Half an hour in the garden

I went out in the garden this afternoon, ostensibly to plant some new fruit bushes.  Of course once I was out there I quickly planted the fruit bushes  and then went back in for my camera.  I thought I would practice shooting in P, using ISO to control the shutter speed as we were taught on the PMS course.  I was also mindful of the shutter speed/focal length equation.  I was shooting with a 50mm lens, which means that my slowest shutter speed should be an eightieth of a second.  Anyhow, I was really pleased with what I achieved in half an hour; some lovely portraits of my smallest person and affirmation of what I learned previously; I didn't have one blurry shot at all.

Photography Made Simple Course at Birmingham MAC

Yesterday I went on a one day  photography course at Birmingham MAC.  The course was run by http://photographymadesimple.co.uk/ and was led by Rachel Hibbard.  It was a very useful and informative   day and I would definitely recommend the course to others.

After having some technical tutoring first thing, we were then sent out with a chosen object to photograph it in unusual scenarios.  I chose an old diamante brooch, because it reminded me of my grandmother.

After lunch we chose a word at random and had to illustrate that word through photography.  My word was TINY.  I found it quite a difficult concept to actualise but managed to take a few photographs.

We also did some abstract photography which was very fun.

We had three tasks in the afternoon.  One was to create some promotional images for Cannon Hill Park.  Two was to illustrate another word; this time OLD.  Three was to create a spooky picture.  I'll let you guess which is which.

 The most important thing I learned on the course was about ISO and shutter speed.  If you raise your ISO in P the camera automatically riases the shutter speed.  And as we know, shutter speed is key to capturing crisp images.  For images without the blur factor, your shutter speed needs to be at least equal to focal length in order to handhold your camera.   I have a cropped sensor camera and  that means I have to multiply my focal length by 1.6 in order to get the correct shutter speed.  It's complicated and I could go into the whys and wherefores but I think if you understand the multiplication factor you will be fine.

So, which are your favourite images from my day's shoot??