Afternoon Delight (G-rated)
I do hope you didn’t Google the title of this post.
😉
‘Cause the delight I glimpsed this afternoon was definitely ‘G’ rated.
As in GOSH
and GOLLY
and GOODNESS
GRACIOUS
ME!
-000000-
You know I have taken your advice in the last comments section to heart, and will start a new photo tab at the top of this blog. Not because I think I take outrageously great photos – don’t get me started on my shortcomings. I know I have much to learn. And I am too often caught short when people come to me for advice on WHICH CAMERA to buy (I have only ever used about 4 different Nikons in my life, so that is all I know) or SOFTWARE (Photoshop up to 7.0 – yes, that IS archaic, but I cannot justify spending the moula on something shinier).
But I do stumble on the odd bit of useful info occasionally, and I do so love to see everyone out there having a red hot go with their camera of choice themselves. So if it helps YOU, I will share a little tidbit or two here. But I want this thing to be two-way. If I think a shot is worth it, I will share the EXIF* info (as I have below – the same images shared above) and if I altered settings to achieve the result.
*The EXIF information included below is simply the camera and lens settings used for each image. Every digital photo (even in little automatic cameras) has EXIF info, and where people share them on sights like Flickr (where almost ALL of my photos for this blog are hosted) you can check and see the settings they used quite easily. If you click on any image, you will end up at the Flickr site (like this). Then click on ‘Actions’ directly above the image and choose ‘View EXIF info’ (will look like this). There is a whole heap of info here, but I am choosing to share the basic settings that I change when I venture OFF the Auto settings and into Manual. If you want to achieve better results, I recommend trying Manual sometime – it’s a great way to see WHICH of your settings makes a difference!
You can ask additional questions and I will try to answer as best I can, or throw it to the rest of the field for assistance if I am unsure.
DEAL?
Righto…
All these shots were taken within about 20 mins (start to finish) as we searched for Dash’s boomerang. The one he had made the day before on a school excursion and showed off to some visitors. And then flung one last time as the sun set…. and lost.
Shot straight into the water as I stood on a pontoon- my 18-200 lense pulled wide and under-exposing a little on recommendations of the light meter.
| Exposure (shutter speed) | 0.006 sec (1/160) |
|---|---|
| Aperture (f stop) | f/5.0 |
| Focal Length (lens/zoom setting) | 18 mm |
| ISO Speed (film speed) | 320 |
This shot was looking almost straight into the sun and also under-exposed to catch the detail in the clouds.
| Exposure (shutter speed) | 0.001 sec (1/800) | |
|---|---|---|
|
f/5.6 | |
| Focal Length (lens/zoom setting) | 18 mm | |
| ISO Speed (film speed) | 320 |
This ibis egret caught my eye and I had to quickly up my ISO (‘film speed’ in pre-digital terms) as it was quite dark in amongst the trees by the water’s edge. The lense was zoomed out to the max to get as close as possible. I wished I had a bigger zoom!
| Exposure (shutter speed) | 0.006 sec (1/160) |
|---|---|
| Aperture (f stop) | f/5.6 |
| Focal Length (lens/zoom setting) | 200 mm |
| ISO Speed(film speed) | 1000 |
This shot was left on the same ISO as above and shot looking a similar direction to the shot above that – the different angle and different ISO gave me a very different result. I let the sun area blow out a little more and ended up with more detail and colour in the reflection.
| Exposure (shutter speed) | 0.002 sec (1/640) |
|---|---|
| Aperture (f stop) | f/5.6 |
| Focal Length (lens/zoom setting) | 18 mm |
| ISO Speed(film speed) | 1000 |
This shot is taken about 10 minutes later than the others, in a position about 2 km away, as we are almost home. The stats are identical to the shot above (lazy!) but achieved that difficult balance between getting the colour of the sky and not losing the detail in the barely-lit foreground.
| Exposure (shutter speed) | 0.002 sec (1/640) |
|---|---|
| Aperture (f stop) | f/5.6 |
| Focal Length(lens/zoom setting) | 18 mm |
| ISO Speed(film speed) | 1000 |
What did you think?
Was that helpful?
What are your sunset tricks?
-00000-
NB We didn’t find the boomerang…
14 Comments
Tara
Stunning! I assume that those are leftover flood waters?
And also, that’s an egret… 😉
Reena
This was great info and very helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!
Now, the photos were great!!! Looking forward to the new tab!
Reena´s last blog post ..I still count
Leenie
Golly, Gosh, Goodness! What a true afternoon of delightful color and beauty! (sorry about the boomerang) The egret was like the ice cream on top. Super-dooper.
I just turned my BB calendar over to June so I could see those emus not playing it safe in the middle of the road. Gonna have to step out of my comfort zone a little more. Thanks for the push.
Leenie´s last blog post ..SUBJECT TO INTERPRETATION
Kylie
Thanks BB – all that information was super appreciated!
Kelly
That truly was a delight! (and I’ve always loved that song by the Starland Vocal Band)
Kelly´s last blog post ..Rosemary Caper Chicken
Sal
love the photos and appreciate you sharing the info!! Love it! 🙂 Hope you guys have a super weekend!
Amanda
Hooray! I learn so much from you already 🙂
These shots are pure magic – love them.
Amanda´s last blog post ..Dear Darl- it’s June 1 2011 Winter
Catch the Kids
Just beautiful. Am looking forward to trying some of your tips. I have a Canon though. Do you know if the same EXIF would give the same result? Or does it vary with camera brand?
Catch the Kids´s last blog post ..The Lesson of the Ring
Bush Babe
It totally depends on the light at the time – most cameras with the exact same lense on them would give a very similar result in the same situation.
What I tend to do is keep my eye on the TTL (through the lense) light meter and bracket (i.e. start on what the camera recommends – when the little bars show close to ‘0’ in the middle of the meter – and then try opening and closing the aperture a couple of stops. Check out the results after shooting a few and you will see how close you are getting to what you actually ‘see’.
Don’t be bamboozled by all this – sometimes I get time to do this kind of experimentation, sometimes I don’t. I take rubbish shots like everyone else but the beauty of digital is that it costs you nothing!
Just keep trying to get to know your camera…
🙂
BB
jeanie
So, did you give Dash my standard boomerang joke to cheer him up?
jeanie´s last blog post ..Insert interesting title here
Bush Babe
Umm… you tell it!
🙂
Nancy in Iowa
Grand! Gorgeous! Ginormously beautiful photos!
Helen G.
Not much of the info made sense to me but the pictures are wonderful. I tend to wax rhapsodic when something touches me so I’ll hold myself in check and simply say the ibis/egret made the artist in me smile…
and thank you for sharing all of them.
Helen G.
Theresa in Alberta
I know nothing about photography, zip and zilch. But I do know what I like! The photo of the bird (crane?) is now gracing my desk top eh 😉