Picasa's gradation filter

it was one of those bright overcast days. You know the ones when the shy turns out overexposed. I took this photo to get the wonderful composition in the tree menderine branches, but the sky is washed out.





So I though I would try out photo enhancing features. Particularly the ability to add a gradational tone over part of the image. just double click on an image then when the basic foxes panel shows up, click on the effects tab and select the graduated tint picture. Pick the colour you want, blue for the sky in this case. A small target mark appears at the center of the image, you can click the mose abywhere to change the gradation point. There are also feather and shade slides to change the speed of the gradation and density of its tint. very simple and effective

More Street Art

Mural on the rear entrance to the Eastern Hill Fire Station

on the edge

Is this really May already

Suddenly it's winter


Where did autumn go?

Venus Bay earlier this week

South Walkerville earleir this month

The eyes have it

P5233106,
originally uploaded by imageo.

when I set up this blog, i must admit it I thought the self portrait eye was pretty clever, and dare I say "original". A quick look around Flickr at peoples icons will show that the oroiginality was just my perception. I saw this on the beach at the high tide mark.

I assume it is a seed pod of some description. it was its "eye-likness" that caught my attention

into the light

Pointing your camera at any strong light source, (eg the sun in this case) will automatically mean your light meter will have trouble exposing the photo correctly.
To get a better light reading I first point my camera at the grass, and half pressed the shutter button. This forced the camera to take and keep that light reading

On the beach

P5233079
Originally uploaded by imageo.

This idea, for a strong abstract like composition, took longer to set up than I imagined. The beach was soft and the tide coming in, ideal for large footprints at the water's edge. So I ran along the water line after one wave and took this before the next wave crashed in.

Actually this was my third attempt. The other footprint trails had been obliterated by the waves before I could snap the photo. (It was a little cold to do more takes)


Based on Flickr views, this is my most popular photo of 2005, for photofriday topic :Best of 2005

Sunset over the Tarwin River

The Birds

A flock of starlings at dusk (also heading into the setting sun)

Flying Low

Low on the waves & flying north west

This sequence was taken by panning along with the pacific gull as it flew along the beach and using the multiexposure mode on my camera



One thing I have noticed over the past few days. All the birds seem to be flying just one way. That's right low along the beach and into the setting sun. No idea why!

Dandenong creek late afternoon

Grey heron

Morning mist on the Tarwin River

A retro- entry into PhotoFriday's topic misty

Afternoon reflections

Wort & All

Homebrew

Blue Wren amongst the seaweed

Sunset over Venus Bay

Capturing a bird in flight

I was quite surprised to see this butcher bird, a bird of the open forest, on a windy coastal headland. It might have had something to do with the recent fires, a supposedly controlled burn, that got out of control, and burnt out extensive areas of Wilson's Prom at easter. Forcing many camps to exacute. Maybe the birds are seeking alterate accomodation also.

Grey Butcher Bird, infront of Wilson's Prom

I only just captured him in flight because I had pressed the trigger button a few seconds earlier to get another closer shot. The noise enough to scare him into flight.

The delay that you find in most digital and compact/automatic cameras means it is almost impossible to capture a "snap" shot of a bird in flight. It will be well out of view before the exposure is taken. There are a few option you can try.
1) Pan and follow the bird's flight.
2) Prefocus, either manually or by half depressing the cameras triger button
3) Use your cameras multi-shot feature, if it has one.

Panoramas of Wilson's Prom.

Moving target

The Bus Trip
Originally uploaded by imageo.

I been to the Earnst Henry Mine, near Cloncurry. A trip that involved a couple of bus trips. One, Mt. Isa to Cloncurry was a very long bus trips. So I took a few, more than a few to be honest, photos.

Taking photos with a digital camera from a moving bus can be harder than you might think. There is the issue of focus and just framing the image. Everything is flashing by.

By the time you select te image and press the buttin. then wait for the camera to autofocus. The picture you were going to take is 400 metres behind you. also anything close to the road edge is likely to be out of focus

and relection on the glass are likely to spoil your image

Unless of course you make the reflection part of your composition

Shadow self portrait series

P9170685,
originally uploaded by imageo.

I'm back to experimenting with the blog post from flickr again.

I have been routinely taking my shadow as a kind of rough exposure test in the field. A big advantage of digital cameras is that you can get immediate feedback by looking at the image you just took. However you often have to look at it on a small LCD screen, out in the full sun light. Whilst my olympus does have a larger than average and very clear screen it is still adversely affect by strong light. Having a strandard-ish reference image with strong contrast, like your shadow, helps get a better understanding of how the exposure worked out (or not!)






Well my experiment didn't work so well, I couldn't find a way to do multiple posts. So it was back to picasa/hello for the four photos above. In desperation I've decided to make these a set in flickr, watch this set for an ongoing collection.

Bend in the Tarwin

I had actually gone to this spot to photography the reflection of the setting sun on the river. The clouds stopped that but I still snapped away. I like the colours and the feel of the brewding clouds, not exactly the picture I originally had in mind. Such is Life!

A sign?

A shaft of light breaks through the storm clouds. If you wish to capture momentary events like this, you should make it a habit of carrying your digital camera around at all times and everywhere. The most important point being you should take more pictures, and always be on the lookot for good picture.

The harsh bass strait winds

an exhausted mutton bird is washed ashore


Another struggles to get out of the wind.

The strong winds on the weekend has bought tragedy to the annual migration of mutton birds, with hundreds of the young exhausted birds forced down or ashore. Dead birds outnumbering the survivors by at least two to one on the Venus Bay beach. The next morning many birds had recovered enough and a few small groups could be seen flying low over the waves to resume their long journey north.