Getting more out of Flickr

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

How I’m getting more out of Flickr

I have a free account with Flickr at the moment. And I am finding more and more ways that Flickr can help my photography skills and my communication and networking with others.

I have found that Flickr groups are great for this, and makes Flickr a truly interactive photo sharing site. It was just a case of choosing a group or groups that I wanted to join and then I could join in with the discussions and submit photos or do the challenges. Finding other photographers and commenting on their photographs has givien me inspiration and taught me a lot.

Free account or Pro

What I have now realised is that a free account while free, and giving immediate access to the Flickr network does have it’s limitations. Like a 200 photo upload limit that can be viewed and a limit of 3 sets per account. This wasn’t something I had thought about when I opened the account as I was going to be using it for my Project 365 so I didn’t over load my blog (this one). But now I want to share more than just my Project 365.

I was starting to wonder why there was a lot of pro accounts around and now I know why. With a pro accont there is unlimited uploads and sets and stats etc…

I don’t want to sell the pro account here, but I am going to upgrade my account because Flickr has become a more important tool for me than I expected it to be. So I want to continue to use it to it’s full potential and not be restricted. Of course there is a fee for this of $24.95 for a 1 year account (not too bad).

My Flickr groups (at the moment):

Learning photography with Neil Creek
Project 365
Your Photo Tips

My Flickr Photostream

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Do you ever feel held back with your Photography?

I have to say I’m feeling a little held back at the moment with my photography and in particular my camera.

I’ve got to the stage where I know I need to be able to adjust the settings for exposure to capture a better photograph, but I have no way of doing that. Because I’ve got a very low end point and shoot camera which is really great for snap shots of friends and family, but no good if I want to go a little deeper. The camera I use at the moment is a Traveler DC-5080 and it has taken what I feel are some good photographs. But if I had a camera that was more flexible then could I have made them even better?

I’ve felt this way for a while and I have been thinking about a solution, which only comes to one answer which is to buy a new camera. I could look at how I am taking the shot and consider the natural lighting that I have to work with, which I do at the moment but at the end of the day the camera itself is still limiting me. It’s just the natural time to move on to the next stage. After all if you enter a race with a Ford Fiesta you are not going to do as well in it as if you had entered it with a Jaguar, are you…

So the hunt is on and the decisions are being made and weighed in the search for an upgrade to my camera, which has served me well and will continue as my back up.

I have even been using Photoshop Elements 3 to give my images a helping hand. Which is something I’ve never really done before. I’ve used Elements more for resizing and cropping in the past, but I have been experimenting with it to see how I can improve the images, and I’ve had some pleasing results.

This is good for learning photoshop skills, which I do think has it’s place as part of the process of creating an image. But I just need that bit of flexibility in the first place to give me more creative freedom. I don’t know why but I feel like I’m betraying a trusted friend!

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

What is a DSLR?

There’s lots of fancy abbreviations in photography and they can be confusing, you can sometimes feel like you’re reading another language! So while weighing up the pros and cons of DSLR’s which I am doing at the moment, I thought it may be a good idea to start at the beginning and look at what a DSLR really is. Well for starters it’s a camera…

DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.

It means the camera shows you exactly what the lens is seeing through the viewfinder by using a mirror, and not off set like many point and shoots which can cause heads and arms etc to get chopped off. So what you see is what you get. Take a look at the Wiki definition for more technical information on the mirror system.

DSLR’s are the same as an SLR, but instead of using film to capture the image as the SLR does, the DSLR uses a digital sensor. Some SLR lens will fit their DSLR equivalents.

You have a lot of options with a DSLR:

• you can change lens
• have an external flash
• have manual control over the aperture and shutter settings
• they give high quality photographs (more megapixels).
• you can try different types of photography eg. macro, telephoto
• and many more features and settings

In the past this type of camera was only used by professional photographers, but over time the prices have come down that much, and they have become easier to use. So that the enthusiastic amateur can now own one, and explore photography more.

This is a start of a series on photographic abbreviations and what they mean, in an easy to understand way.

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Photographing Fine Art

It seems quite a strange idea photographing a painting in a way, because it’s already an image. But obviously to add to an artists website or online gallery then an artist would need to take shots of their work.

My sister Jill Hudson, is an artist so I thought it would be a bit of fun to have a go at taking a photograph of some of her work. This painting is an oil on canvas and is of some lights in the Cafe Noir in Venice Italy, a favourite cafe we visited while in Venice a couple of years ago.

I think the first thing I learned was that lighting is very important when taking shots of paintings. Because obviously you want to be able to have a true representation of the painting, so I was aware of shadows and sunlight crossing the painting. I needed clear, crisp and well lit photographs, so I shot in a well lit room in daylight and took the shot straight on to get the best view of the piece. I don’t have any unframed pieces so I thought I would make a feature of the frame and include it in the shot.

You can find more of her work at her website, Floaty Boat and also at the Saatchi online gallery.

This is a totally unsolicited post by the way, but she does now owe me one!

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Aren’t Lighthouses Photogenic!

There’s something about lighthouses don’t you think? Obviously solitary but also welcoming, which is possibly not the best thing for a lighthouse!

This is Perch Rock Lighthouse on the shore off of New Brighton.

Before it was built about 180 years ago, there was a wooden beacon to warn ships away from this sandstone bank on their way into Liverpool.

This is the first time I have been this close to a lighthouse that’s not on dry land! You can only get this close at low tide, and then you have to be careful of the fast flowing tides, this part of the coast is very dangerous.

I always hear other photographers saying about the importance of taking your camera everywhere with you, so as to be ready for that unexpected photo opportunity. But they don’t say anything about taking suitable footwear with you everywhere as well.

I took these shots on the off chance, but I had to negotiate some large slimy rocks and lots of water logged sand to get to the lighthouse - in my sandals!!!

Lesson learned…

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Jodrell Bank Visit

I have been trying to get to Jodrell Bank for years but never managed it, I’ve actually tried a few times and got lost! But on Monday I made it.

Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics is the home of the Lovell Radio Telescope which was built back in 1956 and in 1957 it tracked Sputnik.

Apart from the scientific importance of the telescope it has become a landmark in the area as it can be seen for miles around.

It is an amazing piece of construction, even though it’s huge (there’s no other way to put it) it has a real elegance and I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say I think it looks absolutely beautiful.

We went to the visitor centre which is right next to the telescopes control room, they had loads of information on how it was built and on what it does.

We didn’t get to see it all and I can’t wait to go back again.

They also have a twice monthly podcast by the astronomers talking about what they are doing, you can find them at the Jodcast.net which again is full of information.

It’s amazing the amount of information you can get from these sites and learn about astronomy, and the different projects that the telescope is involved with.

I was really excited to be able to visit it and get so close, for some reason I was surprised by how close visitors can get.

There has been talk recently about maybe closing it.

I truly hope they don’t do this as it’s a fantastic resource at our fingertips, and by that I mean the general public never mind what it means to the scientists.

Go and visit it now while you’ve got the chance.

I know I fell in love with the place, it was definitely worth the wait!

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Discovering French Architecture

These photographs were taken in Vannes, Brittany, in France. I love buildings and architecture and France is a great place to see them.

I’d never been to France before so I was looking forward to visiting the medieval towns and cities.

I’ve read about France, and I’ve seen some programs about the lovely towns and cities, so I couldn’t wait to visit one. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Yes, some of the buildings were leaning that much! It’s a wonder that they were still standing.

I couldn’t believe how close the buildings were to the church. The church seemed to spring out of nowhere when you turned the corner of a street. I wonder which they built first!

I’d love to go back and spend a bit more time with my camera, it was a little tricky this time as we had two kids in tow…

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Transferring Film Photographs onto Digital Media

So I’ve got a ton of negatives that I want to put onto disc.

After writing the post yesterday I started to sort through one of the two bags I have full of film photographs and negatives, and I had a really good time doing it. I enjoyed looking back at photographs I must have taken years ago and since ‘going digital’ I’ve not looked at them (hence the two bags and hidden under a table).

And that’s made me eager to get some of them at least onto disc so I can add them to my digital photo library. The reason I say disc is that I don’t have a scanner anymore, in my great wisdom I got rid of it when I went to digital photography…doh!

So I have a toss up between buying a scanner with a negative attachment or look into getting them scanned at a photo processing shop. I must admit at the moment I am leaning towards the photo processing because of time, and limit it to the best ones for the moment.

My local supermarket has a photo processing shop and they can scan both prints and negatives and put them onto disc, in an hour! So it’s just the cost, but that shouldn’t be too bad if I’m just using a selection to start with.

I don’t want to buy a scanner at the moment because I am saving up for a DSLR, so this seems like a good compromise because I’m really looking forward to getting them onto my computer.

I’ll let you know how it goes…

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

What do you do with all those old negatives?

The last couple of weeks I have been moving some bedrooms around in our house. The obvious problem with that is sorting through all the extra stuff that you accummalate over the years.

While I was doing this I came across two bags full of my film negatives from when I used a 35mm film camera. There’s loads of them along with a lot of old prints. I love looking back at old photographs they stir up some forgotten memories.

But what am I going to do with them all. In this day and age it’s all about clutter free living and keeping every thing to a minimum, so it would be nice to organise them so they can be easily accessible but also be able to tidy away again nicely. I’ll have to have a look around.

The other thing on my mind is making sure that these old photographs become timeless, and don’t degrade or become damaged which I’ve heard some early colour photos can do. So it makes sense to transfer them all to digital media because I can then use them. Just because I shoot on digital camera now doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy and use my old 35mm shots.

There’s no definitive break between the two different types of photography for me they should be able to blend together. And transferring all my old shots onto my computer whether I scan them in or get a lab to put them onto discs, then that will finally merge my two phases of photography.

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

What Does F-Ratio Mean?

This is part of the subject which was discussed in lesson 3, lenses, light and magnification of the Photo 101 course that I am following. It looks at brightness and f-ratio’s, magnification and field of view.

I found this lesson a harder one than the other two, although it is explained very well. I had to read through it a couple of times before I really got it. And this was partly because I had missed a key sentence, so it just shows it pays to reread an article!

F-ratio

My favourite part of the lesson though was the explanation of f-ratio, what it is and how it works. This is one of those photography terms that I hear people talking about and read about, but was not really sure what it was or what it meant.

F-ratio describes the relationship between the diameter of the lens and the focal length. F-ratio = focal length divided by diameter of the lens.

The f-ratio of a lens is always written on it somewhere. I always wondered what all those numbers on a lens meant!

If I put this information together with what I learned in the first two lessons then it is building a picture. Of how the design of a camera uses what we know about light and how it behaves to create an image. And we can then choose the right lens or settings for the situation, depending on how much light there is available to create the best image possible.

The different parts of the puzzle are starting to come together…

Homework

The homework this week was quite hard as most of the options were suited for DSLR’s, but that was fine because there was an option for point and shoots which was to use the macro setting on the camera.

My camera is a cheap point and shoot and I have been having problems getting the macro setting to work successfully. I keep it at the minimum distance that the camera suggest of 0.6m. And I found using a tripod and the self timer gives the best results. But I think I have done alright with the photos below (they are better than previous ones), although there is a bit of digital noise and they are not completely macro, but the best the camera will allow.

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Next Page »