted in an shadow showing in the top right hand corner of the picture. The picture would have had more of an impact had this shadow been out of shot. Still, valuable lesson learned - working with animals is tricky. The reasons I do like this picture are that the cat seems to be looking at his own shadow - quite comical, or even introspective, in itself. I also like the varying shades throughout the animal's coat. With the sun hitting him on the right hand side and with his head turned away creates some lovely shades of black and grey, which I feel blends well with the shadows and pavement also shown in the image. So here it is, I hope you like too.

Info: Nikon D60, s/s 1/1000s, F5.3, ISO 800.

Monday 2nd May

Today was a little harder to try and find an interesting image. I spent about 30 minutes walking around taking random pictures of bins, benches, even some graffiti, but nothing came together very well. I then stumbled (literally) on to the edge of a construction site and found this lone welly! Whenever I see things like this, that should be a pair or one someone's foot, I can't help but wonder how it got separated from its mate? Weird. Anyway, here's my depiction of this discarded soul... No pun intended.

Info: Nikon D60, s/s 1/4000, F6.3, ISO 800

One a day for the month of May...

I have read many blogs & photography website over the past few months in an attempt to comprehend the ever-expanding world of photography. I read an article on the Digital Photography School website about developing one’s photographic eye which talked about going out everyday, looking for something interesting to capture. So, here I am, setting myself a challenge to do this exercise everyday for the month of May in the hope of learning more about photography… Looking forward to the next 31 days!

Here's my first posting entitled 'Post-Royal Wedding balloons'. The big day is finished, the street parties are now over, but the balloons are still hanging around!

Info: Nikon D60, s/s 1/1250, F4.5, ISO 800.