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Janine was kind enough to share her autumn kissed photo above for our WYP this week. Doesn’t it just make you want to go jump in a pile of leaves? I love the focus on the detail of the hands, leaf and good ol’ jeans. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s editing. Thanks again Janine for letting us play with your photograph!

Remember to link to your version by leaving a comment below. You are welcome to add any specifics about what you did in your processing (software used, adjusted values, cropping etc) to help us learn. Click here to get the complete details for What’s Your Play. Remember, all readers are invited to submit their own photos for manipulation by emailing a high res photo (preferably SOOC) to play [at] dolcepics [dot] com.

Ok, I promise to lay off on the shoe pictures for the next while. Here’s the batch from WYP 17:

focal length: 105 mm
shutter speed: 1/30
aperture: f/5
ISO: 1000
flash: none

Just as seeing things through a macro lens is a whole different world, so is choosing your settings. When you’re so close to an object, shooting wide open just has too shallow a depth of field to make anything out. Who would’ve thought too much bokeh could be a bad thing? I find that when I’m really as close as I can get, using an aperture of f/5 seems to work for me.

Using a telephoto lens works for me too when shooting prickly, ouchie things.

focal length: 36 mm
shutter speed: 1/400
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 400
flash: none

Can you tell she’s just screaming in delight that she gets to be a bunny this year? Well, maybe not “in delight”. It sure is tough getting a child into a costume long enough to take some decent pictures. I had to have the camera at the ready before throwing the suit on her and made sure to button at least one of the clasps for the head piece so she wouldn’t pull it off right away. Then I shot like mad! I scrambled to the north-facing window to get some good light and sure enough she followed me, whining to help get the costume off. I let her “enjoy” it for a couple minutes before I succumbed to her pleas. Let’s see your kiddies in their costumes. Were you lucky enough to get a smile?

One day, she will enjoy dressing up and then she’ll regret she didn’t dress up more when these costumes fit!

focal length: 44 mm
shutter speed: 1/5000
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

I haven’t done a lot of silhouette shots in a while so when I took this lovely couple out for a shoot (my sister and bro-in-law) I tried a bit of sunset lovin’. To get this effect, I metered for the sky, which effectively underexposed my subjects. The positive space (subjects) became the negative space, which, as you can see, still has matter. I think next time I try this, I might want to use a smaller aperture for a crisp horizon line and a slower shutter speed to balance that.

What a sweet couple!

focal length: 16 mm
shutter speed: 1/100
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1250
flash: none

We ventured to the top of the CN tower in Toronto and wondered if Sophie would walk on the glass floor. I guess at this age, they are still somewhat fearless. I struggled to take a photo of her stomping around on the glass and with the hundreds of other visitors there, it was a challenge. I wanted a shot of her on the floor with the ground visible at the bottom. It’s near pitch black in the room so trying to expose for both the outside and my subject called for a flash, which I didn’t have then, or some fancy HDR work, which is hard to do with a moving subject. Luckily, I took this quick shot at some point and although you can’t see the ground hundreds of feet below, it’s clear that she’s up above somewhere. The composition could’ve been improved but I was happy I even got this! I like the mural in the background and how it looks like Sophie is walking on a beam, being careful not to step over the edge.

Luckily I had my wide angle with me!