A Photography Lesson

Foolishly, I like to think I'm some good with a camera, but then I go out with my grand-daughter - seen here with her mother - and watch her approach to photography and I'm ashamed of myself.

Yesterday evening we went for a walk along the rocky shore at the western end of Ormsaigbeg, in bright, late afternoon sunshine, and I didn't really watch what she was doing, being immersed in my own efforts, so it wasn't until we were home and looking at her pictures on the computer....

....that I saw what she had managed to achieve. This was taken in the briny puddle in the top picture, where she had almost immersed her camera in the water in her efforts to capture a toad. The photo was made more difficult by the light breeze that was ruffling the water surface and by the reflections of the sky.

The puddle was full of small tadpoles, perhaps the toad's, but somehow she managed to focus on the only pond skater, ringed by the tiny wavelets created by its movement.

It's not only that she's so technically adept, it's also the way she can 'see' a picture, so many of her snaps are experiments, pictures taken on spec, yet many are very effective. Here she has captured a wave as it washes into a small gully, but it's the solidity of the rocks that are the focus.

I like this picture too, where all she has tried to record is the rippled contours of the water's surface. In my conservatism, I would never have made this shot.

This, again, isn't something I would have bothered with, but I do like the contrast of the white crust on the rocks with the still water in which sky and clouds are reflected.

The sea slater is about 10mm long, so this is a very close-up shot, but she has managed it with some success.

I am humbled. I have a great deal to learn - from a child.