Manual Mode - always surprising!

This blog is about my experiments with photography - here is another one with Manual Mode.  Anything with Manual Mode to me is experimenting!  I put the focus on manual as well and used the little button underneath to get the focus on this hibiscus bud. It was early evening and the sun was low but a lot of the garden was still in sunshine, so this pot I moved to the edge of a shaded area, so that the pot itself was still in the sun and immediately behind it was heavy shade.

My aim was to get a photo of the bud with a dark background.  I set the aperture at f/5.6, and I see from the Properties that the shutter speed is 1/125 - yes I was following a book from the public library to work this out, though I had to make adjustments myself also.  The book said that the background would be dark and the flower bright.  I found the background wasn't dark enough; I could still see the trellis and - worse - the rubbish bins behind it.  So I used a technique I learnt from another book from the public library: that is, to aim at a bright area, press the AE/AF lock which will not only set the focal length for the image but also the exposure. Being aimed at an overbright area, it compensated by darkening.  I then swung back to the bud - which being in full sunlight stayed bright, but the background being in shade became dark, and clicked.

©Christine Linton

For an interesting article about how the photography is more important than the gear you use see this fascinating article by Rob Sheppard on his blog:
http://www.natureandphotography.com/?p=1887

Learning more

One of the things I always do when I take up a new interest is to research as much as possible online as well as in books; here are two links that I have found to be both useful and interesting.  The first one is a site by Rob Sheppard - I recently read his book "The Magic of Digital Nature Photography" from which I learnt a lot.  On his site he has lots of helpful information.
http://www.robsheppardphoto.com/

The other one I have just found is an Australian site, with lots of valuable advice, with even more detail included:
http://www.exposureguide.com/

backlit hibiscus

©Christine Linton

Technical details: Aperture Priority, F2.8, shutter speed 1/2000, ISO 400, AF auto 23 area, white balance -  shade

Hibiscus and backlighting

One of my favourite flowers is the hibiscus - so many beautiful varieties, singles, doubles, the colours!  So I've started a project of photographing all the glories of this delightful flower.  Yesterday evening I walked my local area where many hibiscus are in full flower, though many seem to be past their best - it's been so hot and dry, I know they like sun but they also like lots of water.  The photo I am posting today is one that I took backlit by the sun, because I could see the veins in the petals this way.

back of hibiscus flower, back lit by evening sun

©Christine Linton

Technical details: Aperture Priority, F2.8, shutter speed 1/2000, ISO 400, white balanace - daylight, AF auto focus.