Monday, October 26, 2009

Messin' with the camera

After a year or two of using my camera on auto mode, I finally started messing around with the manual settings this week. Surprise - I found I have a "continuous" mode for action shots so I don't have to wait, wait, wait for the camera to be ready to shoot again!

When the sun broke out after a rainy morning, I took these photos down along the sea walk. I'm not sure if the manual mode produced anything better than the auto mode, but it was fun trying. (Note: I always find photos lose something in the reduction to blog size - to get the full impact of any photo, just click on it to enlarge, then use your back browser to return to the blog.)

First, of course, was the obvious - the brilliant fall colours, reflected in the waters of Osborne Bay:

Fall colours in water



Sunlight after rain



Sunlight reflecting on metal barrier

I tried some bird shots - something I've never found satisfactory with the camera on auto mode. There were lots of birds in the bay - gulls and ducks, geese and cormorants, herons and even those most comical of birds, the oystercatchers.

Oystercatchers always make me think of "Comic Relief" Day with its signature red noses to raise funds for charity - although the oystercatchers don't have round red noses, they do look like large black crows with fake bright orangey-red very long beaks. I wasn't able to catch a picture of them, but sure enjoyed listening to their hilarious chatter as they squabbled over a piece of rock. You can see what they look like here.

I did try my hand at catching birds in motion, though my zoom doesn't bring them in as close as I'd like:

Bird taking flight


Gull against blue sky

Bath time


And then my favourite bird shot of the day:

Bird on a wharf


And a few shoreline photos:

Beached Log


Shells and stones in sunlit waters



And lastly, a shot of the marina and bay from the little park by the ferry dock. The building to the right is an old schoolhouse, now museum.





One day I shall have to print out the camera's instruction manual (I hate how manuals are all online nowadays!) and actually learn how to use the manual mode more effectively. But for now, it was fun playing around with the settings.

(PS: I'm off to the mainland again for a couple of days, to visit my mom and my Emma and, of course, the piggies, so comments posted might not actually appear until Thursday night as I likely won't have internet access. But please comment anyway!).

2 comments:

EvenSong said...

I, too, particularly like the one of the gull on the wharf--nice composition of angles and wildlife.

Perhaps you should print just one section of the manual pertaining to some effect or technique you'd like to try, then experiment with it in hand...
Have a good visit.

Black Jack's Carol said...

Jean, I really see much crisper photos here than you were getting before. I think you're onto something. The last scenery shot is especially stunning!