Less Can Be More

Ola,

Sometimes something very simple can be very powerful. In the case of photography what you leave out of the photo draws more attention to what is there. In the case of night photos, using the existing light lets you do this easily. You may hear often that a picture needs to be exposed properly. In the case of night photos, underexposure allows the viewer to see the scene as it actually is. That is how I see it at least. For this picture I thought it was neat how my neighbor happened to be the only house on the block to have the porch light on. After taking the picture it was even more awesome that I got the reflection in the puddle that was on my side of the street. You might notice the shadows and/or shapes of other dwellings, but the only one with lighting is this one place.   

Settings - ISO 100, Aperture- f/3.2, Shutter Speed - 3.2 sec.

Hasta Manana,

Steve

Getting in Close

Hey Hey Everybody,

Unless you can afford a good camera along with a good macro lens, getting extremely close shots is tough. Luckily, my camera at least has a macro setting, which focuses the lens as close as possible. Of course a good telephoto lens can let you focus in close from far away, but even a cheap one costs $200-300+.

Anyway, I was able to get a decent shot of this grasshopper in the bushes in front of my place. The grasshopper itself is not in focus as much as I would like. It is cool though how it looks like it is just resting on it's elbow and saying "What's Up?".

Settings: Resolution - 8MP, Aperture - f/2.8,  ISO - 80, Shutter Speed - 1/320 sec. 

-Steve

Fun With Motion

Hi Everybody!

For today's post I decided to use a photo that highlights how your shutter speed setting can influence the picture. First a bit of background... Basically the slower you put your shutter speed, the more movement you will capture. For just about any camera, if you take a picture that is less than 1/60 of a second long, any kind of movement is going to be noticed. For the picture below, I found a shady spot because it was sunny outside. This way I was able to get the shutter speed slow enough to capture the motion of the people on bikes. The other people walking are relatively unaffected. I like this picture because you can get the sense of what is going on in the photo, which is people hurrying along to their classes (Pic was taken at OSU campus).

The camera settings for this picture were as follows: Dimensions - 2865 x 1974 pixels, ISO - 80, Aperture - f/8, Shutter Speed - 1/25 seconds. I will try to remember to include this info for all of the pics I post for anyone who wants to know. If none of that stuff above makes sense, I will be happy to talk about it in the comments or write a post about it at a later time. One other note, always try to take your pictures at the highest MP setting you can. You may get less pics onto a card, but they will be better.

Until next time kiddies!!

-Steve

Welcome to the Evolution!

Hello Everyone,

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Steve Jenkins. I suppose I'm what you would call a serious amateur photographer. As the blog's name implies, the initial purpose of this blog is to document my personal growth in the field. Of course, I am hoping that as time goes on, it may also turn into something else. Namely, I would like this to be a place that inexperienced photo enthusiasts can come to share and discuss their work without feeling intimidated. I don't want to imply that professionals are not welcome though. Anyone and everyone who can offer constructive and friendly advice is invited as well. If you happen to be someone who just enjoys viewing photos, well come on in....

It is important I stress that this is not a site specifically intended to give professional help or tips. While professionals are welcome, keep in mind that the author of this site is certainly not one. I will give my take on subjects that I am interested in or learning about, but it will be as I understand them. Perhaps as the evolution reaches it's later stages, I will be in a position to offer more sound and concrete opinions. For anyone looking for an awesome site that is run by seasoned pros, check out Digital Photography School. I have learned quite a bit there myself, and you can find just about anything you are looking for on the site. There are articles on technical tips, post-processing, and equipment among others.

With the majority of the photos I will post, I intend to write at least a little bit explaining it. Sometimes though, it may just be a "photo of the day" in order to see what kind of discussion follows. Although I have stressed that I am not a professional, I am not discouraging any kind of technical talk. In fact I hope that it comes up often as that way we can all help each other to understand the art better. To end this initial post, I will end with a photograph of the person that inspired me to get into photography in the first place, my daughter Kiley.