After dropping my daughter off for a medical appointment, I had a couple of hours to kill. What better place to spend them than at the Amherst Town Library, followed by a trek through Walton Woods Park? (Yes, again.)
It was a gorgeous summer day, with temperatures only in the low-80s (Fahrenheit). I took along both cameras, and the manual (which I had printed out) for the Nikon.
The good news is – I’m getting better at playing with the lighting controls. I was able to get the blue out of most of the pictures.
Ok, that photo does still have too much blue, but I took it before I took the one at the top of the post. See how I’m coming along?
The bad news is – in getting the blue out, I also managed to take out most of the saturation, so the photos are a little subdued. Looks like I still have a lot of work ahead of me.
(I’m sure all you professionals and wannabes out there are enjoying my learning experience, maybe because you went through some of the same frustration.)
Anyway.
It also seemed like the ideal time to see if I could walk all the way around the pond. Previously, it has always been too hot and my legs weren’t strong enough. But this day, I felt pretty good.
Probably, I didn’t look like I was dying and maybe I even looked like I knew what I was doing with that long-lensed camera. The older gentleman fishing near the entrance to the park greeted me, and we had a very nice conversation about the weather, what kind of fish are in that pond (big-mouthed bass, who would have guessed), and the best time to take photos of the pond (apparently, just before sunset – facing in a certain direction and standing in a certain spot, which he enthusiastically pointed out to me).
I had seen people fishing there before and was never sure they were doing so legally. But today, I saw the sign:
That was near the end of my hike, however. Prior to that point, I took a few photos from the darker, woodsier side of the park:
Far entrance to the Nature Trail
That’s the edge of the pond at the top of the photo, and yes, I climbed through that mini-path – but the pond photos didn’t turn out well, so I’m not sharing them.
Stream leaving the pond. Until I saw that stream, I didn’t realize the pond actually had running water. I always thought it was stagnant.
I’m happy to say I made it all the way around, and lived to tell about it. That’s especially good news to me because it means hubby and I can go visit different places and maybe I can actually do enough walking to enjoy them – provided I do it at my own pace and stop often, and provided the outside temperature is comfortable.
Once home and resting, I became doubly frustrated while trying to edit my new photos, so finally I just gave up and decided to see what some of my previous photos would look like in black and white. I had previously take two daylily photos, one of which I published here in full color, but the other was not as good. However, the “bad” one looks just dandy in black-and-white, I think:
Not all beauty comes in full color. Sometimes black and white is just as attractive.
May the rest of your weekend be enjoyable and peaceful.
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalie Studio
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
I’m going to suggest that you probably need a new camera and probably some better processing software. It isn’t necessarily your fault. No matter what anyone says, if you don’t have good equipment, you won’t get good pictures and if you don’t have tools to process the pictures, they’ll come out weird colors and mushy.
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I hear you, Marilyn, but I really don’t have money for a new camera right now, and most of the software is also a bit expensive. The old Olympus does pretty good on outside photos, so I’ll probably just go back to that.
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Wonderful walk! I did a nice hike along a creek in a gorge yesterday with my son. Loved it, and even sat with my feet into the creek for ten minutes..
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I like the idea of putting the feet into the water for a few minutes. Unfortunately, the banks at “my” pond are so steep I’d probably fall in – and then they’d get me under the “no swimming allowed” rule.
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congrats for making is all the way around……..for me that would have been a major accomplishment! pictures are lovely! 🙂
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Thank you, Wendi. Each time I go, I manage to walk just a little bit farther. There are still some trails I haven’t tried.
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you will get there! 🙂 cheering you on!
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I appreciate you sharing your photo adventures. I know how hard it is to begin working with a new camera.
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For sure, especially if the new camera is not what you expected it to be, for the money you spent. And it turns out the old camera does just fine now that you actually know how to use it. Hindsight is perfect.
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I bought a camera once that I thought was an exact replacement for one that broke. I turned out that they had eliminated to shooting mode I used the most.
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Photography is a huge learning curve, CM. Don’t get frustrated. Wanna couple of hints? When in bright sunlight with contrasting shade, shoot on AWB. When taking your light reading, take it in a place that is not too bright and not too dark. Ya gotta fool around with this. I underexpose a lot especially out in bright sunlight. I don’t think you did that bad. Please don’t be hard on yourself. Learning is not easy!! You’re doing great! I’m really also very happy to hear you are feeling better! Now that is GREAT news!! 🌟🌟🌟
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Amy, I realty think it’s the camera. My old Olympus doesn’t have those issues, and now that I figured out how to adjust the settings on the Olympus it takes pictures every bit as good as the expensive Nikon. In any event, I do plan to start going out a bit more. The more I walk, the more I can walk, right?
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BINGO!! About the walking. I was bed bound for almost 2 years and through sheer determination and miles of walking combined with the gym, 25 years later I am still walking! And here neurosurgeons told me if I didn’t have more surgeries, I’d be paralyzed and in a wheelchair. No way! Keep walking, CM!! I so encourage you and also to begin strength exercises. You can do it! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
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Lovely shots, and I particularly liked the final black and white.
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Thank you. I personally loved the way the black-and-white photo turned out.
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