While In Newzealand

Lake Nelson in Newzealand 

One can not justify being in a beautiful place and not taking photos, the only issue is somehow the photo doesn't compare to the essence of being there. It is photographer's job to find beauty and capture the beauty and creativity in a photo. 

I Have been living in New Zealand for almost three months now, and unfailingly hills and mountains surround me. It has been astounding for me, seeing is I have come from a place consistently flat. This is a great place if you're keen to do some exploring with a camera at hand. 

"New Zealand is not a small country but a large village." -Peter Jackson

botanical gardens Christchurch Newzealnd

Meet Twister

This is Rocky

Rocky

Hello again readers. This is one of my black and white photo shoots. The photo above is a common  photo technique and one that has to be one of my favorite types to take with horses, each horse can show such different color and personality in this particular photo. Rocky was a very good candidate because one he was still enough and two his coloring is beautiful to show in black and white, because he is a black and white horse. The second picture is the start of an idea I have seen on pintrest. Basically the idea is instead of taking pictures of the whole horse take pictures of areas of the horse and put them beside each other, but for now we will just say its a working progress. the last pictures you will get to meet Breeze my sisters new horse, and for an even newer arrival is her baby filly named Twister! 

Thanks for reading

This is my sister and her new horse Breeze

This is Twister trying to figure out what a camera is

Don and Pat

Meet Don and Pat! 

These are the big Percheron horses a big part of my winter was getting to work with these boys. I absolutely love them. This time I got to take pictures while they were doing a hay ride. They are pretty big, there hoofs are the size of a diner plate! 

These pictures were taken near the end of winter, thankfully its spring now, a really nice spring compared to last year. We have now since then put on wheels instead of sleighs on  the wagon so its easier for Don and Pat to pull.  They pull about 20 - 25 people in a wagon at a time and they weigh, each over 2000 pounds. They sound big but the more I get to work with them the more comfortable I feel around them and then when I work with any other animals they all seem like mice size in comparison.

Take the time it takes so it takes less time. -Unknown

This quote is a great theme for working with horses, especially these boys. basically meaning if you take the time you need in the beginning to work with them, you wont have to fix something later that you didn't do in the first place. 


Photography tip: combine your passions.  If you love photography, its only natural to enjoy taking pictures of what other things you enjoy. don't take pictures of city buildings if you like the flowers of nature.  or vice versa. 


Thanks for taking the time to read and look at my photos! 

Breeze

Hello! hope you guys have had a great start to the new year! on my break I went out to visit my sister, and she showed me some of her new horses. She is in the picture with her new horse Breeze. The picure above shows one of the 3 photography rules or lines. #1 Rule of thirds #2 Spiral and #3 Golden triangle. I have talked about the Rule of thirds before so this time I will talk about The Golden Triangle. Naturally some pictures are more appealing than other pictures than others, most people would say its color and content, which is true but it is also about where you place your subjects in your photos. the 3 lined rules are 3 main designs that the human brain is attracted to. the first picture uses the horses neck to bring you across the picture and the positioning of where Tasha is standing brings your to her face. and Breezes nose makes the other triangle for the other 90 degrees, and its not going to be exactly 90 degrees or a perfect closed triangle its being close that counts. one of the only things I don't like about this picture is the distracting other horse behind her nose.
  Her horses being failrly young had a great curiosity of what I was doing and it was very exciting and challenging at the same time to get a  picture. first of all because they would stand so close to you and there is only some many nose pictures you can get before they fog the camera with there breath. It very quickly gives you an opportunity to take a picture of their eyes and I think I succeeded in getting her curious glossy eyes. also you will notice the last picture you can see the horses breath. I like the Idea of that picture more than anything. although I deerly wish I could improve it. If I could I would walk towards the right creating a more full body horse because I think from the angle I took it she looks more tubby than what I would like. and get my self lower to the ground to get better framing with less snow, and maybe try and place the sun behind the horses back to create for a more shiny glow. but if you are to know one thing about horses you have to be patient because they always will continue to move.

Big Kittys

The Tiger

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright 
In the forest of the night 
What immortal hand or eye 
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? 

-William Blake

I got the chance to go to the zoo, I haven't been there in a long while. it was quite exciting, and I have to say even though our zoo got a cool new polar bear my favorite animal there still is the Tiger! the kitty's just have this amazing majestic powerful strength too them. 

 
One question you might ask is how did you get a picture without the bars being in the way, the answer to that is, with the zoom lens that I am using the bars are actually still there they are just blurred out, I have not quite perfected this yet because you can see some blurry spots. That's something I would like to practice, if I could spend my entire day at the zoo.

This Tiger is perfect for having in black and white because her stripes show the contrast between black and white so well.

Hope you all enjoy these photos! Please feel free to leave a comment!

Mushroom's

What room has no doors, no walls, no floor and no ceiling?...
A Mushroom!

Luke and Alison

In this picture is my Brother Luke and his girlfriend Alison.

 It was so fun taking fun pictures like this in the woodzy area, It was so beautiful especially with the sun shining down on the trees ad there faces, it might not of been so planed out as I would of liked if you look closely you can see that my brother is wearing bright Slurpee shirt.

I chose to have this picture more of a fuz on the face to create a more of a daze feel. I think it makes them look more cute, and like in a daydream with each other.

The next picture I was sitting in a little hole to get the height ratio I wanted. I think It draws more effect to how the sun hits onto them and the trees.

I love taking pictures in nature,  its beautiful to see the way the sun glistens off the trees. and seeing a Momma deer and a baby deer crawl thought your photo shoot!


 Photography Tip: If you always plan out where the sun hits your subject you will get closer to the picture you want.

Now and then its good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy. -Unknown


Thanks for reading, I would love to hear what you think!  let me know in the comments section below

The Vanessa and Carmela

Carmela

Sorry I haven't posted for a while I have been away from my camera for a long while, longer than I would like.

I went on a photo shoot a while back with this kid Carmela to take pictures of  our friend Vanessa. Carmela and I are both interested in photography and love to take pictures. With similar cameras we can help each other figure out settings and give tips to each other.

Its helpful for me to have a friend that shares the same interest in photography that I do, and its more fun to have a friend to enjoy it with you.

Vanessa

These photos I would like to point out are taken in the city, but we were looking for pictures that didn't have tons of houses and distracting stuff in the background. 





This struggle I would say is the biggest for the city photographer unless you prefer the city style, but me I would prefer country, but we make due with what we have.

Photography Tip: When trying to doge houses in the background, try and use different angles to get them out of the way and don't forget about checking the background when focusing on your subject.

  
This Kid Vanessa she is amazingly beautiful, any picture of her would turn out amazing she is so photogenic. I think she will defiantly go far in her career of modeling.

I love having these to as my friends and its such a blessing to have them in my life.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!  

The Classics

This is the type of picture I call the classics. They are the classics because its one of those pictures you have seen a thousand times but a little different every time. Well one reason to take a "Classic" is so that you can see if you can imitate the type of photography you want if you are not quite sure what you are doing, I don't suggest doing it that much, because you don't want to tread to close to copying. Another reason is to see if you can take a classic and make it your style. I chose to take it because it simple and fun, and something I can easily do again, I plan to take the same picture next year and see the improvements or style changes I have made.                                                          The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together. -Saadi                                                      thanks for reading, hope you enjoy.

                                            

Sarah's Sweet Sixteen

This is Sarah, I got the wonderful opportunity to take pictures of her in her beautiful dress. She looks like Elsa from the movie Frozen. She even did her hair too look like queen Elsa braid.

We had some time to take some pictures outside which is what I always prefer, and it was a perfect day because it was warm but not too hot, and  there was light cloud cover giving me the perfect amount of light to work with. It also helps that her smile is so perfect! 

I still am loving black and white, I had to have one out of the 4 I posted today to be in black and white. I think that this picture in the black and white makes her eyes pop out more, that would also have to do with her make up, which she did a good job on. 
  

I am still using my friends lens, that I am going to have to do some research in seeing how much they cost because it works rather nicely, for the type of photography I like. 

This picture was taken inside while getting ready. let me just say I love her heels! I would love to wear heels but I cant for I am a tall girl.

In the house the lighting wasn't the best to I had to use some "fake light" as my friend would call it, meaning I boosted up the ISO a little higher so that the camera can account for the lack of lighting in the room. Just be careful when you do this not to forget your settings are on that because when you go outside and forget about it your pictures are white, (and yes that was a mistake I did make ha ha, luckily I caught early on)

In this photo I hyped up the shutter speed to capture the movement of her dress frozen in the picture. Moving the ISO up a touch to balance the quick shutter speed. I did that because if you were to just put the shutter speed up the picture would be dark because the faster the shutter speed the less light comes into the camera, meaning you should put some camera "fake light" in to balance everything.


photography Tip: Play around with your ISO and Shutter speed.  Find different setting that you would normally use, maybe you will find something you like better, and don't settle for an okay picture keep trying for something you can be proud of.

"Where the road ends an adventure begins" - Mrs. Frizzle

Thanks for reading and looking at my photos. I would love to hear from you! Let me know what you think.

Beautiful Decay

There is beauty in decay. To often we look at what is supposed to be beautiful, but really we should be looking for that beauty in other places. Like these roses, they are wanted when they are fresh red bloomed flowers, now they are forgotten, dead and lifeless and still beautiful.

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." -unknown

Jolly

My cat! 
A friend lent me a new lens and lets just say I really like this lens, I am going to have to get one of my own! This lens does close up much better. It has no zoom so that's something to get used to. 

Photography Tip: take pictures of the same thing to see your own improvement.

Thanks for reading!

White

The white has disappeared. What seemed like what would never end, has gone. No more snow pull out those shorts!

This picture uses the rule of thirds very clearly, my sister is standing in the bottom right corner. Essentially what you want to do its to get your subject in where the lines cross, it creates for a more appealing picture. there rest of the picture should be filled with empty space, stuff that doesn't distract from the subject, like this perfect example SNOW!


 "What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness." -John Steinbeck

Photography Tip: Try using the grid on your camera to place your subject (if you have grid.)

Thanks for reading! 

Head Heart Hooves

My sister invited me to come with her to Horse 3. Its an event were all horse lovers meet to watch trainers and learn new things about horses. 

This is Steve he was one of the three trainers, training a 2 year old filly from only halter to saddle broke. (with some some stuff still yet to work on after) They only had 4 one hour sessions to train before the riding test. Steve was successful.

(He is on his own horse at the moment, she is a is a pretty palomino named Shiner.)

Steve was the winner of the contest, and he was also very funny and enjoyable to watch. 

I learned many new things about horses, And new photography techniques with horses.




In the round pen It was hard to get pictures because there is bars to keep the horse inside. Having those bars meant I would have to stand by the round pen to get my pictures, which was very tricky, because the horses were so young and easily distracted my click of the picture would get them off focus. but they got used to the sound eventually because I was not the only photographer there. 

And lets just say I am thankful for zoom lenses! I would not of been able to take good pictures without it!.

Photography tip: Change your shutter speed to faster so you can get clearer shots of the horses because of there fast movement.

Thanks for reading! Love to hear what you think.

Winter

I love walking outside when its snowing. I like this picture because of the different layers of different types of trees, and the small opening to see the tall evergreen in the background. Its crazy how the seasons change so drastically one small area. I walked this path every day during the summer, and only now I have stopped to recognized the beauty.

"Let us love winter for it is the spring of genius" -pietro Aretino 

photography Tip: Try to layer things up.

Thanks for reading! 

May Christ be the Center

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Winter Tree

It was a nice warm day outside so I decided to go on a nature walk with my camera, something I enjoy doing that's calming and relaxing. I took this picture because I was attracted to the rust color of the trees trunk. 

Trees are beautiful creations, we are so short compared to trees, giving photographers this creative angle. Soon this old tree will be filled with leaves, and spring will finally be here. 

Photography Tip: If your hobby is relaxing take the time to enjoy it.

Thanks for reading! 

Playing with Lights

I took some photos at the grade 8 dig at my school and while doing so I took some quick snaps of lights. This is simply taking pictures of lights and moving the camera while the slow shutter is taking all the light in. Its a creative project, simple and pretty fast when your in the right place. A place that is very dark with simple lights.

What the dig site looks like with no flash.

 The Grade 8 dig is an archaeology study at my school, where groups of grade 8s go underneath our gymnasium, in a place with a very low ceiling, you cant stand, you have to crawl and squat. (one of the one times being tall is a hindrance) They go into sections marked of by numbers and white lights. They use flashlights and digging tools to learn to excavate in the dirt and along the way find treasures. 
Many old things were found, such as a pair of shoes, old toys, a bullet of some sort, an Iron, and many old coins.

What the dig site looks like with a flash.

 Photography tip: If you know your going into a place that is going to be dusty bring something to wipe your lens clean, so you can continue to get clearer pictures.

Overall that was a fun experience and I wish I could do it again so I could take what I know now, and practice it. 

thanks for reading! would love to hear from you readers!

When will it be spring again?

I think I am about ready for it to be spring again! I love flowers. This picture I took a while back during the spring. As you may notice the rose has water droplets on it, this is a cheat I used, Its called a spray bottle. Its nice cheat because usually when its just rained its dark outside so you don't get the nice brightness of the flower, and you don't want to get your camera wet! but also remember it is important to get the pictures at its natural state also! you don't always want to be faking your pictures, so try both and go out after the rain, there may be many different shots then you wouldn't normally get.

Photography Tip: Try more than one way of getting a picture.

Thanks for reading! what do you think?

Frank and Rachel

 This is my first official couple photo shoot during this project. I say official because family members don't count because I would take pictures of my sister even if she didn't ask for it. (animals don't count either) 
It went well, we made sure this time to pick a day with nice weather (-9'C) so we all weren't too cold. One thing I didn't account for is me as a photographer having to walk in knee high snow to get the perfect angle. I assumed before hand I would just walk on the path. Lets just say I was completely soaked!
Black and White photos are one of my favorite styles of photos. I like black or white because sometimes color distracts and sometimes color is needed. Black and White makes you look at details and not color. 
You might of heard about drawing lines in photography definitions before. they are strategically placed lines to draw you into the main focus of the picture, drawing lines are naturally appealing to the eye. I used this technique by having the whole bench in the picture, the wood of the bench is leading you to the subject.

Photography Tip: When taking an outdoor winter photo shoot, wear ski pants, you are going to get wet! and bring hand warmers because it's hard to switch the settings on the camera with cold hands.

Thanks for reading! what do you like better black and white or color?