Friday, December 13, 2013

Let There Be Light - Photo Challenge

I found out early on that light is everything in photography. After all, the word itself means drawing (graph) with light (photo)! Since the poor results on my first attempt at food photography, I've learned a lot about light, mostly by trial and error. The header photo for this blog is a good example. I was able to capture the beautiful red trillium in the early evening, with the sun behind it, which made for the pretty colors and shadows. Since shadows are the opposite of light, they are interesting, too. My last post showcased black & white photos of a pure white pitcher, where shadows were front and center.

For this challenge, I'm delving into my archives for photos where light is part of the composition and well as the exposure.


I love holiday lights and nativity scenes. In this shot, the only sources of light are the Christmas tree lights and two electric candles in the windows, to the right of the nativity figurines. I'm just learning to use Pic Monkey and did a little editing there to make this final shot.
Aperture Priority mode, shutter speed: 1, aperture 3.5,  ISO 80.


This was the sunrise the day before last weekend's ice storm. I stood, shivering I might add, on my front porch to get this one, probably around 7:00 a.m. The camera was on the  auto-without-flash setting:
shutter speed 1/100, aperture 5.6, ISO 400. 


This is another auto-without-flash photo of a sunset a month or two ago. You just can't beat the good Lord's lighting, so no editing here. It's straight out of the camera. Shutter speed: 1/30, aperture 8.0, ISO 100.


Finally, I can't do a post about light without candles. I used a tripod to get this one last summer, while I was reveling in my blue mason jar haul. You know, I'm still finding blue jars here and there in the outside sheds!
Shutter speed 1/4, aperture 5.6. ISO 3200.

Many thanks to Donna for hosting the Personal Photo Challenge every month. Stop by and take a look at all the lovely photos as we shutterbugs learn together. Merry Christmas everyone!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Pitcher Study

This morning I was trying to begin decorating for Christmas, but as so often happens these days, I got distracted. Several years ago I found this pretty white pitcher buried deep in a cabinet at the farmhouse and it's become one of my favorite things. So pure and creamy, so lovely and graceful. And not a chip or crack to be found, despite its age of several decades, at least. After I took the fall flowers out of it and dusted my pretty oak table, the pitcher and the shadows it cast caught my photographer's eye.


Despite the rich color of the table, I decided to shoot in black and white. Thirty minutes and several dozen shots later, I ended up with some nice photos. These are the best, straight out of the camera with no editing.
















Who knew a simple white pitcher could be such a beautiful thing?