After my first of four photography classes last week, I wanted to put into practice what I had learned.

My main goal was working with depth of field (either shallow or lots of depth) since I have struggled with this in the past. I also had this “capture the light” thing going round and round in my head. In so many instances I have previously been disappointed when trying to capture a certain mood, or light.

Of course I headed straight to Skylands for my practice session!

Here are a few I was happy with given the goals I had in mind for myself.

Light coming through leaves.

Soft light on an yet-to-bloom flower.

Even though this photo may look hazy to you, I captured the light perfectly because this is exactly the way it looked. It was very humid, hence the haze. This photo was also taken to get maximum depth of field which was also achieved as you can see the statues all the way at the end of Crabapple Lane.

I was down on the ground for this shot. I was going for the play of light on the petals.

Most of the flowers were in the shade, but there were a few that the sun was hitting. I focused on the flowers in the foreground in the light and used a shallow depth of field. Kind of a strange shot, I know, but there is something about it I like. You might not! For me it gives more depth to the shot, whereas it could have looked flat if everything was in focus.

Again, working with a shallow depth of field for interest.

I am proud to report that all photos were taken on either aperture priority or shutter priority, no programmed modes!

Lovely photos! It is so hard for me to take a decent picture because I just don’t have the EYE for it,never did. But you’ve got it!

Bigsis, Thank You! Glad you liked my practice work! And you can draw; I can’t.

LOVE the photo of the red flowers.  You can even see the little hairs on the stem.  Is this ‘homework’ for your class??  Does your teacher ask you to bring in photos for him to evaluate?

C, thank you! The hairs on the stem are backlit because I was trying to capture “the light!”

Yes, it was more or less homework because he told us to go out and PRACTICE. He does not ask for us to bring in photos for him to evaluate, although I think it would be great if he did.

Yay for manual modes! I especially like the unopened flower. (Looks like a squash?) I need to practice more with manual settings on my new camera, too.

Steve, I’m not sure exactly the name of this plant but I think it’s in the nightshade family. Death trumpet maybe? My neighbor Larry has the same camera as you and I got to look at it in class that day. Very nice!

I think she’s got it!  My fave…the sun dial…excellent!

There are some pretty amazing shots - my favourite is the first shot showing the veins in the leaf, also the one with the light on the petals and how clear the hairs on the stems stand out.

Helene, thanks, I’m working on it!

Joyce, glad you enjoyed them!