Welcome to Project Photog! When I was young I dreamed of becoming a professional photographer. It wasn't the career path I ended up choosing and now being a homeschooling mother of 4 I am along way from that. It's time to regroup and follow my passion :D Please join me on my journey to become a professional photographer at Project Photog. Amber xx

Saturday, October 13, 2012

New Camera!

As you know i sent my 550D in along with my lens because i was having a front focusing issue.  The retailer (not Canon) confirmed that there was a problem with the body and as they didn't have another 550D in stock i could wait for more stock or pay to upgrade.  Given that i'd already worked out the limitations of the 550D (yes, in that short a time) i jumped at the upgrade and went for the 7D.  It arrived this past Wednesday.

After playing with the 7D on Thursday & Friday i found the focus was MUCH better but was still soft wide open, sigh.  Determined to find a solution to my problem i scoured the internet in search of 7D specific information on focusing.  Only having had the camera for a couple of days it was hard to determine if the problem was me or the lens.

Ultimately after reading everything i could find and watching a few YouTube clips i decided to set up a lens test.  I used the information and chart from this site to check my lens.

The Liveview shots were perfect, no surprises there.  The standard test shots were soft, sigh.  I tried +5 micro calibration, soft, i tried +10 and what do you know, spot on!  Just as sharp as the Liveview shots.  Woohoo!  I was beginning to think it was all in my head or i was just a cr@p photographer!

So i now have the lens set to +10 and i'm waiting for some decent weather to test it out with live subjects, not just the test chart.

I've also searched online and found 2 Australian companies which offer lens and body calibration and if i am still having trouble i will send it in and have it calibrated properly.

I am so frustrated with the retailer concerned that i will never use them again, nor will i recommend them to anyone i know.  Clearly they never took the time to properly evaluate my equipment.

I must say that i am super wrapped with the 7D, it's a beast of a camera!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Sad

My camera is having a holiday at Canon :(  It appears to have a front focusing issue causing soft focus at wide apertures.  Hopefully they will fix it all up and send it back or replace it as it's still under warranty.  In the meantime i am missing it :(

Saturday, August 25, 2012

First silhouette

My very first attempt at a silhouette .  I asked my DD to put her arms in the air and she did this.


LOVE! by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com

LOVE! by Amber Bates

Thanks beautiful girl, <3 you too!

Amber xxx

Friday, August 24, 2012

The Zone System

Here are some great finds explaining the zone system and it's application in digital photography.

Understanding and Using Ansel Adam's Zone System

You Tube movies

Exposing for the Highlights

Personally i think this is an excellent system for gaining more accurate exposure :)

Amber xx

Friday, August 17, 2012

In my garden today ...

I enjoyed snapping ...

Lavender by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/1.8, 1/4000, ISO 100

Lavender by Amber Bates

Little Ragged Blossom & Friends by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f3.2, 1/1000, ISO 100

Little Ragged Blossom & Friends by Amber Bates

Silver Princess by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 500D, 50mm @ f4.0, 1/640, ISO 100

Silver Princess by Amber Bates

Enjoy xx

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Park Finds

Headed out on a little treasure hunt today at the local park.  I had with me the 4 kids plus our 2 dogs so it was a family walk with a spot of photography on the side LOL.  I only took 20 shots.  Here are my favourites.

Bee breakfast by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/2.0, 1/4000, ISO 100

Bee breakfast by Amber Bates

These flowers are a border planting around part of our park.  I'd stopped and taken a couple of shots and remarked to the children there are no bee's today.  We'd not seen any anywhere at all.  Well this little fellow must of heard me because he arrived and I was able to catch him in action.

Standing Tall by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/2.2, 1/3200, ISO 100

Standing Tall by Amber Bates

The children spotted this fungi all alone in the grass.  I am a little annoyed with myself over this shot.  I love the composition but the depth of field was just too shallow and if you look you can see that the closest edge to the cup isn't in focus.  Note to self, yes bokeh is good but not to the detriment of your subject!  The tree trunk in the background if very obvious but there was no better view, the other options included a walkway, houses and a fountain, none of which were better than the tree trunk.

Amber xx

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Shutter Speed

With the kids on the trampoline over two separate days I decided to have a little fun with shutter speed.  The best shots were obtained of Flossy who was able to jump the highest and make funny poses mid air.  Here are a couple of favourites.


Trampoline Fun 2 by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/5.0, 1/1250, ISO 100

Trampoline Fun 2 by Amber Bates

Trampoline Fun 1 by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/5.0, 1/1000, ISO 100

Trampoline Fun 1 by Amber Bates

Trampoline Fun 3 by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/4.5, 1/1250, ISO 100

Trampoline Fun 3 by Amber Bates

It was far to sunny to get a creative exposure at a slow shutter speed so that exercise will have to wait for a super gloomy day or the purchase of a ND filter.

Amber xx


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Understanding Exposure - Bryan Peterson

When I ordered my 550D I also ordered Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.  It came recommended by several people I know as a good refresher.  I already knew the basics of photography having taken 5 years of photography in high school but that was a long time ago and only 2 classes a week.  A lot has changed since then too.

My foundation was built on Pentax SLR film cameras.  In high school we used the Pentax K1000 and when I showed great enthusiasm my parents gifted me a Pentax MZ50 for my 16th Birthday.  This camera served me well, until recently when it died :( which prompted my DSLR purchase.

Understanding Exposure was indeed a great refresher on the principles of correct exposure photography.  Having learnt to shoot manually in school and having a sound understanding of manual camera settings I found this book an easy read.  He writes in quite a colloquial style which is so nice, not like a text book at all.  I did pick up a few new tips, especially about metering in the right place.

It was an excellent place to start and i'm sure I will look at it time and time again.

Amber xx

Sunday, July 29, 2012

The first decision, well, second actually

The first decision was deciding to start this blog and share the journey with you.  The second was which site was going to host my photo's!

After much thought, deliberation, research etc I have decided to go with 500px to host my photo's.  You can see my page at 500px here, and you can follow me there if you like :)

Here are two of my favourite shots from yesterday.  Hope to share more with you soon.


Bee Within by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/2.0, 1/1600, ISO 100 (heavy digital crop)
Bee Within by Amber Bates


Curly Bark by Amber Bates (AmberBates) on 500px.com
Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 100

Curly Bark by Amber Bates

Welcome to Project Photog!

If you've already read the intro above you know what this is all about :)  If you've popped over from Feather on a Breeze then you know I'm Amber, a super busy homeschool Mum to 4 beautiful kids who's net alias's are Flossy 8, Bugsy 6, Chicky 4 and Possum 1 and wife to Rusty.

I will be blogging what I'm reading, what I'm snapping, how I'm doing it and I'm hopeful that you will comment on what you like and what you don't.  I will do my best to keep it all on topic and that is part of the reason I decided to start a new Blog.  Feather on a Breeze is about the family as a whole and our homeschooling journey, it isn't really about my personal pursuits although I do sometimes blog little projects for the kids.

What's in my camera bag?  Not much!  I've got a Canon 550D and a 50mm f/1.4 lens, that's it!  Starting light, I can only grow, right?!  Editing wise I have Lightroom 4.  I am completely new to the digital SLR world, likewise completely new to digital editing.  However I am not a novice photographer, although I am very rusty!

What do I like to photograph?  Anything really.  Mostly my children and my garden.

Hope you enjoy sharing the journey with me :)

Amber xx