digital photography

Has this ever happened to you? Your driving along only to see the perfect photo but it is nearly impossible to stop to take the photo? This happens a lot to me. What is great about digital photography is that I can try those nearly impossible shots without worrying about wasting film. Today we went to the pumpkin patch and the sunflowers were in full bloom. The best photos were to be taken from the wagon, so I snapped as many as I could. Most of my photos were shot blindly since I was also holding on to the 3-year-old sitting in my lap. A few did turn out okay.

Taking on the go photos is really a crap shoot as it’s very hard to control a lot of the process. I had just left the camera on auto since I was mainly just interested in taking photos to remember the day. Playing with the settings on the go would probably help to capture clearer photos. The ones I took today were clear but of course were were on a wagon pulled by a tractor. Our top speed was maybe 5-10 mph.

Here are some things to keep in mind when taking photos from your car:

Roll the window down
Have someone else drive
Survey the areas you want to take photos before adventuring out. You might find a few spots to safely pull off the road.

Taking photos on the go can be fun and can net you some photos that you wouldn’t have any other way.

If you are looking for an easy to use, fast loading, image editor, then IrfanView is definitely one to check out. It’s great for cropping and resizing photos either individually or in batches. IrfanView is freeware and is a small file download.

What I like best about IrfanView is that is loads fast and is very easy to use. Menu items make sense, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time searching for functions. IrfanView is powerful and is a great little photo viewer/editor. I use it a lot instead of waiting for PaintShop or PhotoShop to load. If I just need to crop a photo or resize it, I can do those tasks a lot faster with IrfanView.

After using it on many different computers and versions of Windows, I can’t recall any issues with IrfanView. It has always worked and seldom crashes. The only reason it crashes is when I have a picture loaded in it and have removed the memory card. Especially for the price(free), you really can’t go wrong with IrfanView when you need a simple photo editor/viewer.

A trip to the pumpkin patch is a fall tradition for many. It’s a fun time for families to get out and enjoy being outdoors. Also the pumpkin patch presents many great photo opportunities.

Our local pumpkin patch has several displays that are just for taking photos. Keeping kids focused long enough to snap that photo can be challenging as there are many distractions at the pumpkin patch. Every time we have been there has been a healthy crowd. So be patient and wait for the shot you want as people will clear out of your way eventually.

Another issue is lugging around camera gear and then having a huge pumpkin to carry around, too. It’s best to either bring a wagon or stroller to help with the load. Either that or be prepared to grab the pumpkin when you are ready to leave. Our pumpkin patch has picnic tables and a kids’ playground. You can really make a day out of going. This is important to remember when choosing which camera accessories to bring and how you plan to carry it around during your stay.

One thing is for sure is that it will be easy to snap some great photos at the pumpkin patch. It’s a great opportunity to get artsy with photos. Have fun exploring different angles and perspectives. Oh and don’t forget to grab a few photos of the kids, too.

Next to my three-year-old, I would have to say our cat is my second most popular subject. It seems she is always sleeping in some weird pose or perched somewhere high above. Also unlike the birds that pass through in the evening, Fade is never far from the front door. So whenever I want to take pictures, she can always easily be found.

I have never tried to have a ‘photoshoot’ with her as I’m sure she wouldn’t cooperate. But if I’m fast enough, I do get some cute photos of her naturally. Now that I have a telephoto lens, it’s been easier to capture her as I don’t have to be so physically close to her as that always distracts her. She stops being cute and then just wants to be petted. If I’m a few or ten feet away, then she isn’t paying me that much attention. It’s been wonderful to actually have a few more seconds to compose a shot knowing the cat hasn’t noticed you yet and will promptly stop what she was doing.

Pets definitely have their daily routine and taking note of it will help when you want to photograph them. With my cat, she is usually right outside the door and naps most of the afternoon. Sometimes those cat naps make the most entertaining photos of all.

When shooting digital photos, the background can sometimes distract from the subject. In our home, chaos rules, so it’s very hard to get clean photos without a cluttered background. This is why I desperately want a lightbox, so I can have somewhere to take photos without worry about the background.

Sometimes a background can add a lot to the photo especially when it comes to crafty creations. I’ve noticed several creative photos done with crocheted items like amigurumi animals. Some have taken photos of their yarn animals in the ‘wild,’ hiding out in the bushes. Another good example are these crocheted cupcakes displayed on a cake stand.

For me personally, a clean background makes the digital photo that much better. There’s nothing to distract from the photo subject. Sometimes backgrounds can add to the subject but keeping it simple will also ensure that nothing distracts from the subject.

This weekend we did indeed make it to the Pumpkin Patch, and my purse did well as both camera case/diaper bag/purse.  I was snapping a bunch of photos, so I left it on auto just to make it easier. But when I ran across the picture below, I knew I had to adjust some settings to get the picture I wanted.

You can barely - if at all - read the sign that was one of the main reasons I took a picture of both tepees. I then put my camera on TV setting to control the shutter speed to allow more light into the camera. After a few takes, I came up the one below.

It was as close as I could get to a readable picture without the whole picture being washed out. Not sure if the sign shows up that well but the small tepee is a mother-in-law tepee. I thought it was cute.

Going places always seems to present itself with plenty of photo taking opportunities and the chance to play with those digital camera settings. It really helps you to get the perfect picture.

It’s amazing how putting a new lens on your digital camera can change how you frame pictures. My new telephoto lens seems to bring more of my surroundings into focus. From a certain distance it’s easy to see good photos in your mind. A lot of times those framed shots can be lost by the time you are close enough to actually take a decent picture.

With my telephoto lens, it’s almost like looking through binoculars as it brings those far away objects(when it comes to my regular 58mm lens) much closer. It’s now possible to capture birds in trees, the cat perched on top of the swing set, and humming birds at the feeder. Trying to capture these things with my other lens always proved to be a challenge as when I got so close to my subject, it would fly off or move. Now I can be a safe distance away and snap the photos I want.

If I would have realized how different a lens can help me see the world around me, then I would have bought one months ago. Foolish me just thought it would help those objects far away seem closer.

We are heading to the Pumpkin Patch Saturday and of course I plan to take my digital camera. But I don’t want to haul around the camera bag, purse, and other gear. So I’ve decided to leave the camera bag at home. I do want to bring my new telephoto lens but still want to take the 55mm, too.

My solution will be to bring the backpack as it has plenty of space to tuck things away. I should be able to store the lens away from other items and keep it relatively safe.

This trip does bring to mind that it is a good idea to have more than one type of camera bag. A backpack camera bag case would be perfect but since all I have is a holster one that won’t hold the telephoto lens, I had to come up with another solution.

Going without a camera bag is not my first choice of transporting my camera but knowing how much I will need to lug around during the day, I will have to make my load as light as possible. Hopefully with careful packing, I will keep both my camera and lens safe.

Besides snapping a lot of photos of my daughter, I also like to take pictures of things that serve as reminders of things I need to do or want to remember like this -

This is a picture of my kid’s toy box. On this particular day, she actually put up one of her toys. It was quite monumental, or at least I thought so. I snapped a photo of it to remember to blog about it on her blog. You see the toy she put up was actually my Nintendo DS. She had gotten tired of ‘playing,’ so she turned it off and stuck it in her toy box. It was just one of those ‘gee my kid is so cute and smart’ moments that I wanted to remember.

I take pictures of a lot of other objects to help me remember to do things. I always take pictures of any new products I buy because I love doing reviews for either my blogs or on review websites. Also the picture will serve as a reminder to do it when I browse the photos that I normally do at least once a week.

Digital photos can also be very useful in the store to take photos of items you want to buy but not immediately. I took several photos around Christmas of potential presents.

So not only do digital photos remind me of the good times, but they also help me to remember to do items on my to do list since that thing gets misplaced daily. It is seldom I misplace my digital camera.