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! 

Mushroom's

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

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! 

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.

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!

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?

First the Worst Second the Best

This is what my Christmas
consisted of my family drinking Coca Cola!
This picture I took when experimenting with the bokeh technique. The definition of bokeh is "The visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image."  Pretty much that means the lights in the background are blurred circles, or in some cases interesting shapes. 
This is the first time I took this shot this way, there are many things wrong with it. The first thing that you may notice is that it is hard to clearly read what it says on the bottle, because I was focusing to so much on the tree light background I forgot to remember to look at the object in front of me. The first time there was no other light in the room but the light from the tree. Also it bugs me that you can see the reflection of the computer screen on the tv. I don't really like the off tilt of the bottle. When I saw the mistakes in this picture I decided to do it again.

THE SECOND! This was my second try doing the same shot with slight changes. The challenge is to have a first picture you like the potential but it just didn't turn out how you wanted, and to try again and create what you wanted. (because photo shop can help, but cant always fix everything.)  First things first I needed to fix the clarity on the coke bottle. The reason why you couldn't see it the first time is because there was no light shining on the front of the coke bottle only one the back, so I put a light behind me to fix that. I also centered it because the light that shines though the bottle looks better when the light is directly behind the bottle, and it just fists into the shape of the tree nicely, and Ta da! I got what I wanted.

Photography Tip: Make sure your object or subject has the proper lighting before you worry about the background.

Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you want! I would love to hear your thoughts!