2011年4月11日 星期一

Call on spring with BenQ E1480

Spring is the most photogenic season of the year. Flowers are in bloom and trees are covered with tender green leaves. It’s the right time to walk into the woods, gardens or parks to discover the colorful world. Luckily, I live close by Yangmingshan National Park. As long as I am free, and the sun shines in the sky, I’d carry my cameras, strolling around the park and shooting pictures of spring. (這篇是專為BenQ E1480撰寫的網誌,最後會放在 BenQ Club,拿出來跟大家分享)。



BenQ E1480, like a DSLR, has 4 creative exposure modes: AV (Aperture Priority), TV (Shutter priority), M (Manual) and P (Program). However, I recently have fallen in love with LOMO mode that creates lomo-like effect by adding over-saturated colors and darkening the corners of a picture. Most of the time, I use LOMO mode to shoot pictures under harsh lighting conditions, for the purpose of turning an ordinary scene into a dramatic picture.





The calla, one of the major flowers in Yangmingshan Natinal Park. LOMO mode.

I also use LOMO mode to make the subjects stand out of a picture so as to catch the eyes of the viewers. Take the following two pictures for example. The first one is messy in terms of visual effects, even though the lighting and white flowers are beautiful. On the contrary, the second picture shot with LOMO mode is much more pleasant to watch, because the corners of the frame were darkened, making the white flowers stand out the picture.


Bad example. Program mode. The picture is not clean enough in terms visual effects.



LOMO mode. The subjects stand out of the picture.

Even though LOMO mode is useful, don’t abuse it. If a scene is full of colors, and the lighting is soft and beautiful, use one of the creative exposure modes, such as program, would be good enough to get a good picture.




In spring, Yangmingshan National Park is full of colors. Program mode.


Sometimes, I employ LOMO mode to enhance the contrast of a picture although the scene is colorful enough.

Besides landscape, I enjoy close-up shooting of flowers. Simply change the focus mode of E1480 to Macro (3rd icon from left), and then you can get closer to your subjects. The following two pictures are shot with program mode. In addition to using close-up focus, I set exposure compensation to +0.7 EV so as to get correct exposure when shooting backlit subjects.




Program mode,  + 0.7EV. Macro focus.





When shooting flowers, pay attention to lighting. The softer, the better. The morning sun pierced into the woods and lighted up the petals of azalea only to create a dramatic image. Program mode, Macro focus, + 0.7EV.

It’s a good alternative to employ black-and-white mode to shoot flowers with beautiful form and lines. In shooting the following picture, I use black-and-white mode in order to highlight the form of the petals and the sun that shines on the flowers in the foreground.

 


Chinese hydrangea. Program mode, Macro focus, + 0.7EV. Macro focus.



I discovered the coming of spring from my dog Happy. One day in late March, the sun finally came out after more than one week of cold cloudy days. In that morning, when opening the front door, I found Happy lying on the rock table that had been warmed up by sunshine. From its half-closed eyes, I could tell that Happy really enjoyed bathing in the sun and welcoming the coming of spring.


LOMO mode. My dog Happy, bathing in the sun.

Spring is the most beautiful season of Yangmingshan National Park located in northern Taiwan. During the season, it is like a huge garden full of sakura, azalea, calla, etc. Therefore, when it comes to weekends, the area is bumper to bumper and crammed with people coming to view the flowers. The following pictures were shot in 2011 when I called on the spring of Yangmingshan National Park.


Azalea in full bloom.


Leaves of the Azalea.


 The calla field.


The calla in full bloom.



Calla in full bloom.


A green-tree tunnel.






27 則留言:

  1. Jewel is the first one.

    Push----

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. Thank you for your visit and being the 1st one to leave message...

      刪除
  2. 讚喔~~還英文版的~~

    回覆刪除
  3. 推推,

    很漂亮的海芋呢,

    果然是春天到了~~

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 海芋已盛開,
      春到人間
      要不要上來拍拍...

      刪除
  4. 這個厲害...還有英文版,佩服啊!

    推推~~

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 這是工作,
      大學讀外文的,
      剛好拿出來用用...
      謝推..

      刪除
  5. 晚安 justin^^


    怎麼覺得~任何相機到您手上...都拍的真棒!!

    我喜歡~狗狗那張,很真實^^
    也喜歡~最後一張,很有生命力!

    推推!


    愉快!

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 攝影嘛,
      觀察力較重要,
      當然,好相機較容易拍出好作品,

      刪除
  6. 英文教學版,贊^^
    加上清麗無比的海芋,贊^^

    推~

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 清早拍海芋很享受,
      光影很美,
      柔和的逆光打在潔白的海芋上,
      整片望去,真是舒服,
      下回春天來台北,可上山看一看.

      刪除
  7. 原來變成第二篇了
    呵呵
    我胡塗了
    我不知道如何拍杜鵑花
    看你的杜鵑好美
    5月上合歡山露營時要拍看看
    海芋也好美

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 你不是去玉山主峰拍過杜鵑?
      我認為杜鵑要搭景才美,
      但大景難尋..

      刪除
  8. 狗狗趴著的感覺好舒服呢^^

    海芋是我很喜歡的一種花兒
    看見遍地開滿的她們
    心裡就好輕鬆的快樂!!!

    +1

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 四月初天氣轉熱,
      海芋盛開,
      整片望去,真是超美的..

      刪除
  9. 不錯喔~英文版..
    這篇充滿春天的氣息..
    最喜歡的海芋也在這裡.^^

    推推

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 海芋我拍不少,
      等明年春天再來作完整報導,
      最近較忙...
      謝推.

      刪除
  10. justin安安

    雖然看不懂英文

    但是照片拍得好美

    直接感受^^

    推推!!

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 雕蟲小技,
      見到好光影,隨手拍拍啦.
      謝推..

      刪除
  11. 推推 綠色隧道好美啊

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 陽明山的春天真的很美...
      謝推..

      刪除
  12. 玉山的杜鵑是很美,而且數量又多,滿山遍野的,看的我哇哇叫。

    但我不會拍啊!呵呵!

    還要跟你多學一點,不然上合歡回來拿不出照片就臉紅了。

    有没有需要提醒我的?

    我真的不會拍杜鵑,至少,我自己覺得。

    我上星期又去北大武喔,有看到好多華八仙。真像一隻隻的蝴蝶。

    還好先在你這裡認識了,可惜没有機會拿長鏡頭拍,路旁的不好取景。

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 傳統拍法是,
      以花為前景,山脈為背景,
      看看中間有沒有雲海可搭...哈...
      老話一句,注意畫面層次感的安排....
      當然光影也要很美,希望你們五點就上山,
      在七點前拍完,
      應會在佳作,如太陽肯出來看你們的話.

      刪除
  13. 這篇也讓人心曠神怡的輕鬆感,
    綠意盎然的氛圍,
    無論是美麗的花或大自然,
    都是令人神情愉快的畫面,
    謝謝Justin的分享~
    推推~

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 不客氣,
      沒注意到這裡還有留言,

      刪除
  14. 請問這款相機很耗電嗎?
    天暗時拍的清楚嗎?
    懇求您的回覆!

    回覆刪除
    回覆
    1. 不會太耗電,
      但天暗時,畫質較粗..

      刪除