Camera Control

Hello friends! Time for another blog post! My main goal for this project is to enhance my photography skills. This week I didn't focus on a specific type of photography, but instead of transitioning from taking photos in the automatic settings of the camera to the manual settings. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but it is a kind-of-a-big-deal for me! Manual mode allows for more control over the camera and how the pictures turn out. At first I tried to look up other photographers' blogs to learn how but it was just too confusing. A dozen blogs and a couple of YouTube tutorials later, I sought out my friend, Faith, to show me how optimize manual mode. It is a lot easier to understand what the buttons do when someone is there to answer questions. I learned the differences between manual mode, aperture priority, and shutter priority. Faith and I took advantage of the warm weather and sunshine and went to city forest to take some shots. We were supposed to have a third person so I could work on portraits but unfortunately she got sick. Thanks to the sun, the lighting was optimal. Here are some of the best shots.

My "teacher" Faith demonstrating how to get the perfect picture. 

This photo is taken on aperture priority mode with an f-number of f/5.6. I used these settings to get a blurred background.  

This photo was taken with the same settings as the last. The pine cone adds a contrast to the evergreen branches.  

Here, I wanted to work on getting different depths of field which is why only the first tree is in focus. I used an f-number of 4/4.6 which is a faster shutter speed.

Thought that my bracelets would show contrast for the trees behind. Just included this because I thought it was cute-n-fun!!

This is my first ever try at long exposure photography! I found inspiration for this photo from a photo taken in NYC, since I live in Midland there wasn't as much busy city streets so Eastman was all I had. 

In class my teacher had us randomly pick an IB trait and my table's was caring. I couldn't find a way to incorporate caring into this weeks blog but next week I hope to have more caring pictures up, so you will have to stay tuned to see those! I know that I promised I would have my Costa Rica video up. To be honest I keep putting it off and I hope to have it up very soon!

Until next time!!
-Emily

Pura Vida Friends!

Hello friends!! I am back from another adventure! I recently got back from a trip to Costa Rica, where I visited La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio. While in Costa Rica I got to experience a lot of different cultural things we just don't have here in the states. For example I ate rice and beans (or in Spanish gallo pinto) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I ate enough rice and beans that I think I'm set for a little while. Although I was only there for a week, I picked up some Costa Rican lingo. All of the tacos (local people) would us the phrase "Pura Vida!" for basically any conversation. It means pure life in case you were wondering. Costa Rica is also known for its lush rainforests so I got to see plenty of wildlife and nature during my visit. I also got to visit an active volcano, many waterfalls including one that was 500 feet, and the gorgeous Pacific Ocean.

One of my goals was to enhance my photography skills and learn new types of photography. Visiting Costa Rica resulted in me learning a whole new style of photography: micro photography. Since I needed to know the camera settings needed for micro photography, I googled more experienced photographer's blogs. I found out that I would need to slower my shutter speed and change the ISO and aperture. Below are my attempts at macro photography. Be sure to read the captions because they explain the picture in more detail!

This was my first attempt with getting "up close and personal" with the subject. Unfortunately this subject was extremely poisonous ( probably where it gets the name Poison Dart Frog) so I couldn't get much closer to it than this. Using this as my first attempt wasn't my smartest idea but at least the picture turned out nice!!

This is a leaf of a plant that I do not know the name of. There were so many different types of  plants that it was hard to keep track. I took this photo while I was waiting to be picked up after a nature hike. Kinda funny this photo wasn't taken during the actual hike.

This photo was taken while I was on my way to the pool. I was just walking then I saw such a pretty flower and decided to take a picture of it. Lucky for me there was a butterfly on the flower! This was such perfect timing and I am glad I captured the photo just before the butterfly flew away. Score!!

While hiking in the Manuel Antonio National Park, my dad spotted some ants. I didn't think it would be possible for me to actually get the ants in the picture since they're so tiny. I took a shot cause there was nothing to lose and I am actually quite impressed with the quality of this photo for my level. Also another plus is that I didn't get bit while attempting this shot. Double thumbs up!!

These were the best photos from my attempt at micro photography. While on my trip I also took a bunch of other photos and filmed short videos to combine into one final video which should be up soon. I have all of the videos edited and combined into one. I ran into a problem with the storage on my computer so there is a short delay in when I can get that up. It will for sure be linked in the next blog post!! I PROMISE!! I had a lot of fun editing the video because I watch popular ones on Youtube and took inspiration from those to create mine. I tried to make it entertaining for someone who hadn't actually gone on the trip. We will have to wait and see till it is uploaded to YouTube to see how well I accomplished that!

Sorry for such the long blog post but two of my goals were dependent of this trip. I am proud of how far I have come in photography. Capturing the beauty of Costa Rica was different than anything else I had ever done. Mother Nature was completely in control of wether or not I could get pictures of the wildlife and if I couldn't get a decent picture? I didn't fret about it because it was out of my hands. 

My next step in this process is to learn another style of photography! The next one I am going to attempt is long exposure photography. I have a schedule of the different styles I am going to try and considering we are getting a snow storm tonight and it is 27 degrees outside, I might have to wait on long exposure. Apologies again for such a long blog post, I just had a a lot to say this week! 

Thanks for having the patience to read this! 

-Emily