Long Exposures at Fahan Pier

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After a long day at work, I decide to go and take some photos to unwind. I ended up in Fahan, down at the old pier. It was getting late and I’ve always want to try to take some photos of it, when it was getting dark. Luckily the tide was out.

So, wellies on, and down I went and set up my tripod. As it was getting dark, it was kinda hard to get a focus on anything. I tried different time periods from 30 secs to 2 minutes for the exposures with varying results.

Below is one of the images I took (probably the best one). If you’re interested, take a look at my Flickr account for a few more images. A bit more practice is required – but it’s all about learning.

~ Keith ~

Malin Sunset and Stookaruddan Island

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On the 13th June, a few members from the Foyle Camera Club and myself went on an impromptu outing to Malin, Ireland. It was a lovely evening, although you wouldn’t have thought it out on the cliff edge where it was quite windy and rather chilly. Getting there was quite an experience also, trouping through bog land –  good job I found the wellie boots before hand.

Whilst waiting on the sun to go down, I took a few shots of Stookaruddan Island trying different exposures. Mark (Nolan – from the club) gave me a tip, to shoot in Manual – which I did. Shooting in manual only seems scary (who am I kidding – it is) – but Mark told me to set my f-stop then adjust the shutter speed  on the camera using the exposure compensation scale, to get a good exposure (where the reading is equal to 0). As the night grew darker – I was able to try longer exposures – to smooth out the water. I was quite pleased with the results.

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As the sun lowered in the sky, you could see the colours changing in the sky through the clouds. When shooting sunsets, obviously you’re shooting into the sun, this can cause problems based on what type of picture you’re after. As I found out, the sun made the everything look like a silhouette. To combat this, I need to use filters, which will allow me to adjust my exposure in the future and get a more balance photo.

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~Keith~

Fireworks

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Well it’s been a while since I posted, but I haven’t been resting on my laurels. I’ve been out on several locations over the last few weeks, trying for a few more good shots 🙂 . I’m only getting around now to editing them. Hopefully over the next week I’ll be able to update the blog to cover the shoots.

Anyway, I’ll start with the latest  shoot – Fireworks.

Last Saturday (25/06/11), Derry celebrated the opening of the new Peace Bridge. On Saturday Night, there was a firework display. This was the first time I have actually photographed fireworks properly. I normally just point at shoot – but they never come out properly. I met up some of the guys in the camera club along the quay, where I set up my tripod. Due to the low light (well, it was night-time – lol) and to get the best shots, I went for the jugular and went in to manual mode.

I set my ISO to 100 for less noise. To get sharp clear shots, I was going to have to use long exposures. So with various f-stop settings, I messed around with different shutter speeds to try for different effects etc. By doing this, I started to click on to the relationship between the shutter speed and f-stop. I started to see the fact that, when I have a higher f-stop number i.e. F22, this means that the aperture opening is small, therefore I need the shutter to stay open and vice versa.

I managed to get a few good pictures – albeit having to crop another member of the club  out of some of them– 🙂

Although the location I was at, was quite good, I feel that maybe if I’d have gone further back up the key, I could have avoided some of the fireworks getting clipped due to their height – it’s hard trying to guess how high they’ll go. Anyway below is one of the shots which I took.

Fireworks – Derry Footbridge Opening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more photos – check out the links to Flickr and my photo albums.

~Keith~

Album Updates

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Hi,

The weather has been pretty crap as of late – so I haven’t been able to get out much.
However, This has given me the time to go through other photos I have taken, but not processed.

I’m using Adobe Lightroom 3.4 most of the time now as I find it easier than Adobe Photoshop. Lightroom seems to be more catered for the photographer. It takes a bit of time to get your head around it – how to get photos imported, understanding the layout etc, but I’m getting there.

I generally don’t like spending too much time editing a photo – For now anyway, I feel any longer than 5-10mins, the picture isn’t worth editing. That’s just my opinion of course, other people may have different views.

Anyway – check out my Flickr pages, or my Photo Albums using the links provided, if you want of course.  🙂

~Keith~

Long Exposures

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I was out with the camera club on the 4/5/11 down to Neds Point & Fr Hegarty’s Rock, Buncrana. It was getting late, not too mention very overcast. To be honest, I didn’t think it was even worth taking the camera out of the case. It was one of the lads in the club showed me a photo he’d taken – using a long exposure. That got me thinking – I should try that.

So I did, after a few shots which were either too dark or bright – I got a couple that (I think anyway) were not too bad. See what you think. Will definitely give it a go again.

~Keith~

Trip Around Shroove

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Hi,

I’m late, with a few posts – as usual, but been very busy with one thing and another.

I was out for a trip around Shroove and Greencastle on the 30th April 2011 with a friend in the camera club. We went out to try and get pictures of Bluebells and whatever else we could find. I’ve never really taken photos of flowers before, although Marie  (my friend) has alot of experience with type of photography. We managed to get some shots of Bluebells, so of mine are quite as sharp as I’d like, some are out of focus slightly – but there’s something about them that I still like – can’t quite put my finger on it yet. (see Pic)

We went on up around Shroove, where the view was fantastic. On the way – we came across some horses – as soon as we got out of the car, they came over close to us – only managed to get 1 decent shot as the fence was right in front of them.

Check out my photo albums and Flckr site for more pics.

~Keith~

Foyle Camera Club Meeting

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Hi

Foyle Camera club had their weekly meeting tonight which involved our monthly print competition. I don’t normally enter, but decided to enter tonight – just for the fun of it.I came 12th out of 14 – 🙂 . This month’s theme was Abstract – there was a variety of images, showing everyones  interpretations  of what abstract is – each of a high quality. Mine (pictured) is of the tiled roof of my local church which is a triangular shaped building.The angle taken makes it look like floor tiles – but judge for yourself.

Slate Tiles

Abstract Image

We also had a presentation talk from a photographer called Andy McInroy. He talked to us about his project work around photographing caves for a big project he did. He showed slides of the caves, explained the technique he used to photograph them, what inspired him to take them. He also show a range a landscape photos.

You can check out his website www.andyinroy.com to see his galleries – well worth it.

~ Keith ~

Trip around Inch and Back to Muff Woods

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Hi

Earlier in the week, I went to Muff Woods with my wifes uncle Sean, to try and capture more (or better) photos of the red squirrels and some birds. I managed to get more photos – as to whether they’re better or not, is another matter. They’re quite agile and it’s hard to get them to stay in one place long to get a good focus on them. Lack of experience is another reason. You can see the photos on my Flickr Account – Here’s one of the pics to give you an example.

We also went on a sight seeing trip around Inch, where he showed me where to find Herons, Pheasants and some beautiful scenery. Along the way we passed a field which had some lambs running around, I then spotted a young lamb just sitting looking around and managed to get a shot of it.

For more pics – check out my flickr site using the “more photos” link.

~ Keith ~

First Post – New Lens

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Well,

This is my first post – and I’m happy to say  I’ve just got a new Lens.

The Lens is a Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS.  It’s being bought from a member of the camera club I’m in.  It’s in excellent condition – obviously well looked after, and being sold at a very reasonable price.

I’ve had a loan of it for a few weeks now and used it for a few shots of a red squirrel and sunsets in Dunree.

~ Keith ~