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DIY Faux Brick Wall

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Some times, in order to make my photos more impressive, I will bring my handmad to other places for photography, such as beach, restaurant, park, jetty etc… That’s why you may notice that I need more time to prepare my tutorial which is normally 1 or 2 weeks of lagging. But, if I have a choice, I prefer to do the photography in the comfort of my home. With that in practice, that means I need some portable backdrops… fabrics and wooden backdrops came easily, but real brick is impossible to be “portable” due to it’s weight.

I have put off the idea of having brick wall in my home till I renovated my new condominium to purposely make a painted old brick wall at one of the corners…. until… I shop in my local Ace Hardware Store…… I was searching for some aerosol paints for repainting my old wicker basket when I saw the “make it stone!” texture paint on the shelf. I was so impressed with the effect shown on the cap of the aerosol can. I bought it back and thinking of “stoning” my old plastic wall-hung planter. That night on my bed, just before I fell asleep, I suddenly came out with the idea of making a faux brick wall with this paint after recalling that I saw a video using polystyrene foam panel to make similar backdrops for the stage. Guess what? I was insomnia that night because the processes of making this faux brick wall kept me awake, I was very excited and can’t wait till the next morning!!!!

I am glad that I had a sudden inspiration of making it and see how I did it after the jump….. There after, you will see it appears in my photos more often too.

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DIY Shamrock Bokeh From Dew Drops

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Happy St Patrick’s Day to whom who celebrate!

Remember the beautiful morning dew drops at the tips of the wheat grass I woke up to see and adore 3 years ago? Which I took the photos with my little point-to-shoot compact camera? Recently, I planted some wheat grass that meant for an upcoming Easter cum St Patrick’s Day craft. Again, I woke up to see some beautiful dew drops setting at the tip of the grass, so pretty that I can’t resist to take some closed-up photos on them.

Overs the years, I have earned and saved enough to invest in an affordable and good DSLR camera. Now, I am back to take another round of dew drops photos. Previously, I need to do some photo editing to crop on a big photo in order to show the tiny dew drops. But today, I am not just able to take a real closed-up macro photo but also able to have a lovely bokeh effect out of the dew drops light reflections with my Canon EOS 60D. After a few shootings and reviewing the greenery photos, an idea struck through my mind that I can do it with shamrock bokeh since St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and also to keep my promise, one stone two birds, why not!

One last thing before you jump to the tutorial, look what I have found in the wheat grasses… a tiny little visitor resting on the wheat grass. Ok, this is a cropped photo, my economical macro lens can’t get so close to it yet. May be I will invest in an expensive professional macro lens if I am going for the assignment of tiny world photography that I love to do. Who knows, may be another 3 years from now…. lol

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[Canon EOS 60D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS UD Standard Zoom Lens (See all Digital SLRs)]

Love, love, love my new Canon EOS 60D DSLR camera, my birthday present I bought for myself… a great gift for me after being working hard for so long!!! Also a gift for you because you will get to see more beautiful photos for the coming tutorials . Plus this camera comes with HD video recording… I supposed video tutorial should be great for certain crafts if it won’t take up too long for displaying HD video across the net.

I have been saving to upgrade my camera from entry level to semi-pro since end of last year. Why Canon, and not Nikon, or Olympus or other brands? I bought my first Canon DSLR 2 years ago, and I am so used to the Canon menu functions & software, my choice will go back to Canon for the next level. Not only that I can use back the lens and accessories, I spend lesser time to learn and get use to this new image catcher (I would rather spend the learning time to do more crafts).

I am not a professional camera reviewer nor am I a professional photographer, I can’t compare / review camera by their specifications and functions. I chose it because I need it, I know it works for me and takes care of my pocket. Why EOS 60D and not 600D, 7D or 5D or 1D or older version 550D? Well, I can’t afford 7D, 5D and 1D, they are meant for professional or photo enthusiast or whom has deeper pocket. I streamed down to these 2 models because both of them are the latest models and come with high resolution wide 3.0″ vari-angle LCD monitor. This vari-angle LCD monitor function is very useful when I need to take photos from various angles, especially from floor level and from top level. I can just flip out the LCD monitor and change to live view shooting mode, view via the monitor instead of the view finder to find the angle I want, focus and shoot. I no longer need to lay down on the floor or stand up high on a chair for taking low and top level view, isn’t it great. So, why 60D and not 600D? In fact, I almost wanted to buy 600D since it is cheaper than 60D. But, think twice, 600D is still entry level but higher range with more functions than the basic 1100D, while 60D is semi-professional level. I wanted a semi-pro camera in the first place, so 60D is my choice. More over, 60D has all 9 cross-type AF point which is much superior and accurate. Of course, with the price different, there should be more advantages from 60D over 600D.

The Canon f2.5 50mm macro, one of my favorite lenses to use with my new Canon 60D. With it, I can take sharp closed-up photos for the details I have made on the crafts.

[Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Lens]

Just some examples of my test drive photo shootings. I haven’t tested out the video function at this point, I hope I will do it soon.

f2.5, 1/1000, ISO250 - outdoor

f4.0, 1/60, ISO2500 - indoor

f4.0, 1/60, ISO1600 - indoor

I woke up this morning and found these beautiful dewdrops all over the tips of my wheatgrass plants. So pretty that I have to take some pictures to show you!!!

Almost ready to harvest!!!!