Connecting passion to faith, and wrapping the whole thing up

So as this semester comes to a close, you may be wondering why on earth I was doing a photography blog for Bible class... The reason for this is to bring to our (the students and readers alike) attention that your faith is connected to all parts of your life. Hobbies, passions, occupations, they all are completely relevant. As a Christian I am called to live for God in all aspects of my life, and this means finding ways that we can honour Him while doing that. Which is actually very easy, as you don't have to look very hard.
We spent time in class working through some biblical throughlines and how they can be applied to our projects. By using the passion for photography that God gave to me, I am able to connect it to many biblical throughlines, however I am choosing to write about the 3 that I find apply the most.

Creation-Enjoying
Photography is a fantastic way to enjoy and explore God's beautiful creation. By capturing the wonder and complexity of it all, we can learn to notice the glory of God in anything and everything. Not only does this apply to the photography of nature, but also when taking pictures of people, and even architecture, which is inspired by nature in many aspects. And what better way to enjoy and remember it than through moments captured through the lens!

Beauty- Creating
Photography is a form of creativity. We can "create" by capturing pieces of God's creation through photography, and as we do this we are reflecting and honouring the beauty of it all. In a way it is very similar to creating artwork. I heard somewhere that in order to be a fantastic photographer you need you "think like a painter", and I couldn't agree more. You learn to see the beauty in simple, everyday things, and set up the picture in a way that gives it the most potential.  Since God is the #1 creater, we reflect him when we create. I'd also imagine that it is pleasing to Him when we honour Him by doing so.

Community-Building
By meeting and discovering other people with similar passions, we can build friendships and a sense of community. Like many things, photography has a way of bringing people together. By honouring and valuing everyones gifts and hobbies, you can build friendships that otherwise never would have been, and since God has designed us to be in relationships with others, this is a fantastic way to do so and practice your Christian influence!

So I guess this marks an end to my grade 12 passion project! Looking back, I think I pretty much reached all of my goals. I experimented and practiced some new photography techniques/ types such as landscapes, portraits, different types of lighting, etc. My mentors for this project were my aunt and uncle, who also love photography and have quite a bit more wisdom than I do regarding the subject. I went to them quite a bit for their thoughts on the lenses I was researching, and they leant me their own lens (which has a focal length range of 55-200mm) so I could try it out and use it to help me make my final decision. So a big thanks goes out to them! :)
While I didn't quite get around to sunsets, that was replaced by some macro photography, so I did as much I expected I would. The goals I set for myself to accomplish didn't necessarily get reached at the times I had planned out (which I will talk more about at the end of this post), but I expected this. Photography goes hand in hand with inspiration and ideas, so its not really something you can set an exact time line for, in my case at least! My only regret for this project was that I didn't seem to have very much visual aspects to show, compared to the amount that I actually did. Things such as research (and more research and more research... :) ) can only really be shown to a certain extent. At least without boring the reader, not to mention the writer as well!

I learned a bit about myself too, I suppose. First off is that I have a hard time getting inspired. Either I feel like taking pictures or I don't, which isn't always the best when you have goals that need to be reached! However I also learned that if you simply pick up your camera and go looking for inspiration, you are bound to find some along with some fantastic opportunities. Also (although I sort of knew this before) I found that I am not the best at making decisions. Choosing something as big (for me, at least) as a lens is a rather large commitment, which is a big reason why it took me so long to decide. However  I suppose it is better than taking hardly any time and regretting my decision.

My goals for my new lens were reached, however not quite exactly the way I planned them to be. I did do a lot of research, and I did purchase a fantastic lens, but time wise I was a bit behind. This lead to me not being able to use my new lens for this project, however I will get the opportunity to use it for the rest of my life! My passion for photography is definitely not ending with this project, just as it didn't begin with it either.

A big thanks to all of you who have read this blog, I hope you enjoyed doing so!

A decision has been made!

I have finally decided on a lens! (About time, I know). My original plan was to have purchased this lens by December, however it turned out that thorough researching took a lot longer than I had thought. I also have a hard time making big decisions, so that also was a factor. So sadly I will not get to use it for this project, but I am not too bummed about that because I get to use it for the rest of my life anyways!

 I have decided on the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR, which is the one I was leaning most towards all along. The lens is extremely versatile, and has a metal mount, and a focal length range of 18-140mm, which is fantastic and perfect for me, as I don't like to stick to only one type of photography. Of course those aren't the only factors that I was looking at when I researched this lens, but for me they were the main ones. Reviews were great as well. The only thing that was putting me off about this one was the price, a rather scary $649.95. However I managed to purchase it on Amazon for about 200 dollars less, which is extremely exiting! So I will be waiting patiently (or not, we will see) for it to arrive and I can't wait to try it out. If you would like to read more about this lens, you will find I wrote my thoughts on it on my blog post titled "Choosing" (it is lens #1).

Portraits and Sparks.

As you all already know, I really love doing low light photography. Being able to "control" the light is just so much fun, and it gives the picture a whole different feel. Yesterday my little brother and I found a pack of sparklers, and we had some fun with them while I snapped some pictures.

 

This first picture is probably my favourite. I changed it to sepia to allow the viewer to focus more on the contrast between the light and dark, without it being muddled up by colours rather than shades in between. What I love most about this picture is the contrast between the clear and bright sparkler and the slightly blurred and grainy Caiden in the background, giving the picture depth, texture, and value. Also, the way he is concentrating on the sparkler is pretty cute, a definite bonus. :)
  I had the ISO on my camera set to 1600, making it extra sensitive to the light of the sparkler, which was actually the only light source in the room. My shutter speed was 1/25 of a second, still fast enough to capture the individual sparks, but not too fast that it didn't have enough time to capture the light the picture needed.

 

For this picture I set the ISO for 800, with the same shutter speed as the first. However looking back, the difference in the lighting of the pictures is not that different, save for that the first one was a bit more grainy (which, again, is not necessarily a bad thing).

 

Doing this was a lot of fun, and a bit of a nice challenge too. There was lots of stuff that I had no control over (you can't tell a sparkler how to pose, for example, or which direction to shoot those fiery little sparks), and you can also see a few of my beloved "sun spots". So overall I was very happy with the way that they turned out.

 

 

 

 

mountains and more.

My family went down to Whitefish, Montana this Christmas Break, so I was able to take some pictures of the beautiful mountains and scenery. The view was just fantastic, however I do wish that I could have taken my camera up to the summit, as the view from up there was even more stunning. Alas, I did not trust my first-time-skiing abilities enough to bring my camera with me! So here are a few of my favourites...

 

As you can probably see in many of my pictures, I absolutely love capturing clouds in my landscapes. In my opinion, the entirely different texture adds to the pictures, more often than not.  I am also a big fan of the swirly grey background that clouds create.

I do love how the white snow is in such a contrast with the trees as well, giving it an (almost) black and white feel.

 

 

I also, as always, try to keep the rule of thirds going. This however, is more apparent in some pictures than in others.

 

 

 



 This last one would probably be my favourite if not for one thing: Those darn wires in the bottom left corner. I probably could do something about them if I was good at editing, but seeing as I cannot, there they shall stay. Ah well, if you squint you can't really see them, right? :p But the blues of the mountains mixing with the grey sky, and framed by the harsher black (or dark green) and white of the trees and snow? Beautiful.

Frosty pics

Yesterday the frost was just beautiful, so I decided to try out my new macro lens attachment again. I was very pleased with the results so here they are! I tried to keep the rule of thirds going, and I love how the sharpness of the subject has such a contrast with the blurred background.

 

 



Choosing

Well as far as buying a lens goes, I'm a bit behind schedule. However I have narrowed it down (finally!) to 3 main ones.

1.  AF-S DX Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR                                                           
    $649.95

 

 

 

This is the lens that I am leaning most towards. I am a bit hesitant because it is the most expensive out of the 3, but after doing a lot of research and reading hundreds of reviews this seems like it is pretty much exactly what I am looking for.

- The Focal length range is 18-140mm, which is nice and versatile. I was originally looking for a higher maximum focal length of around 200mm, but most of those lenses have a minimum focal range of around 55m which can sometimes be difficult when working indoors. Having such a high minimum also lessens certain photography opportunities such as some landscapes, etc. Since I want a lens that I can use for many things without having to switch lenses often, I really like the 18-140mm range.

-It has a metal mount, as apposed to a plastic mount. This simply makes it stronger, and able to resist small bumps, and also gives it more strength to hold different lens ends that I have. Reading reviews there are dozens of stories about plastic mounts simply breaking off of the camera, and as I plan to this lens for travelling, I figured the stronger the better! Better to pay a bit more now than pay even more later to get it fixed.

-Has vibration reduction. Most do, but I consider it very important! Especially because I am not going to always use a tripod.

-It is fantastic for everyday shooting, and good for wide-range photographic opportunities. Very versatile. Which is perfect for me, as I don't really stick to just one type of photography.

 

-Reviews are the best out of all the other lenses I looked in to. Obviously this is not what I base my research off of, but it is nice to know that others were pleased with it!

2. AF-S DX Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6 G IF-ED

$329.95

 

 -The price is a bit less scary for this one, which is nice.

 

-This lens has a focal length range of 55-200mm. I really like the maximum of 200mm. However the fact that the minimum is 55mm is a bit of a turn off for me, seeing as this would make indoor shooting, or other kinds of photography, difficult in some cases.

 

-Has built in vibration reduction.

 

-Has a plastic mount.

 

-It is a great lens, with a great price, and the reviews are not bad.

 

 

3. AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR

$379.95



 

 

-I am liking the price for this one as well.

 

-The minimum focal length is 18mm, which is extremely nice, and the maximum range is 105mm, which is good. Not as high as I had hoped for, so this one is probably my last choice out of the 3.

 

-Has built in vibration reduction.

 

-Plastic mount. Which I could totally be happy with, however as you know I would much prefer a metal mount.

 

-Reviews are okay, however there are many that say the plastic mount caused it to break off of their camera very easily.

 

 

 

So its pretty obvious which lens I like the most (lens #1). It is a fair bit more expensive than the other 2, but I will be using it very often and (hopefully) will not regret buying it. However as it is not set in stone that I am actually going to choose that one, I figured I would post all 3 just to keep my options open. So hopefully I will pick one by the end of this week! If you have any thoughts or advice for me, feel free to comment, I would love all the advice I can get!

Portraits...

Hundreds of photographs have been piling up on my memory card for quite some time now, so I figured it was time to post a few more. As you can see, these pictures have been taken before the snow decided to arrive, but better to post them late than never!

These portraits, like most of the ones I take, are of my sisters (they are easily bribed, and are usually around during a moment of photography inspiration :) ) For this first one, I really loved the sun spots and streaks, and for the most part the entire picture. However I am not a fan of the rather distracting background.

 

Looking back I wish that I had just altered my angle a touch, to avoid the busyness of it all, as it is rather distracting and takes attention away from Nicole. The various fence lines and angles don't help the picture very much either.

 

For this next picture I tried to learn from my mistakes, and tried to allow the background to complement the subject (Kyra, this time) rather than take away from her.

 



 

The clouds in the background are interesting enough to add to the picture, but not too busy to take away from the portrait aspect of it. Leading to an altogether more professional looking photograph.

 

 

And as for this next one, its one of my favourites, so I thought I'd share it!