Evolution of a Creation : Final Picture

I have finally completed the Elephant/India style picture I have been creating, so here it is ...

Transferring of Skills

For sometime now, I have thought about teaching others to do what I do - create paintings through Meditation, however, it was an intuitive feeling that this may work and had not been tested to see how this would translate. 

Initially the idea was to have a workshop over a week or 7 set days over 7 weeks. It wasn't till I attended a one day workshop for painting that I realised how limiting and frustrating, as well as needing to commit time and energy into such a workshop, that the idea to offer one day workshops in Meditation painting came about - like a taster session.

 Again, the idea was put on hold, as I had decided that doing a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment would assisst me not only in how to Tutor students but also look at areas I hadn't considered or even if this could be translated into a certified course. In short doing the Cert IV TAA would help define other questions in preparation to setting up the Meditation Art workshops hopefully without loosing its holistic approach.

Fortunately, during the Cert IV TAA I met some wonderful people including someone who was willing to learn about what I do, they were also willing to be the student for my Assessment assignment in Cert IV TAA, which would essentailly be about Teaching and Assessing Meditation Art. This would be my test to see how it would be possible to transfer what I do, teach to someone with little or no knowledge and have them produce a painting in a day. It turned out for the purposes of this exercise that two paintings would be produced.

So along came my willing student to trail this course and ready for her first session in Meditation painting. Tennielle had some background and underlying knowledge of Art from her school days and had worked with ceramics, as well as a healthy curiosity for learning Meditation painting. Tennielle was also looking to find a creative outlook in her very busy life.

Prior to the first one day workshop, I asked Tennielle to collect images of things that inspire her and that would become her focus for the meditation. Tennielle brought me this ...

When I asked Tennielle to explain her inspirational collage, she talked about primary colours, such as Reds, blues, greens, yellows, second life, her personal life, supporter of Collingwood, Black and White, contrats, chunky vintage Jewellry, as a Cardiac nurse - patched up hearts, twiggy, loving to laugh, twighlight and the sea dragons.

Then she followed my guided meditation and saw an image of a V-shaped character, zooming in and out, with wings, her as a marionette with like a blood red background. I then went on to exlain about how to create and build a picture with acrylic paints.

I mentioned about creating the background, the mid-ground and the foreground and then finally adding in the detail. So we set about mixing the colour for the blood red colour Tennielle had seen in the background. Once that had beem mixed and applied we then considered the V-shaped image she had seen and decided to research the internet for some further influences paying particular attention to Tim Burton.

We took our influences from Tim Burton's; "Nightmare before Christmas", "Edward Scissorhand" Concept drawing and "Blue Girl" for the entire painting. The idea was to use these influences to create new images based on the orginals.

We also decided to use Tennielle's idea of colour and contrast to create a unique painting, so in stark contrast to the blood red background black would be applied to the V-shaped character and the marrionette. Before adding the V-shaped character or the marrionette, it was important to create the moon and clouds to add a dimension to the painting.

Tennielle used a natural sponge to create the moon and stencil brush with a swish/swirl movement to create the clouds. Next came time to create the marionette character based on Tim Burton's concept drawing of Edward Scissorhands. I explained to Tennielle some ways of re-creating figures including a proportion grid to assist with creating the image more precisly. This proportional grid has been used by Artists and Architects for many centuries to re-create exact images either in a biiger scale than the original or a smaller scale.

So we divided up the Tim Buton image into 1cm squares and kept the same ratio of 1 cm square grid on the painting ...

Tennielle then altered the image, making the character female ...

Whilst everything was looking a little flat at this point, the idea would be to lift the images with colour at a later stage. next was to create the bones of the V-shaped character ...

Then some more definition to that character ...

Next was to work on creating a marrionette-esque feel or attachment between the v-shapped character and the female character ...

Tennielle felt at this stage the character's were still disconnected but then we added more detail to them and more connections ....

It was then time to add some more detail to help with completion of the painting, a portal, a moon face for the V-shaped character, yellow/green hair for the female character and grass at the bottom ...

This was the final painting and all completed within a day. This was Tennielle's first venture at Meditation painting, the second venture will use more detailed techniques and was based on themes I had given Tennielle to find inspirations for and to Meditate on the next time we met.

The themes I gave to Tennielle were;

• Western Australia
• 50’s
• Vampires
• Music
• Nature
• Christmas
• Childhood Memories

Tennielle decided upon Western Australia as she had lived there, this is her concept/inspiratinal board for painting two ....

 

 

The concepts were; city skyline, beaches, pinnacles, everlasting flowers, Perth Glory, seafood, Mum's dog and the sunsets. Tennielle then mediated on this theme and saw a sunset with foamy waves crashing on the beach.

The background this time would initially start with a very pale yellow and then work on building in the water. When painting water, it is always painted straight the curves are added by other points like the landscape or things dipping in the water, rocks etc. 

 

To create perfect straight edge using masking tape carefully measured  assists in this process as well as painting in long brush strokes. This technique would also be repeated to keep the clean lines for the sunset on the horizon too.

 Whislt most acrylic paint is appllied after each layer is dry merging the paint can be tricky as acrylics can dry very quickly, so using more water assists with blending, this would be vital for creating the sunset. Tennielle first applied straight lines of colour before blending ...

 It was then necessary to use some water to help blend the layers of colour and use a fairly flat sweeping technique.

 

In using the flat sweeping technique it allows for the creation of sunset/cloud sky and using  the masking tape helped with creating a clean horizon edge. Next was to add definition to the water; depth and movement  ...

 The sweeping technique here would help create some movement in the water, though this would not be seen in this form once the next technique was applied. Next was to use a natural sponge to add different splashes of colour ...

 

 

 

 

Once this had been applied the dge for the shoreline needed to be added with the foaming waves, again for the foaming waves the natural sponge would be used ...

 

 

 

A pale sun was applied and more depth to the sea, finally the evrlasting flowers would be added. As this was a triple stretched canvas, the flowers would go round the edges of the painting ...

 

 

 

 

Then the final painting ....

 

 

Teaching someone else to do what I do was not only fun but very satisfying seeing the joy they had in creating two amazing paintings and learning from the process. Imparting my knowledge is what I love to do most and that was one of the reasons for starting my blog ... to share my joy, to explain, to demonstrate ... the blog has also enabled me to connect with others and find out the joy it brings to them.

Evolution of creation - Part two

So, as promised, I have returned to the Elephant creation and thankfully I am no longer precious over this. I have been playing with 3D paints and felt that this painting needed it. So with that said and continuing with the lotus flower replication in various forms, it was time to break out the 3D paints for another exploration of the Lotus flowers.

Interestingly enough, one of my friends, who has been watching this painting unfold has reminded me that the colour and lotus is representative of the sacral chakra - swadhistana chakra, although it hadn't fully evolved at that stage. I have since added 6 further lotus petals. Though often you will see the lotus flower evolved on many levels, so the sacral chakra could still apply to this creation.

The energy and feeling of the creation certainly rises from the root chakra towards the sacral, so there is definitely an evolution being replicated in the painting. There is still more to be done with this painting, so this blog too will evolve into a 3rd part, to show its completion.

Here, is the next part of the journey -

Using 3D paint to evolve the Lotus petals

As you can see the 6th petal has not yet been finalised, sadly I ran out of Gold 3D paint, so this will have to wait to be finished. Each outer Lotus Petals has a different pattern inside, the idea shown to me was based on the fact of demonstrating uniqueness of the individual within a community. So whilst we may have similarities on the surface, we all have a unique make-up that makes us who we are and the way we think. The individual lotus petals pays homage to our differences within the wider community.

Having added the 3D Gold paint the rest of the painting now looked flat, so with that in mind it was time to raise other areas of the painting -

Peacocks and Central Area raised with 3D paints

The central area felt a little bare still and needed further definition. There was a need for the peacocks to have ripples below them. It has often been said that peacocks, fan out their feathers when it is about to rain, so the idea of blue circle ripples under the peacocks felt right. The blue dots are the connects we make to all things in life, the ebb and flow of those connections and how the bloom and grow within us before moving on.

Outlining the peacock's fan with green 3D paint, just accentuated their presence within the painting, the grace and beauty of the Peacock for all to see, to acknowledge its display in all its glory and to recognise that all things in life have a purpose. In the case of a peacock, not only to show off when in the throws of courtship but also to warn those that are aware of forthcoming rain.

Enjoy till the next time we meet ....

Getting Precious!

Dang! It's happened, started getting bogged down by the detail of the Elephant painting and so I have had to put it to one side for now and return to it when the flow is working. So, the part two update on this painting will be delayed until that time. 

Getting precious, is like hitting a brick wall at 100km/h, you become immobile and detached from the piece, specially when working in the meditation mode. So changing the focus and moving away from the painting helps to wipe the slate clean and rebuild the energy to do the painting again. In many respects it's like a writer's block, not knowing what comes next or wanting to do something with the piece just because you feel you 'have' to. There are no 'have' to do anything in artistic creation, not even with a deadline looming.

When the 'have' to moment arrives in my mind then if something is added to the painting, the painting as a whole looses its heart, its soul, it stops flowing and there is a heaviness and clumsiness about the work. Sometimes I am not aware I have taken a painting a step to far until I step away and then its - ooops - "step away from the canvas, put down your brushes, lock away the paints and go do something else.

So what did I do this time, popped in Facebook, thought about my next moves and decided to write  on my blog. Thoughts are now surrounding Owls, the painting I haven't touched for nearly over a year now and Geckos. Owls were pulling me quite strong a few days ago, however, as ever life goes on and my life that is had other greater pulls to be done - like assisting with the organic raised bed vegetable garden, shopping - basically the fabric of life.

My mind does wander and pull to the painting from over a year ago and not yet complete, it's like its tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "hey, come on finish me" lol. As for Geckos, well I have had a love of those beautiful creatures for sometime, even had a Henna Tattoo done of one, when I was in Ibiza on Holiday. The biggest call seems to be the painting from over a year ago.

The painting from over a year ago

To me this feels unfinished, at first I did feel I had completed it but as time went by the realisation that it needed to be altered came to the fore and so as I wasn't sure what needed to be changed, I left it until the time was right to paint again. This time has come.

Getting 'precious' about a painting isn't a bad thing, it just allows you to move away, focus elsewhere and come back, when you and the painting are ready to continue. Forcing the issue, will only bring more frustration and that's something an Artist doesn't need unless they are painting angry pictures. 

So much emotion goes into and is connected with the paintings I create that getting 'precious' with some will happen, by pulling away, it allows the painting and I some breathing space. I never want to paint something that doesn't feel right for me, the painting must have the feel of a soul in it, to be able to evoke an emotion, to 'switch' on a mind and interact with its viewer. That for me is my Art.

Evolution of creation

Last time, I said we would look at how my Photography helps my Art and Visa-versa, however, being a fluid, flexible, creative spirit this blog will look at a journey of  one of my latest creations. This will more than likely be a two -part blog due to the intricacies of the creation.

Each morning, I am awoken with 3 images in my head, each image relates to a different creation, so far that's surmounting to around 60 - 100 creations. Why 60 - 100? Well, that's because some of those images will probably produce more than one creation based around that image theme.

The images received, either during my dreams, upon waking or through meditation usually determine the theme and composition. The latest creation demonstrates this well. The initial images was Elephants and lotus flowers and the theme being suggested by these was one of an Indian based theme. When starting this creation, the flow or where it was going was uncertain. Maybe it was going to have some Intricate Indian patterns, from fabrics and Henna tattoos but the actual detail hadn't been decided.

One thing I was aware of was that the process would be long, detail was definitely going to be included and it would be a challenge. So far the journey with this creation hasn't disappointed me during its discovery and unveiling stage. 

The background colour had been determined by the time I was ready to begin painting. The process between seeing the imagery in my mind to its discovery and journey on Canvas can take anything from a day to a maximum of 3 weeks - it's almost like waiting for a green light on the road. Once ready the process of start to paint on canvas to absolute tools down can be quite quick - average time two days. However, it's not unusual for this second phase to take even longer.

'Getting precious' on a creation can often delay its finality. This means I have started to over think and the whole holistic approach has been lost at that moment. So, I quite literally, "Step away from the Canvas" and distract myself with other worldly matters. I have one such painting I have quite literally stepped away from for over a year now and its getting closer to re-approach the painting again.

The 'preparation' phase is where I allow the imagery to play in my mind, it's like a pre-painting stage and my mind is the canvas, the joy with this is that erasing the composition is very easy. It plays out like a dance or a film in my mind, creating and changing along the way.

The state of 'readiness' is at the point where putting brush and paint to canvas is at its optimum moment.  This state of 'readiness' is where the images have fully formed in my head and are bursting to get out. At this point, I'm usually at my most excited but also at my most nervous. It's time for the imagination to come out and play, dance upon the canvas and reveal itself in all its full glory.

To settle in, I put on some music and get into a rhythm whilst painting the background. In many ways I feel like a director of a play, awaiting for all the characters to come forth and play out the scene before me. At the same time, I never know how it will end or what twists will occur but the evolution of the creation is a fascinating process to go through.

So, now to looking at that evolution of the latest creation, starting with the Elephants and the Lotus Flower:

Here you can see the red background, the placement of the marked out Elephants within the lines of a Golden Lotus Flower

From the picture above, the shape of the elephants and how they will look are quite undefined, it was more just to gather the flow and placement at this stage. The Lotus Flower, although an outline at the moment may indeed change at a latter stage. This creation was actually started on the 1st October 2010. In fact it took two days from doing the red background and the Lotus Flower design to adding the Elephants, so this picture was taken on 3rd October 2010.

Once the Elephants had been marked in then I was ready to add a bit more definition to the Elephants:

Elephants more defined

Here, the idea was to give me an idea of some movement and position of each Elephant and definition to their tusks, to allow for further development and intricate detail to be added to the Elephants face, trunk, body and feet.

Adding a little pomp and circumstance to the Elephants was tricky, however it was important to get quite a bit of detail in

By this stage, the gold was becoming more prominent, as well as pale yellows and orange, however there needed to be a bright stark yet complimentary colour to all of these, to help bring 'punch' to the Elephants, so using an Aqua colour felt like the best choice - a delicate yet pleasant on the eye and in line with the rest of the composition.

When painting holistically - it's being drawn by what pulls you the greatest, what 'sits' well and intuitively going with that flow. Knowing something needed to be placed in the middle yet at the same time being unsure what delayed the creation once more. Again the idea of the Lotus Flower repeated was a big pull yet it also needed a difference. It was then the idea of using Peacocks in all their glory came to the forefront.

Peacocks are beautiful creatures, however, I am normally weary of using Peacocks or their feathers based on the old tale of they are 'Bad Luck', what I discovered by way of an Internet search is that they are actually not considered a 'bad omen' in India and they just happen to be India's national bird. So, the idea of the Peacock fitted with the current theme beautifully.

There is also a story in India, the god Murugan is often accompanied by a peacock. Murugan is a popular diety in the foothills of Western Tamil Madu. He is identified with Skanda, Shiva's son. Skanda's brother is Ganesha (although legend says Shiva was not his "real" father), the Elephant god. Muragan rides a peacock. Murugan is popular as a "clan" or family god. Skanda, as Skanda-Karitkeya, and Murugan both rode peacocks. Murugan's brother was Ayyappan. They were both sons of Shiva. http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/Peacocks.html

So, with this in mind the Peacocks would form the petals of the Lotus Flower:

Peacocks, unfinished added to as Lotus Flower petals to the centre

The centre still felt empty, so it needed something extra, yet at the same town adding further Lotus Flowers may possibly destroy the composition, so far, so time to think about an Indian pattern, also for some reason the need for some squareness to be added:

The full view with the intricate Indian pattern in the centre

Closer view of the pattern

Choosing the colours almost became a 'precious' moment, thankfully it didnt and so using the Aqua colour on the Elephants, the yellow, orange and now introducing some copper colouring. At this stage, I noted that some tidying up needed to be done in certain areas, as well as finishing off the peacocks.

This last photo was taken on 5th October 2010, so its taken five days to get this far and there is still a long way to go. It was at this stage a rest was needed t think about next steps.

to be continued .....

Creative Photography

There has been some debate in over the years as to whether photography can be Art and with the onset of the digital age and plethora of digital software, is there any skill involved with creating these digital images like there is with an Artist and his painting? Interesting point but that then begs the question, what is Art? Who decides what constitutes Art? 

I won't attempt to answer the big question  - What is Art? However, I would like to address the issue of 'skill'. It is fair to say that with the dawning of the technological age and the plethora of software available, it is now easier to produce 'Art' without using traditional methods, however using the technology is a skill in itself, maybe not to the exacting standards of the High echelons of Traditional Art but none-the-less it does have some skill.

Also, as with some Photographers using digital software or what is referred to as a digital darkroom assists in altering a photograph to bring out the best in it - either by colour, framing or by small adjustments as in removing an unwanted item in the photograph by a variety of techniques. We have all heard of model air-brushing to remove blemishes and soften features, the same is often done to many of the most amazing photos taken.

My photo's receive mostly a small framing tidy by cropping the picture to improve the main subject, others have nothing done at all but a small few are digitally transformed by a share-ware program I and many other photographers use called IrfanView which can be found at www.irfanview.com. Its a simple program that allows me to use some photoshop techniques to alter my photographs. Other software programs that can be purchased offer far more than IrfanView, including cropping individual items in a photo and replacing them with another or rendering different coloured backgrounds or changing the colour of a specific item.

Below are examples of some of my photo's that have been digitally altered:-

Top Left: A log taken in King's Park, Perth  Top Centre: Different section of King's Park Log Top Right: Different section of King's Park Log
Middle Left:Different section of King's Park Log  Centre: Tree taken at Night  Middle Right: Lichen on a treeBottom Left: Jellyfish  Bottom Centre: Stormy clouds  Bottom Right: Clouds made to look like oil painting

These were altered by adding in one or two special effects, changing the whole outlook of some of the photos. Take the Lichen on a tree most when they see the photograph think its an aerial shot of coral beds in the sea and very few guess what the four wood pieces are originally, even the jellyfish has most stumped. I used Irfanview for cropping originally and then later discovered what else I could do. Most of these are a result of a happy accident of fiddling around and seeing what happens rather than trying to create new pictures.

Here are some more examples of digitally altered photos:-

Top Left: Partly leafed Tree taken at night Top Right: This was originally a sunset photo at St Kilda Beach
Bottom Left: Origially a Vodka bottle but was being used as a water bottle Bottom Right: Moreton Bay Fig Tree

Most of the above are obvious what they are, bar the sunset photo taken at St Kilda Beach, Victoria. Here's the original sunset photo:-

Sunset at St Kilda Beach, Victoria

The digitally Altered version of the photo above

Some prefer the originals others like the digitally altered photos, as I said I just like to play with the program, just like I do with the settings on my Camera. Digitally altering photo's is not the only way to be creative, you can also alter the angle , as well as the distance and framing at which you take the photograph. Have a look at some of the examples below :-

Remember this? Its the top of a fence post at Ringwood Lake Park, Ringwood, Victoria most people think its a nut when they first see this

Looking up at the peeling bark of a Tree at Sky High Mount Dandenong

Using a rock in the foreground, focusing on the rock to left in the background to create an almost 3D effect

Using the foreground of the beach grass to frame the setting sun on Gunnamatta Beach

When your camera doesn't have the zoom power of the higher priced cameras, take the photo at normal distance, then use the crop tool on the digital software to zoom in on your subject, it makes for clearer sharper pictures 

Again a simple crop to highlight the Duck Menage a Trois

So, as well as providing fuel to add to the debate about digitally created images, digitally altering a photo with a simple crop can enhance your experience of a simple point and shoot, digital camera and turn Okay photos into great photos. Remembering of course to utilise and play, the different settings and alter your view of the subject matter to add a little creation.

I will leave with one final photograph that was simply shot by changing my angle and a small crop for framing purposes:-

Water play on the Crown Esplanade, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Here the droplets of water pop out on the page when enlarged

Next time we'll take a look at how photography has helped my Art and Visa-versa .....

Eureka Moments with Photography

Eureka moments, I have had a few more through taking a picture again and again and fiding that golden shot or one that strikes a chord with me. Seeing the picture through the small LCD screen of my Nikon Coolpix S210 point and shoot camera has not always been easy. Since my first Eureka moment with the Julia Caesar Tablet in Israel, it has been stuck in my mind to take the picture anyway.

Photography for me is more than just taking a photograph, its a way of spreading the joy of nature, the passion for the world I live in and connecting with others, a way to hear their stories, to interact, to engage and who knows what else may happen. I may indeed only pass through this world/place only once and in taking that one photo brightens someone else's life, gives them hope, then as the saying goes, the picture (really has spoken) more than words.

What Inspires me to take a photograph? Hmm .. good question. The beauty and power of Nature, the wondrous sights in the places I live, an evocative feeling, when I see something that draws me in, encourages me to take its photo or even if I have a painting project on the go. Like my paintings its my love of the dramatic, the joy of seeing someone else's creative process - whether that is in a building, a piece of art or even in child's play and also something that just makes me smile. Also other photographer's and Artist inspire me to push myself further, one of my favourite photographers is Ken Duncan, he uses his photography to inspire others with inspirational quotes on some of his pictures, whilst at the same time sharing his incredible knowledge through courses to those who want to learn more.

The most valuable lesson I heard, whilst on a swim with the dolphin's trip was ... "of course you can be so busy trying to get the perfect shot that you miss the real beauty and joy of the moment. You forget to watch and just enjoy." It reminded me of one of my Philosophies - to stop rushing here and there, to really see,  feel,  hear, smell, taste and savour the moment, we often forget this and it takes someone else to remind us to be present. That memory remains imprinted on your mind and heart for a very long time and in my photography I try to capture that essence - the thought/emotional provoking memory.

In photography you capture a moment in time, some of my favourite captured moments with a Nikon Coolpix camera are those taken one year at The Australian Open, Melbourne, Victoria and being able to capture reasonably well, some amazing tennis poses, specially as the camera isn't an SLR camera, just a simple point and shoot one. Here's some of my favourites:-

Note how the player doesn't have any feet on the ground

Fully stretched and ready to run

He looks like he may fall over as he serves

Look how far down his back the Racquet goes as he serves

So even with a standard, simple point and shoot camera you can get some amazing shots, just take lots, being digital you don't have to develop them all before you find a good one. I love happy accidents too one of my favourite photo's when I first arrived in Melbourne, Australia was one I took whilst waiting in the car during a rainstorm.

When enlarged the water droplets look like they are just sitting on the photograph

This was taken through the car windscreen of a palm tree - with a manual camera you would either focus on the Palm tree or the water droplets. The Nikon Coolpix had options to set to macro or micro (Landscscape or close up), I chose the micro version to highlight the water droplets on the window screen and to blur the Palm tree. At the time I had no idea how great this one was till I printed it out in Large format and saw the 3D effect of the water droplets.

One of my other happier moments again with water was on a trip to Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. I took a walk along a stretch of Coastline by The Nobbies, the day was wet n' wild and the sea was crashing on the rocks below, capturing that 'smack' can be tricky and capturing a dramatic 'smack' without getting hypothermia is even trickier, nonetheless it was achieved.

Sea Spray near The Nobbies, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia

I have recently entered this photo in the Ted's Camera Competition along with other photo's, I have been back to the Nobbies a few times but never been able to recapture this amazing photo. So it really does go to demonstrate right time, right place, right conditions and take when given the opportunity, first time every time and shoot, shoot, shoot. You never know you too may get a Eureka moment.

Of course some of the most difficult to see shots are those taken towards the Sun over water, the glare makes it difficult to assess the quality of your shot on a LCD screen of most standard Digital cameras, nevertheless, just go for it and shoot. Here are some of my Sun/Water shots :-

Whilst not over water I just love the shards of sunlight
This was actually taken from a moving car, on the road between  Cowes and The Nobbies,
Phillip Island, Victoria

Sunset on St Kilda Beach, Victoria, Australia
Here I used the dusk setting on Nikon Coolpix S210 to cut out some of the glare and sharpen the picture

St Kilda Beach, Victoria, Australia.
On this shot I used the warmer setting of sunset and covered the lens with my  transition lens glasses as an extra filter
shows some colour spectrum on the sun shards

Similar photo to the one above, same sunset setting no transition lens glasses in front of lens

Same photo as the previous ones, this time on dusk setting, no transition lens glasses in front of the camera lens

You can see from the three photo's taken on St Kilda Beach, that using different settings can change the view, depth, tone of a photo without the use of even a photoshop software program. Also adding in something like transition lens glasses over the camera lens, it acts like the traditional Filters. The settings on the Nikon Coolpix S210 camera such as sunset or dusk/dawn settings also are like the traditional filters - adding more red tones to a picture on the sunset setting or more blue tones on the dusk/dawn setting. The aperture of the camera lens is also increased or decreased according to these settings to.

Why are settings so important on a digital camera, well in the traditional manual camera's you would have different kit to create same effect - wide lens, zoom lens, standard lens, filters, flash, even convex and concave lens filters - adding or adjusting these extra kit pieces would alter the effect of the shot taken. Now digital cameras, simple point and shoot, give everyone the opportunity to take shots as close to using a manual camera with extra kit.

I learnt what each one did by playing around with them and taking the same shot over and over, working out which one was best for each situation - hey it's digital I can do that now and not worry about developing costs. The camera manuals will tell you so much but really the only way to learn, is to take shot after shot and ask yourself, when you see them - How could I improve that shot? Have a little jotter pad with you so you know how you took a particular photo, what date, weather conditions etc, its a great learning tool.

 Next blog will look at having fun with creativity photography ....