Are you like me who, in a rainy and gloomy days (like today), gets discouraged to take any pictures? But tonight, I’ve read that the best time to take black and white pictures is when the lights are low. So next time heavy rain pours, I will definitely practice shooting raw for possible terrific photos.

“The superior man makes the difficulty to be overcome his first interest; success comes only later.”
~Confucius

It has been said, blogged and shared a lot of times that the best hours to shoot outdoors is an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. Then, I found an interview with professional photographer Dan Lipow on what to do with the rest of the day.

Q. The hours just after sunrise and before sunset are the best times to photograph outdoors. But what do you do the rest of the day?
A. First, you can utilize your camera’s ability for exposure compensation. If you underexpose a very bright scene, by one-third or two-thirds of a stop, that adds richness to it. I also set my camera’s white balance to a cloudy setting or an open shade setting. These settings will help warm up the image, and that can add a lot more dimension to the photo.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

I have this habit of browsing pictures over at Flickr. I realized that a great photo doesn’t necessarily need a high end for-professional-use kind of camera. In fact, I saw several macro shots taken with a point-and-shoot camera. I guess this only proves that a big factor in creating a great photo is the creativity of the photographer.

Although, let’s admit that those expensive lenses can make these great pictures, uhm, greater.

From the time we were deciding which SLR to buy, I’ve been blogging that we prefer Nikon over Canon.

Would it be such a crazy idea if we sell our Canon 450d with kit lens and 2 other Canon lenses to buy a brand new (but older model) Nikon d80?

This had been running through my mind, which is why I’ve been contemplating whether to buy the Canon version of my dream lens, or just the Sigma version. At least, I still could use it if in case we switch to Nikon. Sigh.

I’m writing a list because these are the things I’d like to read about. Hope this gives others an idea. ^-^

1. camera settings used – trust me, I’ve been scanning a lot of photo blogs and I end up coming back to those blogs where I can learn good settings from.

2. composition and balance – there are countless beginners like me who would like to learn a thing or two. What may be simple to you could be a great discovery for us. E.g. rule of thirds, juxtaposition, etc.

3. post processing – a plugin / action you discovered online and enjoyed using to correct bad exposure. E.g. how to correct noise.

4. gear especially lens reviews and/or comparisons – beginners like me, almost always end up buying (additional) lens or external flash after buying the kit.

5. good lighting – well, I honestly think someone should create a blog / website solely on how to achieve good lighting.

Needless to say, sample photos should be included. We enjoy drooling.

As I was researching about insurance lead generation, I suddenly thought of comparing my kit lens (canon 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS) with our 50mm f1.8 lens. Well, that’s because when we still haven’t bought our 50mm, I kept looking online for the comparison. I thought this could be helpful to others who might be looking for one.

Note: no editing done except for resizing and watermarks.

It was late last year when Ate Jen twitted about light painting. I think it is really cool especially when you’re really good at it.

Then the other night, I wondered if I can do it even without any knowledge on how to do lightpainting on your own. All I know is it should be done in long exposure (still, I could be wrong).

I did a couple of trial and error. The first few settings, the shutter wouldn’t fire at all. So just want to share how I did it in case you want to try it too.

Equipment used: SLR on a tripod or you can place your camera on top of something stable like bed frames perhaps; light source such as a flashlight. Although I used my mobile phone ‘coz like I said earlier, I did this on a whim.

Steps that I did, some of which may not be necessary hehehe:
1. I set up the SLR on the tripod on a place where it was dark.
2. I set the lens into manual.
3. I set the camera to the Tv mode / speed priority, and the shutter speed to 1/8
4. I set the ISO to 1600.
5. I set the camera’s timer.
6. I waited in front of the camera and drew a heart using my lit-up mobile phone when I heard the shutter about to burst.

This was the first photo that the shutter, with the different settings I tried, actually clicked.

I would have wanted a darker background and a nicer light paint. But this one isn’t so bad as a first.