Macro blue water spirals.

Water spinning top

Silver Water Wheel

Sea Lion

Coming slowly back to the surface from below the water line.

and relaxing in the sunshine...

Below the Water Line!

Well it looks as if the crocodile from this mornings post hasn’t eaten anybody so he must have gone far enough away for me to post this weeks header challenge photos.

This weeks Header Challenge has been set by imac and he has chosen  to go “Below the water line”.

Now what's one of the main things you see below the water line? Well for me I think it’s fish…

Sad looking fish…

Smiley looking fish…

Colourful fish…

Slippery fish (well eel really)…

Predatory…

Cute… Look we've found Nemo!

I hope you haven't got too wet on our little trip below the water line, and the crocodile has stayed away for the whole post. I hope he hasn’t gone to pester any of the other headbangers as they do their headers for this weeks challenge. Why don’t you drop in on them to see if he has, or if they have succeed to post below the water line. Just follow the links to their blogs in my right hand menu bar.

Thanks for dropping in feel and free to browse any of my other posts there's lots more photography and blogs for you to enjoy.

Headbanger Challenge 4th May 2011 - Water

Happy Star Wars Day everyone!

This weeks theme has been chosen by Tom-fishing guy and he has chosen “water” as this weeks theme.

Now water can be open to lots of interpretations when it comes to photography. It could be just part of a tranquil countryside scene…

Or you can capture the reeds growing beneath the surface of the stream…

Or even as the stream opens into a sheltered pool capture the fish that live in the water feeding…

Further down stream the little stream joins a bigger stream and will probably, in turn, join another until it flows on out to the sea…

All the pictures today have been taken at Maze World part of Plantasia in Warwickshire UK. It’s home to the UK’s largest collection of permanent mazes and is well worth a visit. As you can see, apart from the mazes, there is also a beautiful nature trail through woodland and down past streams and fields. If you ever want a good day out for all the family, it’s well worth a visit and its completely disabled friendly too, including all the mazes (well except the high viewing platforms). Visit the Plantasia website for more details.

My header this week is also from Maze World, it’s the fountain in the Japanese maze.

I hope you enjoyed my watery blog please feel free to leave any comments and then flow over to my fellow headbangers to see their take on Water.

Header Challenge 20th April 2011– Fountain

This weeks theme is a watery one chosen by imac and is entitled “Fountain”.

Now not living in a city we don’t have much in the way of fountains so I thought I’d take a couple of trips out and get a shot or two to post. Well the other week I went to Belton House in Lincolnshire with imac and they have a nice fountain there. Unfortunately it was still switched off.

Yesterday for our Wedding anniversary we went for a family day trip to Woburn Safari park (photos to follow soon) and I thought there must be at least one fountain somewhere in the parkland there, but, no, not one. So I’m afraid I’ve had to resolve to look through my back catalogues of pictures.

I came across this one taken of Buckingham Palace and the fountains in front of it… or is it?

Leave a comment if you can you tell me what is wrong with the above photo?

I also found this one of a very high jet fountain taken in a park in the south of England…

I even found a photo of a fountain of water given off on a water flume ride…

very soggy people under that fountain of water.

But for my header I have decided to go back to one of my original ideas albeit a photo taken there last summer, I knew there was a reason for taking so many photos.

Header Challenge 12th January 2011 – Water

 

Well it’s header challenge time again (or a bit past it I’m very late posting this. sorry everybody). This weeks theme is `Water` and has been chosen by fishing guy.

Water, well there has been a lot of that including coming through the ceiling from what looks like a burst pipe so I’m afraid this is a very short post.

Here's a few pictures of some water drops for your delight, I hope you like them…

Thanks for visiting, remember to leave your comments and then drop in on the other headbanger team members to see what they have done this week.

Water Drops get a makeover!

I posted some water droplet pictures a couple of days ago that I had photographed in the kitchen sink.

Since taking them I have been playing a little with them in photoshop.

I've added a bit of colour,

and removed it.

 I even removed the background.

Hang on don't go...

I even take some drips out for a spin....

Water is fun, and so is playing with pictures of it in Photoshop. 

Remember to drip sorry drop by tomorrow for more fun with photos.

Water Droplets.

I was browsing through the internet just looking at other peoples blogs (lots of good ones out there, (check my blog roll for a few suggestions) when I came across some pictures of water droplets. This set me thinking how can I, capture them. 

So with a lot of trial and error I set up a shallow bowl in the kitchen sink, set my camera on a tripod just above the height of the rim of the dish and started shooting pictures as the tap dripped into the full dish.

I found I needed a flash gun off to one side and I also used a torch the other side so that the droplets were evenly lit as in the diagram above.

I set the aperture to f4.5 to allow lots of light in and a shutter speed of 1/200 sec to freeze the droplets.

I had to manually focus on the water as my camera wouldn't focus lock on the surface of the water. In hindsight I should have held a pen or something over the point where the drips fell and focused on that. Will have to remember that for next time.

The way the water bounces back up after the drip hits the water made for very interesting shapes.

The water almost looks like blown glass. For some of the shots I added a coloured reflector behind the bowl to give an extra colour cast to the pictures.

I hope you like these pictures and if you do how about trying to take some yourself, I'd be interested to hear how they came out. If anyone can suggest a different way to do this let me know either by the comments or contact me sections. I'm always looking for new ways to take pictures.

The art of photo composition

One of the key arts of taking a good photograph is its composition.

Have you ever had a photo like the one here that was just, well, boring!




There's no focal point. The eye has nowhere to rest. The eye may flow with the water but it doesn't lead anywhere.

If you change the perspective and perhaps add a bit of foliage you get this.




This shot gives a bit more by showing the fast moving stream with a strand of foliage.

Its better but still not brilliant.

Lets try yet another angle.



Here the stream has been framed by the tree.

This allows a good comparison with the fast movement of the water and the stillness of the tree.

Its not perfect but of the 3 it is well on its way to getting there.