Finding my style

Ha ha now don't laugh but I don't know much about all this technical stuff which, I guess is why I get frustrated and ticked off when things don't work out the way I want them too. I am a hands on learner not a manual reader so I need to be shown and then I pick it up. My camera of frequent use is a Pentax K100, given to me for Christmas a few years back by my husband. Neither of us know anything about brands etc and I have learnt this cameras workings fairly well. It does mostly what I want, if I change lenses occasionally. The lens I use the most is a 28-90mm with

a macro setting, they probably all have one hey!!? See I don't know much about this side of things. I also have a 70-300mm zoom lens which I also got for Christmas last year. It also has a macro setting. The lens the camera came with is a 18-50mm lens which I haven't used in eons.

I used the macro setting on the 28-80mm lens to take the above shot. I love this sort of photo, so a full on macro lens is my dream of addition to my kit. I'd take shots of all sorts of interesting things, bees loaded with pollen, stamens of flowers you know all that stuff.

Lighting for me is a pain. I really need to learn more about it, in my mind I see the way I want things to look, but I'm not sure how to get that result. I like the afternoon light and the early morning light most, no artificial light for me. Sometimes I use a lamp in my studio if it is a bit shadowy, not sure that it creates the effect I want though.

I like the light in this leaf shot the darkness of the background and the intensity of the leaf, I have edited this shot to get the depth that I wanted.

Location location, yes now that is the big question, I love water shots, like at the beach etc and I live on a mountain a long way from the water, so improvise is a big word for me. I take a lot of reflection shots, in lakes, bird baths, ponds etc, water water everywhere.

This photo taken in Darwin at Mingil Beach contains two of the aspects we are looking at, lighting and location. The water and shadows, I love this. My husband on the right and our good friend on the left. A couple of shady characters I reckon. I like to take a specific time to go take shots, though am not always able to do that, so mostly it's where and when I can.

I don't like to take portrait shots other than family and then I don't like to do too much ordering around. I like the more candid shots and all our family shots end up a riot, with all the kids playing up. Which by the way I love.

These shots would never make the cut as far as technical value but it is so much like all our group shots and to be honest I love it.

I guess to sum up, my shooting style is varied, I love candid shots, they capture the memories that I want to keep forever. I like to shoot alone, I can take my time and not feel a bother to others, I like macro shots and shots that capture a moment in time. I'd love a dedicated macro lens. I need to actually take the time to learn more about exposure. At the moment I just like to shoot. My style then is pretty much me, all over the place at any given time ha ha.

Camera less photo walk

How difficult is it to do this?!! Really when I usually have at the very least my phone with me or my trusty point and shoot hidden away in my huge bag. So I walked around our yard we have 9 acres so there is quite a lot to see. I like to take my photos either early in the morning (which lately hasn't happened as we are just into Spring here and I don't like to get out of bed early when it's cold, sorry but a cup of tea and the newspaper propped up with my comfy pillows wins out) or late in the afternoon.

We have huge gum trees in our yard and the sun glints through the leaves and I love the light it creates. I love the glint of the sun on the long grasses that move slowly in the breeze. I love the reflection on the water in the birdbath, the shadows created in the garden beds. The mauve and pink glow of the hydrangea petals. The veins of the leaves lit from behind and like stained glass. I love the spider webs catching the rays and glistening in the sun. I love it when I have watered the garden and the drops of water hang precariously on the tips of leaves and petals and the sunlight catches itself in each one. I love the grey clouds hanging low in the sky and the pink sun setting over the hills. I love the webs of many ground spiders stretched from each blade of grass and shining like silk in the dimming sunlight. I saw all of this in my yard today, no camera sorry.