Some Christmas cheer

WHAT

This shot was taken on Christmas day at my mum's house where my family had Christmas dinner together. It depicts some of the table settings and decorations my mum had laid out.

I took a bunch of photos that day of the family and other objects in the room but I felt this one turned out the best.

WHY

I've mentioned in a previous blog post: http://kylietphotography.blogspot.com/2010/12/race-day.html the importance of capturing the little things that really MAKE a special day what it is- things such as table decorations, food, table settings and the little touches people have added. Hence why I opted to take this photo.

There were other table settings available to use for this shot, but because this one was on a corner it meant I could easily move around the table till I found an angle I was happy with. I also liked how the golden bon bons in the background were arranged at right angles to each other from this position.

As it turned out, I ended up sitting at this very table setting later on for our big meal!

HOW

Because I was indoors and there was very little ambient light coming in from the windows (it was a miserable rainy day outside), I used a tripod for this shot. Using a tripod was another reason I selected this particular place setting to shoot- it meant I could actually fit the tripod in without having to move too much furniture. A tripod also ensured I could keep the ISO down low (200) to avoid a grainy shot.

I shot in manual mode and adjusted the shutter speed until it was at an apprpriate speed as determined by the camera's light metre. This turned out to be 1/5s.

I used a short aperture of f/5 to make the items beyond my main subject blurry to really focus on santa - otherwise I risked losing him amongst all the other stuff on the table. Plus I like the blurry background effect.

POST-PRODUCTION

In photoshop I increased the clarity, adjusted the black levels, and increased the highlights.

Race Day

WHAT
Table decorations, wine glass, sweepstakes ticket and a betting receipt on a table at a Melbourne Cup luncheon. The 'Melbourne Cup' is perhaps Australia's best known horse race and is billed as 'The race that stops the nation.' The race is held annually on the first Tuesday of November and is widely celebrated at racecourses, pubs, clubs, schools and workplaces around the nation.

WHY
I took my camera along to this luncheon intending to get some action shots of the crowd as they watched the race being broadcast on the big screen. However, because we were indoors in a dimly lit location, the photos I'd taken of the people were quite dark, even with the ISO cranked up and shutter speed slowed down.

Therefore in order to remember this day, I tried a different tactic:
I've always liked photographs taken at table height of glasswhere, confetti, cutlery etc so I constructed my own scene to commemorate my Melbourne Cup lunch. In my opinion, when people attend family celebrations such as birthdays, weddings (or a luncheon such as this) they forget to take photos of the details. By that I mean the little things that make the day what it is.

As if to demonstrate my point, I remember hearing my sister-in-law commenting as I was taking this shot "I wouldn't even think to take a photo of that!"

HOW
I selected a few items that, to me, are intrinsically 'Melbourne Cup' - a betting slip, a wine glass, and a sweepstakes ticket. I played around with the positioning of these items until I was happy with the composition of the scene. The miniature 'confetti horses' were a nice touch placed on each table by the establishment hosting the lunch. .

Due to the low lighting, I increased the ISO to 800 in order to provide a bright enough image. In manual mode, I used f/6.3 and shutter speed 1/5s.

POST PRODUCTION
In photoshop, I increased the clarity and vibrance slightly.