Point and shoot

My Nikon DSLR camera got to become a little cumbersome to lug around when travelling. It’s fine when all I’m doing is observing and taking pictures, but you need something smaller and lighter, especially when participating in certain outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking etcetera, when it can easily be slipped into a pocket.

I recently purchased a Canon point-and-shoot camera which fits the bill for portability perfectly, has all the usual compact camera features and more, and does allow for quite a bit of manual control. It also has a nifty GPS built-in which allows you to track exactly where the photos were taken. It has a 12-Megapixel sensor and an effective 25-500mm optical zoom lens.

I tried it out while fishing, on a trip last week to the coastal city of Durban. Here are some results in the fully automatic mode. I have yet to experiment further with the manual settings.

I reckon I could take some pretty good photos with this little baby once I get the hang of using it. It’s therefore going with me everywhere from now on.

Autumn in the United States: Photos by National Geographic

I love Autumn, but not as much as Winter.

However, Autumn offers a visual feast for photographers; a cornucopia of colours and sensations.

Japanese Maple from National Geographic

View more stunning Autumn photographs from National Geographic using the link below:

Photo Gallery – Autumn in the United States

Photo #14: Those amazing eyes

I haven’t posted a photograph in a while because I haven’t been actively taking any shots. Last night while going through some of my old photos, I came across this image of Maya, the daughter of my first cousin. She is an absolute delight, and a photographers dream subject.

I have many photos of her in completely natural poses; and every one contains a smile. Now that’s unusual for kids.

Anyway the first photo is the one I shot in colour some time last year. I cropped it very tightly because I wanted those magnificent eyes to be a focal point. I used a Yellow filter available in Windows Live Photo Gallery on the same photo to get the effect you see in the next image. I think the yellow filter somehow accentuates those eyes.
 

The Eyes of Maya Belle 1

 

The Eyes of Maya Belle 2

 Shooting Data:

 

Nikon D40

Lens: VR 55-200mm F/4-5.6 G
Focal Length: 120mm
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/60 sec – F/4.8