More playing with my Canon 600D.

Marceline the tortoiseshell cat.

I haven’t had many opportunities to play with the camera over the last couple of weeks. Some days it won’t cross my mind at all that I should be learning how to use my lovely Christmas present. I’m not going to obsess over it and I’m not going to write continuous blog posts either. The excitement will probably wear off soon enough.

winter garden

Last weekend I thought that I should probably have a go on it. Keep up with the learning. I went into the garden to see what was going on. Bulbs have sprouted and are flowering early.

berry

With the macro lense added I went in seach of some interesting things. I have no idea why I like the berry picture, I just do. First lesson to learn when taking close ups of stuff? Don’t let your over long fringe cast a shadow over the thing you want to photograph.

snowdrops with macro

Initially I took pictures on the basic manual setting but then I twigged that I should be using the macro setting. I know this. It’s simple. I keep forgetting. It’s good to know that there are similar functions that I recognise from my old compact jobbie. However, if I want to use the camera properly, I can’t rely on them either.

a snow drop with macro lense

It’s a good start though. I’m happy with the results. I could be satisfied just twiddling the main dial but it isn’t the same as understanding all the abilities of a fancy SLR. I’m pleased they’re there though.

Marceline using Portrait

I didn’t have long so I tried something else. Marceline got the Portrait treatment. It gave her a better colour. The standard Auto was dull and grainy(I deleted those). Then it was time to stop playing and hide camera away from my grubby little children.

Daffodils on iso.

Yesterday, a week later, I went outside again. I only had five minutes to experiment with a new function I’d read about. I’ve found a great little blog series that has taken away a lot of the fear of posh photograph taking. Consequently, I’ve found a new button. The ISO button. I’ll look up ISO in a minute. Something to do with light. Anyway, the daffodils have started to arrive. Think these are Tete a Tete.

playing with iso

Here are the shop bought daffs. Obvs, they need chucking. The light differences are just the changing of the ISO button. Interesting… But also, the camera is on the P setting and I can’t remember what the instructions said what that meant. It’s all the combinations that get me. You might have the right ISO number set but what if you haven’t twiddled the dial to the right bit? So much information and that’s just an iceberg’s tip.

playing with the iso

Here is Marceline on the highest ISO number. Both she and the crochet are (kind of) in focus.

playing with iso function

The number went mega low and I focussed on the blanket I’m supposed to be working on right now.

iso function playing

Then I focussed on Miss Marcy. And, what’s good is that I totally meant to do these things!

Indoor daffs.

These have come along nicely in the last week. They belong to Eldest boy who planted them with Granny in the autumn. They were in the shed for a few months before I remembered to go and get them.

growing indoor daffs.

The ISO thing also means you can make blurry backgrounds to hide ugly things that lurk behind stuff you want to take pictures of. I don’t always get an accurate focus on the exact bit I want. Is it my eyes or the camera that’s not doing a proper job? Probably the wrong setting.

At this stage I took some pictures of the Spice of Life crochet blanket. I was going to add them here showing similar things about focussing on diffferent sections of the blanket.  However, I’m almost finished and I think I’ll save them for another time. I think it’s enough that you know I’ve read what Aperture means.

 

 

 

Playing with my new Canon 600D!

First daffodils of the season

I got a new camera for Christmas! It is a Canon 600D SLR. I was exceedingly happy to receive it, it was a complete surprise and also something I really wanted. I had talked about it all year but I didn’t think I’d actually get one! It’s not brand new, but whoever owned it before must have really looked after it because it’s so lovely and spanky.

indoor bulbs

So I’ve been playing around with it. At this stage I still haven’t plucked up the courage to read the manual. I’m using the excuse that it’ll be full of gobbledegook that I don’t get. I know nothing. I have managed to turn it on and Husband has pointed out what a couple of the dials and buttons do (he did a photography module at university). When I first got it I didn’t even know how to put the lense cap on and I still don’t know what “aperture” means.

playing with my camera- daffs

I’ve been playing with the manual settings because the auto function flashes at everything. I’ll find out how to switch that off. What a twonk, sounds pathetic. Before the end of the year I will be a super expert and then I’ll stamp down on my current self in great shame and anger.

First daffs-playing with camera

I find the lighting confusing too, I know the dial which lets more light in or reduces it and that’s helped for some of the macro shots I’ve tried. The two pictures above were taken about an hour apart. By the time I’d taken the second picture, the sun had started to come round to the front of the house and whilst neither of the photos are any where near perfect, you can see the the sun makes it have a nice glow. Anyway I shan’t discuss it more for fear of sounding like a fool. Practice practice blah blah.

Ladybird Books. The collection so far...

So I went round the house taking pictures of things (whilst Toddler was at his very first pre-school session!). The Ladybird books are on the other side of the house so I twiddled the dial to let in more light but the picture is still not crispy, as I’d hoped. I can’t work out how to get it done right. Is it the light or my trouble with the focus? Or something else? Er, I dunno. Yet.

Lego picture

Another place in the house. Lego. Lots of Lego.

Lego X-Wing

The first weekend of the year was spent playing with all the Lego. Eldest boy and Daddy found some X-Wing instructions online and spent hours and hours building a hotchpotch Star Wars starfighter! I know with absolute certainty that Eldest is very pleased with it. I know this because it is still intact. No Lego builds ever stay together for this long.

Old Lego X-Wing

Anyway, that is what I got up to yesterday. Onwards and upwards and all that. Will try not to tread on any camera peeps toes. 😛