New Camera

So since I was taking my daughter to NYC this week, I bought a small point and shoot camera to bring instead of my big DSLR.  I bought a Canon PowerShot SX170 IS and I cannot wait to bring it back!  I really hate it!  I am fairly sure my cell phone takes better photos, and there is some mysterious fleck of something in the lens (which I didn't notice at first).  That being said, I brought it to Simon Pearce to try to photograph the waterfall and capture some shapes without being super obvious with my big camera.  These are nothing amazing, but they're the best of what I got.  Please don't mind the graininess; Inside I was at ISO 1600 and the grain was unavoidable (frustrating!).

The shapes at Simon Pearce are amazing; I just couldn't do them justice with this soon-to-be returned camera!

City Shapes

Some new sights this weekend to inspire more shape pictures and shutter speed practice.
My sister's girly lamp...

 

the view of New York City in the evening...

 and the Paterson Falls National Park in New Jersey.

I used a 1/2.5 shutter speed to try and get that misty, soft look of the water.

Snow Motion!

Playing with shutter speeds today. To capture the motion of the snow, I used 1/4 speed. It is hard to look at because it all seems blurry!

To freeze the flakes while falling I used 1/250 shutter speed. Much better!

Capturing Motion: A Rescue

Thought you guys would get a kick out of this--my husband wore our dog out in the snow so badly that he had to wade down into a little gully to rescue him when he couldn't make it up the snowbank again.  My favorite part was the matching expressions!

My shutter speed was 1/400 for the photo above, 1/640 below to capture the motion.

Happy Baxter, glad to be rescued!

Night Sky

This photo was taken with a 10 second shutter speed. I also found that some photo editing software was included with my camera when I got it and I have been experimenting with it the last few days including with this photo.

Shapes at Hannah's 1st Birthday Party

I wish I had Tara's eye for unique perspectives!  No matter how I shot these lanterns, I couldn't keep them looking like circles while making the shot interesting (while having a house full of guests and a demanding 1-year-old).  This was one of the times I wished I had some freedom and time to play around with my shots--this was at my in-laws' house so I couldn't even try again after the party!

Hearts

Shapes

A Helpful Link

As we were discussing wildlife photography the other day and how sometimes the photo comes out blurry, I got an email from Digital Photography School today with a link with 5 Most Common Mistakes In Wildlife Photography.  Thought I'd share!

http://digital-photography-school.com/5-common-mistakes-wildlife-photography-avoid

Definitely sign up for their weekly emails--they are a wealth of helpful information and tips!

March 4th Meeting Recap

Last night the Artistree Camera Club met again to discuss the nuances of shutter speed and its many artistic applications.  The group is excited to work on all that we discussed!  We will also be looking for SHAPES in our everyday life as we wait for the winter to thaw so we can finally take a photo walk together!  We will meet next on the first Tuesday of April, the 1st, at 6 pm. Please spread the word and feel free to bring a friend!

It was a pleasure sharing all the hard work everyone put in over the past few weeks.  The red photos and photos of different aperture were fantastic!  Please keep posting often and comment away on each other's work, even mine!

The next time we meet, it will be spring!  Here's to photos of flowers and running water soon!

Understanding Shutter Speed

Notes taken from http://godigitalslr.com and http://digital-photography-school.com

Shutter speed, very simply, is understood as the length of time your shutter will remain open, determining the amount of light which will be allowed into your camera and hit your sensor.  The longer it stays open, the more light is allowed in, and the less time the shutter is open, the less light is allowed in.

Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second.  Some cameras will show shutter speed as a whole number, some as a fraction (such as 1/250 could also show up as simply 250).  Whole seconds are shown with quotation marks next to it, such as 2 seconds will show up as 2".

Beware of noise and grain in your slower photos!

Shutter speed can also be used for artistic purposes, such as when you want to purposefully freeze or blur motion.

source for above photos

Here are some interesting articles about how to incorporate your knowledge of shutter speed into your decisions regarding the artistic impression you are trying to create with your photograph.

Waterfalls

City Shots

Creating Dramatic Shots Using Motion

Last word to the wise: Beware of handshake.  Consider using a tripod or stabilize your shot in some way!

Let's have fun with shutter speed this month!