The Abi-g PhotoHunt Challenge

more on composition

2008-10-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

Composition can be defined as "the artistic arrangement of the parts of the picture". Simply put, its the way you make your photo. Composition, like creativity, is in the eye of the beholder, and there can be great differences of opinion in what is considered "good composition" But there are a few tips that give your creative process a starting point. (by no means an exhaustive list, just some things to get started with)

Tip # 1 - Keep it simple.

Eliminate the distractions in your photos. It's important to train your eye to be aware of what is going on in the background behind your subject. You can remove the distracting elements by either moving your subject, removing the elements or moving yourself. You can also take close ups, or decrease your depth of field so that your background is blurry.

Case in point, the photo below is badly composed. The wall in the back is distracting, the placement is poor and there is a tree growing out of Ali's feet.

In order to fix it I needed to get closer, have Ali swing her feet the other side, to give a better scale to the photo. It's not perfect, but its better.

Tip # 2 Apply the rule of thirds.

I am not an expert at this, in fact many of my photographs fall short of the rule. I love the results when I do get it right.
My friend Rebecca Mudrick is also my idol for children's photography. She posted a nice tutorial on the rule of thirds on her blog some time ago. You can view it here

Here is an example from a photograph I took. I still don't know how to do the grid lines so I painting them in lol.

This photo puts Francesca's eyes close to the upper third of the photograph. Apparently this is where our eyes are naturally drawn too. I did hear an interview with a magazine editor once and she said the same thing, the photographs of the models on the front cover will always have their eyes placed in the upper third of the page. It's more appealing to the buyer. The rule of thirds is not so much a "rule" but a guide.

Tip #3. Keep an eye on the horizon.

The same rule works with horizon landscape pics. The horizon should be either in the lower third or the upper third. It's unappealing to the eye to shoot a horizon smack bang in the middle of the photo. like this...

as opposed to this, lower third, then upper third. These 3 photographs were all taken within seconds of each other but each has a different feel (the eye of the beholder determines the best composition, I prefer the lower third for these ones)

Tip #4 Frame your subject.
You can use elements in the foreground to frame the center of your photo. Architectural elements like fences, arches or doorways work well, as well as those found in nature.

Tip # 5 - Fill the frame

In addition to eliminating distracting backgrounds (tip #1) it's also important to eliminate waster space in your photos. Allow your subject to dominate the photo (fill the frame) to give it more prominence. Keep in mind that cropping photos in an editing program is a simple fix.

Tip#6 -Try a new perspective

Make sure to examine your subject from different angles - a new view can change the perspective of the whole photo.

For example, take a horizontal and vertical photograph of the same subject

step back and look for lines that lead you into your subject

hit the ground, get low, take photographs of children from the ground, on their level.

Shoot Up, shoot under, the side, face on - shoot from many different angles.

Try it these tips out and load them to your blog. I might try them too. I think I need to get back to paying more attention to my compositions.

These tips are from 2peasinabucket. 12 weeks to better photographs by Mark and Joanna Bolick. The photos used as examples are mine

Composition.

2008-10-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

I found this, which I think is better than anything I had written. check out the link for the number one rule of composition.

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/rule-of-thirds/

so when you think you understand the rule of thirds, pick a stationary object and capture one shot for each of the 4 intersecting quadrants or lines.

I dont know how to make lines on a photograph using photoshop, Im a little photoshop stupid, so image the lines.

The yellow building is the focal point, each of these photos were taken so that the building is on the grid line on the right hand side (if you are looking at a photo) and I placed the building in three points on the line, where the horizontal lines cross the one vertical.

This first photo is the building centered. which in photograph terms usually = no no.

Apparently the lower and upper intersections are meant to be more natural to the eye than placing an object in the centre plane.

reflected lighting.

2008-10-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

I just thought of a good example of reflected or bounced lighting.
This shot here is a perfect example of it. The sun bounces OFF the slide onto Mac's face and hand.

You will also see it happening whenever there is sun hitting the water. Photographers create this light by using reflecters to bounce light off unto a persons face.

How to control shutter speed, and aperture on a point and shoot.

2008-10-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

I found this article which I think is a good basic for even the basic of point and shoot.
The most of what I know about photography I have learnt from reading & looking at a million websites. I hope you find the time to check out spots you might like. I will pass on stuff that looks useful if I find it.

The first of these options is probably ideal if you want real control over the settings your camera uses for aperture and shutter speed. While you can do a few things to ‘trick’ your camera (see below) you’ll be limited in the exactness in the settings it will choose.
If you’re looking to upgrade you’ve got two main choices - a DSLR or another point and shoot with more manual control (read this tutorial on making the choice between DSLR and Point and Shoot cameras).
Probably the best bet if you’re after complete control (in more than just aperture and shutter speed) is to go for a DSLR which will let you add a variety of lenses, shoot in full manual mode (in most cases) and have lots of control over other elements such as ISO, white balance, exposure etc.
Alternatively look at a more advanced point and shoot. These days even some of the more basic point and shoot cameras coming onto the market come with manual or semi-manual control. If you go for a point and shoot look for something that at least has aperture priority or shutter priority modes.
Of course this option is going to cost you financially. If you don’t have the budget for this - read on.
2. Learn to live with your point and shoot and learn how to ‘trick it’ into doing what you want.
Ultimately you’ve got a digital camera that was designed largely to be used in Auto mode where it makes the decisions about what settings to choose.
Having said this - even the most basic entry level point and shoot digital cameras these days come with a variety of shooting modes which give you the photographer the ability to tell the camera what situation you’re shooting in and what type of photo you’re hoping to take.
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The most common shooting modes include ’sports’, ‘portrait’, ‘landscape’, ‘macro’, ‘movie’ (for more on shooting modes see this previous post).
Understanding and using these modes gives you a little more control over settings like Aperture and Shutter Speed as each of them will trigger different settings in your camera.
You write in your question that you’d like more control over Aperture and Depth of Field. I’d encourage you to shoot in two modes - ‘Portrait’ and ‘Landscape’.
If you’re looking for Shallow Depth of Field (ie your foreground and background blurry) shoot in Portrait mode as this will trigger your camera to choose a wider aperture.
If you’re looking for a wider depth of field (ie everything in focus) shoot in Landscape mode where the camera selects small apertures in this mode.
If you’re looking for a fast shutter speed choose ‘Sports’ mode as in this mode it’s assuming you want to freeze fast moving subjects.
If you’re looking for a slow shutter speed you’ll have more of a challenge as most cameras don’t have a an automatic mode that naturally chooses this. You could try shooting in Night mode (if your camera has it) but this mode will also fire off a flash. Try covering your flash up and you might get the result you’re after.
Of course none of these modes allow you to get specific about the settings your camera chooses but they do give you a bit more control than you might think you have.If you’re still thirsting for more control, start saving for your next digital camera!

The colour of light.

2008-10-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

When you understand the basics of how to make a good exposure by adjusting either of the 3 elements of the shooting triangle you then need to look at light.

As I've mentioned before when you pick up your camera you must always think LIGHT. Even if shooting on auto. Take notice of the type of light, the direction and the available light. I have taken this from an old post of mine, you may recognize it. It's still good for understanding light and the importance it makes in a photograph.

The best time for shooting is during Magic Hour. Magic hour is always an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. This is when the light is always at it's best. The worst time for shooting, as you might be aware, is noon. Try to avoid ever shooting at this time, or ensure that you put your subject into open shade.

There are three basic types of lighting
hard or direct - a bare light or un-shaded sun will produce hard or direct lighting. This type of light will make hard-edges and dark shadows. The rays of light are parallel as they come from the source and thus they will hit the subject from one direction.
Diffused - most often created by a semi opaque or translucent white material between the light source and the subject. You will see this occur naturally with fog or a cloudy yet bright sky. You will see this happen also with globe style street or porch lights or other lights in which the light source is enclosed behind a semi opaque material - this doesn't always have to be white. Diffuse light is a broad and soft light - very even -shadow edges are indistinct as the subject seems to be surrounded by light. With diffused light the rays of light are scattered, striking the subject from many directions.
Reflected or bounced-this light is created when direct light is interrupted and bounced or reflected back at the subject. The light is from a distinct direction and creates shadows but the shadow edges are softer than from direct light. Generally this light is bounced or reflected back toward s the direction of the light source and therefore provides some enveloping or filling of the shadows. This will happen to varying degrees depending on the type of surface and angle from which the reflection is coming. Bounced light or reflected light will be strongest coming from cement, wood floors or other smooth reflective surfaces. Artificial lights with reflectors will give these results as well.

Three Basic Directions for Lighting.
Front lighting - light source is behind the camera shining toward the subject. The front of the subject will be evenly lit with a minimum of shadows visible. Surface details are clearly readable, but texture & volume are less pronounced than when light is at an angle making shadows more prominent. On board camera flash, using an artificial light, shooting early in the morning or late in the day with the sun at your back will produce this type of light as well.
Side lighting - light source is from the side of the subject & camera (this can include overhead or under as well) Shadows are prominent - cast at the side of subject - emphasising texture and volume. Early morning & late afternoon sun is perfect from side(and back) lighting because of the low position of the sun in the sky.
Back lighting - light comes from behind the subject toward the camera. Shadows are cast toward the camera & are very prominent, being in full view and leading the eye of the viewer to the subject. The subject is usually in shadow and silhouetted. People in front of windows and trees on the edge of forests or with the sun directly behind often result in this type of light.

Assignment - shoot one shot each of the following lighting types (I have included examples from my course assignment - they aren't centered in the frames at all, I just did an "as is" thing to show examples of the types/directions of lighting)

1) Hard

2) Diffused 3) Reflected or bounced (I used a piece of foil to reflect the light back on the flowers)4) Front 5) Side 6) Back HAVE FUN PLAYING WITH LIGHT! Load your pix onto your blog so I can see them. Feel free to ask any questions.

The basics.

2008-10-08T00:56:00.001-07:00

The shooting triangle.

The best way to think of photography is to look at its root. It means literally, writing with light. So when ever you pick up your camera to take a photo -think of light.

Photography is -- capturing the light of the moment on film (or recording it onto a digital camera’s sensor). Virtually everything involved with a camera revolves around manipulating the available light to produce a photograph, and there are three main terms that interconnect with this manipulation: ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed.

ISO, APERTURE, AND SHUTTER SPEED
When you pick up your camera to take a photo, the first thing you need to consider is how much available light you have and the speed of your ISO setting. ISO stands for International Organization of Standards, but you really don’t need to remember that. What you do need to know is that ISO is the setting on your camera that tells your camera how quickly your digital image sensor will capture the light that it’s exposed to.

The lower your ISO setting (100 speed, for example), the slower the exposure of light onto the image sensor will be. The faster the ISO (1000 speed, for example) the faster the exposure of light onto the sensor. In other words, for lower ISO settings, you will need more light to correctly expose each image.

Because a low ISO uses more light, the resulting image of a stationary object will be very sharp and clear. The higher the ISO setting, the less available light you will need, but keep in mind that the resulting image will be have more grain (or in the case of digital cameras, more digital noise).

The benefit of digital SLR cameras, as well as some point and shoot, is that you can adjust your ISO setting for each shot you take. As a general rule, for bright outdoor shots use the lowest ISO setting you have. I have 100 on mine, but many point and shoots only go down too 200 or 400 speed. When you move to a setting with less light, such as when you go indoors, you can quickly increase your ISO to 800, 1000, or higher to keep on taking photos. But remember, the higher the ISO the more "noise". The photo of Mac below is what I mean by noisy, if you look at the shaded part of his face he will see a lot of grain, or noise when talking about a digital photo. Its the downfall of high ISO but without a high ISO there wouldnt be enough light to take the photo.

Once you’ve gotten the idea behind ISO, then we need to move on to Aperture.

Sounds technical doesn’t it? It’s really not that scary. Once you understand these terms you’ll wonder why you didn’t learn them sooner. You can do a lot of creative shooting once you understand the basics.
Aperture refers to the opening that allows light to enter your lens. F-stops control the amount of light that enters the lens. It’s really that simple!

The tricky part is understanding the concept of a small aperture and a large aperture. It’s a little backwards. The smaller your f-stop, the larger your lens opens up. So, the larger your f-stop, the smaller your lens will open. Still with me? You’ll want to know this in order to control your depth of field, which controls the amount of blur you see in your photos. A small aperture makes everything in focus. A large aperture makes only the subject you’re focused on in focus.
Just remember:
Small f-stop =large opening= only the subject you’re focused on in focus Large f-stop = small opening = everything in focus

To recap: The aperture is

the opening in your lens right in front of where it connects to your camera that either opens to allow light to pour through the lens or closes to constrict the flow of light.

The aperture acts like the iris of your eye in that it can control the volume of light provided to give you an accurate image. Most point and shoot cameras have a fixed aperture (meaning you can’t change it), but virtually all bridge and digital SLR cameras have adjustable apertures.

Apertures are referred to by their f/stop (a technical number obtained by taking the focal length of the lens and dividing it by the aperture of the lens). For example, you’ll see numbers like f/1.8 or f/5.6 used to describe a lens. In addition to indicating the aperture, f/stops represent the lens speed and indicate how quickly light will enter the lens and focus onto the film or digital sensor.

Here’s the important part -- the lower the f/ number the faster the lens will capture light onto the film or sensor. For example, if a lens is listed with an f/stop of f/2.8, then that is as wide as the aperture on the lens will open, as well as being the lowest f/stop allowed by that lens. At the lens’s lowest f/stop, nothing will stop the light from entering the lens and being captured by the camera. Light will flow through the lens like water that’s been unleashed from a dam. This is very nice in low light situations since low f/stops allow you to take pictures that you normally wouldn’t think possible, but there is a drawback.

Because nothing is slowing the light from entering the camera, your lens will only focus on a small portion of the image and leave a large portion of the image blurred. This can be very nice or very frustrating. With larger f/stops like f/22, the aperture on the lens closes down to the size of a pinhole and the light very slowly enters the camera. Because the light flow is restricted, the film or image sensor has much more time to capture that light and you will get images where almost everything in the image is in focus. By the way, if you’ve heard the term “depth of field,” this is what it is referring to – the portion of your image that is in focus.

A large depth of field would have more in focus and would use a larger f/stop. A shallow depth of field would have less in focus and use a smaller f/stop.

Here are 3 examples of the difference the f/stop or aperture opening makes to the back ground.
In the first photo, with this lens the lowest number (therefore the biggest opening) I can go to is f/5.6 you can see how blurry the background is.
Then my changing the number to a higher f/stop therefore the hole is getting smaller. I get more of the background noticeable. Its becoming more infocus.

now at an f/stop of 36, much more of the background is noticeable. (although because I was not focusing right, nothing is really in focus) but you can see the differences in the backgrounds, right?

After you’ve set your ISO and considered your lens aperture, it’s time to move on to Shutter Speed. Now you’re probably beginning to figure out that if your lens aperture is at f/22 and light is slowly trickling into your camera, then anything moving would be a blur. The same could be said for instances when you have your ISO set at 100 and you’re trying to capture someone in motion. This is where your shutter speed comes into play with your f/stop and ISO settings. Your shutter speed is how quickly the shutter, or the little door that opens in front of your film or image sensor, operates. It can range from several minutes to 1/1600 of a second or more. When you set your shutter speed on your camera, you’ll see numbers like 60, 120, 250 and so on. These actually represent 1/60th of a second, 1/120th of a second and so on. Generally speaking, if you are holding your camera and it is not mounted on a tripod, you should keep your shutter speed at 1/60th of a second or faster. To capture quickly moving objects your shutter speed should be around 1/1600th or faster.
When you combine the ISO setting, the aperture (or f/stop) setting and the correct shutter speed, you are putting together the pieces of the camera puzzle that create your exposure.

Actually, after I wrote all this out (mainly from the photography tips on twopeasinabucket.com) I saw these great articles on everything, in fact they have learning video links too. Check them out.

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography/

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/iso-settings/

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/shutter-speed/

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/aperture/

PhotoHunt 105: Twisted

2008-04-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

Who would have thought a piece of twisted wire could be so cool looking

PhotoHunt 104 - Glass

2008-04-08T02:50:00.001-07:00

PhotoHunt

This is actually a piece of ice I found while in the mountains one day with my family. It captures the qualities of glass, to me.

PhotoHunt: High

2008-04-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

My little boy loves to fly his kite, this time it got pretty "high".