January 2007 Photo Competition ......... Discussion thread

you're quick off the mark B.....i must have inspired you

 

:D Pleased I made the effort, I found a new function on my camera

 

I ventured out of the 'point and shoot' auto settings and had a bash with the manual night time exposures. It takes longer to take as I guess it is sucking in more light. As a result any movement causes blur and and zooming amplifies this much more. I held the camera against the banana house really hard to keep the camera stable and the shot is taken through two layers of the banana houses pvc walls. So the quality of the shot isn't bad considering. The jungle shot I wedged it up by the patio door to keep it steady and the shot of me was taken in error whilst adjusting my new web camera :D

Your photo MF looks animated Raymond Briggs style

 

You did very well to hold the camera still for those shots. People with simpler cameras and no tripod are going to find this subject difficult unless they rely on flash. Perhaps "Out of darkness" can also be interpreted as shoots of bulbs etc emerging from the darkness of the soil.

 

Yes I have an emerging skunk cabage that was a contender for shot 3. Thats how I interpreted the subject until I saw my banana house staring back at me in the night and decided it was time to see what else the camera could do. There is a new Fuji FinePix F31d which is supposed to be good in low light. My camera is poor in low light and requires playing with exposure times :( The exposure is about 5 seconds and I had a few tries holding the camera above my head before I got one which was useable. :rolleyes:

Seeing the skunks coming up already, if the weather continues like this we will have pink blossom again for valentines.

 

Excellent, BM and MF!

 

Thanks LoL :D

MF I press the shot and keep my finger down while it is taking. Only when it reports 'processing' do I release. This might not be possible on some cameras but I find it reduces the release wobble. Also I recomend not nipping out to the garden at 1AM in your T-shirt like I did, as shivering is not conducive taking photos :rolleyes:

 

Finger pressure will blur the shots even on a tripod. Older SLR cameras had handy cable release facilities for vibration free night shots using a tripod. Most modern cameras don't - that's progress! The only way to avoid this now is to set the camera up on a tripod. Set everything, anticipate your shot and then use the self timer. The other problem will be colour temperature but as we are not going to manipulate the photos (I trust) then we should see some interesting colour shifts. Good luck all - a real challenge!

PS Firemedic's candle would have been a great entry for this topic too.

 

Some posh cameras have remote infra red releases, but cost �£�£�£�£s