Winter in the city

I saw this as I was walking, and couldn't resist grabbing the shot!

Believe it or not, this was actually a regular city sidewalk, around midday on the weekend. I was surprised at how many places had no footprints yet. In retrospect, it would have been better if I had caught sight slightly sooner, to eliminate the road in the top left, but otherwise it's a nearly perfectly smooth snow path.

This was taken with my cell phone, the only camera I had with me at the time. Not bad!

Video cards, part 4

I have saved my favourite image for last!

Once again from the blue card, once again hand held. And yes, once again cropped! But that's pretty much where the similarities end. This card has a shiny silver heat sink on it. The fins of the heat sink produce a strong pattern which I left intentionally off-center. I love the way the silver reflects the blue of the card, making it looks even more metallic and cool. There's also a secondary pattern in the black chips running along the bottom of the image. They're blurry and hard to focus on, and yet they want attention, even as the fins demand to be the center of attention.

Which of the pictures from the past 4 days was your favourite?

Auto white balance, 0 exposure bias, ISO 200, aperture 2.8 and 1/15 exposure length, no flash.

Video cards, part 3

On to a fabulous blue video card! The colour of the card really changes the way you see the things on it. This was also hand held, as I needed to move the card around to be able to focus on the part I wanted most.

This one really is cropped! Yes! ME! I cropped a picture. I love this. It reminds me a bit of looking at the downtown of a city. The copper coil is clearly one of the most iconic buildings in Video City.

One more time, more light would have improved this image, although going with the city concept, perhaps this is a late-day view of downtown, as all of the daily denizens are emptying the buildings, darkening them as they go home.

Auto white balance, 0 exposure bias, ISO 200, aperture 2.8 and 1/13 exposure length, no flash.

Video cards, part 2

Day 2 brings us a fabulous red card! A brilliant background for contrast. I did use a tripod, but in an effort to allow in as much light as possible, it turns out I was on a bit of an unfortunate angle.

I knew in the drawer of treasures would be cards of all colours, and I was not disappointed! With this one, the white lines around the silver solder are strongest, but the paler red lines on the dark red of the card itself are also fascinating. I still can't decide whether cropping would have made it more powerful, or taken away the magic... So, you tell me! Here are 2 very different crops. Which of the 3 images do you like best?

I need a stronger macro lens. This should be sharper. That issue aside...

This wasn't the center of the original photo, so it's not perfectly focused. But it's still a very cool image!

Auto white balance, 0 exposure bias, ISO 800, aperture 2.8 and 1/25 exposure length, no flash.

Video cards, part 1

My boyfriend has a load of old computer parts, so I asked if there were any I could take pictures of - I wanted ones that he wasn't afraid I would damage, just in case! He offered up a whole drawer full of colourful cards, and over the next several days I will share a few of my favourite images with you.

As soon as I flipped to the back of this card, I knew what I wanted a picture of. This little section reminds me of a portrait on someone's wall, with a lovely silver frame.

I had to hand-hold the card for this one, because I was trying to get closer to the window (and natural light) than my table would allow. As a result, the card was at a slight angle, and the right is a smidge further from the camera than the left. It makes the "portrait" look crooked, but I'm pretty sure it's not. Next time, I will move all the furniture instead!

Auto white balance, 0 exposure bias, ISO 800, aperture 2.8 and 1/25 exposure length, no flash.

How I take pictures

In the past, I have told you about the cameras I use to take pictures for this blog. Today, I will tell you a little about the other factors that impact my photography.

My camera has a lovely display screen that I can shift and adjust. I use both it and the view finder, depending on the situation. The screen is a great help when I'm trying to get pictures from an odd angle, subtlely, or somewhere above my head. The view finder is a necessity when it's bright out. (If you are looking for a new point and shoot camera, get one that has a view finder if you can - you'll miss it if you don't have it, even as a casual photographer.)

I shoot the highest quality photo my camera can - the largest number of pixels, largest size. Memory cards (my camera takes ordinary SD) can hold a huge number of images now, even of a large size, so there is no reason to restrict yourself by taking smaller images. I've seen advice in the past that for "everyday" pictures, you should use a smaller or lower quality to save space... and while that may have mattered when memory cards only held 256MB, I bought a 32GB, class 10 card on Boxing Day for $20 or $30, from a reliable name. That's probably way larger than I'll ever need, but for the price, it was worth it.

I shoot in full colour the majority of the time - as an early instructor told us again and again, you can take things away in post-processing, but you can't put them in.

I also tend to take multiple shots of the same thing. Again, memory cards have huge capacities, so I make tweaks to viewing angle, settings, or even just take several to make sure at least one is in focus.

I also take a camera just about everywhere I go. Of course, my phone has a camera, but I find that one highly unsatisfying most of the time. However, in a pinch, at least I have something. When I can, I will take one of my regular cameras - the point-and-shoot comes with me to work every day, and often accompanies me on small outings. The larger SX10 comes with me on even the shortest of car trips, and on many other outings as well. It's just about the only camera I use if I'm taking pictures at home.

Shiny, wavy, pattern

I think this object is pretty cool in "real life". And I think it makes for a great photo too!

The pattern is the repeating waves in the metal. I've thought that was neat since the first time I saw it, but with all the warped and partial reflections on the curves, I think it's even more interesting! And looking at the bottom of the waves, you can almost wonder if they are bending in towards the camera, or away from it.

So, what do you think the object is?

Auto white balance, 0 exposure bias, ISO 800, aperture 4.5 and 1/160 exposure length, no flash.

Snow in a tree

This picture was taken through a not-very-clean window, which affects the sides a bit, but I found a clear enough spot for the important part of the image. However, because of the angle of the tree branch, there was no where else to go to capture this image. I'm amazed by how much snow is balanced on such a thin branch, and I've been eyeing this image for days!

For this image, I tried to take some advice from yesterday's post about cropping, as well as from a book I've been reading where the author talks about cutting out the clutter. This image would be more powerful without the trees in the back, but that just wasn't an option. However, I did zoom in (instead of cropping after) to clear away all the rest of this particular tree's branches - and I think it is a better picture than if I had left it all in there!

Auto white balance, 0 exposure bias, ISO 800, aperture 5.0 and 1/1000 exposure length, no flash.

Cropping

As you know if you've been reading this blog at all, I tend to post my images more or less "as taken". Here's a great example of what you can do with cropping, and a reminder that we shouldn't be afraid of cutting out the noise! You don't have to get it perfect the first time.

http://brianmatiash.com/2012/01/20/on-aggressive-cropping/

DPS: Weekly challenge

The Digital Photography School apparently does a weekly challenge, and this week's challenge is...

Patterns

They refer to this post from a couple of days earlier as the inspiration for the subject. Those are some pretty awesome pictures!! If you don't want to share your images with all of DPS (they tell you how in the post), feel free to share them with the tiny group that is me, by commenting here!