Saturday, April 18, 2015

Sundown in Spring, Caught My Eye 34

Caught My Eye  is a series of blog posts showing scenes I found interesting, odd, curious or beautiful. I am artistic and therefore an observer but I am not a photographer by any description. So if you expect top quality photography I'm afraid you will be disappointed.  But please do enjoy a snap shot glimpse of the world through my creative eyes. 
Sunset in Spring
This fiery shot of a sunset just after Easter happened almost by accident. The orange sky is not a result of photo editing but partly down to experimentation and mostly fluke - it's how it came out on my ordinary point and shoot camera. 

Capturing a washed out sky versus a colourful one

During daylight, the sky in my scenic photos often turns out completely white. A friend who knows something about photography gave me a tip to make the sky blue. First you point the camera up at the bluest part of the sky, then depress the button half way, while keeping the focus on the blue. Then move your view back down to what you actually want to capture, without letting go of the button. When you are steadily focused on the target, click the button the rest of the way.  Above are great examples. These are 2 castles I shot while visiting Jersey last year. No need to guess which photo is the result of this little trick.

Sunset in Offaly, April 2015
I just thought I'd try something similar with a beautiful sunset while on an Easter break in county Offaly. Above is a wider shot.


The following evening the sunset was a bit pinker. Employing this little photo trick, this is how it turned out. This purple colour is not the result of editing after the fact.



Above is a different shot, where the trick didn't fully work, but it still turned out interesting. The actual sky was dusky with a purple tinge to it, but this is what the camera captured. The only editing after the fact was to darken the photo a little so the trees were fully black.