Out and About this evening - Langley Trail

SweetGirl · 04-05-2007, 9:36 PM

Finally got a chance to go out and take some photos this evening. Took a trip to Iver Heath. There's a nice woodland park set back from the main road. Didnt have long since the carpark was closing shortly.

This is what i manage to take. C&C always welcome....
1. Path into the Park

2. Path towards the lake

3. Tree log

4. Beautiful colored Duck - not sure what its called

5. Waterfall - first attempt of taking a photo of flowing water. Not too happy with the results but i thought i would post it up for comments and tips.

6. This was taken yesterday from the top of my road.

jonnypb · 04-05-2007, 9:46 PM

have you got a tripod? for the waterfall stick your camera on a tripod and set it to TV mode and experiment with different shutter speeds, you'd probably get more pleasing results with that pic if you set the shutter speed to 1/2 sec

other than that i like the rest of them, haven't seen a duck like that before. for some reason the top of your road just makes me think of america!

peter.sh · 04-05-2007, 10:17 PM

Hello.

Nice shots. Particularly the one of the duck. It's a male mandarin, by the way.

SweetGirl · 04-05-2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter.sh

Hello.

Nice shots. Particularly the one of the duck. It's a male mandarin, by the way.

Thanks Peter. How can you tell it's male?

peter.sh · 04-05-2007, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetGirl

Thanks Peter. How can you tell it's male?

You're welcome. The male is very colourful. The female is quite dull in comparison.

jonnypb · 04-05-2007, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetGirl

How can you tell it's male?

It doesn't look lost

sorry couldn't resist!

bowenjones · 04-05-2007, 10:46 PM

Lovely shots SweetGirl

I especially like the composition of the first one and your Beautiful colored Duck

vulkan75 · 04-05-2007, 10:49 PM

The last one for me....it Really draws into the frame.Nice composition

Quote:

The male is very colourful. The female is quite dull in comparison.

icemanonline · 04-05-2007, 10:56 PM

Nice shots sweetgirl.

I like the last one best......

That D40 is working well.

icemanonline

**senu** · 04-05-2007, 11:31 PM

Lovely pics..

told you they were there all along
Just dont get as far as Slough

Well done..

your camera was beginning to gather dust

SweetGirl · 05-05-2007, 6:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by senu

Lovely pics..

told you they were there all along
Just dont get as far as Slough

Well done..

your camera was beginning to gather dust

Thanks Senu.
Been so busy with work later forgot my priorities

You were right Iver Heath is absolutely beautiful.

Gonna try and go back during the day this weekend and take some more.

BTW Slough has some beautiful landscape marks - there's the MARS building/ Power Station and off course Wexham

. On a more serious note.. couldn't take any shots in Slough, probably get mugged and have my camera nicked. That would be bad

Holowlegs · 05-05-2007, 7:51 AM

Hi ya

Nice shots keep up the good work.

Cheers Holo

ksten · 05-05-2007, 8:04 AM

Hi SweetGirl,

Great set of shots. Agree with some of the others in that the last one is my favourite.

Just a quick thought, but have you tried varying the height that you shoot from? Kneeling down sometimes helps to get a different perspective on things and may add interest.

Hope you have a great weekend with your camera.

Cheers.

SweetGirl · 05-05-2007, 8:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubble502

have you got a tripod? for the waterfall stick your camera on a tripod and set it to TV mode and experiment with different shutter speeds, you'd probably get more pleasing results with that pic if you set the shutter speed to 1/2 sec

other than that i like the rest of them, haven't seen a duck like that before. for some reason the top of your road just makes me think of america!

thanks for the feedback Bubble502. If don't have a tripod yet....guess it is next on my list of things to buy

.
I have taken your comments on board and will experiment this weekend with different shutter speeds.

allymac123 · 05-05-2007, 12:17 PM

My favourite would have to be #2. Love the way the way it leads into the blueish loch that you just get a suggestion of.

Regarding the waterfall. I would actually recommend AV mode and then stop the lens down as far as it goes, as low an ISO as possible, probably under expose a tad and of course a tripod. I also find that shooting water that has no direct sunlight on it gives the best results as it reduces the already high contrast range. Heavily overcast days are best and the lower light levels also enable a longer shutter speed.

Gizmo 76 · 05-05-2007, 2:15 PM

Nice collection of sharp shots sweetgirl

I'm liking the last shot as well...

Tobers · 05-05-2007, 4:26 PM

Looks like you're getting the hang of this.

For #1 and #2, try getting a bit lower down i.e kneeling or crouching. That way, the rather uninteresting road in #2 takes up less of the frame, but you can still use it to lead the eye into the picture (same for the last one).

The waterfall is nearly there. As mentioned above, stick it on a tripod, set it to self timer so you dont jiggle it, and try different shutter speeds. If you get the water silky, but it is getting overexposed, you need a grey filter (neutral density or ND) over the front of the lens to stop some light coming in and allow you to use a lower shutter speed without overexposing.

SweetGirl · 06-05-2007, 9:25 AM

Thanks to everyone for all their useful comments and suggestion.

Now time to experiment.....the fun bit.