2nd Photo Outing with Ryan

January 30, 2016

PHOTO SESSION WITH PROFESSOR RYAN  

RIPARIAN PRESERVE

Photos that I enjoy from this afternoon's walk showing my new skills

I like this photo for a few reasons.  First of all, it represents well the riparian preserve with the natural foliage, the reclaimed water, and, of course, the wildlife or ducks in this case.  Second, I like the way the ducks and the central tree are reflected in the water.  One would not guess that this is a city park only a couple miles from my home.  It looks to be miles away, out in nature.  Guess that's the idea!  And the ducks are unusual Chinese ducks, I believe Ryan advised, with a strange honking quack.  It is interesting to me that they recognize their own kind and stick together.

 I've never seen so many bunnies in the park.  They are everywhere!  And quite friendly.  Caught this little guy up close and with the sunlight shining through his ears.  The effect is rather angelic or as though something special is going on in her head. People get halos; bunnies get lighted ears. Ryan got the best bunny ears photo!

 Peace and Tranquility

Above two photos show my new fuzzy backgrounds with focus on smaller, interesting portions of nature; pieces usually ignored by those strolling through the park.

Ryan pointed out the interesting sky through the tree tops.  His similar photo is without the foreground free and his sky is with deeper, richer color and more pronounced clouds. 

 Working on my fuzzy backgrounds.  See the area of focus?

The above three photos are similar shots but using different "f" or Focus settings.  The first has the clearest background, then the middle photo has the fuzziest, and the last photo shows the background tree being discernable, the center portion is focused and the foreground is also fuzzy...just because of where I focused...all using different "f" ...a small, larger, and small again but with a different area of focus.  Did I get that right, Ryan?

Now we have some depth of field in this white fence photo...not too bad for a beginner!  In my humble opinion.

 Do you see the hidden bunny?  Like I said, they are everywhere! 
 

This photo shows a mid-fuzzy "f,"making the background tree blurry but discernable, and the front limb more sharply focused.  I actually turned the camera on it's side to get this vertical shot.

 I just liked this landscape setting.  The canal with the bridge reflecting in the water. The bicyclist crossing the bridge.  The San Tans in the background...way down in Queen Creek.   The clouds in the sky.  Looks like I should take a long walk!

The neighboring horses.  They were begging to have their portraits!  I like the top one best, however, I like the layers in the second shot beginning with the green gate.  About 8 layers are obvious in this photo.

Ryan explained about the sunlight effect on photos and how the pic would not be crisp and the colors sharp, etc.  But I kinda like the sun in this photo anyway...seems to permeate the photo from top right corner to bottom left corner.  Not a great photo, but I like it anyway.  So, I'll end here.  I'll post my first photo adventure another time...this being my second.  Now Prof. Ryan can critique my work.  HA!