Reflection Post

For my Journalism class at school, we were assigned to create a blog. It could be about anything, school appropriate of course, that we wanted it to be about. We had 10 weeks to do the assignment, but being my slacker self I did most of it the few days before it was due. I probably should have managed my time better because if I did I think I really would have enjoyed doing this a lot more. Of course even when rushed it was pretty fun to reflect on pictures I had taken in the past, teach people how to get certain kinds of pictures, and review cameras I own.
    Before I started this blog I really didn't know what it meant to "blog." I had heard of it but I did not really know how to do it. If I didn't have to do it for a grade I wouldn't have ever done one either. But now I realize that it's actually not bad and most of my posts I've had fun typing. Choosing a topic was difficult, and I took probably a week or so deciding, as when asked to do something completely open I usually don't have a clue what my subject is going to be. I ended up going with my favorite hobby, photography, and I believe it was the best choice. As one of the requirements for the assignment was a photo on every post, I knew that I could do that easily, since I have thousands of photos of my own I have taken for the past year or so that I could use right on my computer.
   My favorite posts were the open posts of course, I got to explain the story behind some of my shots and that is something I like doing. I also like reading the stories behind other people's photos. The stories I typed brought back great memories of times past, and the 3 that I did were by far my favorite posts to type. The review I did on the Nikon D3200 was pretty fun too because for some reason I just like reviewing things. I think it's interesting to hear how people got the photos they did and hear the adventures they had while trying to get them.
  This is in no way a farewell post as I hope to continue this blog, probably posting once a week or so and maybe more if I have some extra time.  Now that I will choose what I post here I will definitely have more freedom and also more fun running this blog. I can also post on my own time and not when I'm required to. Check back regularly to see more photos and read more about them and I hope you've enjoyed the posts I have so far. Thanks for viewing!

Here's a photo I took yesterday on our snow day off of school.

Photo Spotlight (Eagles Nearby)

   At a nearby lake, recently many people had spotted some large birds flying around the dam at the front of the lake. So I went to check it out on Veteran's Day of last year. What I found was a huge family of bald eagles. There are a pair of adults, and somewhere in the neighborhood of six to eight juveniles. The first time I saw them, There were four juveniles sitting on the dam in a line.















Then after a while, two more came flying in and flew right over top of me, they were huge birds, and I had never seen them so close. They circled me a few times before flying into the distance.

   Then a few minutes later, from the trees came a loud, high pitched screaming noise. Across the lake, two adult eagles had just taken flight and were quickly gaining altitude. I quickly took a few shots before they were too high for my camera's zoom to reach. The adult birds were amazing. The screech they let out was like nothing I had ever heard. Since I am a huge bird fan this was a great experience for me and was easily the closest I had ever seen a bald eagle, and the first time I had seen an entire family of them. The juveniles stuck around for a couple hours before taking off to go hunt for the day.
    The eagles are still there to this day and anyone driving by the lake can see them. The babies are usually sitting on the dam, while the more elusive parents are circling high in the sky, or are hidden in the trees. I sent some pictures to the local news station, who featured them in an ad for their "YouNews" program, which allows people to send in their own stories and pictures. I have been back to the lake twice since the first time and I am never disappointed.

How to get a Soft Look on the Water in Waterfalls in your Photos

   Ever wondered how to get a soft look on the water in waterfalls? If you've seen a picture of a waterfall and the water looks like cotton or some other white substance, it doesn't necessarily mean that the photo is photo shopped. You too can get the same effect with virtually any camera, and I'm going to teach you how. A few factors play into you being able to get the desired soft looking effect and each one is very important.

   The first and most important thing you will need is the right lighting, the lighting to get this effect is usually best very early in the morning, or in the late evening right before dark. This will cause the camera to use a long exposure time, blurring the moving objects in the frame. This is what causes the "cotton" look.

   The second thing you will need is a tripod or some sort of stabilizer for your camera. This makes sure the surrounding objects are not blurred in any way. you want to make sure the surrounding objects are clear so the blurred water stands out from its environment more. If the entire image is blurred then it is not a good shot and it should be discarded.

   Other various things can be purchased for more advanced cameras such as a polarizing filter. This takes out unwanted reflections from the shot making it look even more natural and calm.

   Make sure to try different angles and take many photos so you can choose the best frame from many shots. You can try taking photos from different locations, or move the waterfall around in the frame, having it in the center, to the right, to the left etc.

    Now that you know how to get the effect, go try and get it yourself. Hopefully my advice will help you get something like this:

To learn more about how to get this effect, visit this web page: http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/shooting/how-to-photograph-waterfalls/

Photo Spotlight (Conflicting Emotions Cat)

    I have a cat named Jack who I believe is very bipolar. Often called by me "the assassin cat," Jack spends his days laying on the back of the couch by the window, or on the railing of the stairs, just staring straight forward not blinking for hours, and only moving if he needs to eat or use the facilities. Even if you go scratch his favorite spot, on the very top of his head, he wont blink, move or anything. Until suddenly, his tail will start to wag, meaning he's angry, and he will bite onto your hand lightly as if saying "go away and leave me alone." But sometimes he will be in a good mood and when the conditions are right, he will walk at his normal, very slow, pace onto your lap and sleep there until disturbed. He will also usually sleep with me, since for some reason, I am his favorite.
     Jack only has 2 speeds. Snail, and lightning. He either moves very slow, walking right along the wall as if trying to be stealthy, or sprinting as if running from something. He is rather comical to watch as he slowly moves across the floor, watching for the dog or other cats that may bother him. He's quite antisocial with other cats. If they get within ten feet of him he attacks them to get them to go away, paws flying, claws out as he tries to rid his area of the intruding animal. He is definitely a bipolar cat, and this picture of him captures it perfectly.
   The picture was taken in August of 2012, when Jack was in his usual back of the couch post. The lighting on him captures his nice, and dark side. The right side shows his nice side, the dark side shows his aggressive and evil side. It shows his personality perfectly.

New Camera! Review of Nikon D3200

   
Photo from http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/nikon/d3200-review
  I got a new camera for Christmas. It is a Nikon D3200. This camera offers a very high 24.2 megapixel resolution, and comes with an 18-55 mm lens. Other lenses, like a 55-200 mm that I received as my other gift, can be purchased that fit this camera but these can be very expensive.
   My first impressions of this camera right out of the box were that it is put together very well. It just feels fancier and better in my hand than my old camera. There were obviously no cheap parts or materials used and it just feels like a quality piece. The first pictures I took, even just testing it out look amazing. The 24.2 megapixel image quality is very crisp and clear. I expect to be able to do much better work with this than my old camera when I get the chance to take some pictures.
    This camera is much heavier but also more delicate than the average point and shoot camera. The camera operator must not get dust between the lens and the camera body or the pictures will come out with spots in them. Also if it is dropped there are a few more parts than an average camera and a broken part or entire camera is more likely.
     Overall I believe this is an excellent camera, but it does have some disadvantages. Unlike a regular point and shoot, the macro mode on D-SLR cameras like the D3200 isn’t the best. A special macro lens must be purchased in order to take close up shots. Also the lenses that can be purchased to go along with the camera for farther zoom are very expensive, some being upwards of $1000 for the best quality and farthest zoom. I cannot wait to see what I can do with this camera.

In Winter I Miss the Beach

    I once saw a framed quote that said "Because every picture has a story behind it." I completely agree with this quote and every photo I post will have the story behind it. The first photo I have put on this blog is definitely one of my favorites. It was taken in April 2012 on a private community beach in St. Augustine, Florida.

    I was on vacation in St. Augustine in a private condo my family had rented. The condo had its own section of private beach that you needed a pass code to get into, so only the others in the community could use it. This helped cut down on crowds on the beach allowing me to take hundreds of photos. One morning my mom and I went out to watch the sunset at 6:30 AM. It was a cool morning, probably about 50 degrees, and the tide was way out. While scoping the beach for shells we came upon a huge lump in the sand, so we dug it up and found this conch shell. However, the shell was still alive and had the snail like creature inside of it, and it is illegal in the state of Florida to take live conch shells from the beach. So instead of being a rebel and taking it anyway, I took this picture of the shell will the orange sun and purple sky behind it. Just posting this picture is making me miss the beach and the warm temperatures, as we are entering the heart of winter here, but still don't have any snow. I am a fan of winter, but without snow it seems to drag on endlessly. If you like these few photos and would like to see more, check back here regularly.
   
Some more of my beach photography:

Welcome to my Blog

     Welcome to my photography blog. The purpose of this blog is to get my photography out there more than it is, to teach people how I get the effects I may get in my photos, and also to provide people with the stories behind the pictures I take, instead of just letting them look at it, because I believe there is a story behind every picture.
      The camera I use to get the pictures I take is nothing special really, it's a Nikon Coolpix L105, a basic point and shoot camera with very few adjustments that can be made for the different shooting conditions. It gets the job done though, and very well at that. I hope to be getting a more "professional" camera very soon and make my pictures even better.
      I've been taking pictures as a hobby for about a year now, and I've really come to enjoy it. Photography can turn simple things like leaves and insects into fascinating objects depending on how the picture is taken.
     In this blog I will post a certain picture every week or so and either tell the story behind it,  tell how I got the idea for it, or how to get the certain type of picture I post. I will also show how to take different types of photos, how to take photos in different amounts of light and take pictures of moving objects. All of this to come in later posts. Also anything news worthy in the photography world will be posted here.  
     I hope to maybe make a career out of this, although it isn't likely, and use it to make a living doing something I actually like doing, not the normal 9-5 job. Even if I can't do that, I will continue to take photos and enjoy it for a long time to come as a hobby and just for fun.

Photo from http://blog.bamm.tv/2011/09/02/the-friday-list-five-crazy-music-photos/