Camera rambles

[susie_flo]

I bought a new camera lens on a whim and it has forced me to start using some scary manual settings that I've always avoided until now (I'm really a point-and-click girl at heart).

It has a very wide aperture, which means that it can take pics with an incredibly shallow focus (e.g. you can accidentally get portraits where the nose is in focus but the eyes are blurred, and so on.)  This takes a bit of getting used to and I have had to focus manually quite often just to get anything at all in focus. Other times I have had to close up the aperture a bit in order to get more sharpness. Most 'manual' of all is that it has no zoom capability...  you actually have to use your legs and walk to the place where you want to frame the shot.

Anyway I've had it a day and have been practicing. A lot of people love this lens because it does a very pretty line in 'blur' and seems to create magical light all by itself, so that the pics come out luminescent.  I can see what they mean.

In these shots of the sleeping Microbe, he was blessedly still and it gave me a chance to play about a bit with manual focus. In the second and third pics, I had a go at the same shot twice, firstly focused on his eyelashes and then on his lips...








These random housey shots are more exercises in selective focus...








In these outdoor shots I found it a bit tricky to get a crisp focus but I do still like the way it has captured the light and the colours...





A one-off fiddle with sepia (sorry it's a bit Athena)



Well that's all from me. I just wanted to ramble a bit about my lens, really, and it didn't really fit into the topic of my other blogs... hence I have done it here.

Comments

[whatifoundthere.livejournal.com]

I love these! Especially the one with the bottles. Have you ever seen tilt-shift photography, making real-size scenes look like miniatures? I find these mesmerizing (I bring it up just because it's another use for "messing with depth of field")

Exempli gratia: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/

[kissmeforlonger.livejournal.com]

Just speaking as a non-photographer, I have messed about with tilt shift to create time-lapse video - someone semi-pro took the actual shots, though. It's not that hard to do, and there are some really breathtaking examples out there.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

That's a great link, thanks. I find it boggling how you can make real life look like toytown. I've never imagined it would be the sort of thing for my skill level though (I am a point and click person really!)

[inbetween-girl.livejournal.com]

Those are all fab, especially the wellies in the puddle. :-) I also desperately need to know where you got those little potion bottles!

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

I got the bottles on eBay after years of idle surfing for a decent set of apothecary bottles (one of my many lunatic saved searches on ebay)

At the time I didn't have anywhere to put them but now they live on a shelf in the bathroom. Definitely something to consider for your Snape-styled dining room!

Apothecary bottles come up quite a lot on ebay actually... still time to bid on these! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Vintage-Miniature-Apothecary-Chemist-Pharmacy-Glass-Bottles-Poison-/121163202618?pt=UK_Collectables_Bottle_Pots_ET&hash=item1c35e3c03a

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

Ooh these look lovely. I too like the welly puddle shot.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

You are lucky you didn't type that on an iPhone. Every time I type the word wellies with my phone, it auto-corrects it to willies.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Lovely pics!

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Thanks v much!

[bumblebee.livejournal.com]

Beautiful photos!

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sarawarawoo.livejournal.com]

Those pictures are gorgeous! Your little one has amazing eyelashes, gah!

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Those to-die-for eyelashes are just one more reason why we think he must be a changeling! What I would give for those...

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Those are beautiful pics - might have to get myself a lens like that too :-)

[lebeautemps.livejournal.com]

What lovely pictures.