Photography Class Field Trip - The Botanical Gardens

Today our class took a field trip to the Botanical Gardens. We had our first classroom session this past Wednesday and now it was time for some practical application of what we talked about.

We started in the patio area outside the gardens, snapping away at the ducks and flowers. I didn't really do much with my settings, and it shows.

Then I started experimenting with the aperture on some flowers. It helped me understand how to get that blurred background effect.

Then we made our way to the butterfly pavilion. I can't wait to take Madeline here at some point. This is my favorite shot from the day.

And a few more flowers on the way out. I love how you can totally see the difference in the focal point for the flowers.

And another set of comparisons. Each of these were taken from a focal distance of 53mm but the shutter and aperture changed a bit.

#1
shutter:  1/2000
aperture: f/5.6

#2
shutter: 1/1000
aperture: f/8.0

#3
shutter: 1/80
aperture: f/36.0