May 11, 2011

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II was the second lens I bought for my DSLR, right after I got my first telephoto (the Canon 55 – 250mm zoom, which you can also read my review of, should you wish to). I wanted a lens with a really wide maximum aperture so I could take photos in lowlight without a flash, and I didn’t want to break the bank – so the...

May 8, 2011

If you have a DSLR and love taking photos of your family and friends, you’re soon going to be known as ‘The Photographer’. Now, this is no bad thing – indeed, it’s nice that people think you can take some good shots – but one of the things this means is that you never end up having any photos that you’re actually in...

Mar 1, 2011

I received  a lovely email from a reader today, letting me know about quite a unique photography competition going on over at The Feed. What it makes it unique, you say? Well, instead of there being a photo with each entrant having to come up with a suitable caption, they’ve turned it on its head: They supply the caption (in this case ‘It seemed...

Feb 14, 2011

Yep, that’s right, it’s LearningTheLight.com’s first anniversary today – I don’t really know why I started the site on Valentine’s Day 2010 (not the most romantic thing I’ve ever done…!), but at least I’ll always remember the site’s anniversary date now! I’d like to thank everyone for taking the...

Jan 19, 2011

Camera: Canon T1i Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens Aperture: f/4 Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec ISO: 100 Focal Length: 50 mm Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority Photoshop: Increased contrast using Curves. Saturation increase. Crop. I took this shot whilst on a walk with my wife and mum on Christmas Day – we were just ambling past this house when this gorgeous dog...

Jan 6, 2011

When I bought my Canon DSLR, nearly a year ago now, I absolutely loved it (and still do!), but, after a week or so, I found myself a little frustrated at the lack of focal range with the supplied kit lens – the Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens f/3.5-5.6. That lens is all well and good, and can take some mighty fine photos, but I felt that I wanted to take some more...

Dec 30, 2010

The new year is nearly upon us – doesn’t it come around quick? Before thinking about 2011, though, I thought it would be interesting to have a look back at LearningTheLight.com’s first year, and see which articles were the most popular. By looking at my Google Analytics data, I can see which posts on the site had the most visits, and so,...

Dec 25, 2010

It’s Christmas Day, and all through the house, The photographer’s shooting, and annoying his spouse…! Merry Christmas everyone, and thanks for frequenting LearningTheLight.com over the past year, leaving comments, following me on twitter and facebook, and just taking the time to read my warblings… Enjoy your Christmas, and don’t...

Dec 18, 2010

Christmas Day is only a week away, and, if you’re anything like me, that means you’ll be seeing lots of family and friends – the perfect chance to get some lovely photos! Taking better shots of those people closest to me was actually the main reason why I got into photography in the first place – so I thought I’d share some tips and...