Photo Club

Today myself and another from the photoclub got out for a shoot. We went to the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society which from what I rememebered had some very interesting older vehicles, but also lots of other stuff.

When we arrived we were greeted with a lot of people, and some tents set up. It turned out that there was some picnic thing for local kids happening at the same time (despite what their calendar of events on the website said).

Despite the amount of people, and the distractions, I had great fun with there, and spent a lot of time with an old firetruck. I probably could have spent 3 hours taking pictures at the society, and I will make sure I/we go back some time.

All my pics are here.

I completely forgot to post about the last Photoclub meet on Mar 18. I couldn't think of anything more original, so we met at Beacon Hill Park. The weather was decent enough, and there were a lot of people out. The petting zoo was quite popular.

The cherry blossoms were still out, but not much else for flowers.

The ducks were having a great time though.

The rest of my pics are here.

Tis the season for pumpkins, so what better destination for a photo club? Today we met at Michells Farm market and headed to the next field up the road, away from all the patrons of the u-pick pumpkins.

The shooting conditions were glorious. Nice sunshine, blue skies with some clouds here and there, and lots and lots of orangey pumpkins on the ground. I chose 10 am as the start time knowing we would miss the nice sunrise light, but that was OK. The light turned out to still be pretty good. Not too harsh, but enough to give some good shadows. The dew was still on the pumkins, and as you will be able to tell, I was enthralled with trying to capture droplets of water.

After attaching my polarizer (to try and enhance the colours and minimize reflections of the dew), I set out to capture what I was seeing.

While we were shooting, a van pulled up to the edge of the road and watched for a bit. They were there for close to 10 minutes I think. No big deal, some people are curious about photographers. Next thing I know this van drives down the driveway of the field, then across the field itself. I was surprised and confused. At the other end the doors opened and everyone got out. They turned out to be pickers, and were harvesting some of the pumpkins.

Later I noticed that just next to us was an airstrip for model aircraft. Barry wandered over to take some pictures there and chatted with one of the guys there. Barry asked if it was OK if he took pictures, and the guy muttered something about it being no problem, but the planes were grounded because the photographers were in the way! The photographers (the rest of the group) were just packing up. As I was waiting for the last person to finish her roll, another guy from the flying club came over to talk to us about where we were standing. He didn't care that we were there, just that past a certain point in the field, we were in the way of their landing strip and it wasn't safe. I let him know that we were just packing up anyway, so we would easily get out of their way.

All in all it was a very fun shoot. Got a little wet and muddy, but I am very happy with my shots. There was a lot of pictures to take there.

Pics are here.

This past Wednesday I got out to shoot some pictures with the photo club. Sox and I had been in Saxe Point Park recently and had noticed the flowers, so that was where I decided the club should meet. The sun was out, but so was the breeze. Taking pictures of flowers in the breeze is always a difficult taks. You set up your shot, wait for the right conditions, then just as you squeeze the shutter release, the wind kicks up again. This can be incredibly frustrating.

Sometimes it is better to work with the conditions rather than fight them. Keep the shutter open a little longer, and aim for a blurry flower while the background is still. This can be an interesting effect.

I was quite happy with my shots. I even used my flash for a few of them to lighten up the shadows and to fill in the details.

Pics are here.

Gorgeous sunny day for the photoclub. Too bad I was the only one there. It was awesome to get out and enjoy the day. Sun, slight breeze, camera, and some tunes (listened to my iPod for a while). After shooting for a bit, one other person showed up, and I ended up taking a small break and talked with him for a bit. Had't seen this particular person in over a year.

The location was Lampson Street School. Picture taking went well. The challenge wasn't the location, but the sun. Harsh direct light, creating harsh shadows, cool blue textures, and dappled light from the abundant trees. Still it was great to get out for a bit and leave home stuff behind. Get out, enjoy the sun, breathe the clean air, relax, and think creatively.

Controlling the depth of field was hard sometimes since lowering too far would create an overexposed shot. Raising the f stop to get the correct exposure would not give the shot I wanted.

In the end I am not 100% thrilled with my shots, but I am a little rusty, and I am happy with the results. My biggest hangup with shooting is remembering to examine the scene through the viewfinder, and ensure that it is what I am aiming for.

This shot is an example of that. I should have moved the camera closed to the cement pillars to remove the green background. I love the depth of field being only the first pillar. I tried having more pillars in focus, but I didn't like the results as much. I like this shot, but for me to love it, I would have to get rid of the green.

The rest of the pics are here.