For this assignment we were to
shoot a landscape scene and arrange the shots using the Rule of Thirds.
To accentuate the sky put the horizon on the lower third line.
To accentuate the ground put the horizon on the top third line.
If there’s a subject or centre of interest, place it on the left or right line, don’t centre it.
Use the crop tool to refine the composition later.
Darwin City from Charles Darwin National Park
All 1/200 f8.0 ISO 80 4.10 – 42 mm
Darwin City from Larrakeyah
First three shots 1/1000 f5.6 to f8.0 ISO 200 to 400
1/500 f8 ISO 100
1/50 f4.5 ISO 80 Lens 80 mm
Identify the Subject – I had noticed the fountain in the distance as we entered the park and climbed to the top of a hill to get an overall view.
Decide on the context it goes in – I asked whether the surrounding park supported the fountain.
I zoomed in to reduce the amount of park around the subject.
1/20 f4.5 ISO 80 Lens 80 mm
I narrowed it further by shooting a portrait view.
1/20 f8.0 ISO 80 Lens 85 mm
I also tried shooting the fountain off centre.
1/20 f6.3 ISO 80 Lens 85 mm
In the end I choose the third photo as it highlights the fountain and has the least amount of distraction.
Other subjects included a bird on a nest metal art installation:
Both 1/6 f8 ISO 80 Lens 100 mm and 143 mm
I prefer the second shot as I think the pond detracts from the picture.
Corkscrew Palms
Both 1/6 f5.6 ISO 200 Lens 31 mm
It was the pattern of the trunks that attracted my attention, therefore I prefer the idea of the second photo, though because it’s a bit blurry, I would have to return and step back a little to re-take the shot.
I also took the opportunity to practise photographing flowing water while I was there. Again, the images appear darker here than on my camera’s display but I hope to be able to lighten them in post processing.
1/30 f8.0 ISO 100 Lens 85 mm
1/30 f8.0 ISO 100 Lens 24 mm
1/30 f8.0 ISO 100 Lens 112 mm
1/40 f8.0 ISO 200 Lens 80 mm
1/40 f8.0 ISO 200 Lens 64 mm
For this assignment we were required to take photos in one location from sunset to full darkness so that we could experience the changing light and the adjustments we needed to make to our settings.
I started shooting at 7.12 pm and took about 35 photos until 7.47 pm when it became impossible for my camera to capture any image, regardless of what settings I chose.
7.12 pm 1/160 f6.4 ISO 400
Within five minutes I had to widen the aperture and Increase the ISO:
7.17 pm 1/130 f6.3 ISO 800
From 7.18 pm I had to use the widest aperture on my camera f5.6
7.18 pm 1/320 f5.6 ISO 800
At 7.19 pm I increased the ISO to 1600 but that made the image too bright and washed out the colours.
7.19 pm 1/320 f5.6 ISO 1600
I tried including some foreground after that and adjusted the shutter speed and ISO settings to try to get a true representation of the colours – f5.6 aperture being the widest on my camera used for all.
7.27 pm 1/100 f5.6 ISO 1600
From then until the end of Civil Twilight at 7.34 pm I turned the ISO up to 800 and adjusted the shutter speed to between 1/30 and 1/100.
7.34 pm 1/30 f5.6 ISO 800
After that, while I was shooting in Nautical Twilight, I increased the ISO to 3200 and adjusted the shutter speed to between 1/25 and 1/160
7.47 pm 1/25 f5.6 ISO 3200
My camera didn’t make it to the end of Nautical Twilight, which is probably just as well as it was past dinner time and we were hungry!
I’ve been doing an online photography course for a couple of weeks now, ’31 Days to Becoming a Better Photographer’, which requires posting photos to a Facebook group.
1/320 f6.4 ISO 200 Off Nightcliff Beach
I’m trying to work out how to do this from WordPress.
I would like to post my photos and assignments here so people can view them if they are interested instead of on Facebook where they don’t have any option.
I used Google Maps to locate Nightcliff Jetty, my favourite place to take photos. I had a look at some of the photos other people had posted on there. It’s a very popular spot and it looks like it has been photographed from every possible angle already. I’ll have to get creative!
This assignment proved very useful in planning our upcoming trip to Hawaii. When I Googled ‘Hawaii photography guides’ it came up with three sites detailing the best locations for classic shots from painted forests and snow-capped mountains to volcanoes and lava flowing into the sea.
Flickr World Map was also full of amazing shots.
A search of my local libraries found a recent edition of Lonely Planet’s Best of Hawaii which is full of amazing photos a well as being a great source of information.
I can hardly wait to make my own attempts!
DRIVING AUSTRALIA 