CCC - September: Cool

These vines are actually from our garden, and no, they're not in a green house or in any other protected place. They're totally unshielded from the elements, right in the middle of our back yard, growing in a beautiful arch! Who would have thought it possible? Not me anyway... I never knew there were vines this hardy before - I do live in Sweden after all, but these vines are not only surviving, but thriving.

On to subject of photography... Back when I was a beginner I used to search for pretty subjects, groan at stuff that ruined the composition and move on (or shoot anyway and hope for the best). But experience has thought me that nature shots can be every bit as arranged as still life photography. This is one of those pictures. Grapes may be beautiful but it's super hard to find a perfect ones, and finding two perfect bunches of grapes right next to each other is next to impossible, especially when you need an exact angle, or the DoF will ruin one of them. Yes, I could do focus stacking, but I'd rather not! Fixing things the natural way is faster. So, the bunch of grapes on the left are really growing there, but the ones on the right are not. I hung them there after I picked them from an other part of the plant. Also, that little leaf above them both was placed there, in order to hide an ugly twig. And, last, but not least, I tugged at the leaves in the background to create a pleasing set of lines. It took som coaxing, but it turned out nicely. This picture even won my second golden CCC challenge trophy :)

/MrsHjort

CCC - August: Calm Afternoon

I was very happy to win the August competition. It's the first contest of the calendar series that I've won this year. That's always a great feeling, but this was even more special...

You see, I got a new camera for my birthday this year. I turned 30, and my family had all pitched in and bought me a brand new Nikon D7100 together. They're just the best (thank you, thank you, thank you!)! This win, is extra special because this is one of the very first photos I shot using my new toy, it's the first time I tried the HDR function that I had been longing for, and it's the first one taken with my new camera that I entered into a competition. That made the win all the more special to me. It was so great to be able to tell my family about the win when they asked me how I liked my new camera :)

/MrsHjort

CCC - July: Partially Cloudy

I just realized I've been so busy with the DaPP challenge, I've totally forgotten to update my blog on regarding the Calendar Challenge! This is July's picture, taken in my backyard. It was one of those annoying days when the clouds got in the way all of the time, so I had to wait and wait whenever I chose a new subject. I didn't want to shoot when the sun was behind the clouds because it automatically makes the colors look washed out and the contrasts become flat. Sure you can always fake it, but the real thing is always better! After waiting for what seamed like an eternity the sun finally showed at last... for about 2 seconds, and then it hid again. I gritted my teeth at it at the time but took a bunch of shots anyway - because the light still shone through a bit. Funnily, those shots ended up being the best of the bunch. They had just the right amount of light to blow life into the colors, and at the same time, not too much light as to make stuff too "contrasty". So, partially cloudy it was. Yey!

/MrsHjort