So, you can imagine how pleased I was when Katy announced her monthly Camera Challenge for the photographically challenged!
This month our challenge was to get away from the full auto settings where the human behind the camera is simply required to point and shoot, to select and use the landscape, portrait and sport settings in the appropriate situation.
So, I took myself off to the coast and started snapping.
Unfortunately I didn't read the instructions of the challenge properly and discovered afterwards that we were supposed to take a photo in full auto mode and then the same photo in one of the three settings!
Camera Challenge Scene 2
A lovely, sunny afternoon found me heading out to Hadrian's Wall, for some, hopefully, appropriate landscapes. Sadly, by the time we reached the Roman site the sun had been left behind :(
The view from Brocolitia Roman Fort taken in full auto mode
The Fort is pretty desolate at the best of times, but on a grey day in February I feel sorry for any poor Roman who found himself patrolling the wall and thinking of the glorious Italian weather that he had left behind :)
The only contenders for portrait shots on the day were the sheep grazing on the other side of the road, but they weren't too keen to have their portraits taken, so plan B was called for.
The above is taken in full auto.
I did entertain notions of taking action shots of him in sport mode, but they didn't quite work out as planned.
We are heading off to Murrayfield, Edinburgh to, hopefully, watch Scotland beat Wales (sorry Catrin!) at rugby, so maybe I will get some suitable sports shots there. I have no idea where our seats are in the stadium, so you may just have to imagine that the dots in the photos are players :)
Linking up to
Heh, chuckling at the idea of the sporty rabbit!
ReplyDeleteAnywho, even if you didn't take and auto photo at the coast, the landscape one came out well, and I think you should be able to see with it and the Hadrian's wall one that the landscape mode has put an effort into keeping even the furthest away elements in focus, as well as the processing applied to it boosting the landscape-esque colours of green and grey.
Unfortunately as our portrait subject was very close to his background, you can't really see the fading out of focus effect in the background, but not to worry, you'll have some more chances to have a go at this (with a non-moving subject ;o) )
I find taking photos the absolute worst part of blogging, I hate it! I'm also jealous of people who have stunning pictures on their blog, which is rather unfair as they have clearly put in the time and effort necessary to hone their skills! I need to find a good class to attend, how did you find yours?
ReplyDeleteWith all your travels, you'll have no shortage of beautiful places to practise with the now not so new camera, Fiona. I've thought about getting myself a DSLR, but I don't experiment with the settings on the camera I have, so I'm equally sure I'd do the same with a DSLR.
ReplyDeleteFascinating to see the difference the different settings make. I really struggle with taking decent photos.
ReplyDeleteHave fun at Murrayfield - my sister and her family will be there too! Fingers crossed for a good match :-)
I am currently taking a Craftsy class titled Shoot it! with Caro Sheridan. It concentrates on photographing craft items for a blog or for Etsy etc., not necessarily landscape work. It is very very slow to start but later on I am learning a bit of other items like rule of thirds and composition and color and not necessarily just camera settings. I do like your class teacher's suggestion of using settings other that auto on my current camera. So far all I have really played with is flash auto or flash off or flash force on so I will gtry that suggestion. I waited for a sale on the Craftsy Shoot it class and so it is worth what I paid. Perhaps as I complete the class and I get into the more technical camera related portion I will feel differently. So far it is good but not great and I am satisfied but not thrilled.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting. The non-auto photos really do look nicer. I'm certainly a point and shooter. I should look at my instruction book... :)
ReplyDeleteI've driven past Hadrians wall but not gotten the chance to actually visit it - would love to do that. Anyone who wears Sandals in our winter weather would get my sympathies too! Exciting buying a new camera - what did you get?
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hope you enjoyed anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying Katy's series but haven't quite got the time for the homework at the moment. Your pics have come out well.
I will have to check out that challenge, it sounds fun and I am always trying to learn more about my camera and become more confident with it;
ReplyDelete