The Goodman’s Blog: Lifelong Learning and Sharing

This was taken at the Palace of Charles V in Granada, Spain. Flash and tripod were not allowed.

I had to be very careful in balancing the light and shadow portions of this image. I put my handheld camera at its widest aperture (f4.5) to compensate for a fast speed (1/160).

I liked not only the light-and-shadow but the contrast in texture of the floor, the walls and the columns and the contrast in colours of blue, grey, orange, and brown.

My wife and I were having lunch at one of the public casetas in Jerez, Spain. We were there for the Fiesta del Caballo. This little boy had probably never seen an Asian before. He approached us and stared hard at us. I used the opportunity to take a shot.

His mom saw me and later on asked her son to pose some more for me. I obliged. But this shot was the most natural of all.

Quick tip for amateurs: When travelling on a holiday, always have your camera ready. Be very fast, as street photography opps like this can come at the most inopportune times.

This was taken at Keukenhof (Holland) during one of my four trips there this May. I liked the way the tulip heads bowed as the wind blew. The formation also followed a curve of red and green, broken up by the solitary tulip on the bottom left of center.

Amateurs tend to shoot flowers only when they are still and there is no wind. Sometimes, a better photo can emerge when the flowers are swaying to the wind. It is difficult to do this with a handheld camera, as you have to set the shutter speed to a slower time, to show a bit of motion blur.