Nature and Photography

I love looking at photos.  Whenever a friend comes home from a trip, I always ask them to post their photos. I love photography. I am always in awe of photographs that friends post in Facebook.  There are a lot of them who took photography as a hobby and come up with excellent photos. As much as I would like to do the same, this hobby is pretty expensive. So I make use of what I have. I own a six-year old Canon A510. It is only a 3.1 MP but it can satisfactorily produce great photos, too. It has its limitations yet this camera has captured a lot of memories for me.

Photo credit: Canon USA

My next camera will still be Canon. I’m currently drooling over a Canon S95.

What I lack in photography skills and equipment I make up for it in editing. I use Photoscape. It lacks the masking and layering features of Photoshop but it has most of the editing tools I frequently use in Photoshop. The best thing about it is that… it is FREE!

With a low-tech camera and an editing software, I turn to the most reliable photography subject: NATURE. Foolproof! I get great pictures all the time. God is indeed THE CREATOR. He’s got great works of art.

I try to practice some photography skills with nature. (Yeah, I know. Too safe. It is foolproof, Kat! I amaze only myself. haha!) With this green landscape, I try to search for burst (or specks) of colors.

I used the “oil painting” finish for this photo and it did not change much. This goes to show there is no need for tweaking when it comes to nature photos.

Okra Flower

Because I do not eat a lot of vegetables, I just photograph them. Ha!

Camote Tops

In a Manila Bulletin article, some folks used this vegetable to help normalize platelet levels for those who have dengue.

This is Malunggay. I eat this one. We often use this in soups.

Malunggay leaves

And this is the Kangkong flower. If you look closely, there is a bee gathering some nectar.

Kangkong flowers and Mr. Bee

I like to use the macro feature in the camera. Even the small flowers can be appreciated.

I photographed the soil and captured rocks and mosses.

Rocks

Moss. Looks like a micro-forest down there.

My uncle took notice of my actions whenever I am holding a camera. He quipped, ‘You are like Kim’. I was surprised by his remark. I thought he was referring to Kim Chiu, the young actress. I thought, “Do I look that young? “ Most importantly, am I that thin? ( Who am I kidding? LOL! I just want to write that here. A girl can dream.) So, I asked, “Kim Chiu?” My uncle replied, ” No. Kuya Kim. He photographs even the ants.” I see. I can accept that. Back to earth, Kat!

Sometimes, I look upwards. The blue sky and the tall plants are picture-perfect, too.

Blue sky with some clouds.

I wanted to take a close-up photo of the red “fruit” and the flower but it is too high up so I have to be contented with this one.

Achuete

Even with my city’s black-sand beach, nature still makes me trigger-happy.

Sea shells on the shore.

The sea

Even as the day ends, the setting sun leaves the sky with some resplendent glow. I have seen sunset photographs of friends and those are breathtaking. Mine pales in comparison.

Sunset

After all I have said, the real experience trumps all the best photographs. See a sunrise, a sunset or both. Smell the flowers, feel the cool breeze, touch the sand with your bare feet.

So go out and get in touch with nature!