Weekend Getaway

123mm @ ISO 200, f/8.0 & 1/800s

So after I got back home life was pretty hectic and I have been pretty busy ever since (hence the lack of updates) but my parents and sister came out for Labor Day weekend to see me and we had a nice relaxing time.  I brought my camera with me while I was hanging out with them and even though I didn't take many pictures while I was with them, I took my camera out while we were lounging by the pool and I got this great picture of my sister.  I used my telephoto 55-250mm lens so that I could frame her face properly and set the camera to Av (aperture priority) and dialed in f/8.0 so all of her features would be in focus and the background was just the pool so I didn't need a lower aperture to blur the background.  I had it on ISO 200 and, in hindsight, I probably could have had it on 100 but it is what it is and the picture still came out great without noise.  A little bit of adjustment in Lightroom and Photoshop resulted in the great portrait above.  Hope you like it!

Home

96mm @ ISO 100, f/8.0 & 10s

I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last post but I was quite busy getting settled in the States once again. Now that I am back in Phoenix and settling down, I'm hoping to get many more good pictures for you all. Anyway, this picture was taken during a beautiful lightning storm this evening. I was going up the mountain this was shot from to get some sunset pictures, but the ones I did get seemed really flat and the beautiful sun was nearly gone by the time I got set up. This turned into shooting the night scene of Phoenix and luckily some lightning was on the horizon. So lucky! I had my camera on the tripod and used the "Bulb" setting to control how long the exposure would be and dialed the aperture to f/8.0 and shot as many shots as I could get. After a bunch of misses, I got this shot above with a couple strikes together and the clarity was "shocking." Hope you like the Snap!

Kayamandi Man

53mm @ ISO 100, f/8.0 & 1/100s

The above shot was taken from the car whilst driving though Kayamandi. This man and his walking stick were walking by us and I loved the quick shot I got. Due to some very bright and gray skies, I cropped down the shot to level out the shot and since it was mid-day, the colors were very washed out so I thought a B&W would be best suited for this shot. I reduced noise (though there was almost none due to ISO 100) with Noiseware and sharpened with PS's "Unsharp Mask" then converted to B&W with Silver Efex. With some curve tweaking and a 1-stop Gradient added I finally felt like the shot was complete. It is a bit harsh, but I think it fits with the time of day and the feeling I wanted to convey. Let me know what you think though.

Cheers!

Winter?

214mm @ ISO 400, f/8.0 & 1/1000s

To start off the new direction of the blog, I used the above shot. I admit this isn't from today but yesterday but I loved it just the same. The shot was taken with my telephoto (Canon 55-250mm IS, if anyone forgot) and since its "macro" range is minimum 3.6 feet, I had to get pretty far away from the subject. This tree by our house was completely bare, due to it (supposedly) being winter, but a few confused flower petals burst forth the last couple days and I thought the juxtaposition was gorgeous. I got very low to the ground, and was basically under the subject so that the Sun could properly light the subject and used the Aperture Priority Mode dialed to f/8.0. Unfortunately, my ISO was set to 400 where 200 would have been easily sufficient so I had to remove some noise post-shot. Overall I think the image turned out stunning and I hope you do too. Check back soon for more and comment if you have any advice or criticism. Also, you may notice a Facebook "Like" box below. Use it to pass on my blog to your friends! Alternatively, you can follow my blog by email by adding your email address to the box on the right.

Cheers!

P.S. I think I am going to keep the Sunday Fun Snap, so look out for that every Sunday!

New Directions

So it has come to my attention that my blog has unintentionally taken a direction that was not originally the scope of the blog. That scope, which was my original intention, was to post a good, professional, photo each day along with the specs of the shot and what I did to get that shot. Criticism and helpful tips could be posted about the shot to help me become a better photographer. As of late, my blog had become, in essence, somewhere for me to post a photo of something that happened in my life that day and the body of the post basically outlined that day. This was not my vision and from this post onward, the initial plan will be upheld. I also think I am going to get rid of the Sunday Fun Snap segment of the blog, at least for now (though I would like input as to whether you, viewers, agree). I want to thank everyone who has been following this blog so far and I hope that you all enjoy the new (and initially proposed) direction.

Expect a photo-post (I'll still refer to them as Snaps) tonight and hopefully I will get a good, professional-looking, shot everyday. Until my photographic "spidey-sense" develops (excuse the pun), I may only post a Snap every other day or so. I will post an update on Facebook and Google+ when a new post is available and hopefully, eventually they will come everyday. Thank you for a moment of your time and a few synapses of your brain.

Now to go take some real photos.

-Billy Gardiner-

Sunday Fun Snap 2: Only in Glass Houses...

55mm @ ISO 200, f/8.0 & 1/1000s

...And you happen to be stuck in that Glass House and provided that you have a stone with you. I really liked this sign at the Cape Point Lighthouse and though it may seem obvious not to do this, the sign still exists. This could definitely also be classified into one of Megan's Signs of Africa pics. If you've seen Demitri Martin, you would also get a giggle out of this sign as well. Hope everyone had a wonderful week and a great Monday to come tomorrow.

P.S. Remember to follow the site if you are enjoying it!

Cheers!

Beautiful Table Mountain

27mm @ ISO 200, f/8.0 & 1/500s

I love this shot of Table Mountain and I made it into an HDR. Had a wonderful time this weekend and even though this shot was technically from today, I thought they would make a great photo for Saturday's Snap. Going to be posting the Sunday Fun Snap here in a moment.