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  1. #1
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
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    Wisteria's Scrap Book [Photography]

    “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
    ― Henri Cartier-Bresson

    7098/10,000- 70.98% Done.
    [xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx------------------------------]

    I googled Photography Quotes, thinking it'd be a profound way to intro my thread. Then I found that, and laughed, and figured that was just as suitable, seeing as I am only just starting. Like, today was the first time I actually went out with a camera that isn't built into a phone, to take photos.

    I am not sure why, but the last few weeks, I have felt a strong urge to get into photography as a hobby and take better photos. On Saturday night, I scoured the house and found a digital camera. Ever since I have waited for a chance to get out and take pictures. I have learned a lot of the functions through my videography unit I am doing at University this Trimester, and am eager to put them to the test.

    One thing I have noticed is that the last few weeks, I can't help but look at the world around me with a new sense of awe. As in, just about any time I am outside, I am constantly thinking of how awesome everything looks, and thinking of how best to get a picture of it. I don't know, I guess I have started to see the beauty in the world around me, and I want to record it. Wow, that sounded so lame.

    Anyway, I plan on making exploring and taking photos a regular thing, and will be sharing them here. Feel free to check it out and comment. I'll be heading to some pretty cool locations hopefully, so keep an eye here when I post.

    Scrapbook Pages
    September 2016
    12/09/2016: Lakes on a s***ty afternoon
    13/09/2016: Going Macgyver on this b****
    14/09/2016: The New Toy
    15/09/2016: The Beast
    16/09/2016: Diamond Creek
    17/09/2016: The E-Town Bandit
    19/09/2016: Kangaroo Ground Feat. That Pain In The A*s Kid and The Big As Hell Kangaroo
    20-27/09/2016: A Week Of Small Things
    October 2016
    08/10/2016: Hanging Rock
    14-16/10/2016: Spring Camp 2016
    Last edited by [Desolate Divine]; 04-21-2017 at 02:41 PM.

  2. #2
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
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    12/09/2016. Lakes on a s***ty afternoon.
    Today started off very unproductive. I got out of bed at nearly 11am, and attempted to study, but failed after a few minutes. I experimented with food, attempting to put ramen noodles in a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, then watched a movie for the next two and a half hours. When the movie finally finished, I still had another two and a half hours before Bible Study was due to start. It was only a half hour drive, so I decided to grab the meh compact camera I found at home on Saturday, and go out to try and get some decent shots. I had been putting it off, as I am hoping to get myself a DSLR this Friday, assuming the stars align with my pay, and figured I won't be able to get decent shots out of this camera. It is only 12 Megapixels, the equivalent of my phone, without a true viewfinder (relies solely on the LCD screen), nor any manual focus control. All the other controls are software based, fiddly and hard to use. It is intended to be a point and click camera, and I didn't want to go out with it and struggle to get decent shots, and be turned off photography by that. However boredom is a strong motivator.

    There were two parks and lakes on the way to Bible Study, so I went there, armed with a fairly average compact camera. The first was...

    Ringwood Lake
    Ringwood Lake is about a five minute walk from my house. However since I didn't have a lot of time, I drove there, parking in the car park for the pub next to it, and making my way in. Surprisingly, there were hardly any people playing Pokemon Go there. The last few times I have been, there have been heaps. I think I spotted maybe three people playing it in the half hour or so I was there. Anyway, I did a lap, as I didn't want to waste too much time and miss out on the next place during daylight, and managed to get a fair few shots, some I actually quite like. Granted, most of these have a couple of shots near identical where it was unfocused, or I couldn't hold the camera steady, etc.
    Spoiler:


    This isn't the park per say, but is my street, as I walked to my car. Technicalities...


    For some reason, I have this weird liking of roads and paths. A lot of my pictures were like this. This was probably the best though.



    I actually really like this shot. One of my favorites. Will probably try and recreate it but better when I get a better camera. Try and adjust the focus and depth of field to blur out the lake a little and sharpen the bench.



    This shelter over the lake is a Pokestop. Usually crawling with Pokemon Go players.









    Blue Lake
    Blue Lake is a hidden gem, and will always have a dear place in my heart. So many good times there. It is hidden at the end of a long dirt road, that stems out from suburbia. Yet for such a hidden gem, everyone seems to know about it. When I say its hidden, it is as if everyone knows about it but not too many people actually go there. My parents know of it, but never mentioned it until I brought it up, as do a lot of people. One reason I can think of is that to get to the lake itself is a hell of a walk, and things such as campfires or camping are banned, so people would probably rather go elsewhere. Still, I love it. We have had many a campfire and camp out there (and many near misses with being caught...), as well as many a beer on the nights we camped there. Some of my fondest memories are there. The camp outs, that night a bunch of the guys went down to the lake with the intention of blowing anything flammable we could find up, and even making a Molotov cocktail, that bonfire we had after church, and the time we went Geocaching. I do wish I had have gotten there earlier, as I didn't get to make it to the bottom where the lake is before it got too dark to get any decent shots.
    Spoiler:







    I actually really like this shot. Granted, I think it is that feeling of relief at this part of the path. The light at the end is where we usually camp, and carrying all of our gear there is hell. Once you reach this point, the end is in sight...

    Yep. That ledge is where we camp. And drink. Is that a good idea? Of course not. Do we do it anyway? Yes. Has anyone fallen off yet? No, not yet...




    I actually gotta bring a bike down here sometime and follow these little paths that are off the main trails...


    This took about ten goes to get right. Because the camera I was using was so small and light, and I had to zoom in to get this shot, pressing the button to take the shot would move the camera slightly and blur it. It was infuriating. One of the reasons I dislike this camera so much.





    This is as close as I got to the lake on this adventure. Though it doesn't look it, the sun was setting fast and it was becoming too dark to get decent shots. I suppose that's one redeeming feature of this camera, in that it adjusts the light levels fairly well.

    This shot is also a lie. This isn't at Blue Lake. This is when I was waiting in the car at my friends house in Panton Hill. I got to Bible Study fifteen minutes early and didn't want to be that awkwardly early guy, so played with the camera in the car. I actually really like how it reacts to the blue lighting in otherwise pitch black darkness.


    Final thoughts:
    Though I don't intend to use this camera very much at all (I probably won't touch it again once I get myself a DSLR), I do like a couple of things about it, such as how well it handles low light, and how vibrant the colours come out on a dull, overcast, drizzly day. I am glad I went out today, as I did get some shots that I do like, and has given me something to work towards.

  3. #3
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
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    These are some pretty great pictures! Parks and lakes are cool, they're a great mix of civilization and nature together.

    I like these also for the fact that the chances of me actually visiting these places in real life are very slim, but it's nice to get a taste of what these places are like in the form of your pictures.

    Nice stuff dude. :)

  4. #4
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neo Emolga View Post
    These are some pretty great pictures! Parks and lakes are cool, they're a great mix of civilization and nature together.

    I like these also for the fact that the chances of me actually visiting these places in real life are very slim, but it's nice to get a taste of what these places are like in the form of your pictures.

    Nice stuff dude. :)
    Cheers man! That is what I like about the areas I live. Even though they're developed and built up, there are still some cool natural places around to explore. I might even go out tomorrow afternoon and get some more pictures in towns to show that.

  5. #5
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wisteria View Post
    Cheers man! That is what I like about the areas I live. Even though they're developed and built up, there are still some cool natural places around to explore. I might even go out tomorrow afternoon and get some more pictures in towns to show that.
    Sounds a lot like where I live! We have a few parks and lakes around here, but there aren't too many "untouched" forests or areas like that still around.

    Also, your liking of roads and paths is natural. The viewer tends to have their eyes travel down the path upon looking at the picture for the first time. It's a psychological effect that always happens when you have a picture with a line-shaped feature on a picture, such as a path, railroad tracks, a highway, or anything like that. Like this one. Your eyes will travel in a zig-zag following down that path upon first looking at it.

    As a small tip for future photographs, one of the things I learned in my photography classes was to avoid cutoffs, if possible. So for example, that picture with the green bench, make sure the whole bench is in the picture and avoid having the edges get cut off. Centering it before you take the shot also helps. Since you're making it the main subject matter of your shot and that's the thing you want the viewer to focus on the most, it just works better if you capture the entire object in the shot. This picture is really good because you get an awesome sense of depth of field in there, and there's no cutoffs, such as in having only half of a tree in the picture. The entire trunk of the tree on the left is shown. Same thing with this one. The only thing that got cutoff is just the fence.

    Don't hesitate to experiment also! Sometimes taking pictures at a different angle works well. A picture taken from ground looking up (as if the one taking the picture was a mouse) could be neat as well.

  6. #6
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neo Emolga View Post
    Sounds a lot like where I live! We have a few parks and lakes around here, but there aren't too many "untouched" forests or areas like that still around.

    Also, your liking of roads and paths is natural. The viewer tends to have their eyes travel down the path upon looking at the picture for the first time. It's a psychological effect that always happens when you have a picture with a line-shaped feature on a picture, such as a path, railroad tracks, a highway, or anything like that. Like this one. Your eyes will travel in a zig-zag following down that path upon first looking at it.

    As a small tip for future photographs, one of the things I learned in my photography classes was to avoid cutoffs, if possible. So for example, that picture with the green bench, make sure the whole bench is in the picture and avoid having the edges get cut off. Centering it before you take the shot also helps. Since you're making it the main subject matter of your shot and that's the thing you want the viewer to focus on the most, it just works better if you capture the entire object in the shot. This picture is really good because you get an awesome sense of depth of field in there, and there's no cutoffs, such as in having only half of a tree in the picture. The entire trunk of the tree on the left is shown. Same thing with this one. The only thing that got cutoff is just the fence.

    Don't hesitate to experiment also! Sometimes taking pictures at a different angle works well. A picture taken from ground looking up (as if the one taking the picture was a mouse) could be neat as well.
    Thanks for the tips. I had forgotten completely about the cutoffs.

    Chances are I wont go shooting tomorrow since it is absolutely pouring and is most likely going to be raining :( Maybe wednesday. But if I get a new camera Friday, I'll try and get out Saturday or Sunday to somewhere new.

  7. #7
    Cheers and good times! Neo Emolga's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wisteria View Post
    Thanks for the tips. I had forgotten completely about the cutoffs.

    Chances are I wont go shooting tomorrow since it is absolutely pouring and is most likely going to be raining :( Maybe wednesday. But if I get a new camera Friday, I'll try and get out Saturday or Sunday to somewhere new.
    Sounds good, looking forward to it. Good luck with the weather, though.

  8. #8
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
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    Update: I posted a couple of th better pictures on Facebook and a family friend who is a semi-professional photographer offered to lend me an SLR that she doesn't use any more. Granted I plan on buying one this Friday should the stars align (it is $550. I have $120 worth of gift cards to the shop, and get paid $380 from the factory I work at this Friday. My church owes me $250 for the last months work, so if that comes through like it should this week, I can get it. I will know Wednesday, seeing as the person who does payments at church only works Monday to Wednesday so if I don't have a payslip by then, I won't get paid this week), however if they don't, I'll borrow that until I can get my own.

  9. #9
    growing strong Pokemon Trainer Sarah's Avatar
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    Saw these on Facebook :D Nice! I really like the path ones haha. Especially this one. The colours are really nice! Also it's cool the see the fabled Blue Lake even if it's not looking very blue haha. It's a very unique Australian landscape with the gum trees and such. Easy to forget that when you see it every day. xD

    Photography seems like a lot of fun! My brother has a fancy camera but he doesn't use it much anymore. I've never tried taking any photos for the sake of it, but I wouldn't mind giving it a shot one day. Good luck getting a fancy camera. :) I think it would be awesome to have a macro lens!
    GCEA


  10. #10
    I came in like a wrecking ball... [Desolate Divine]'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pokemon Trainer Sarah View Post
    Saw these on Facebook :D Nice! I really like the path ones haha. Especially this one. The colours are really nice! Also it's cool the see the fabled Blue Lake even if it's not looking very blue haha. It's a very unique Australian landscape with the gum trees and such. Easy to forget that when you see it every day. xD

    Photography seems like a lot of fun! My brother has a fancy camera but he doesn't use it much anymore. I've never tried taking any photos for the sake of it, but I wouldn't mind giving it a shot one day. Good luck getting a fancy camera. :) I think it would be awesome to have a macro lens!
    Thanks! That path one you shared is probably one of my favorites. I love the colour of the tanbark either side of the path. As for Blue Lake, it isn't too far from yourself. Next time you feel like getting outdoors, I'd recommend going there. The water is blue at certain times of year, this time of year not being one of them. But the water is also decent for swimming, come summer time.

    As for getting a fancy camera... There have been a few shifts in circumstances in the last hour. I will write another page up soon...

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