Tuesday, January 08, 2019

Auto ISO do I like it or not?


Grain bins on the Montana prairie. They kind of looked like little hats sitting up there on a hill. That cloudy sky set them off to perfection. I took this photo last night. Most of the time, I use all manual settings on my camera. Sometimes I miss a shot because I don't have time to change settings as the situation or the light changes.  Last night, I decided to use auto ISO and change f stops and shutter speed as needed. I didn't miss any shots, as far as exposure goes, but I did have to lighten most shadows. I will now have to master exposure compensation. In this hobby of photography, I sure have a lot to learn.


I took this photo last night, using auto ISO also. It was fairly close in exposure although I did lighten shadows again. The golden light was beautiful and made these ordinary looking trees shine!


This photo was from last night also. The light was gorgeous, and streaked the land with warm and cool tones.  I did adjust color vibrance and lighten shadows to create what I saw when I took this photo.


I took this photo Christmas Day. I think this moment was our Christmas present! It was wonderful to see these rams connect with such force. I was using all manual settings that day.




This is another photo from Christmas Day.The ram and ewe were in the cool light shadows of the forest floor. 


Not sure if I like this photo. I thought if I placed it here, it might help me decide. It seems very blah to me. It still seems that way even after I see it here. What do you think?

So on the topic of auto ISO I guess I will keep that setting on my camera. It does help a lot to keep from totally missing a shot. At least the ISO was close enough, that it only took a small adjustment in Lightroom to correct the photos.

Do you like using auto ISO? Do you use manual settings on your camera?

We have Montana photos of landscapes and wildlife on our website. Come on over and check it out! Affordable images for your home.

Saturday, January 05, 2019

Photo trip to Freezout Wildlife Game Management area.


Our bison, published in Montana Outdoors, photo issue this year. The magazine is out on the stands now. I feel so honored to be a part of that issue.


I took this photo during a snowstorm, so far the only one we've had this winter! It's the grass and willow branches along the Sun River, at the Largent Bend Fishing Access site.


This looks like a funny bug but it was debris caught in the willow branches after the flood. It has snow on it's back here. I loved the way it looks like there are legs sticking out in all directions.


This is looking toward Ear Mountain from south of Choteau, Montana. A storm was brewing over the mountains. That was a fascinating bank of clouds.


The same cloud bank from a new angle, I was east of Choteau when I took this one.


Love these yucca weeds when they're all dried out. 


We've had 50 degree weather for most of this winter so far. It seems odd to go out without a coat, and be warm in January. The country is very dry, I hope we get more snow before long.

Donna


Friday, January 04, 2019

Photos within 15 miles of my home.



Robert and I were here at home, sitting in our chairs, watching the news. I keep an eye on the sky as we do this because as far as I'm concerned the news is nothing but depressing and worrisome. I'd rather find something uplifting and fun. So when the sky began to change and a sunset began to happen, I grabbed the camera and headed for Largent Bend.

Night before last, the sunset was absolutely amazing, but we were in town, and my camera was home. So that didn't work so well. :)

I took these photos looking east, and looking west, the sky was beautiful in both directions.

Largent Bend is a blessing in my life, it's only a few miles from the house, so I have almost instant access to a tiny slice of nature. I don't see many animals there, but I see tracks of raccoon, deer, bear, mice, voles, and others. During nesting season, the Canada geese are there, along with other birds that come in spring. Osprey nest not far far from there, and come fishing in the ponds in summer.

There are hiking trails which I like way better than the treadmill in the back room! It's a simple cottonwood type forest, along the Sun River, not as exciting as hiking in the mountains but it's still a good place to go.

There's an eagle hanging out down there right now, I've got distant shots of it but it takes off before I get within half a mile of it. One of these days it might get used to me being there and I'll be able to show a photo of it.


As always, we have photos for sale on our website, along with Robert's poems. Come on over there and see what you can find. There are prints and gift items of all and sizes.

Wishing you all the best in 2019.
Donna

Birthday party for a one year old.

One of our great grandsons had his first birthday party on Saturday. He's such a good little guy, and he's full of action, so it was...