I've been trawling through old shots of our kids over the last week or so for a project I'm working on, and came across this one. I think I overlooked it at the time as the composition didn't work as-shot; i.e. at 3x2. This crop though, in my opinion at least, works quite well.

As for the lighting: I used my flash on an extension cord and bounced it off the floor.

captured camera lens aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped?

3.40pm on 26/11/06 Canon 20D EF 50mm f/1.4 USM f/2.8 1/50 manual n/a evaluative 100 580EX RAW C1 Pro no

This morning, I thought we might be back to square one. Libby had a pain in her chest and difficulty breathing: the same symptoms as last Saturday, the same ones that the hospital thought might be down to either pleurisy or a pulmonary embolism. So, we went back to the doctor's (our local GP) and came away with two more possible diagnoses:
Costochondritis or Tietze's Syndrome. Both are characterised by inflammation of the cartilage that connects the inner end of each rib with the breastbone or of the cartilage between the ribs, most probably caused by a virus. So, hopefully, she should gradually improve over the next five or six weeks (or thereabouts).

Anyway, after we'd been to the doctors and her chest pain had settled down we went up to our local park for lunch. I took my new Cyber-shot T9 with me (which I recently acquired for a project, that I'll explain in a week or so) and took a few shots of daisies, tree blossom, and so on, as we took an extremely gentle stroll. One of the really fun features of the camera is its 'magnifying glass' mode which enables you to close focus to around 1cm. And no, it's not a world shattering photograph, but it's good to finally have something to put up. Hopefully - touch wood - things will be back to normal fairly soon, but in the meanwhile I suspect that I'm not going to be able to manage daily updates, but I'll see what I can do.

On a related note: thanks for all your support this week - it really is appreciated. And Libby wanted to add the following:

Regular visitors know that I hardly ever comment here (anyone remember the last time?); but I asked Dave if I could just add a 'footnote' to his comments as I wanted to thank everyone for their kind wishes. Its wonderful to read them all, and see how far around the world they've travelled. Over 2,800 people have read the comments page, from numerous countries around the world - which is pretty amazing! Not many people get over 100 'get well' messages - but I'm sure they're working as I feel much better :-))

Thanks, Libby x

captured camera aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality cropped?

1.11pm on 11/5/06 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9 f/5.6 1/400 'magnifying glass' +0.0 pattern 80 6.3mm no JPEG/fine minor

Other than the fact that this was taken some time around the 15th of July with my G5 there isn't a great deal I can tell you about this shot as I no longer have the RAW file. As for why I'm putting it up: three reasons. First: this week's Photo Friday challenge is Family, and with four wonderful children and a beautiful wife you'd have thought that I'd have been able to come up with something. But, what with one thing and another, and despite shooting over a hundred shots earlier this evening, it just didn't happen. Second: I've recently been clearing out some old files and came across this one. I'd already deleted the RAW file (note to self: buy new hard drive!) so probably didn't intend to use it, but decided that I now quite like it. It's probably fairly obvious, but in case it isnt', this is a shot of the LCD screen for a video recorder (the one in this shot). Third: I've run out of stuff again. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with something tomorrow as I find it much more relaxing when I manage to get a few shots ahead of myself.

I haven't entered any Photo Friday challenges in the last few weeks as I haven't had time to participate, but I couldn't resist this one – Furry – suggested by Heather. We got a couple of kittens at the weekend. Well, I say "we", what I really mean is that our daughters got a couple of kittens, and while I have to confess to not being the world's greatest animal lover I do think these two are cute.

What's interesting about this shot, for me at least, is that I took around 30 photographs and the composition was 'off' on all of them. A lot of them though worked much better at a 4x3 crop (the same as my G5) rather than a 3x2 (my 20D). I suspect that I need to rethink my compositions as it seems that I'm probably falling back on old habits; i.e. attempting to use my 20D in the same way I used the G5.

And I do realise that there are limitless ways to interpret 'Furry' that don't involve pet cats, I just couldn't come up with any today ;-)

capture date camera lens aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality white balance cropped?

3.44pm on 28/9/04 Canon 20D EF 50mm f/1.8 II f1.8 1/125 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 yes RAW auto yes (4x3)

After the requests from yesterday (and because I don't have anything else to put up) here's an almost crap shot ;-) And all I really want to say about this one is that I'm glad to have an excuse to post something I think is sub-standard.

Anyway, and much more importantly, I now have a 20D :-))))))

I managed to track one down in Manchester this afternoon after a few phone calls. The shop I spoke to yesterday, who told me they were getting a delivery this morning and I was welcome to have one, had none delivered, but insisted that they would be getting them tomorrow (which was becoming quite a familiar tale). So I rang round till I found one that wasn't an exorbitant price. I ended up spending a bit more than I wanted to, but not much, so I'm generally extremely happy. At the moment I only have a 50mm f1.8 lens but intend to get a wide-angle zoom relatively soon. As I'm intending to find some real (as in paid) work with this camera I'm trying to decide between the Canon 17-40L f4 and the Sigma 20-40 f2.8. The Canon is probably better quality, with the 1.6 crop of the 20D it will provide an effective focal range of 27.2–64mm (as opposed to 32–64mm for the Sigma), and it has USM (a silent motor). The Sigma, on the other hand, has one stop extra light, and is two-thirds the price (or thereabouts). Any thoughts gratefully received.

On which note I'm going to go and play with my new camera :-)))

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

FujiFilm FinePix 40i 1.41pm on 20/9/04 f2.8 1/720 normal program +0.0 pattern 200 8.7mm no JPEG/fine auto no

The bad news is that there's no news on my G5 – whatsoever; I took loads of shots with my FujiFilm FinePix over the weekend – and they're all crap; and the company I ordered my 20D from did have a delivery – but instead of the 25 or so cameras they were expecting they only got three. So I'm not overly delighted. The good news, maybe, is that I found another company who have assured me that they're getting a consignment of 20D's tomorrow, and I can have one of them. Hmmm ... I'm not going to hold my breath though as I know that they're in short supply and all the shops I've spoken to have had deliveries of far fewer units than they expected. We'll see. Anyway, the upshot of the above is that I've been archive raiding again. I took this at the same time as this shot, but didn't post it at the time as I thought it was a little too similar to put up. I haven't put up the EXIF data as, rather foolishly, I deleted the RAW file a couple of days ago. Things are not quite going as planned at the moment ;-)

I did try to take a few shots with my FujiFilm FinePix today, but I haven't even looked at them as I strongly suspect they'll all be crap. So, instead, here's one from that I worked on a while ago but couldn't get 'right'. On my computer I have four main folders of images; 'new', which contains all the shots I've taken recently, 'mostly crap', which is where I move the new files too after realising that they're total rubbish (there are currently 1443 images in this folder waiting to be sorted and ultimately trashed), 'possibles', for shots that I think might work but can't get right (there are 34 images in this one), and another folder that contains all my originals, RAW files, and web graphics for chromasia. This one has sat in my 'possibles' folder since May, and the only reason I resurrected it today is that I didn't have anything to put up. I'm (most likely) going to skip posting this weekend, but I really didn't want to miss a weekday.

Oh, and if you normally view chromasia with either the 'light' or 'grey' theme, try this one with the 'dark' one.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 12.48pm on 20/5/04 f4.5 1/250 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 28.8mm no RAW auto no

Before last Friday, when I decided it was about time that I made some changes to how and what I shoot, I suspect that if I'd stumbled across this image I would have hated it. And I can't say that I'm totally convinced that it works now, but it's definitely different.

There are two things I particularly like about it though, one is referenced by the title, and the other is the grain/noise – which in this instance is the result of a fairly major crop to the original, a drastic increase in contrast, and then a doubling of image size prior to reducing it again for presentation here.

Anyway, as this is about as far away from my usual stuff as I've got in recent times I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

FujiFilm FinePix 40i 11.37am on 16/9/04 f2.8 1/340 normal program +0.0 pattern 200 8.7mm no JPEG/fine auto yes

I wish the guy from the previous shot hadn't got off at an earlier station, as I suspect his presence would have made this shot a little more interesting. Nonetheless, despite the absence of a face, haunting or otherwise, I still quite like this one.

Incidentally: if anyone's interested I put up the original of yesterday's shot here:

.../archives/between_destinations.php

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

FujiFilm FinePix 40i 5.53pm on 14/9/04 f9.8 1/90 normal program +0.0 pattern 200 8.7mm no JPEG/fine auto no

It seems as though the fates are currently frowning on chromasia as now, in addition to a broken camera, I also have a dead router and am having to connect to the internet via a modem – which is a bit of a pain, to say the least. I've ordered another one, but it will take a few days to turn up :-/

Anyway, enough complaining ...

I had an email today, prior to taking this shot, from Rachel James, and she kindly agreed that I could use it to preface this image:

I've followed your website since it's incarnation and you are a good photographer. To see you say: "I strongly suspect that I'm not going to be able to come up with anything too good with it ..." troubles me.

I should think that no matter the tool - lo-fi analog or high-end digital SLR - that a photographer should be able to produce "good" photographs.

Maybe you'll have to work a little harder, tap deeper into your creativity, step out of your comfort zone. Maybe instead of ten fantastic, mind-blowing, super-saturated shots, you'll have only two.

Our cameras are tools, nothing more. And I know you know that.

Warm Regards,
:) Rachel

And I was going to reply that I agreed that lo-fi analog cameras were just as valuable an artistic tool as hi-fi digital ones, but that lo-fi digital cameras were another matter entirely; i.e. that the inherent noise and other digital artefacts and distortions rendered them less than ideal tools for constructing worthwhile images. And then I got home and looked at this shot, and I'm forced to change my mind. I'm not sure quite how good the original 2400x1800 image would print, but as far as web-based images go I don't think this is in any way noticeably inferior to the stuff I've been producing with my G5. That said, this image (and yesterday's) were both post-processed with Noise Ninja, and it's made a hell of a difference to the image quality. In the past I've complained about the noisiness of the G5's sensor, but it's nowhere near as bad as the one in the FujiFilm. Even images exposed under perfect lighting are incredibly noisy, so being able to 'fix' an image in this way makes a huge difference.

In this sense then I do think that lo-fi digital cameras are problematic, but clearly these problems can be overcome.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

FujiFilm FinePix 40i 3.05pm on 14/9/04 f2.8 1/350 normal program +0.0 pattern 200 8.7mm no JPEG/fine auto no

On Friday, when I said it was about time for a change, I didn't mean that the fates should conspire against me such that I'd drop and wreck my camera; oh well, I guess I should be more careful about what I wish for ;-)

Anyway, I was going to take a more protracted break, but not posting for the last two days has been entirely weird so I thought I'd revert to using my old FujiFilm FinePix 40i in the interim. For those of you not familiar with that model, it's a fixed focal length, 2.4MP (interpolated to 4.3MP), point-and-shoot. I strongly suspect that I'm not going to be able to come up with anything too good with it, but I thought I'd try and work with it for a while until I either get a new camera or my G5 comes back from being repaired. I don't imagine that I'll be posting every day for the next week or so, nor that the stuff I do put up will be all that great, but you never know – I'll see what I can do.

Oh, and thanks for all the kind words on Friday's photograph, they were much appreciated.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

FujiFilm FinePix 40i 3.05pm on 13/9/04 f2.8 1/160 normal program +0.0 pattern 200 8.7mm no JPEG/fine auto yes

I was chatting with Neil Baylis today (of the marvellous pixpopuli.com), and he asked me if I thought that maybe I'd been working within a "comfort zone" over the last week or two; i.e. not pushing myself to take new stuff or challenging myself to develop my photography. And I have to admit that I said yes. So, on that note, I'm taking the weekend off to think about where I and chromasia should go next – what sort of shots to take, how often to post, and so on. All being well I'll be back on Monday with something a little different :-)

As for this shot: it's another of my 'Blackpool in the Water' shots, that at some point I'll work up into a proper series.

Update (12/9/04): Hmmm. Yesterday, while taking our youngest for a walk, I dropped my camera. It only fell a couple of feet, and at first glance it looked ok – I have a quick release plate on the bottom of the camera which it landed on, which was only slightly scratched – but then it bleeped, and turned itself off. It landed on concrete and the shock of the fall wrecked the internal lens mechanism. Which would be ok if the G5 were an SLR, I'd simply replace the lens; but it isn't, so it's gone off for repair ... and probably won't be back for a month. So, as far as chromasia goes, I could shut up shop for a month, revert to using my old FujiFilm FinePix 40i (which seems like a bit of a retrograde step), or buy a new camera. I am thinking about getting one of the new 20D's when they come out, but they won't be available in the UK until the end of this month. Anyway, the short version of the above is that there probably won't be anything to put up on Monday until I decide what to do next.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 6.09pm on 8/9/04 f4.0 1/800 program AE +0.0 evaluative 50 28.8mm no RAW auto minor

First off: my apologies for not replying to any emails either today or yesterday. We're currently having our ADSL connection upgraded and, for the time being at least, it isn't working at all. As for our dialup connection: that's been really intermittent today too. Hopefully things should be back to normal tomorrow and I'll reply to everybody then.

As for this shot:

One benefit of living on the west coast (of England), that I didn't anticipate when we moved here six weeks ago, is we get the most wonderful evening light as the sun sinks to the horizon before night finally falls. We previously lived in a quite hilly area of Yorkshire, and never got direct sunshine this late in the day, so it's quite a revelation to see light quite this wonderfully warm.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 7.06pm on 9/9/04 f4.0 1/500 program AE +0.0 evaluative 50 7.2mm no RAW auto no

Some weeks finding time to take shots that are worth putting up here seems effortless – I wander around with my camera, taking the odd photograph, and as if by magic I end up with several decent shots. At other times it seems much more difficult to find the time – other things get in the way, the kids don't sleep well, there are too many other things to do. All of which is by way of saying that as with yesterday's shot things are a bit hurried at the moment and I'm struggling (a bit) to meet my image-a-day aim. Which, don't get me wrong, isn't a complaint – I chose to put up an image a day for very good reasons – but I am aware that I'm not giving chromasia quite so much attention as I would like.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 6.00pm on 7/9/04 f2.8 1/250 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 10.2mm no RAW auto perspective corrected

I took several versions of this shot yesterday, but the composition didn't work out. So I went back again this evening and think I got I right, or at least 'more' right. But I don't know what 'American Nails' are. Perhaps I'll ask next time I'm passing. Oh, and nothing was done to this shot other than a Curves adjustment.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 5.52pm on 7/9/04 f2.8 1/800 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 15.8mm no RAW auto no

I suspect that there are only so many shots you can take of/in puddles on the beach, but I quite like this one.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 4.28pm on 2/9/04 f4.0 1/640 program AE +0.0 evaluative 50 12.7mm no RAW auto minor

I was going to put up another reflection shot today, taken on the beach last week, but I thought I'd go for this one instead. I'm not convinced it's a particularly great photograph, but recently I've been drawn to documenting some of Blackpool's architecture, particularly the contrast between the faded and crumbling Victorian buildings and the more modern, pubs, clubs, car-parks and so on.

And I have to confess that I cheated a bit with this shot and added some blur to the background. The G5 has a totally massive DoF at anything other than the largest apertures, and it really didn't suit this shot to have the background in focus too.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 6.34pm on 5/9/04 f5.6 1/1000 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 25.1mm no RAW auto perspective corrected

We went out earlier this evening to look at the Illuminations, and while I didn't really get any decent shots of the lights, I did get this one. And if anyone can tell me exactly what it is, I'll eat my camera ;-) Oh, and my wife, who would probably be quite pleased if I ate it, isn't allowed to join in ;-)

Suggested skin: dark

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 6.08pm on 4/9/04 f3.2 0.5 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 8.0mm no RAW auto no

As yesterday's shot was (IMO) rather crap, I thought I'd put this one up a bit early.

Update: Following the initial comments on this shot I've now posted an amended version that removes some distracting red lettering from the bottom-right of the image.

Update #2: Following the subsequent comments I've reposted the first version. The one without the letters can be seen here.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 5.37pm on 2/9/04 f4.0 1/125 program AE +0.0 evaluative 50 11.2.2mm no RAW auto minor

This week's Photo Friday challenge – Modern – has caused me a number of problems, not least because I'm not quite sure what the word means to me. Clearly, in some senses, it means up-to-date, but it seems to be an almost dated, anachronistic term. For example, I have a book that belonged to my father called the Boy's Book of Modern Marvels (with a frontispiece that speculates about firing a rocket at the moon). And then there are post-modern ideas that suggest that modernity, and all things modern, are behind us.

All of which is largely irrelevant, but it's what I was thinking about as I wandered around this afternoon trying to find something modern. And then I ran out of time and decided to go with the somewhat banal idea that modern, in this context, equates with contemporary existence – consumerism, pace of life, and so on.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 5.41pm on 2/9/04 f4.0 1/100 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 12.7mm no RAW auto minor

I had hoped to find some time today to go out and take some shots as this one is the last one I have, and I'm not all that keen on it. The colours are ok, and the composition isn't too bad, but it doesn't really seem to work all that well. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to come up with something a little better tomorrow.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 5.55pm on 30/8/04 f6.3 1/640 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 17.6mm no RAW auto minor

Yesterday was yet another family birthday – this time for our nine year old daughter – and this shot was taken as we took a spin on the big wheel on Blackpool's Central pier (which can be seen in this shot).

And I do know it's not a particularly great shot, but it was the best I could manage to commemorate the day. I should add that I did take quite a few as we went round on the wheel, but I was somewhat distracted by a) my daughter's enjoyment, b) the height, c) the rustiness of the various bolts that held it all together, and c) the view, which was splendid. And all of those shots were terrible ;-)

Update: Having looked at this one again I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as I first thought ;-)

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 5.49pm on 30/8/04 f6.3 1/125 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 7.2mm no RAW auto no

Yesterday's shot was about neglect and abandonment, this one, I hope, tells the opposite story.

Oh, and I did try to come up with a title that tied this shot to yesterday's, but really couldn't think of anything. So, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 4.58pm on 28/8/04 f6.3 1/30 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 7.2mm no RAW auto no

This is one of two bicycles that I photographed yesterday. And while I think I prefer this one, I suspect that most of you will like tomorrow's shot better. And I would write more, but we have family staying this weekend and it's just about time to break open the beers :-)

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 4.28pm on 28/8/04 f5.6 1/200 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 9.1mm no RAW auto minor

Today was our next to youngest daughter's third birthday, and I decided that I wanted to put something up that was shot on the day. I did take quite a number of birthday related images – a birthday badge, the candles on the cake, the many and varied plastic toys – but I didn't like any of them as much as this one.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 5.22pm on 28/8/04 f3.5 1/1000 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 10.2mm no RAW auto yes

When I took this shot I didn't expect that I would post it, on the expectation that a picture of a shell, despite the composition, probably wouldn't be all that interesting. But having looked at it I like the detail the close-focus has revealed. Besides which, I don't have anything else to put up ;-)

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 3.07pm on 23/8/04 f6.3 1/320 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 28.8mm no RAW auto minor

This is more of a 'fun' shot than the previous two, but I do quite like it. It was taken about 20 minutes prior to my previous two entries and is of our youngest daughter sleeping on the beach. She'd fallen asleep in the car and slept quite happily for another twenty minutes or so before waking up and posing for this shot, my entry for the day before yesterday.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 2.33pm on 23/8/04 f2.0 1/1250 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 7.2mm yes RAW auto no

As yesterday's shot captured the effervescence and light-heartedness of our youngest daughter, so today's captures something of the seriousness and introspective nature of our almost three year old. And, though I'm hard pushed to make a decision, I think I prefer this shot to yesterday's … just don't ask me to explain why.

Anyway, I'm far too close to both of them to be objective about these shots, so I'd be interested to hear i) what you think of this one, and ii) how you think they compare.

Oh, and I've made a slight change to the colour/tone of yesterday's shot to match this one, as both, for some reason, ended up looking slightly redder than I intended. I have a fixed workflow for colour management, i.e. using PS to Save for Web with an embedded colour profile, and most of the time this seems to work fine. But occasionaly an image ends up looking slightly different from how I intend so I end up having to over-compensate in PS. I'm sure there's some technical reason for this (that I've just failed to grasp) so if you have any thoughts on the matter please let me know.

And finally; try viewing this image with the 'dark' theme rather than the default white background, it's a lot more striking.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 2.57pm on 23/8/04 f6.3 1/640 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 14.4mm yes RAW auto no

After my complaints of yesterday – that I hadn't been able to take any decent shots over the last few days – we took the kids to the beach, and I got four shots that I'm happy with.

As for this one, it's the first of two portraits: this one is of our youngest (18 months old), and tomorrow's is of our almost three year old, and both were processed in the same way. First: use a Channel Mixer adjustment to extract the Red Channel, reducing the image to black and white (which is particularly effective for portraits as it lifts skin tones quite dramatically). Second, using a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, ABOVE the Channel Mixer layer, colourise the image. What you can then do (though I didn't bother in this instance) is play around with the opacity of the Channel Mixer layer to adjust the tonal range/balance of the final image.

I'm pleased with this one, and as always, I'd be interested to hear what you think.

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 2.55pm on 23/8/04 f6.3 1/800 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 7.2mm yes RAW auto no

The more I've looked at this shot, the less I've liked it – there's something about the lighting that's not quite right. But I guess that's the difficulty with the image-a-day thing; sometimes it's just not possible to take enough shots that you're entirely happy with. Which begs an interesting, but probably unanswerable question: why is it that sometimes you can go out and effortlessly shoot images that you're happy with, while at others, despite your best efforts, it seems much more difficult to come up with anything even half decent?

camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length image quality white balance cropped?

Canon G5 4.41pm on 22/8/04 f4.5 1/400 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 50 7.2mm RAW auto no