The vacation actually begins - 6/27/18

Whoops. Here I was talking about a vacation the last few posts, but I just found the images from when I know for sure I was on vacation. Because they were taken early in the morning on a weekday. No way I would have randomly been off from work if it wasn’t because of that.

What I do remember is going to the local library as soon as they opened, grabbing just about every photography book they had and skimming through them for a few hours. I actually learned only a little, as the majority of books always talk about the same things. Beginning stuff, basic understanding of the settings for a camera. What a tripod is. I did like reading about some of the stories from wildlife photographers.

But I left the library and just went to a new local park and went walking. I can’t seem to find any evidence of what pictures I took with it, but it is worth it to mention that earlier in the month I purchased another lens. This time I had learned about the F stops and wanted the smallest number one I could afford. I got a Yongnuo 1.8 50mm. I also purchased a slightly larger camera bag and assorted filters and other things. None of the images I’m reviewing now appear to have been shot with the 50mm, but I definitely had it with me.

Canon T3i w/ 18-55mm - 1/125 Sec - F4 - 21mm - ISO 100

With steam still coming off the river I found this bit of river access for boats, right in front of a water treatment facility. I also maybe but absolutely got my shoe stuck in the mud and it slipped right off almost tripping me.

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/30 Sec - F9 - 36mm - ISO 6400

I was continuing to just walk around with I took this picture, just a road leading further into the forest.

I experimented with a few other ideas while I was at this place, but nothing really came out as interesting. I was also playing Pokemon Go of course, and I think that’s what lead me to driving around to other parks, dodging rainstorms, until I came upon a mostly empty historic downtown. Which I got out for a bit of walking around when the rain had stopped.

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/50 Sec - F3.5 - 20mm - ISO 100

I liked the way this image came together. Something about the red of the bricks, green of the grass. Would have been nice with a not pure overcast cloudy sky. But hey, work with what you got.

There was also this really cool fountain that was going, I managed to get a shot of the whole thing. And then played around with shots of the big spray in the middle, trying to see how clear I could get individual droplets of water with faster shutter speeds.

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/2000 Sec - F5.6 - 24mm - ISO 6400

Canon T3i w/75-300mm - 1/2000 Sec - F5.6 - 75mm - ISO 400

So buildings and water, then back to a building with the town hall.

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/50 Sec - F5.6 - 18mm - ISO 100

Shortly after this point I was playing more pokemon when the rain kicked up again. I stood under a tree for a few minutes getting soaked. Luckily the camera bag I was using had one of those rain covers built into the bottom that you just pull over top.

Overall a fun little trip. I need to do more of these random exploration days.

Lake Lanier landscapes - 6/24/18

It was the last day of my vacation week. I was procrastinating but still trying to squeeze in a bit more photography and wanted to go somewhere new. I had never actually been to Lake Lanier, although now I have tried to drive there several times. But as it turns out, you have to pay for almost everywhere. As a rule I try to not go places that require payment, I don’t really have a good reason for this. Just never liked the idea of paying for parking or entrance fees. I like nature being enjoyed at just the cost of nature. I also get the point that places like state parks charge so they can upkeep it, which makes sense. Although maybe that should be a tax that everyone pays. I know different states handle things differently, and there are a few states that have state level parks for free. I absolutely want to travel to these places.

But Georgia is not one of these places. And paying money to go somewhere puts a certain amount of pressure, it’s not just time you’re sinking into something but there is an actual monetary cost associated with it. And as in photography there’s a good chance you could make the trip out, and walk away with no good pictures only good experience. I try to minimize the actual cash costs. Obviously this doesn’t work for everywhere, but especially when it’s just a quick trip. Overall we were here at the lake probably less than an hour. Thankfully it was early on a Sunday and not many people came to this one spot that has free parking, very small area. Honestly as this was more than a year ago, wouldn’t be surprised to find that it’s a pay to park spot now. As is every other place I’ve found at Lake Lanier.

But it was a nice little spot to visit, took some photos of the water and a few other things that interested me.

Canon T3i w/ 18-55mm - 1/1000 Sec - F4 - 18mm - ISO 100

Took a couple of shots of these floating barrels, probably there to keep boats from coming into the smaller portion of this particular spread of the lake.

I got a little closer and did another shot of these, really like the color orange and how blue the sky was with a bit of color adjustment.

Canon T3i w/ 18-55mm - 1/1600 Sec - F5 - 18mm - ISO 100

There was also a sign that I took a picture of, I liked the way the colors of the sign stood out against all the green around it. I also make it black and white, just to play around with that in photoshop.

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/100 Sec - F16 - 55mm - ISO 4000

Same settings as previous picture lol, just edited in photoshop. Not the cleanest, looking back at it.

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/500 Sec - F5.6 - 49mm - ISO 100

Back in the car, this was interesting with all the rocks coming to meet the water.

One last shot I did I really liked the composition of, even if I didn’t know that word back then. It was a series of 3 as these boats came passed each other. With an island in the background. I edited it into black and white for effect in the waves.

Canon T3i w/ 75-300mm - 1/500 Sec - F6.3 - 300mm - ISO 100

Down by the river - 6/19/18

Another day in my vacation and this time I ended up going out towards the end of the day to a spot I would drive past on my drive to work. But never stopped at. It was by the Chattahoochee river, a nice little park.

Now I did take quite a few shots of the river, trying out different angles and settings.

Canon T3i W/ 18-55mm - 1/60 Sec - F5.6 - 18mm - ISO 640

I don’t know exactly which one I picked to edit, they all look very similar, so I don’t have the details for the raw file.

What I do know is that is HIGHLY overdone. The colors are way blown out and the saturation is too high. But hey, this is still early on. I didn’t know any better yet. Just wanted to make pictures like I would see online.

Canon T3i w/ 75-300mm - 1/3200 Sec - F5.6 - 300mm - ISO 1600

I also tried out some more moon shots. Different shutter speeds to see if I can capture details in it.

I also turned around and watched the cars going past, thought it would be cool to do a long exposure of the lights, happened to also get this really cool lens flare from the lamp post. Not sure if I had a filter on, it’s possible. I think I had some cheap filters than would have come in a bundled kit or something.

Canon T3i w/ 18-55mm - 30 Sec - F22 - ISO 400

There was also this sculpture in the park, a hand holding a fish. Really cool.

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/20 Sec - F4 - 25mm - ISO 6400

And upon closer inspection, with the flash on. It’s extremely colorful!

Canon T3i w/18-55mm - 1/30 Sec - F5.6 - ISO 6400

And the vacation continues…