Welcome to the March edition of the Wandering Camera linky party.  We had a great start in February with so many of you linking up and visiting each other, thank you so much!  It was a lot of fun seeing your photos and reading about them.

February tossed me a few hurdles.  I got badly sick from the flu and couldn’t go outside for a while.  A couple of days later my husband got sick too.  We also had to visit the vet a few times for the kitties.  One of them is spending this week at the hospital.

I found solace in long walks, and in taking photos to find little joys here and there looking through my lens.  So here are my photos from the month of February.  They are in chronological order, 1st – 29th of February.

1. I love the velvety texture of sage

2.  New silvery treasure from the kitchen store

3. Warming up after a long walk in the rain

4.  Hiking at sunset

5. Old theatre in Sonoma

6. Sunset at Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

7. Comforted by old friends while sick in bed

8. Sneaked out to the backyard for a little bit

9. Bringing the outdoors to me by painting the Sierra trees in acrylic

10. Charlie soaking in the sun

11. All the buds bursting into bloom within just a couple of days

12.  Enjoying the first evening out of the house

13. Earthquake-damaged old post office – it will probably be demolished

14. Another beautiful building in Napa – also quake-damaged

15. The purple house by our favourite cafe

16. White flowers and blue skies

17. Pensive Montague

18. Treasuring my new watercolour paints

19. A wee dram

20.  Setting sunlight coloured these flowers a vibrant red

21. Art gallery

22. Moonrise

23. Not snow but flower-flakes

24. Late afternoon walk at a local Park

25. A beautifully restored Victorian house

26. Showing off his orange fur

27. My first Madeleines

28.  Delighted at spotting wild iris during a hike

29. Distracting myself by writing notes on possible future travel destinations after leaving Monty at the hospital

 
I am using a newly-acquired camera for these photos.  It behaves very differently from my other camera which is of much better quality.  I am learning a lot about the new camera as I continue to take these photos.  One of the settings I love to play with is ISO.

ISO Setting

In February I talked about different kinds of light.  Cameras will always do really well in well-lit settings, but the automatic settings do not always work in low light.  The ISO setting of your camera is great for those situations.  ISO values can be set on most cameras, including some point-and-shoot cameras.

You can change the light sensitivity of your camera by changing the ISO .  Light sensitivity means the amount of light needed for a well-exposed photo.

ISO And Shutter Speed

Lower ISO requires more light.  Under bright light you can take a photo quite easily using a fast shutter speed and a low ISO.  With the same ISO and less available light you will need to use a longer shutter speed for a photo.  That is quite impossible without a stand and may not be desirable for a moving subject.

Pro – Higher ISO = Faster Shutter Speed

Similarly, higher ISO is more light sensitive, therefore needs less light for a good exposure.  So a higher ISO value enables you to use a faster shutter speed.  Using a combination of higher ISO and faster shutter speed, you can take that elusive photo in low light.

Con – Higher ISO = More Noise

Then why not use a high ISO all the time?  There is a caveat.  The higher the ISO number is, the more noise or grain your photos are going to have.  That means photos are not going to look smooth at higher ISO numbers.  How noisy it is going to be is completely dependent on the camera.  In automatic mode, your camera sets the ISO for you.  If you want finer control over shutter speed or noise level, you want to set the ISO yourself.

My usual ISO settings

I usually use 100 – 200 on clear, sunny days.  I go up to 400 on cloudy days, early mornings and late afternoon hours.  From 800 onward, it completely depends on the camera I am using.  On a couple of my cameras I can go up to 1600 or 3200 without adding much noise.  On my point-and-shoot camera, anything over 800 causes so much noise that I don’t like using it for most photos.

That must-have photo

If, however, the option is getting a photo vs. not, then you want to go ahead and use that higher ISO to get a faster shutter speed.  That way the photo might be grainy, but it will be in focus.

The best thing to do is play with different ISO settings at different light conditions.  One last note –  Always set the value back to your usual ISO once you are done taking photos in those exception situations.  That way, the next time you use your camera, you won’t end up taking a bunch of photos with the wrong ISO value by mistake.  I usually keep mine at 400.

I hope this encourages you to learn your camera a little more this month.

Now it’s your turn to share your photo posts.  I always look forward to seeing them.  Every photo is special because it suspends a moment and everyone sees the world around us differently!  So don’t compare and contrast, just have fun and see the world that only your eyes can see!

Badge to share on your post and website

You can add any number of links to your posts from the previous month.  The posts should have photos in them, with a story or anecdote. Your project photos (quilting, sewing, painting, knitting, etc.) are most welcome.  You can also write a new post to link up.  Please do not link up posts that are older than the previous month, they will be removed.

Please make sure to include the badge or a text link back to this site on each post that you link up.  You can also add the badge to your blog. I am happy either way as long as you link back :-)

Spread a little encouragement amongst each other.

I will leave the link-up open for a whole week.

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that will run on the first Thursday of every month.  The next post and link-up will be on the 7th of April.  If you follow me via email, bloglovin or facebook, you will get a reminder.

Have fun!!

-Soma

Welcome to the first Wandering Camera linky party! I want to thank all of you for your encouraging words about my photos that I have shared lately.  I continue to practice and learn.  That’s why earlier this year I decided to officially take at least one photo per day. On the first Thursday of every month I will share my photos from the previous month and invite you to share your posts through this monthly linky party.

Without further ado, here are my photos from the month of January.  They are in chronological order, 1st – 31st of January.

1. Silhouette of our neighbour’s tree against the evening sky

2.  The same tree reminds me of the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter

3. Sticky toffee pudding (told you it’s my favourite!)

4.  An old plant that has been with us forever, surviving every move

5. Suspended raindrop

6. Homemade bread

7. Passing wind turbines during a road trip

8. Snow in the Sierras

9. Cloud from an overcast day settling into the Yosemite Valley

10. A lovely morning at Yosemite

11. My muddy car after the trip.  This happens after every trip

12.  First day back at work with Charlie

13. I wanted to see the rain, Mr. Treestone wanted to play, so I obliged

14. A fallen flower for Alan Rickman

15. Sign for a place with comforting food

16. A tangled tree in the park

17. Spotted these lights in between two buildings while walking in the rain

18.  Old train carriages turned into shops

19. Montague is fascinated by the rain

20. My husband loves this tree in the park

21. A Hungarian Horntail dragon that I painted years ago

22. A Willow at dusk

23. Off to the mountains again

24. Black oaks, with El Capitan towering over them

25. Cathedral Rocks and a frozen pool

26. The only flower blooming on a plant

27. Inky branch against an early evening sky

28.  From the overpass in our little town

29. Napa Opera House

30. Victorian Houses in San Francisco

31. Inked Victorian house

 
It was a good start to my year-long project.  A lot of these photos were taken in low light because light was already fading by the time I went out for a walk.  Some days it was raining so hard that it was dark by mid-day.  That would never stop me from taking pictures, however.

You may not be able to take quilt photos outside while it’s raining, but you can take photos of almost everything else.  I think understanding light is the key to photography, so I would like to start my series of photography tips with that.

1. Change of light with seasons –

• The Sun shifts northward after the Vernal Equinox in March and southward after the Autumnal Equinox in September.

• If you have a favourite spot that you like to use for photographing your crafts, you will notice that the light shifts from that spot as the seasons change.  While the same spot might get dazzling light at 4:30 in the afternoon during summer months, the light is barely there after 2:30 PM during winter months.

• The above is true even for cloudy days.  The amount of maximum light changes with the seasons.

• You want to make a mental note of the times of maximum light during every season.  That way you won’t miss a photo opportunity before the light moves away from that spot.

2. Morning and evening light –

• It is also good to know your preference for morning or afternoon light since they are quite different.  Morning light is much cleaner, softer and calmer.

• Afternoon light tends to warm everything up, almost glowing, more orange.  Unless I am looking to capture the afternoon glow reflected off a mountain for example, or taking a photo of a sunset, I generally prefer morning light when I can get it.

• You really want to avoid outdoor photography around mid-day at all cost.  The Sun is right above you and everything looks extremely washed out.  Try not to take photos of sunlit areas.  You can take photos in shadowy spots, perhaps under a tree, and let it filter the light.

3.  Indirect and diffused light

• You know this one already, but I will mention it anyway – don’t use direct sunlight when you are photographing your crafts or any other object.  Always take the photo where there is the most light, but not direct sunlight.

• If you decide to take indoor photos beside a window with direct sunlight, use sheers to diffuse the light.  It makes for a beautiful backdrop.  A few rays of light that come through are softened by the sheers, adding interest to your photo.

• You can have a wonderful play of light and shadow on your photos by letting soft light touch parts of the surface, but never all of it.  You want to use morning or afternoon light for these photos as well.

4. Artificial light

• Use a stand for your camera with a low shutter speed.  Only use the flash if it actually enhances the colours.  I am keeping this one short because I will talk more about night-time and low-light photography in a separate post.

 
I hope you found this information helpful.  It takes practice to capture light with your camera the way you intend to show it.  Play with your camera and note what works and, most importantly, what doesn’t work.

Lastly, since it has been a while I shared something quilt-related, I couldn’t help but share this little work in progress quilt photo with you.

That’s all I have for today.  Now it’s your turn to share your photo posts.  I am really looking forward to seeing them.  Every photo is special because it suspends a moment and everyone sees the world around us differently!  So don’t compare and contrast, just have fun and see the world that only your eyes can see!
 

Badge to share on your post and website

You can add any number of links to your posts from the previous month.  The posts should have photos in them, with a story or anecdote. Your project photos (quilting, sewing, painting, knitting, etc.) are most welcome.  You can also write a new post to link up.  Please do not link up posts that are older than the previous month, they will be removed.

Please include the badge or a text link back to this site on each post that you link up.  You can also add the badge to your blog. I am happy either way as long as you link back :-)

Spread a little encouragement amongst each other.

I will leave the link-up open for a whole week.

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that will run on the first Thursday of every month.  The next post and link-up will be on the 3rd of March.  If you follow me via email, bloglovin or facebook, you will get a reminder.

Have fun!!

-Soma