Better Photos Projects

I don’t know if anyone noticed some new, more varied locations in my last post about my latest M6696. I was inspired by Heather’s post on Gillian’s Better Pictures Project, about taking photos in public places to get better shots.

Although I would like to learn to use my DSLR a bit better, I try not to be too fussy about my photos, I find it gets in the way of actually blogging which is my priority. But I am generally unhappy with two things – the backdrops and how I always end up doing ‘Ima stab you’ face. So I’m working on them! I took my camera and tripod down to the beach at the end of my street.

This is a five minute walk from my house. How lucky am I to live here?! It does mean a long commute, but it’s worth it.

I was nervous about looking weird in public, and people commenting but it was fine! I did get a few curious looks but no one was weird about it at all, although to be fair there were only a few people there because it’s still COLD. But it’s a fairly community beach – I mean, there was a body boarding class, some surfers, and a bunch of dog walkers. People go there to do things, so I guess I didn’t stick out too much.

As you can see in my last post, I tried a couple of spots. The cliff face is gorgeous but in the end it was just too windy!

Being blown away, or something

I ended up on the steps down the cliff, and just put the camera down on one of the steps. Lovely! Although it would be harder on a warmer day, because it’s usually a fairly high traffic area. I ended up having a great time, though, and I absolutely will be trying it again! I found it easier to make actual facial expressions for some reason. I also found a spot in my front yard where I can take photos, and that will be a good backup, I think.

Dog!! Also stretching side seams, but this isn’t a sewing post.

What worked:

• Being willing to take a lot of photos and move position a few times.
• The more photos I got, the more relaxed I got about it. The later photos are much better.
• Listening to Stop Podcasting Yourself right before I left the house, so I was still laughing about some of the jokes.

Laughing at myself for being excited about a dog. It’s a dog beach, so….

Things to remember next time:

• Think about where the sun is. I knew I should have gone down earlier, because the sun would have been behind the cliff and it would have been much less glarey. But I couldn’t lever myself out of bed in time. This also is why the front yard is better than the backyard – it means I can have my back to the sun and not squint all the time.
• Remember the wind. It’s often less windy on the beach than on the top of the cliff, but not today! Figuring out a few different locations will help with this.
• Take the opportunities when they present themselves – I thought about putting it off till the next morning, to try to get the sun in right place, but decided just to go for it. Good thing too, because the next day was rainy and wet and even windier, and photos would have been impossible.
• Think about some of the other places I saw today – I was hoping the local school on my street might have a wall I could use, but there doesn’t seem to be anywhere that would work. There were a few on-the-street spots that looked nice but I’m not sure I’m brave enough for that, yet.
• Don’t take the first batch of photos in the location I like best. As I said, I warmed up as I went along, so the first dozen or so photos are not very good. I’d be better off shooting some practice photos, and then going to my favourite location.
• Make sure the camera is fully charged. It was close to flat when I left, and I didn’t realise. It makes the remote a bit more patchy, which was frustrating. It meant I had to point it exactly straight on, which limits poses, and it also would just randomly not work, which meant a lot of photos looked like this:

• Have fun, and it’s ok to be/look stupid! There are some real dumb photos in my batch, but because I had fun doing it I don’t feel embarrassed about them, they just make me laugh. I tend to get in my head about things, but I just reminded myself that I have just as much right to use the beach, and to look silly in public, as anyone else, and that seemed to work!

All in all, I feel really good about my photography adventures! I would like to learn and play with my settings more, but I never seem to have time and brain, and I do find it a bit overwhelming. Hopefully I’ll work up to it soon!