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Nikon D90 | AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED | ISO160 | f/16 | 1/160 |
I haven’t seen a wonderful cloud formation like today for a long time. I was so psyched I was out to capture it. Today was a brilliant sunny day in Canberra. These images were taken at the Ferry Terminal, Acton Park.
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Nikon D90 | AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED | ISO160 | f/16 | 1/200 |
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The cold wind bites in the morning but the day turns out sunny and beautiful, as forecasted. I spent longer time outdoor, about three hours more (!) than I liked or intended thanks to a bunch of 4 year olds who had too much fun running around after school (and around school) and refused to go home.
A short picnic after school was how it started. Usually we finish around 1 then we, kids and parental units, go our separate ways. But not today. It seemed that our kids have solar batteries on their backs that the more they were outside under the sun, the more energized they became. They just go and go and go…like energizer bunnies!
They were running, rolling on the grass, more running, up the hill, down the hill, into the groove and out, and still they were buzzed. We had to end this ‘picnic’ only because some of us had to pick up our older children. If it was up to them kids, we’d stay until the sun go down.
I had fun too actually, which was surprising, because I thought it would be way too cold for me. It was just too gorgeous day to spend indoor, I was grateful I got to enjoy it outside.
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I’m not going to post a photo that I took today for today’s post. This one I took two weeks ago in Sydney and I’ve been ‘working on it’ for a couple of hours for my (long overdue) homework that it feels like I took this one just today, and it deserved to be shared today considering the time we spent together.
My homework this time was all about colours. Understanding the colours, how they work and how they affect each other, including learning the many shades of grey. And today I was doing the grey part of it. I never knew there are so many ways to convert your colour photos to black and white (B/W). I knew how to do it (the click one button way), but this homework assigned me to try all different sorts of ways, using Photoshop and other software (in my case, Aperture). When I said I was ‘working on it’ that’s what I meant. I was turning my colour landscape photo to B/W photo trying several different methods (as instructed), and try to figure out which one I like best. I did not do more editing than the usual stuff (exposure, contrast, saturation etc), so you won’t see any ‘fake’ clouds or water ripples as I don’t know how to do ‘heavy lifting’ photoshop like that. Not yet anyway…
It was a brilliant day that day. This photo was taken on a ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour. The sky was blue with funnily shaped clouds scattered here and there. During editing, I learned how to use the colour filters (Red, Green, Blue and others) which I was scared to use before, since I had no clue what they are for. Now I started to get it. It’s quite exciting, really, how there’s so much more to learn behind the ‘simple’ black and white picture, because like most things, a Black and White picture is never ‘just’ black and white.
Nikon D90|AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED|ISO 400|f/7.1 | 1/2500| focal length 22mm
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If I had not see it myself I would not believe that the sky looked like this today. The day was wet and cold most of the day. The rain stopped late afternoon and I went outside before the sun went down and it still looked a bit cloudy. I first noticed the clouds from the funny reflection they made on my dirty swimming pool. I couldn’t make out what the reflection was until I looked up. What a wonderful cloud formation I almost missed. Do you see a big owl looking back at you? Brilliant!
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There is this road in Canberra that –fortunately is one of the many routes between my house and the city– called Lady Denman Drive. What I like about this road is the fact that the surrounding area alongside it is so scenic. Of course, it is a matter of opinion, I am sure other people find this road as nothing special.
Roughly in the middle its long winding way we have to cross a bridge, which basically a dam, called Scrivener Dam. If you driving through the bridge and looking out through your window to your West you would be greeted with a stunning view. Well, most days at least. The first thing that usually caught my eyes was the sky. It always feel so open somehow above the horizon. And then there are those trees and the water, anyway, I think it is beautiful. The colors of this scenery vary as the season changes.
Even though I love this spot I only enjoyed a glimpse of it for exactly 2 seconds every time I drive through the dam, unless I am on the passenger seat, then I have about 30 seconds or whatever time it took to pass the bridge (not long) to view the scenery.
The day when I took this photo was an exception. I actually drove to the area for the sole purpose of taking a picture. I had an assignment to do some exercise taking a landscape photo in a sunny day using the sunny f/16 rule, I thought the spot would provide a nice landscape for my excercise, and it’s true! I parked, then walked up to the bridge, and low and behold…! It was quite a sight. It was as pretty as when I saw it through my window driving past. Maybe even more so, because I could just stand there, breathe and enjoy. Many many snaps later I went home with a smiling heart.