Outings Class - A Visit to a Farm

(Picture Info: A, 1/500, F5.6, 300mm)

For this Outings class with Noella Vigeant, we went to a local farm.  Really special place - only 25 minutes and I was out of the city.  I was recharged after this experience and very grateful for it!

(Picture Info: A, 1/4000, F5, 58mm)

(Picture Info: A, 1/1250, F5, 185mm) 

(Picture Info: A, 1/640, F5, 125mm) 

There is a little bright spot at the bottom-left.  I don't know why this happened but I think the edge of my lens may have picked up a bit of reflection from the fencing below.

(Picture Info: A, 1/4000, F5, 105mm)

(Picture Info: A, 1/640, F5, 165mm)

I wanted to get an interesting picture of the chickens and the I realized how colorful the feet were and thought, "yes" that's the shot I want.  I don't know if it's the best composition but at least I was able to capture the feet with some good color and lighting.

(Picture Info: S, 1/125, F8, 55mm)

(Picture Info: A, 1/80, F5, 100mm, ISO was pretty high on this one...) 

(Picture Info: 1/125, F5, 86mm)

(Just for fun - the piglets were too darn cute!!)

Outings Class - Pumpkin Patch

(Picture Info: 1/320, F10, 42mm) 

I'm exploring the area with a great teacher: Noella Vigeant.  Last week we visited a pumpkin patch and learned about taking shots with side light and also trying to focus in on just one subject and take out other distracting objects.

I stayed in Aperture mode the entire time and took this with my Nikon D5100.

(Picture Info: 1/160, 8, 40mm)

(Picture Info: 1/640, F5.6, 55mm)

(Picture Info: 1/1000, F6.3, 55mm)

(Picture Info: 55mm, 1/250, F5.6 - I had two add-on micro lenses)

Picture Info:1/500, F5.6, 55mm)

These were some shots I got after our outing at a local restaurant parking lot - a whole wall of flowers.

(Picture Info: 1/60, F5.6, 44mm)

(Picture Info: 1/125, F5.6, 34mm)

This one is my computer background right now (Picture Info: 1/50, F5.6, 55mm)

Playing with Low Light

Just with a white flashlight
Settings: M, 5600, F16, 15" (Forgot about the high ISO - that's why things were a bit grainy...)

These photos are my attempts with low light photography and a headlamp that has a regular white light and a red light.  Just having fun; I only started class yesterday, but tomorrow I'm going to find some glow sticks and a laser light to play a bit more.

This is my wire-framed cyprus in somewhat "regular" light.

With Red light off of headlamp
Settings: M, 30", 2800, F16

With MORE red light...
Settings: M, 25", F16, 3600

First Low Light Class!

Settings: S, 15", F5.3, 360

My first Low Light class was last night.  Noella took us through the basics of shooting in low light on our cameras & then we "played" for the rest of the night!

Stations were set up for us to try things out; so, I'm going to take you through my journey.  This post is just what we did in class...more to come!

Ready for Class!

Just having fun with pumpkins & battery-operated glow sticks...
Settings: S, 15", F5, 320

One of my classmates was swinging the glow stick in the air and then I moved my camera wildly,
side to side.
Settings: S, 15", F5, 320 

This was fun!  There was light coming from the right.  I used the laser pointer to draw out the word love.  I'm going to have to work on this more!
Settings: S, 15", F5, 140

Again, with the laser pointer...
Settings: S, 15", F5.3, 180

I've been taking pictures for years...with a point and shoot.  I went through my whole Singapore adventure with a Sony Cyber Shot and luckily really got some good photos.

Now that I have my Nikon 5100, I've been struggling to get those shots again.

My journey:

• My hubby bought me my Nikon, Christmas 2012
• It stayed in Auto until May & I was frustrated by my pictures most of the time
• Finally, I took an Adult Ed class by Noella Vigeant and a whole new world opened - Noella Vigeant Photography
• Now I'm trying out all of the "SPAM" modes on the camera and getting some good shots here and there...
• I've also found Nikon 5100 Cheat Cards - so cool!  Nikon D5100 Cheat Cards - For only $10, they download beautifully on your phone but I printed them out, laminated, then I did a single hole punch with a ring.

Fun, huh?!  Thanks Moose!

• And, I also found this website & I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book: Living Landscapes a Guide to Stunning Landscape Photography  I got it printed in color (super expensive to print in color but it's only offered as an ebook right now).  It's PDF so you can download it to iPad, Droid, etc.  Regardless, it's an absolutely awesome book.

Have fun in your journey - I'll just be sharing my photos and a few adventures here.