I posted an iPhone photo of these little lamp-like mushrooms on Instagram recently. This is a shot taken on my Canon 550D (using flash). I can take good photos on my iPhone 5c but on this occasion it was definitely easier to get a better shot with the Canon.
Thistles – another irresistible subject for photography!
These photos were taken on my Canon 550D with a Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens. However, it is also important for me to keep developing my skills with iPhone photography or iPhonography as it is often my phone camera that I have with me when out walking.
With so much to see, I wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity, yet at the same time, it is not practical to always have heavy camera slung over your shoulder.
It was a pretty grey day last week when I visited Windsor. I found that my photography was best handled in full manual mode rather than relying on any of the semi-automatic options.
Having experimented with exposure, shutter speed and iso and found a reasonable compromise, the rest of my photography needed fewer adjustments as the weather remained miserable (if not actually raining) for the whole visit.
The photos below of Queen Victoria were deliberately over and under-exposed as I liked the appearance of her profile against the sky, which as you can see in the second shot, was not exactly bright. Having said this, I think the second shot is my favourite! Which is yours?
Sunlight or cloud, rain or mist – the weather conditions influence, no, create the available light for photography.
A few weeks ago I was at Lliw Valley Reservoirs in the rain and took some photos on my iPhone 4s of what I described as “fence post gardens”. I posted them on the Moss Appreciation Society Facebook page with the comment that I would have to go back on a dry day to photograph them properly. The response from one group member was that moss likes, and is perhaps, at its best in the rain.
The sun was shining when I was up there last week and following my interview with BBC Radio Wales I proceeded to take some photos of the same “fence post gardens” with my Canon 550D. It was difficult to say the least! Sunlight can be very dramatic – usually in the early morning or evening, but it can also be a major problem depending on the subject matter.
I have picked out four photos that I think are not too bad from those I took on the day but it seems I am going to have to wait for a more overcast day or go there at sunrise to get some decent shots of this subject.
Getting to know the subject is also important whatever medium you are working with, and I think that it was not just the light conditions that gave me a problem. It was also time and the need to figure out the best angles. Next time I will go better informed.
Update (22/03/2013) According to a friend of my sister –
“The second photo has some lichens in as well as moss- the silvery flattish ones at the front which may be a Paramelia – and probably the red and silvey grey one – also a brown cupped one in the middle- these last 2 will be Cladonia species.”
Moss Garden
Peristomes
Ghostly Tree