Lighting up the images

Reddish, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Bushes, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Now that autumn is upon us here in Finland, I feel that I'm going to try to get the best of the light when it is available. Also, I'm intentionally aiming for as light-toned photos as possible, not avoiding overexposure the way I have been doing previously.

Today I took almost 400 photos in all, first at the Lake Myllyjärvi and then later at the Lake Lammaslampi. It is surprising how much there is to be found (in terms of new photos) even in familiar settings. As I wrote here earlier, perhaps the perfect photo is one meter away from you.

Update: I was thinking about my current way of using the LX3 - aperture priority, manual focusing - compared to the way I started to use it, first the fully automatic iA mode and then the P mode with automatic focusing. The biggest hurdle in learning to use the LX3 was that the iA mode was confusing for me - I tried to control it and the idea of the mode is that the camera is in total control. Also, I was used to the Canon Ixus 400, and the LX3 is very different in terms of menus and setup. And there are so many settings that it is confusing if you try to learn everything at once.

With manual focusing I can use the automatic focus when I want (by pressing the focus button). And with aperture priority I can control the depth of field - necessary as I'm taking a lot of landscape and macro photos. Also, even though the focus lag is usually small, it can be sometimes 1/2 - 1 second, and I want instant response which I get with the manual focusing mode.

And most of all - I want to learn photography, not to be on the mercy of automatics (however clever).