Video on the agenda

I do not have a photo to brighten this blog today because I have been busy with the video editing computer and with different video cameras. My latest treasure (had since Christmas) is a tiny little video camera the size of a mobile phone that takes full hi-definition video in NTSC format. I live in an area that is within the PAL system of TV so it does seem a little strange that I should have a video camera that is for a different system. The reason is that I bought (sorry, was given!) the camera for a specific purpose. That purpose is for taking short video snapshots to share on Youtube.
I have also found that this little camera is adequate for taking shots of my little granddaughters and putting the footage on DVD for them to play back over and over and over! They think it is fantastic!
On Sunday I used the Nikon D90 video feature to take video of the children when we had fun on the exercise gadgets for joggers in one of the parks we visited. This video is in PAL format and to be quite honest the quality is not a patch on that from the JVC pocket cam. The picture appears to be made up of colour blocks and although is supposed to be full HD I had to check the settings to be sure I had not set it at 720p rather than 1080i - but it was on 1080i. The sound from the Nikon is better than that from the JVC pocket cam and the kids will enjoy the content regardless of what camera was used. I wont be using the Nikon again for video after seeing it rendered to DVD.
The video I have just uploaded to youtube was taken with the pocket cam - and as with any camera with no viewfinder I was not always able to see what I was getting in the screen! I had not realised that I had some bad sun flare at one point but I left that bit in the video because I happened to be talking to the camera while shooting. Here is the link to that video. (just click on the hyper-linked words!)
I managed to make three short videos today. I can recommend "Adobe Premiere 9" as a very easy program to use - you can make a video in next to no time!  (after a bit of practice!)
AJ

Swan out of water

I have just returned from a fun filled day with the two grandchildren - their grandfather is snoring peacefully in front of the TV now, it was an exhausting day for him. We found some exercise machines for joggers and he had to join in because the children couldn't reach the pedals with their tiny four and six year old legs! I couldn't help because I was busy taking video with the Nikon D90! The children love to see themselves and show off their activities to Mum and Dad once we reach home again! (That's my excuse for still having energy left once I reach home!)
At the last of the parks we visited the children spotted a black swan. We all walked towards the lake but when the swan jumped out of the water and started walking towards us the children raced back to the play park! The bird was almost as tall as they were and I warned them that it could be aggressive so to be careful. Of course I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots. When Colin held out his hand as if he had food it was clear that this bird had been fed by picnickers - a foolish thing to do since wild birds learn that people mean hand-outs.

f.8  1/60   ISO 200  55mm

The children only reach up to above Colin's waist, so you can see why I advised the children to stay back! The swan is a big bird and once the wings are out it is massive!

f.8  1/60   ISO 200  40mm

I edged forward and took another shot of the bird, he really is magnificent. It is wonderful that we can get so close to our native wildlife, but it is wise to remember that they are wild creatures and do not eat bread when in their usual foraging, bread is not good for them (nor for kangaroos - but people cannot help themselves! Its wonderful to have a wild creature eat from your hand and bread is usually in the picnic box!)

f.8  1/60   ISO 200  40mm

To take my photo "at eye level" of the bird I had squatted on my heels and the bird thought that was oh so tempting and marched towards me - you aught to have heard the alarmed shrieking from the children back at the playground! "Granny, Granny"!!!! They thought I was going to be attacked! I took my shot and stood up, the bird realised that I was bigger than he and changed direction! As I stood up I notice a small boy not too far from me with a big sandwich in his hands so I told him to run back to his family. He did so and the swan, disappointed in his quest for human food turned around and returned to the lake. The little boy was younger than my two girls so he would have lost his lunch to the swan if I hadn't intervened!
For those of you interested in camera settings, once again I used Aperture priority - so basically used the camera in an automatic mode. The camera determines the shutter speed. It was a very bright day so I had set the ISO to 200. If the day had been dull I would have increased the ISO, this lets in a lot more light so the shutter speed would increase too. When you are hand holding a camera it is almost impossible to get a sharp picture if the shutter speed goes below 1/60 second. If you use Aperture priority always make sure of your shutter speed. Take your photo and check the photo information. If the shutter speed is too low, increase the ISO and try again.
AJ

Creating clouds

This evening I was driving home after visiting a friend and thoroughly enjoying the experience. The traffic was thick and slow and everyone seemed to be on the road and yet I was enjoying being out there. The reason? The light was fading and the sky was changing colour and the few clouds were getting more beautiful by the second. As I turned off the highway onto the quiet road that leads to home (and, if I failed to turn off to home, up into the mountains) the sky had a distinct orange rim along the dark horizon; and although the rest of the sky was varying shades of blue, the clouds were also tinged with orange.
I did wish that I had my good camera with me and the chance to take a photograph. One thought led to another and I worked out that I could actually create my own sunset and coloured clouds. I did not need to regret not having a camera!
I will show you how to create your own sunset!
Whenever I see a sky with good clouds and I have my point and shoot camera handy I take lots of photos. Its a good thing to do when you are the passenger in the front seat of the car!

Open the picture in Photoshop and as long as you have version CS3 or higher you will be able to access Adjustments>Black and White.
Drag the cyan and the blue sliders to the left to convert the blue sky to jet black. Make sure that you do not darken the shadow area in the cloud too much. Tweak the cyan slider so that the edge of the cloud is "clean".

This image is to be converted into a brush. If you take a look at your brushes they are black shapes inside a white background. So.... Image >Adjustments > Invert. This will give you a black cloud inside a white background. Crop the cloud taking the boundary as close as you can to the edge of the cloud.
You will not be able to make a brush if the image is too large. Go to Image>Image size and change it to 1000 pixels width (have height and width constrained) and change the resolution to 96 pixels per inch.
Now click on Edit>Define Brush Preset. A little box will appear asking you what you want to call this brush.
 Call it cloud 1 (the next one you do will be cloud 2!)

 You now have a brush at the bottom of all the brush shapes that will give you the cloud shape whenever you use it.
I created a sunset similar to the one I saw on my drive this evening and chose the colour on the horizon as my foreground colour and this is what I created from two different cloud brushes (you will recognise the brush I have just shown you in construction)

One tip - when you use the cloud brushes always paint on a new layer. If you decide you have put in too many clouds you can delete the layer and add another and start again. I usually apply each cloud on a new layer then they can be moved and resized.
Another useful reason for putting the cloud on a new layer is that the colour can be changed (for daytime stick to white or light grey) with my cloud colour I was able to go to Hue and Saturation and change the colour to match the light over the horizon.
These orange clouds look really artificial, don't they? I can assure you that this is how the sky was as I drove home. Truly extraordinary - gorgeous!
AJ

Chasing the Wattle bird

While I was working in the garden I could hear the strange "scratch" shout from the calliandra tree - a tree that has red pom-poms all over it. The Wattlebirds were busy sipping nectar from the centre of the red flowers and seemingly oblivious of the movement and busyness below them in the garden. Colin and I were busy digging out ginger plants and Clivia nobilis and not being too quiet about our efforts. To be honest, it was Colin who was digging out the plants and I was the one transplanting the Clivia to a new garden bed. The ginger had all but taken over that bit of garden and the tubers had tangled among the roots of azalea bushes and lots of other plants too. It was a "mattock" job to remove the mat of roots!
Anyway, the birds didn't mind us doing that - but as soon as I had cleaned up and re-appeared with my camera and tripod to take some photos of these visitors (they are a bit nomadic and have only just returned) they moved to the back of the tree, out of sight of me!
I went back indoors and changed into something drab - a brown jacket - and for a while had more success. I suspect that the bright sunlight glistening on my camera along with the loud shutter sound alerted them to the fact that they were on candid camera! Here are four of my better shots of today.

f number varies       all shots 1/640  ISO 400  300mm

As you can see, the first three photos were taken of the same bird on the same flower. Its just as well I took a few shots because these were the only two locations where I was able to take clear pictures of the Little Wattle Bird.
Today I set the shutter speed, not the aperture. I also increased the ISO to 400 to allow in plenty of light. Using the Shutter speed lets the camera determine the correct aperture. I needed enough depth of field to include the head and body of the bird, I did not mind if the leaves were not so sharp. I set the shutter speed to 640 to freeze any movement either from the bird flapping its wings or from the breeze moving the leaves. To be sure that I captured sharp images of the bird - I was using a long lens (70 - 300mm) at the maximum reach - I knew I could not hold the camera still enough so used a tripod. I did try one shot, hand held of one of the flowers and I could see the red ball bouncing around in the viewfinder! Hand-holding a camera that is using a long zoom is not a good idea - even if it is a point and shoot with a big zoom. Find something to rest the camera on - if you do not have a tripod handy.
AJ

Fun in the sun

After three days of grey skies and wet weather it was with delight that I awoke to blue skies once more. Once all the chores were out of the way I had a little time to play with my camera. This time I had the 50mm lens fitted on the front so I decided to leave it there and see how I managed. Its a lovely little lens but I find it rather restricting in that I can't always get far enough away from my subject. I really found that to be the case today too - I could not go any further away from where I had set up my backdrop or I would have been in the swimming pool!
I grabbed a handful of little dog biscuits and a sheet of firm plastic board - the sort used for real estate signs - and allowed one dog at a time into the pool yard. For food, my dogs will do almost anything!
First off the blocks was Byron and I managed to get a few good shots of him - but because of the restriction on distance I could not get any further away and head shots were my only option - and even then I was only just far enough away!

On a bright day, perhaps white was not the best colour to have as a backdrop! However it is nice to be able to get a couple of shots with nothing distracting behind the dogs. Byron is now eleven and half years old. He is a "designer dog", an Irish Poodle which is a cross between an Irish Water Spaniel and a Standard Poodle. We get his wool cut every three months. It is about a week since he had his last session at the poodle parlour so his coat is like that of the astrakhan sheep, soft and curly.
Now here is Samson.

Samson is a Curly Coat Retriever and he always looks this sad! He is as black as the Ace of Spades - but picture two makes him look rather blue! Oops! When we bought Samson from the Council pound (six years ago) we were told that he was two years younger than Byron but now he is looking a bit older than his woolly mate! The Curly Coat Retriever is one of the oldest breeds of dog, apparently the breed was used in England by the Game Keepers who looked after the grounds and pheasants for the Lord of the Manor.     
Before I close for today I am going to include two more pictures, this time from my garden. There are a few things in flower - there always are! But these are quite spectacular at the moment. The Calliandra pompoms are a favourite with the Little Wattle Birds. I hear them and see them a lot but they never let me get close enough to take a photo - they zip behind the tree to feed out of range!

I love this small tree because it seems to have these colourful flowers on it for many months, there are always new ones opening up. That little raspberry shaped bud is one of the emerging flowers.

Lastly the Poinsettia that stands beside my mailbox. This is a double one and the flowers would be 30cm across - or more. They are only just wide open, they and all their smaller cousins are brightening our gardens at the moment.
There is a round bush that is smothered in tiny little white star shaped flowers that is a type of Hibiscus that we know as the snow-ball bush and it is just making itself noticed! They seem to be in everyone's gardens - even gardens where there are only lawns and shrubs!
Click on any of the pictures if you wish to see them larger!
AJ

Aperture - one explanation

I would like to show you why more and more people are moving away from a point and shoot camera and getting themselves a digital SLR. If you look at the prices of cameras you will see that a good brand SLR can be cheaper than a point and shoot. I am not writing to argue the "pro and cons" of the different types of cameras, there are plenty of articles to give you those. What I would like to show, along with three photos I have just taken, is something that can be done with an SLR with no complicated pressing of menu buttons.
Just as on a point and shoot camera there is a wheel on the top of all SLR cameras that gives different scene modes. (I have not found or heard of anyone with an SLR who ever used these scene modes!) This same wheel has three extra things written on it.
M - which means Manual mode - this takes the most skill to use and get good results.
A or Av (Nikon =A, Canon =Av) - the aperture can be set manually while the shutter speed is automatically adjusted by the camera.
S or Tv (Nikon =S, Canon = Tv) Here the shutter speed can be set manually and the camera takes care of the aperture setting.
The most usual setting SLR users employ (those that aren't using full "Auto"!) is A or Av, the aperture control. It is this setting I will show the reasons why.

With the camera set on A (I am using a Nikon camera - the D90 model) so I am in control of the aperture settings, I have chosen to set the camera at f/1.8 (Using a 50mm prime lens). The smaller the F number the narrower the field of focus. Its so easy to remember that connection!
Even without clicking on the picture to see it larger, you can see that the place mat under the pen is not in focus either nearer to the camera nor behind the pen. The depth of field is just enough to show the pen. If I used this setting to take a picture of a dog's looking at me, the nose would be in sharp focus but the eyes would be out of focus. Small F number, small range of focus.

This time the aperture setting was changed to f/9 and you can clearly see the flower pattern on the place mat in front of the pen and about the same distance behind the pen. The shutter speed has changed but I am not telling you what it is - the camera took care of adjusting the shutter speed to make sure the amount of light and shade was to the camera's liking. This choice of aperture setting is often used for such things as shooting wild-life and getting the animal in focus and the background blurred.

The aperture on this occasion has been set to f/22 and because the camera slowed the shutter speed to almost one second, I had to use my mini tripod to keep the camera still. The high f number has given a very wide depth of field and the entire place mat is in sharp detail.  (Large F number, large depth of field.)
I hope that my explanation has been simple enough for you to follow.
Really, the camera operator is still using the camera's automatic settings - the focus is set automatically and the shutter speed is set automatically - and yet there is far more control (with no real brain work needed) to get the sort of shot that is required.
The people who want "everything in focus" will always use full automatic settings and are really using the SLR as a "point and shoot" (but will get better results) however the more adventurous photographer can experiment with depth of field by choosing to use the Aperture Priority mode.
AJ

Playing with the Canon macro

Wanting to use the camera and without a car to go some place other than home, I had to content myself with searching for subjects in the garden. Selecting the Canon D40 and the Macro lens as my "weapon of choice" for this venture I started by setting up a table with a white cloth as a backdrop - with an ingenious method of creating a back support with a surfboard strapped to the back two legs! I should have taken a photo of my "studio"!
To begin with I thought that I would try to take plants in isolation from their surrounds by draping white material over the surf board and over the table. I found a piece of florist's "oasis" foam to support the plants. Once the stem had been pushed into the foam the extra white material that fell down the front of the table was doubled back and gently positioned over the oasis block. This acted as a reflector. So the plant was in front of a white draping backdrop and its underside was brightened with reflected light off the white fabric over the block.
Rather than use the macro lens as close as I could to the subjects I needed to find out how much depth of field I would get if I were further away. (I need to know this for a future project). Here are a couple of my white backdrop results.

 Red Salvia         f/8  1/160     ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

Plumbago    f/8  1/250    ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

 The camera would have been about 700mm from the subjects (for all the photos included here today) I still need to learn a bit more about the Canon camera - I could not remember how to lock the aperture! I was using Manual focus but the camera was in Aperture priority.

Since only one of my roses is flowering and there are only two roses on the bush, I did not want to pick the flowers so clambered onto the raised flower bed with my tripod and camera to get these next two shots.

  f/11    1/500     ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

f/11      1/320     ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

 I really love orange roses! This one is called "Just Joey" and another orange one that I have taken photos of is "Whiskey".

The macro lens does an excellent job of isolating a single subject and my experimentation showed me that I can get a bigger depth of field by moving further away from the subject. Strangely though, in the viewfinder I cannot tell that the background is so out of focus. It looks almost as sharp as the main subject.

All my photos today were taken outside (Its almost winter and the temperature is a warm 27 degrees!) in the sunshine. All the experts tell you that no one should take photos any time except during the "golden hours" of early morning and late afternoon. In the tropics the golden hour is a mere ten minutes long so that is too restrictive for me!!! I love the full sun, shadows make subjects more interesting. I guess shooting in the midday is why I shall never be considered an expert!

AJ