Nice Day to Be Out of Office

It was a sunny afternoon! But instead of traveling around, shooting some pics, I was trapped in this building, doing an unbelievably boring task... it's called waiting! Thank God, I had my camera right beside me...

Having only a building as a subject and the whole boring furnitures inside it, I tried to compose a nice shot. The blue sky outside the building was fascinating. So I went out, regardless the waiting task, and had a few shots.

The outcome was great. At least from my point of view. But from my experiences before, I knew I had to have a second opinion.

First comment, "The colours are lovely!"
Second comment, "But the converging lines are too strong."
My comment, "......"

Yes, I see it now. The left edge of the photo and the lines of the building. Converging lines can add some value to my composition, but this one just ruins it. Huh... I guess I shouldn't use a wide-angle lens. Better remember this in the next shot!

Blue, Blue, Blue Volcano

A volcano, 30 km from my place... lately, this volcano has caused a lot of fear among us. It's still active and ready to errupt anytime... at that time, of course.

After trying to take some pics of it for a few times, and blew it all...finally I found a great place to take pics of the volcano. Five o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was still shining, golden hours...! And the sky was blue - my favorite colour for a sky!

I tried to make a nice composition, with the trees, the volcano, and the sky. It really reminds me of pictures that I usually paint when I was a child.

But the result got me down a little... the colour was a little flat. The sky wasn't as blue as I hoped. Other than that, it's a nice pic!

Yes, I could repair the colour using Photo Shop... but using a polarizer when shooting would be a good help, too. I should think of getting one of them soon...hmpfh...

One... two... and... Click!

My 2 yo little cousin, adorable. He was going to go shopping with his parents, but I managed to get him posed for me. Luckly he was in a good mood, so making him post was not a trouble at all. Good mood and a bright afternoon, just perfect!

...but it seems to be a bit too bright...

The over exposed background, hat and hands over his head is quite disturbing. Yet, what else could I do?

Suggestion from a friend: Next time, take him under a shade, and let the natural light falls on his face!

Yeah, sure... why didn't I think of that?

Framed by the Reefs!

It's not so early in the morning. I showed my friend a picure that I took on my last trip to a beach, 2.5 hours far from my place. It was a nice day for taking picture... but I think it was too late to have this one. I was expecting to get a decent pic... and a few compliments from my friends.

Me: I think it's a nice pic...
Friend: Yes, quite nice...
Me: Aha!
Friend: The reefs kinda framed the pic, the sky was so blue, and the clouds... nice one!
Me: Yup! (smiling proudly)
Friend: But, I'm missing something here...
Me: What?! (focusing on the monitor, really focusing)
Friend: Look, what's your focus? I mean, if you're focusing on the sky, then it would be better to have a reddish sky, than a bluish one. And the reefs...
Me: ...too dark, huh?
Friend: Indeed. Well, you should buy a flash. It really comes in handy for shooting pictures with low light like this one...
Me: I think my built-in flash can do good too... (feeling down)

Thank you! I turned off the computer.

Bewildered

I took this pic about a month ago. In a nice sunny afternoon. The golden light shone perfectly, and the horse was also in a good mood for running around. This could have been a great pic. With all the dust scattered around, and the horse went wild.

But?

The face of the horse was just too dark, in only one side. No details of it could be seen. To push the brightnes using PhotoShop will ruin the pic completely. Some suggested - next time when I decide to retake the pic - to use a fill-in flash to get the details of the face by not ruining the landscape. I guess I need to try this fill-in flash trick.

The bamboo fence also distracted the focus a little. But in my opinion, moving forward and put the fence out of the frame would give a worse composition, and not to forget, a greater chance to be run over by the horse!