Camera Simulator

Okay, yesterday I found something that is just plain cool, and I had to share it with you. 

It is a website where you can practice using an SLR camera...right there on-screen! A digital camera simulator! Awesome...

Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I'd much rather use a real camera. But this was still fun.

If you don't understand all the crazy words on the "camera screen," just scroll down to get a brief rundown on what they mean :)

(If you are really serious about this and want in-depth tutorials on aperture and ISO and all those other things, I recommend the 31 Days to a Better Photo series :) )

Click on any of the images in this post to visit the website and try out the simulator...

Yep, it's all free. 

:)

Flowery

 Oh, how I love the macro feature on my camera. :)

I think close-up photos are my favorite kind to take.

I've been walking past a bed of these beautiful flowers for weeks... And I finally took photos of them yesterday! :)

  Almost rose-like...I wonder what kind of flower they are...

God's creation is one thing that never ceases to amaze me. Even more so when I get close in and see the detail and intricacy of every flower...the beautiful coloring and design, and the fact that it is a living thing!

I'm taking a class on the Old Testament in school this year, and it has been really interesting to take a deeper look into the creation of all things.

 

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

Have a lovely weekend!

Shutter Speed Applied 2

Okay, I have to say that this project was hard. I was originally assigned to go out on a street and photograph moving lights at night. But I was having a hard time finding a busy road to photograph... in fact, I was having a hard time finding any moving lights to photograph. *sigh* 

It turned into a project that included a stationary candle and a moving camera.

Heh.

Yeah.

Think you have eye problems? Fear not, O friend. 

For all of these photos, the shutter speed was set at 15 seconds. 

That means the shutter was open for 15 seconds. You can get ALOT of light into a camera when you leave the shutter open for 15 seconds. That makes it pretty much essential to shoot in a dark place when you have the shutter open that long.

The above photo was taken by waving the camera wildly around. All the streaks of light are from the candle...

Here I just moved the camera up and down to make kind of a stripey pattern.

You can actually see the candle in the bottom left-hand corner. (Along with my beautiful watermark :D Not that any of you nice people would want to steal MY photos!)

This one.

Hm.

I really don't remember what I was doing here. 

Looks cool anyways.

And for the grand finale, a rather lopsided heart.

Yep, that blob is supposed to be a heart. 

So for now, the lessons to be learned are:

1. You can make cool patterns with a candle (or flashlight even) if you leave your shutter open a long time.
2. But, you must be in a dark room when you do that, because if you are shooting in a well-lit place, your photo will turn out a big, white, over-exposed blur. Try it sometime.
3. After seeing my photos, you know you really can't do too much worse than me on this. Do try it sometime. 
4. It isn't quite pointless either. 

Note: If you are using on a point&shoot, you can turn your camera on "starry night" mode, under "scene." I think most cameras have that... it might be called something a bit different. 

If you have a nicer-than-point&shoot-camera, well..........LUCKY! You can shoot on shutter priority (where you can set the speed of the shutter to whatever you want.) Usually on a nicer camera you could find some kind of mode for shooting starry skies that would have long shutter speeds. 

Have fun. And if you are using a candle, try not to burn your poor house down. 

;)

This Little House

 The one we saw in the village...
We were just walking down the dirt road, taking in the view.
Fields of rice, palm trees, rolling hills, a cow pulling a cart of kids, a purple butterfly.
And we saw this house.

Right smack in the middle of a rice field.

In a clump of trees.

Just in front of these rolling hills.
(Looks like rain, hm?)

I never saw anything so picturesque before.

And yes, I had to stop and take pictures.

:)

Let Your Light Shine

Light in the darkness, Reflection in a glass table

"Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. 

For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you."

Isaiah 60:1 

Shutter Speed Applied

Well.

I must break the news now.

I really. Really. REALLY. REAAAALY. Need to work on my photography.

*sigh* 

Below are some photos I took while experimenting with shutter speed. No, they aren't great. Mostly due to the fact that my subjects were not beautiful in themselves, and the lighting was AWFUL in the second set of photos.  I was a stickler and kept the flash off the whole time. Except once. I closed it again right away.

Anyway. I learned alot.

Primarily, that the longer you leave the shutter open, the more blurry the photo is. 

Or in more technical terms, the slower your shutter-speed, the more action you can see in the photo. 

Hm.

First example:

The fan.

 (Don't laugh. It was one of the only objects that moved fast enough.)

ISO 80

(Aperture) F/7.1

(Shutter speed) 1/2 sec 

Take a look at this photo. See inside the fan, that blue blur? Yes, that's the blade. 

My shutter was open for half a second, (That's a long time, in photography.)

And you can tell that the fan is on. 

Cool.

Neeexxxt.

ISO 1600

(Aperture) F/3.6

(Shutter speed) 1/125 sec 

Okay. Check THIS one out. You can actually see the blades. 

My shutter was open for one one-twenty-fifth of a second here (sort of fast in photography.) 

If the room had been brighter, I could have made the shutter speed even faster so you could see the individual fan blades. 

(Note for next time: brighter room)

And the two photos closer to see the difference...

Second example:

The Ribbons that I Tied to the Lamp and Turned a Fan on Them so that They Would Move.

Please don't laugh here either.

ISO 80

(Aperture) F/6.3

(Shutter speed) 1/3 sec 

My shutter was open for one-third of a second for this photo. It is very interesting to see them moving like that...

ISO 1600

(Aperture) F/4.0

(Shutter speed) 1/160 sec

And the shutter speed for this one was one one-sixtieth of a second. For the most part, the ribbons are in focus. The ends are a bit blurry...

And together.

Well, I learned alot, if nothing else. No keeper photos there. 

And thanks for not laughing until now.

I give you permission to laugh.

Retreat at the Sea

These photos are all from a beach trip I went on with a group of high-schoolers recently.

We rode a ferry across to an island, spent the night in huts sleeping on the hard ground, put starfish in each others' hair, and took lots of photos. 

We also spent some great time together, playing games, and listening to devotionals & testimonies. 

I have some great memories and photos from last weekend :)

My Camera and I

Hello there. Welcome!

Me.

I like taking photos. That's what this blog is mostly about.

I also like graphic design, mint chocolate chip ice cream, classics, mysteries, computers, piano, sports, curly hair, bagels, fonts, & Lightroom. But most of all, I love the Lord, my sweet family, and my good friends.

Oh yes, and my name is Elise. Almost forgot that.

the Camera.

It was a birthday present. 

I nearly died. 

Almost.

It was the only time in my life that I have hyperventilated.

I was interested to learn that my camera was not a point and shoot. (Duh. Elise, just look at it!)

But it wasn't one of those fancy things that professional photographers use that have detachable flashes and interchangeable lenses. 

My camera is a bridge camera. A step above a point and shoot, but not quite a SLR. (what the pros use)

So, you are now acquainted with my camera.

Why the blog?  

For school. 

Hah! Got you there! 

Well, sort of. I'm taking a photography class for school. Self-put-together, and personalized. (Yes, I am home schooled)

Quite fun actually. More fun than doing math.

Never mind. I'm doing math too.

But learning about photography and taking photos makes for a very fun class.

This blog is to record it. 

I'll be posting photos I've been taking for assignments and just for fun, a few of my favorite photography websites and photographers, and maybe even some of the things I am learning. 

Hope you enjoy browsing around... once I get some more posts up...