Green Leaves

I know it's fall, and there are lots of places where leaves have really turned color, but not yet on our street. I was sitting at the kitchen table after dinner tonight when, all of a sudden, the sun came out, striking the leaves on our red bud tree. I ran up and got my camera and took some shots. Looking at the LCD display, I didn't think I had anything worth saving, but once I uploaded them to the computer there were a few I liked. I had my 50mm 1.4 lens on  the camera, set between 1.6 and 2.8 for all of these shots.

 

   

Right under the tree is a hydrangea bush, so while I was there . . .

Here's a very similar shot, but on this one I use the Pioneer Woman's Boost action.

 

Although I decided not to take Picture Fall, I have decided that October will be Improve My Photography month. I just bought a new tripod and have ordered the Tamron 60mm macro lens since there is a huge rebate offer now until October 10th. This is the last of the lenses I've been wanting, and I almost ordered it this summer when the rebate was half what it is now. So glad I waited. I got an extra discount at Beach Camera as well, so I'm very pleased.

Through Lee's blog, I found Darcy's blog. Darcy is doing a 31 Days to a Better Photo series, which started today. Kim Klassen is also offering a free e-class on Photoshop Elements. You can find out about it and sign up here.  I'm going to do both, as well as finish watching the instructional videos on Lynda.com.  I also have a list of things I want to learn or relearn or practice this month. I'm going to post it as a way to hold myself  more accountable.

• learn to set up and focus the camera quickly on the tripod
• review and practice using Auto Exposure Bracketing
• learn how to use back button focusing
• try out Photomerge and Recompose on Photoshop Elements
• learn how to use Gradient Maps on Photoshop Elements
• practice using my neutral density filter which Tracy gave me over a year ago, but is still in the original packaging
• practice using the circular polarizer
• read Bryan Peterson's book Understanding Close-up Photography and get out a try some of the techniques

I've also signed up for a "Day of Fall Photography" with two local professional photographers on the 31st. It was very affordable and includes a day of photography at Conesus Lake and Stony Brook State Park as well as  pre-trip and post-trip gatherings. I figure that will be the icing on the cake. I've really felt like I've been treading water (so to speak) with my photography and this all seems to have come together to encourage me to step it up for awhile.