The Ugly Button

Absence of posting - been away from the internet for most of last week enjoying my holiday.

Firstly - a great wedding you can see the pics here. This was the first wedding I went to with my DSLR, and my respect for professional wedding photogs increased tenfold. Shooting people is so difficult, firstly finding the right aperture so that all of your faces are in focus but you get decent bokeh, then ensuring that your subjects are looking the right way, smiling etc. It's a seriously demanding job and I really struggling.

At the reception afterwards I hit the limitations of the four thirds system. Plain and simple they can't shoot in low light. Typically this doesn't matter because I shoot landscapes during the day but for night-time shots I was reliant on my crappy onboard flash. I've now added an external flash to my lust list.

Okay, then it was onto Poolewe (way up the west coast of Scotland), to fish some brilliantly remote hill lochs. Stunning surroundings and some great photo opportunities. I also took my first panorama that I stiched in Photoshop, I'm really pleased with it, see above.

Finally, the week finished in Edinburgh, for a Black tie ball in aid of the brilliant Princes Trust, a charity I wholeheartedly support. Great fun, lots of wine and again a real battle in the low light conditions. As well as the ball I got he chance to shoot in a more urban environment, and once again found it hard to get my shots right.

To be honest I was disappointed with most of my shots over the week, whilst I had a great time I've been really struggling with how to take good candid shots, battling with aperture and it seems like I have an Ugly button that transforms beautiful people in squinting ogres!

Still, I learned a lot and hopefully will do better next time.