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I thought this would make a good picture to see the woman with her 3 dogs and having the old mine shaft in the top corner too. I feel like the dogs give the picture some personality and the mine shaft makes the top half of the picture not look so empty.

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I am a complete beginner when it comes to photography. The only photographs I have taken have been on my mobile phone to capture memories, to take pictures of things I have found amusing in every day life or to snap some embarrassing shots of friends on a night out etc.

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What do I want to get out of the course?

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What do I want to get out of the course?

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I joined this course because I want to learn how to use my camera correctly, how to use the editing software, how to take photographs like a professional and to put all of the knowledge I gain into hopefully becoming a professional photographer one day.

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I am currently using a Nikon D40 DSLR camera with an 18-55mm lens and I have a 55" Everesta tripod. The memory card I am using for my camera is an SD card.

I have only had my camera for less than one month and I used it for the first time on the first day of the course. I haven't needed to charge the battery for my camera yet but I know you have to slide open the battery cover to remove it from the camera and connect it to the charging port that can plug into a socket.

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I learnt where to find certain features on my camera and what they are used for, I learnt how to navigate my way around the menu settings on my camera, I learnt the different types of camera (mirrorless, DSLR, bridge, compact, phone) and the different types of memory cards.

I learnt about different types of lenses (standard, telephoto, wide angle) and how they are used for different types of photography and I learnt the correct way of holding a camera in order to keep it stable and reduce camera shake.

I have learnt about the different health and safety you need to be aware of when it comes to taking photos and editing them. You need to be aware of your surroundings, dress appropriately for the weather, be aware of where you put your camera bag in case you trip over it. While editing, make sure to monitor screen time and take breaks every so often, use correct posture to prevent back pain etc.

I have learnt that you do not need to ask for permission to take photographs but it is always polite to ask.

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It was hard to pick a favourite picture from this photographer but this one stands out the most to me. It's both terrifying and fascinating at the same time. I love how you can see some of the orange sky but looking below the water is so dark and mysterious. I like the way the water has been captured splashing in the air as the lemon shark comes towards the camera.

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The aperture is a hole or opening in the lens that controls how much light enters the camera and, when the aperture is adjusted, it affects the depth of field, which is defined as the level of clarity or blurriness of certain elements of a photograph.
You should use a large aperture for low light situations or for a shallower depth of field, and a small aperture for a deeper depth of field.

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The shutter is a curtain in front of the camera sensor that stays closed until the camera fires. It controls the length of time that the sensor is exposed to the light for.

If you're using a slow shutter speed, moving subjects in your photo will appear blurred. It may sometimes be used intentionally by landscape photographers to create a sense of motion in rivers and waterfalls while the rest of the image remains sharp.

On the other hand, you can do the opposite by using a fast shutter speed. This will freeze the moving subject, like birds in flight, dolphins jumping out of water etc.

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ISO refers to the camera's sensitivity to light. With a high ISO, the camera sensor becomes more sensitive and the photos will appear brighter. Although increasing the ISO can result in the photos appearing to have more noise/grain, which looks like speckles of colour and light being strewn around the image. It's best to try and keep the ISO low unless it is really necessary to raise it. In situations where the light is low and you're struggling to get a well exposed photo, if you need to freeze motion and you're struggling to get a sharp photo or if you're struggling to get a photo with an adequate depth of field.

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I took these images in Easington Colliery around the old pit shaft and the farmers fields. I wasn't expecting to see the sheep out so it was good timing and gave me a bit of practice with photographing animals.

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These photos were taken around the farmers fields and Easington beach banks with the exception of the last picture which was taken at Houghall College. I tried to capture some images that had a shallow depth of field with the barbed wire fencing on the sheep images, and with the reeds in the beach images.

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These images were taken at Houghall College. I tried to use correct framing and the rule of 3 in some of these shots. The outside shots were a bit more difficult since it was dark but I adjusted my settings to make the images visible.

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Composition is how a photographer arranges visual elements within their frame to help create stronger images. Some of the rules of composition that can be used to create a great photograph are; leading line, scale, colour, framing, pattern, repetition, reflection, simplicity, negative/positive space and the rule of thirds.

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These images were taken on the coastal footpath in Easington Colliery and on Easington Beach. In these pics, I have demonstrated framing, colour, rule of thirds, repetition and simplicity. I think my favourite picture out of these is the footprints because I have never taken a picture like that before so it is something different.

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This is one of the pictures I have taken in the past few weeks. It is one of my favourite images so far because I like what I captured in the image (the animals and the ocean).
The way I edited this image was to make the grass look greener and to give the image some more colour. To do this, I used the masking tool on Lightroom but when I made it green, it turned other aspects of the background green too so I did separate masking on each of the sheep and played around with the highlights, shadows, exposure and colours to try and get them close to how they originally looked.
I can see that the ocean and sky don't look the same in both pics but that was the closest I could get to the original pic and I feel quite proud of my work.

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With this photograph, I wanted to draw focus to the centre so by using vignetting, I was able to darken the edges of the picture and bring the focus inwards. I adjusted the shadows and highlights to take away the darkness. I also didn't want the stone in the middle to be too bright so I dimmed it a little by bringing the highlights down a bit.

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The footprints are the focus of this picture. I removed the shadow on the right to keep the focus in the centre, also vignetting the corners and rotating the picture slightly to make the footprint come towards the camera.

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I wanted to add a bit of colour to the grass and the sky to make it pop and not be so washed out. I also removed some of the shadows and imperfections in the grass.

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I've always loved looking at pictures of the ocean and beaches so this one is definitely one of my favourite ones that I have taken. The cliff in the corner detail so it's not just a full picture of the ocean.

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Sea and cliff view before and after editing

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As with the last picture, I wanted to give this image more colour so I brightened up the ocean and the sky to make the blue pop. I dehazed the image to reduce the effect the sun created on the original image and I enhanced the detail in the cliff. I needed to rotate the image a bit to make the horizon straight and I used the grid on Lightroom to line it all up correctly.

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I thought these reeds would make a good image and also shows off a shallow depth of field as the reeds in the background are blurred. I had to use a fast shutter speed as it was windy that day and I wanted to freeze the reeds in the front for a clear image.

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I wanted to enhance the reeds and reduce the brightness from the sun in the image so I dehazed the image and reduced the highlights. I added a small amount of vignetting to the corners of the picture to draw more attention towards the middle.

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Reeds against the sky - before, after.JPG

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I got to the top of the hill where the old mine shaft is and I just love the view from up there so I thought it would make a good photo. I kept the mine shaft to the side so you can have a good view of the ocean and the fields behind it.

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I need my camera lens cleaning so you can see lots of specs of dust etc in the before image so I used the healing tool in Lightroom to edit out all of the imperfections. Also after enhancing the colour of the image, the bridge turned green so I had to use masking to get the colour back to the original.

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I looked off the cliff and the water looked so peaceful so I wanted to capture that moment. I feel like this picture demonstrates a deep depth of field as the grass and the beach are both in focus.

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As with the other picture, I had to use the healing tool to edit out all of the dust and imperfections in the image and I enhanced the colour of the ocean, sky and a little bit of the grass area. I used the grid on Lightroom to line up the horizon and make a straighter picture.

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I feel like this picture would have been better if there was a person or something of interest walking along the path, or even leaning up against the wall as there isn't really a focus point but I still feel like I have captured a good picture that demonstrates framing.

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I have lightened up the shadows and blacks in the image to make the underside of the bridge not look so dark and to show the detail under there. I have also brightened the grass and the path area to give the image a bit of colour.

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I liked the look of the tree in the dark so decided to capture it. Although I now realise I should have used a faster shutter speed because my focal length is a higher number than the shutter speed and it should be the other way around.

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I thought making this picture black and white would give a more spooky feeling to the tree. It was hard to reduce the shadows and blacks in this image as there was so much of the picture that was "burnt out" and I realised it was full of noise after I reduced the other elements. I took me a few hours just on this picture to get it how I visualised it in my head.

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I came across this as I walked along the beach in Easington. Someone had arranged the stones in this circle and I found it really interesting and worthy of a picture.

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I darkened the edges of the photo because I wanted to draw focus to the rock circle in the centre. I reduced highlights and shadows to fix any "burnt out" parts of the image and added vignetting to the corners of the photo.

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With this picture, I thought I would try to capture a sheep in motion. I can see a small amount of motion blur on the raised leg which is what I was trying to achieve. The sheep was only walking so it wasn't too hard to get the picture I was looking for. I positioned the sheep to the side to create positive space in front of the sheep for it to move into.

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Again I brightened up the colours to make the image more interesting. Removed any impurities in the picture. Added texture and clarity and a small amount of feathered vignetting around the corners.