Project 365: January 8th - January 14th

The following photos I took between January 8th and January 14th for my Project 365.

All shots are shot in Aperture Manual, in RAW format and edited in Lightroom.

January 8th

A shot of my daughter's mini Christmas tree. Was planning for a macro shot, but in the end this was the shot I was most happy with. 

Settings: ISO 100, 51mm, f/6.3, 1/10sec.

January 9th

A night shot from a distance, taken from my daughter's bedroom window. Wanted to try another night shot and felt this building was perfect. Also an excuse to use my other lens. 

Settings: ISO 1600, 116mm, f/5.0, 1/5sec.

January 10th

A shot of a bicycle's wheel. Something simple as a partial shot. Feel perhaps a deeper depth of field may have got me more of the wheel in focus, though I do like how the shot came out.

Settings: ISO 200, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/60sec.

January 11th

This is an attempt of a silhouette shot. It was beautiful day and saw this is a chance to see if I could produce a decent silhouette shot. It was not perfect as I caught some glare on the lens, but I feel it was a good attempt nonetheless. 

Settings: ISO 200, 22mm, f/14, 1/1000sec.

January 12th

A shot of my cat, Flora. Had left it quite late in the day to take this, so when I saw my cat all comfy, thought it was a chance to work on my shots of animals. 

Settings: ISO 400, 55mm, f/7.1, 1/60sec.

January 13th

Shot of Mary Magdalene Church. Have taken shots of this church before, but decided to go for a different angle to avoid the glare of the sun.

Settings: ISO 200, 40mm, f/5.6, 1/1000sec.

January 14th

Shot of a crane over Croydon. This is the same building I had photographed a few days before at night. I took it again from my house, but zoomed in closer for more detail this time of the crane.

Settings: ISO 200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/800sec.

Project 365: January 1st - January 7th

The following photos I took between January 1st and January 7th 2015 for my Project 365.

All photos are shot in Aperture Manual, in RAW format and edited in Lightroom.

January 1st

A shot of my Dumbo Christmas decoration. Took a few attempts to get the settings right, but it is a good attempt for my first manual shot.

Settings: ISO 3200, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/20sec.

 January 2nd

A shot of my son, Matthew and his bear, Boo. I was aiming for a high key shot, though again, it took me a few attempts to get the shot correct.

Settings: ISO 200, 52mm, f/8.0, 1/60sec.

 January 3rd

A shot of a building I call the 50p building, close to where I live. Wanted to get outside and try something different with my settings, not that it made much difference due to the weather.

Settings: ISO 100, 34mm, f/5.6, 1/8sec.

 January 4th

A shot of a homemade Christmas decoration before we took down our tree. I have to admit I am not overly fond of the shot as I feel it could have been more in focus, perhaps by changing the ISO setting or F stop.

Settings: ISO 3200, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/8sec.

 January 5th

This is the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London, home to the musical Wicked. I am really pleased with how this shot came out, one of my favourite shots so far.

Settings: ISO 800, 34mm, f/5.6, 1/30sec.

 January 6th

This is a shot of my daughter's bedroom window. Nothing too flashy. I was trying to go for the rain on the window but I took this shot and preferred it.

Settings: ISO 400, 40mm, f/5.6, 1/800sec.

January 7th

This is my cheeky little boy Owen, poking his tongue out at me. Went for a low key, though it was only through editing that I got the black background I truly wanted.

Settings: ISO 100, 44mm, f/5.3, 1/60sec.

New Year, New Project 365.

It has been a few months since I last posted on this blog. The main reason was due to a major difference of opinions on my photography group, which caused a lot of distress for me. So I walked away before they destroyed my passion for photography altogether. To be honest, it was a good thing for me as it gave me a chance to photograph what I wanted, without restrictions and without the critical comments, which were never constructive.

I entered Wiki Loves Monuments 2014 and surpassed my result from the previous year. I did not place in the UK portion, but I did place 7th in the France competition, with a shot, which at the time, was not a favourite of mine. Four days before Christmas, I got the shock of my life and the best news to end the year with, that photo had placed 2nd overall in the International competition. It reignited my passion for photography in a big way, boosted my confidence and gave me the courage to finally face my fear of manual mode.

So this year, I have decided to do my own photo a day, which I am calling Project 365. I have no set themes, no planned shots. I am just shooting in manual, learning and experimenting each day. By the end of this year, I want to be confident in using the full manual mode. I have already started in Aperture Manual, which I have found quite easy to understand, it is just the shutter speed that scares me now, but that is something for me to work on.

All the photos I have taken so far have been posted to:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllacottPhotography
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EllacottPhoto

However, I will start posting to this blog as well, on a weekly basis as before, with the manual settings I used. So keep an eye out for my new posts.

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

Week 19 of the 2014 Challenge ran from the 4/5/14 till the 10/5/14.

The theme was A Picture Paints a Thousand Words.

Loved the idea of creating a photo using a "warm and fuzzy" word. The execution of it, not so much. Have to admit I ended up struggling towards the end of the week and I got really lazy with my final two shots!

Day 1

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Day 7 

ETSOOI

Week 18 of the 2014 challenge ran from the 27/4/14 till 3/5/14.

The theme was ETSOOI

ETSOOI means Edit The S**t Out Of It. Think that sums up the brief quite well. Unfortunately despite what I felt was a shot that met the brief, it was immediately criticized, despite some shots from others that day and throughout week, being a typical edit for me and not meeting the brief. So I decided to stop posting on the group for the time being but still remain on the group as to be able to follow the briefs.

Day 1

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Day 7 

As Sweet as Sweet Can be

Week 17 of the 2014 challenge ran from the 20/4/14 till the 26/4/14.

The theme was As Sweet as Sweet Can Be.

The brief used pageants as theme to find objects of still life to photograph. Basically it was a girly week! Didn't think I had much I could use to photograph but luckily found a few things to use and stuck to high and low key photography. Not my favourite week but it gave me an excuse to use the new skills I have learnt!

Day 1

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Garden Time

Week 16 of the 2014 challenge ran from the 13/4/14 till the 20/4/14.

The theme was Garden Time.

School holidays for most meant a simple theme for us. However, it did not necessarily means gardens as for some of us, myself included, do not have access to a garden. But as long as it fitted with a garden theme, for example, parks, flowers, landscapes and so on, then it was ok. I have to admit I think I pushed it with a couple as they were the only shots I had time to get as I was busy both those days, though I think my first shot was being quite clever!

Day 1

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 Day 7