They are, indeed, great photos. Love the nature shots of the robins and trees starting to spring to life. (No pun intended).
You're squeezing everything out of those and far more! Keep posting, loving it so far! Would be really nice to have a tbbs photog thread again! ...And I have no idea how you got your cat to sit still like that.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate the encouragement. Since I started my "Photo a Day" project on Saturday, I've felt so much more invigorated and creative -- just forcing myself to take a good photo has done wonders for my depression. I have a bunch of other lenses, but I'm really trying to make myself take everything with my 50mm fixed-length lens (it's Canon's entry-level 50mm, plastic assembly and all that, retails for about a hundred bucks), which my wife bought for me a few years ago before we split up. We're back together now, but I'm trying to get back into my creative groove -- I lost my wife once and I won't lose her again. Spike is kind of an idiot. This shot was at 1/25 shutter speed, and I'm surprised it came out as well as it did because the aperture was f/2.5. Happy accident.
I'm very sorry to hear you experienced marital problems, I'm very pleased you are now reconciled, congratulations! And yes, depression can put a spanner in the works of anything, they say one in four will go through it at some point, don't they. I remember that with the help of a special person, I picked up a camera as a hobby, and suddenly realised looking through a viewfinder forced me to see, and delight in what was beautiful and enchanting in life, and in a way, there really is no greater gift - seeing what is good/graceful/subtle around you. Is your cat named after the Buffy character? And will you be starting a photog thread? It may encourage some of us!
Thanks for the compliments, everyone! Timby, I had a T2i for years, and loved it. I even have that same 50mm prime lens you're talking about. But I don't think I ever got that combo working quite like you have. Nice work! I agree. What were the parameters of the old one?
He is. My wife adopted him a few months after we started dating (our other cat, Cherry, became very fond of me and my wife got jealous -- now Spike adores me and Cherry wants nothing to do with me, go figure). He's a very lovable and affectionate beast, but not terribly graceful (and he has an unfortunate habit of punching us in the heads in the mornings when he's hungry). I had just gotten into Angel at the time, and the name felt appropriate. I suppose I can work on one tomorrow!
^ Please do! I think it would be great to have a thread dedicated to the finer (and funner) aspects of photography. I'd love to get some inspiration and tips from folks here. Heck, maybe some of us can also try a photo a day in it, too. I tried to do the 365project but the site just seemed too impersonal to me. Doing something similar here could be fun ... and quite inspirational.
Timby, they are great shots! My boys wanted Spiky hair today for school. I tried to do their hair like in the 80s, spiked all over. It didn't work out so well, so I fell back on some faux hawks. They were happy that's all that matters, right?
Not one of my best (my 50mm lens actually broke earlier today -- I was trying to manually adjust the focus, pushed too hard and the focus no longer works, so this was taken with an old kit lens), but my wife gave me the idea of the rings, and I took it further to incorporate a lens (she loves my photography and really wants to learn more about the art, and I am trying to teach her). I like the DoF, but this is not a fast lens and so I couldn't capture the detail I wanted. But I needed to take my photo of the day. Actually used a blank sheet of printer paper as a diffuser for the flash.
A friend purchased a new car over the weekend, I was able to take a drive with him yesterday. A very nice car, always been on of my favorites.
I started the Project 365 on my Wordpress blog with all good intentions but we've had such a terrible winter that outdoor shots were a no-go most days, so I abandoned it. The weather's improving now so I should get some more photos. The swans along the River Exe are starting to nest. Last year the river flooded rather late in the spring and I think quite a few nests must have been destroyed as we saw very few cygnets. We're all hoping for lots of swan family pics this year. Even better, the black swan, named Fifi by the locals, has been spotted again by the Quay after not being seen last year, so I'm hoping to get some photos of her. Of course it's dark and raining again as I type this! Ah, English weather...
I think you made full use of a lot of signifiers in the shot to demonstrate a closed in barrier-ed feeling - the lack of clarity/texture in the glass especially.