More framing

Framing slideshow #1

This is my attempt at thirds. I had to keep reminding myself NOT to center the subject.
As you can see The top one shows the image in the center third. It's an OK shot, but it is almost no fun at all trying to shot anything in this weather, so I'm actually shooting out the window from the other Gondula. You should have seen the look on the other passangers faces...priceless. I sure hope spring comes soon. The second mage is of the left third. I actually like the left third better. Which is a real eye opener since I always seem to center my photos.


Here we are again... Top one is OK, but the lighting is a little harsh, but I like the sysmetry.
The second one is nice because I think it shows a little more detail.

Composition & Aesthetics

It's kind of funny because I had always thought that the subject of a photo should be in the center. While I was researching composition and aesthetics I came across a great article explaining the simple technique of compositional rule of thirds, that according to Eng Loy Tan of http://www.elcreations.org/engloy/photoblog/?page many famous photographers use. This site had some beautiful images and examples demonstrating the technique. This article explains that the human eye naturally falls to these lines, so taking advantage of this a a shooting style makes a lot of sense. Some other great compositional and aesthetics tips were avoiding clutter in the back ground...to much stuff in your photograph takes away from the subject matter. Watch your angles; don't go crazy taking a photo at a weird angle just because you can. Instead pay attention to the image and look for the most flattering angle to suit your purpose. Basically, work to avoid disorientation, unless that's the look you;re going for. And don't be afraid to get down and dirty to get that great shot...sometimes those are the most interesting shots! Watch your lighting, shooting subjects using side lighting is much more flattering and can add an element of 3-D to the photo. IN addition, lighting can help guide the viewers eye around the photo to get the full effect, not to mention that lighting in general can add drama to the image.
The next article I read was wonderful and written in basic English (so even I could understand :) )Gloria Hopkins explains composition like this "In photography, composition refers to the structure, organization, and visual characteristics of the elements in your photograph" (Hopkins) http://photoinfo.com/General/GloriaHopkins/compositioninnaturephotographyandtheelementsofaphotograph.htm
She goes on to explain that when a photographer is talking about composition of a photo they are referring to things like lighting, balance,subject, texture and many more things. I think in general composition is a tough concept to explain to a new photographer...how do you help someone to understand that one of the most important techniques to amazing photography is "feeling" the image prior to ever snapping the trigger. I guess what I mean is beyond knowing, understanding, and utilizing all technical elements to the camera, things like shutter speed, flash and aperture, one must also include the element of "art" to a truly aesthetically moving/pleasing image. Yes, one can learn some techniques to assist with this such as those mentioned above....but I also think you must take just a moment (or more) to plan/feel the photo, then capture the image.

These are photos of a beautiful black Locuts in our yard. The way our house sets we only get early morning sun.
Because of that we see some amazing sunrises. I captured this shot at about 6 am late last fall. The second shot was midday and overcast.Well actually very snowy, so basically a typical Vermont winter day. I kind of like how these two shots show not only the diffrence in lighting, but also the diffrence in seasons. The last one was shot around 8ish PM. I love the way the full moon glows through the limbs of the tree. With the night shot my shutter had to be slower or open longer to allow the light of the moon to show fully (Buuuurrrr). However, I also wanted the keep the darkness because I think it adds a element to the image. One of the many things I learned from this assignment...a tripod is a very useful tool and lighting can make a striking diffrence!

Complementry: Orchid

I took this shot in the botanical gardens. I liked the softness of the orchid.
I think it demonstrates a complementary color scheme with the white being opposite of the purple/magenta.
If you look closely it seems like there is a critter sitting inside the flower.

Monochrome Bird

I really love this shot...I looked and looked to find a momochrome shot...it was a little harder than I thought it would be. I was on the way to the grocery store to try to find some peppers to shoot , instead I found him! I guess it pays to have your camera with you.

Lincoln 3 times a day

mosaic macro

Week 2 compare and contrast

So this week we need to pick two-three images to compare and contrast from our seven shots of one object. Well, as you can see, I picked this amazing ice sculpture of "Lovely Woman". In the top image I was trying to capture the "action" of creating the sculpture. In this image you can see the artist using a blow torch to smooth the texture of the ice. It was a hard shot. As you can see I had to shot wide frame to really see both the artist and the sculpture. Because of this I have people standing in the background of the image. It was very crowded and I made two mistakes. First it was so COLD I did not want to deal with changing lens, so I opted for a zoom. Because of all the people this proved to be an issue. My second mistake was...I should have tried a larger aperture to decrease my depth of field (DOF). If I had tried this, it might have put more focus on "Lovely Woman" and blurred out the people in the background. Instead I relied on my lens for my DOF...Live & learn:)
I liked the second image much better than the first because I feel the focus on the subject is better, with only minor distraction. However, again I should have used larger aperture. I also like how this angle shows more detail in her face. The first image was more of a head on shot, as you can see there is a great loss of detail due to light refraction.
The last image of "Lovely Woman" is much closer. I like this image best. While taking the picture I tried to think about the direction of the light and the profile of her face. As I stated above it was tough capturing a quality image because of the crowd. If I had used a wide angle lens there is a good chance I could have achieved a decrease in my DOF (I think). Overall, although I like the close up image better, I really would have loved to have gotten the entire sculpture in an image and not just parts.
I think that the perspective of my favorite photo changed the image because it captured only "Lovely Woman" and no additional distractions. When I was going through my images I realized that this was the only one I had without someone in either the back or foreground. This realization made me appreciate the simplicity of a solo portrait, like "Lovely Woman". When I get good enough maybe I can clone over the tree branches :)

The making of Lovely woman

Lovely woman 3/4 view

Lovely woman Ice sculpture

New to Blogging

Hi Everyone! I've never even been to a Blog, let alone have my own...other than having NO idea what I'm doing this is kind of exciting!