Hooray for Aperture Priority!

And HOORAY for tripods!

I've had my Canon Digital SLR 400D for...ummm...like AGES! Its embarrassing how long its taken me to figure out some really basic things with it. I bought a little Canon Powershot 320 back in 2003 (for about $1,000 LOL) and I have had the best time with it - so easy, literally point n shoot, and I have had many great photos from it. I figured upgrading to the DSLR would be easy enough. Well for this untrained puppy, it was very very humbling.

BUT! After a LOT of reading, I am finally experimenting again. When lighting conditions are good, the camera is excellent. But inside my house can be tricky with the DSLR. The old powershot was a very faithful servant to capuring the light exactly as it was - but the SLR seems a lot more sensitive, and if the natural light available was slightly low, it would want to default to using the flash. Annoying! I'd been experimenting with the Apeture Priority mode to try and let as much light in as possible, but was still having mediocre results. Until I decided to use a tripod. What a world of difference.

Anyway I was excited about this photo because this nook in my home is actually quite a dark spot. But with the DSLR set on the largest aperture (i.e. the lowest f-stop, a concept it took me a while to absorb!) I managed to get this snap that I'm really happy with. I think I'm about to start taking pictures of all sorts of inanimate things. So be warned.

Like this phone, that was given to me by one of the Directors of the firm I work for, after I declared over a cup of tea that I "really wanted an old bakelite phone". He said he had one in his shed that I could have. And then he said "I've got a box full of rabbit traps you can have too"! I graciously declined that offer!

Hey how's my form - 2 posts in that same month. Unheard of.

New Things

As usual, I've been busy doing just about everything but blogging. But today, just for a change, I actually took a couple of pics of things I've been working on, and I'd like to share them.

First up, my little niece Ivy turns 10 tomorrow. Amazing. She can get away with wearing just about any colour but I thought I'd do something cute in black. Why are black kid's clothes such a rarity? They are PERFECT for hiding the spills! I bought the tshirt and embellished it with the little bird. I really must do a tutorial on that one day, its super easy and the tshirt was $5 from Big W. Makes for a very economical gift! The gathering on the skirt was a little more time consuming than I expected, but I thought it came up very cute. Can't wait to see her wearing it.

I've had that curtain cable from IKEA attached to the wall in my studio for a while now. I thought it would be a great place to hang things to be photographed, but it in between photos it has become a place to hang pattern pieces, and lovely things. Like the lino print (on the right) from my talented and gorgeous friend Janine who I hope to collaborate more with...one day.

Here is a detail of the little bird...

So. I've been LOVING my weekly art class, and am taking a punt here that my Dad doesn't read my blog. Because I'm about to post a picture of his Christmas present. He loves Australian birds, and I love blue things. It only seemed logical to draw him a splendid fairy wren. How exquisite are these little birds? And I was very happy with my 2nd ever attempt at a pastel "painting". I even got commissioned to do another one for someone who saw this in our local student art show. FLATTERED!

And just for fun here is my lovely furry girl Isis, who just happened to take time out from eating grass to let me take this snap of her. And if she ever does something bad to a splendid fairy wren, or any other Australian native bird for that matter, she will be banished to the inside of my house. Forever. Can something really be "banished" indoors?

Oh, and here is a very scary snap of my garage which I am quietly trying to transform into a space where I can do some silk screening. More about that later. Not a small task by any stretch of the imagination. It's pretty gross in there. I've found myself reading articles about how to deal with "rising damp". Short answer: You can't. Unless you're prepared to rebuild your house. Which at the moment, I'm not! Surely its something that can be tackled temporarily with some exit mold, a bit of ventilation and a coat of paint?!? Sigh!