My Preparation

For the photographs that I have taken and shown in my blog so far, my preparation for these was as follows:-

Making Waves:

I took this image whilst on walkabout during college class and walked behind the college in the park grounds onto the bridge where the duck was performing in the river Trent. It was the second time I had used the camera and didn't know how to operate all its controls properly.
Equipment (or kit) I used:
*Canon EOS 5D mark II camera with relevant batter installed inside
*L series Lens 24-105mm
*SanDisk Extreme CompactFlash card 8gb, 60mb
 Later, on a computer I adjusted the exposure and size.

Within weeks of taking Making Waves I was studying the  camera instruction manual and a DVD that told me specifically how to use this camera.  I found the DVD to be of great help rather than just reading the book, though obviously I am still experimenting and learning.

Trunk Body:
Was taken  one evening at dusk when I noticed the light on the tree as the sun was going down. I used the equipment as listed above, now with a UV filter attached to the end of the lens for protection and to prevent flare.  I will continue to use this kit unless otherwise stated. The light had a sort of golden glow which I liked.  I later cropped into the image on the computer.

Droplets:
 These shots were taken in the morning  when the sunlight was spotlighting the lovely pinks. I used the above same equipment.

Home Fingers:
 I was aware that I needed to take different light images and waited for a sunny day to take shots of the same tree at different times of the day. I used the above same equipment.

Mooving and Monster Tree:
I took these shots when I went out to lunch one day with my parents and leaving the eatery spotted the cows in the field.  I had put the camera in the car, just in case, as it was a sunny day. At this same time I went to check a tree out that I had previously seen.  However whilst looking for the original tree,  I came across another tree I liked, where the light was nicely resting on it.  This was Monster Tree, which I now consider to be one of my best shots to date. I used the above same  equipment and later computer cropping (Monster Tree only).

Hurdles and The Eye Road:
I had gone out on a designated 'im going out with my camera' afternoon at the weekend for a drive round country lanes in the hope of seeing some views to capture, and stopping the car at such views to get out and take relevant images.  I used the above same equipment with computer cropping later (The Eye Road only).

Walk With Me:
I had gone out on a camera field trip on a cold day and prepared by wearing 2 pairs of socks, trainers, 2 jumpers, coat and a pair of fingerless gloves. I used the above same equipment.

As I walked around experimenting with different scenes, I felt myself getting carried away, knowing I could delete any shots I didn't want later. But then as I was making my way back to the car and still shooting, my camera showed the 'card full' message.
 Had I really took between 300-400 images? I was surprised that I had and this sadly left me franticly trying to delete some there and then,  in the hope of catching this next particular scene where I was convinced the light was just right.  I felt alittle narked with myself; Surely photographers don't have to delete as they go, I thought, and next time I would be better prepared.
Later I discovered that I had the camera settings to take images in jpeg and raw setting, therefore taking up lots more space than necessary.  I had decided to shoot some  images in raw due to the fact that I had heard that later more can be done, maniuplation wise, using that setting and I wanted to see the difference.  I have since gone back to jpeg images only.

What went Wrong:
The wrong setting taking up too much memory and not having another compact flash disc with me as a spare.

What went right:
The equipment I used did suit my subject matter.  I found the lens to be very versatile and the camera produces some good results.
I thought I had taken some shots I could use in my blog, and later viewing them on the computer, I found I had.