Benjamins Christening
I thought I’d do a little update on what I’ve been up to with my camera recently as it’s been a while since I updated my blog.
I’ve now started my photography course which is going well, the first few weeks have been covering the basics such as composition but we are now moving onto the more practical side. The course is only 6 weeks long but it has given me a few pointers on areas I could do with working on which was the main reason for me going on it so hopefully it will prove to be helpful. One of the things that the tutor has shown us was Adobe Lightroom 2, a programme I hadn’t had any experience of previously which can be used to post process your images – with great effects.
Up until recently I mostly used a combination of Picassa 3 and Photoshop to edit and process my images, though I tended to use Picassa more regularly. I had intended on trying to learn how to use Photoshop but since being enlightened to Lightroom I am now going to concentrate on trying to teach myself how to get the best from it instead. Hopefully this will have a positive effect on my photographs and I’m hoping that my images will be improved as a result.
Unfortunately due to a bout of illness I haven’t been out on many photographic adventures recently, this combined with the absolutely rubbish British weather really has cut short the opportunities that may have been available to me. However I did have the chance to pick up the camera last weekend when some friends invited my husband and I to the christening of their son Benjamin. I had wanted to try and get a few shots for them but knew the conditions wern’t going to be great as photography in churches can be very difficult due to the difficult light conditions. This would take a little research so I turned to Google and a few photographic forums for advice and inspiration!
After a relatively easy drive up to Manchester we arrived at the Parish of St John the Evangelist in Failsworth, we arrived within plenty of time so I had a chanced to assess the inside of the church and was pleased to see that it was extremely well lit so I hoped any pictures would come out relatively well. I had already done some research and found out there would be no photographs allowed during the ceremony so I took the opportunity to take a few pictures inside the church beforehand.
There were three children being baptised, Benjamin and two others. It had been a while since I had been to a christening so I was unsure of the procedure but the ceremony was relatively quick and all of the children were very behaved, there were hardly any tears even after the priest blessed them with the holy water at the font.
The priest agreed to a few posed shots at the font with the parents and godparents after the ceremony, he even mimicked the actual baptism to enable me to get a picture so I was very appreciative as from what I understand not many priests are happy to do this. Although obviously with three families all trying to get their pictures he wasn’t going to stand there all day so I quickly got my shots before he changed his mind.
After the service we all decamped to a nearby pub for some refreshments. By this point little Benjamin was starting to grow quite weary, even if he was the most popular boy in the pub – everyone wanted to have a cuddle with him including his granny and auntie.
Unfortunately the lighting conditions inside the pub wern’t so great and my photos have a little bit of blur on them, one of the pitfalls of poor lighting conditions – this is definitely an area I need to work on as I am not particularly happy with the pictures I took there. I must admit that once we got to the pub I was so busy catching up with people I hadn’t seen in a while that my camera took a back seat while I chatted away but I was quite happy as it meant I got to speak to friends I don’t see enough.
After a few hours of chatting it was eventually time to leave, we had a long journey home and so we hit the motorway after having a lovely day. I was a little annoyed with myself for not getting more shots and I was also rather disapointed at the shots I took in the pub but I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy with the available lighting and at least I had a go, I always like a challenge and it is part of the learning curve – if you don’t attempt these things you can never get better at them.
So thank you to Colette and Dave for inviting us to celebrate Benjamins special day with you.
So that brings my blog to a close for today. as always many thanks for reading, if you have enjoyed this then please take a moment to leave me a message, they are all very much apprecaited.
Tags: 40d, Baptism, Canon, Childrens Portraits, Christening, Nifty Fifty, Photography, Photos, Pictures
