Don’t Look Back In Anger

Posted on | February 3, 2010 | No Comments

I enjoyed the virtual exhibition that was the previous post. I know that sounds pretentious but I did. Luckily so did some of the folks that visited this blog. I even pimped it out on twitter more than I usually do for a post. Well I am proud of those images in that post.

I do feel that this blog seems to have developed a kind of photo blog element to it. It seems to have started after the 2008 TGO Challenge. On that crossing I used the camera on my MDA Vario III. Back then I was just snapping (ok you can argue that that’s all I am doing now as well), not thinking about the limitations of the camera I was using and trying to work within those limitations to get better results.

I then as long time readers will remember got a better camera. Which did have a very big impact on my walks. I was experiencing so much more on them, noticing more wild life and just as important capturing it with the camera.

Even though my cameras are not DSLR, they do have some of that control over the camera settings. For example controlling the shutter speed, aperture etc, and a 10x (or now 20x) optical zoom. And even though I say it myself I am and have been getting some great results with those cameras. Despite the handy cap of not having the foggiest how all those settings work (that’s a project for me to do before the Challenge this year).

But as you know I decided to go back to basics and start using the iPhone camera. Which is ironic really as the iPhone camera on my 3G is 2MP so less pixels than the camera I so cruelly rejected on the Vario III.

The big difference on the iPhone compared to the Vario III was the apps I could use to edit the photos. There was just nothing like them on the Vario III (which was a windows mobile based phone). However what made an even bigger difference was that I was more aware of the limitations of the camera and taking them into account when taking my photos. I also started thinking about the shot more that I was taking. Along with looking at photos by others and trying to replicate angles etc with my own photographs. I now need to start applying this to when I use the better camera.

Back to the iPhone apps these have made a big difference to my photo editing. The apps are aimed at my level of ability of using a photo editing app, ie very very simple. They enable me to achieve results with my photos that I am really happy with, but just as importantly I can achieve them quickly and simply. I’m looking forward to using these apps on the larger iPad.

I hope folks don’t mind these retrospectives of mine. I always find them handy examining the journey I have taken to get to where I am at the current point in time. It allows me to also think about where I’d like to go next on the journey. Which path to take, left or right?

It always seems to me that when I write a post like this I am almost thinking allowed, and sharing my thought process with you. Thank you for baring with me this far.

Todays arty farty pretentious iPhone photo effort (see photo at top of page) is more leaves but this time frozen ones. Yeah I bet you really needed me to tell you that one. Let’s just file it under stating the bloody obvious.

Yes I know that I take lots of photos of the ducks that live at the nature reserve. But I some how feel I have been documenting their struggle to survive through out the year. A struggle that has been exceedingly hard for them since just before Christmas when the cold spell hit. They even had to endure a zombie duck apocalypse and a serial killer in that time. So here is todays photo of the survivors.