2017 Project 52 - 4th QTR - Sandy(Skitterbug)

[skitterbug]

Nice capture.

Thank you John. I really appreciate your support in my effort to improve!

[skitterbug]

Very nice Sandy. I see that, like us in, you still have a few leaves of colour on the trees. I share the same concerns about ISO. I find that if I go above ISO 400 I will see noise. ISO 800 I might occasionally get away without a problem, but over 800 is not good for me.

Hi Joe ~ Our area struggled to have nice autumn colours this year. We had plenty of moisture but apparently the temps weren't quite right for the usual displays that we have had in the past. This was one of the few in our landscape that cooperated!

I feel I've come to a better understanding about how ISO, Aperture and Speed get along with each other. Too many of my earliest tries had way too much noise in them. And as I sit here and think about it, I can bet that I'll have plenty of "mistakes" coming but at least now when I see lousy results, I can understand more clearly the why of it!

Thank you for your comments Joe. I appreciate the interaction and the additional information that you provide!

[skitterbug]

For Week 47 - I'm a bit behind in my quest for posting weekly. I haven't had much of an opportunity to go Picture Hunting. We celebrated Thanksgiving and that meant having company for the week. (whew - tiring but fun).

A tradition we've developed along with our thankfulness of the many blessings we have received, is also taking time to enjoy our Christmas gift exchange. In past years, we found that December is packed full of things for our families to do so getting together as a group proved difficult. So.... we moved our exchange to happen AFTER the Thanksgiving morning and meal! Talk about a busy day but we make it happen and it works for us.

Anyway, my photos are all candid shots. Trying to catch the little people in focus, etc. in a poorly lit room with constant mayhem going on is a challenge for me! <LOL> I have one that I would like to share that I really like. It may not appeal to the group but I know the child and this one makes me chuckle.

Granddaughter
ISO800 - 131mm - 1/800ss - f/6.3 - flash used

[Geoff F]

Nicely sharp and well exposed. Perhaps a pity about the hair over her eye, but with this sort of scene you just have to go with what is available. Perfectly posed situations often lack the real life impact that you can achieve by shooting 'real time images'.

[joebranko]

Very nice! Real-time images are much more interesting than posed shots. This one is very engaging.

[skitterbug]

Thank you Geoff and Joe! I am usually very tentative about posting pics of the "kids" and asked "mom" before I did. I appreciate that you both like it!

As you can guess during a day like our gift exchange, there are lots of photos taken. None of them are posed! No one slows down long enough for that. Well, I should say that we did have one where we gathered the kids and had them sit in front of our Christmas tree. And you can guess that trying to get them to look at us and smile at the same time was an interesting task. <chuckle>

Some of the many pictures taken work really well and others, well.... I'll keep many of them simply because they show the activity of the day, but certainly not for the quality of the photo. <LOL>

But I do like the innocence of the Granddaughter, messy hair and all. I agree Geoff, it would have been so much better to have had a little less of it covering her face. I was lucky she held still for that length of time!

[skitterbug]

Week48
There is lots of farming activity going on although I'm sure our farmers are hoping to wind things up soon. The soybeans have been harvested, and most of the field corn is off as well. the picture I have is from the field directly across the road from our home. The farmer is using a disc/chisel plow combination to ready his field for next spring's planting season.

It is interesting to me that now instead of placing markers at each end of the field to keep their lines straight, the farmers are using GPS guidance systems. Amazing.

So this farmer is finishing up a strip and getting ready to start a new section of his field. He is looking at the GPS system so he can time his move perfectly. I should have slowed the shutter speed a tiny bit to show more motion perhaps? But I do like that the exhaust fumes can be seen and the dirt falling from the tines does seem to be in motion.

Farmer and his tractor at work - ISO800 - 131mm - 1/800ss - f/6.3

[Geoff F]

That bit of machinery would be called a disc harrow over here. There are several different forms of harrow depending on the soil type.

It is so easy to get patches of over exposure/over saturation with this sort of shot under bright conditions; so you have done well to avoid any problems.

[Shadowman]

Nice candid, post #63.

[Shadowman]

#67, week 48, nicely captured.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff ~ I'm getting more used to checking the light meter in camera. The first one or two that I took, were overexposed! So with adjustment, I managed to get one without glare from the tractor or windscreen. Always seems to be something that can cause me difficulty but for a change I made my changes and captured this pic. Thanks for commenting!

That bit of machinery would be called a disc harrow over here. There are several different forms of harrow depending on the soil type.

It is so easy to get patches of over exposure/over saturation with this sort of shot under bright conditions; so you have done well to avoid any problems.

[skitterbug]

Hi John ~Thanks for checking my pics out! I appreciate that you like the images.

[Wavelength]

I really liked both the images above; well done!!!

[skitterbug]

I really liked both the images above; well done!!!

Thank you Nandakumar. I appreciate your kind words!

[skitterbug]

I'm going to call these two into play for Week 49. Mainly because I finally got around to editing them. I'm pleased that I can remove unwanted objects without too much notice and this week I decided to try framing.

These two are my daughters pets. Reno is known as an "easy keeper" since he only needs to look at grass and it layers onto his body in fat! LOL He has a back problem so riding him for his exercise isn't always an option. I suppose he will be a happy fellow lazing around in his field until he goes to Horse Heaven. He has an excellent disposition and nickers when someone brings him a carrot or apple.

Both pics were taken using settings ISO200 - 1/100ss - f/11
I have to add that I am becoming more comfortable using manual for settings but I still use auto focusing. I'm not brave enough to try doing that through my tiny view finder. Maybe if I had my camera on a tripod and I was using the LCD screen, it would make a difference. I figure so long as I am not trying to focus through weeds, trees, fencing, etc. auto focus seems best for now.

Reno - in need of a good brushing!



Myra - a female goat enjoying a good rest

[Urbanflyer]

For Week 47 - I'm a bit behind in my quest for posting weekly. I haven't had much of an opportunity to go Picture Hunting. We celebrated Thanksgiving and that meant having company for the week. (whew - tiring but fun).

A tradition we've developed along with our thankfulness of the many blessings we have received, is also taking time to enjoy our Christmas gift exchange. In past years, we found that December is packed full of things for our families to do so getting together as a group proved difficult. So.... we moved our exchange to happen AFTER the Thanksgiving morning and meal! Talk about a busy day but we make it happen and it works for us.

Anyway, my photos are all candid shots. Trying to catch the little people in focus, etc. in a poorly lit room with constant mayhem going on is a challenge for me! <LOL> I have one that I would like to share that I really like. It may not appeal to the group but I know the child and this one makes me chuckle.

Granddaughter
ISO800 - 131mm - 1/800ss - f/6.3 - flash used

Just getting back into things after travel and saw this gem. Reminded me of one of my granddaughters who hides behind her hair. The image has lots of character! Nicely done!

[Wavelength]

Lovely

[skitterbug]

Just getting back into things after travel and saw this gem. Reminded me of one of my granddaughters who hides behind her hair. The image has lots of character! Nicely done!

Thank you for commenting, Judith!
I'm glad you are home again. Hope you had a very enjoyable time during your travels!

[skitterbug]

Hi Nandakumar! Thank you!

[Geoff F]

The second image is good.

I wonder if you could very carefully add a little more brightness to the first image to lift those midtones just a fraction without over doing the white areas?