Now that my on-line photography class has officially ended, the self-imposed pressure I’ve been feeling has lifted a little. I learned much from the class but I still have a long way to go to improve. I think I’m still in the “getting worse” phase that Karen Russell promised would happen when we started the class. I was hoping to get to the “getting better” part before the class ended but sadly, that has not yet occurred. Luckily for me however, the class participants, as a group without the instructor, will revisit each of the lessons and work together on them over the next several months so I hope that I will be able to apply myself to improving my photographic skills in the coming months.
Today I took the time to visit one of the Flickr groups I’ve neglected for the past couple of months to get some inspiration for a shot. This week’s theme for Recording Images, a group that seeks to help participants by offering constructive critiques of photos taken for the weekly theme, is “silhouettes.” I didn’t plan to participate in this challenge as the theme would normally require cooperative subjects willing to walk into a sunset or something. So, I was surprised when an uncooperative and unaware subject flitted past my lens. I thought the bee, in the process of gathering lavender pollen to make honey made a perfect silhouette for the challenge. Here are two versions of this scenario, both cropped and with a levels adjustment applied. I liked results of my tweaking so I’m submitting them both to see what kind of feed back I get from the folks at “Recording Images.”
Focal Length 300mm
ISO 100
Manual Mode
f/5.6
1/400
SB Fine Weather
Cropped/Levels
Focal Length 300mm
ISO 100
Manual Mode
f/5.6
1/400
SB Fine Weather
Cropped/Levels