Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Perspective

Down the street are Civil War battlefields.  I went a little snap happy with the cannons.  It is a good practice to take photos from different angles. 



 So go out and find something interesting and take multiple pictures at different angles.  You may like what you find!  Have fun..........
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Friday, October 14, 2011

New Book & Photo Assignment

I found this book at my local library.  It gives step-by-step instructions, pictograms, and before-and-after comparisons that provide a complete course in capturing a landscape's natural beauty. Renowned photographer Tim Fitzharris reveals foolproof techniques he has used through decades of fieldwork in a wide variety of settingsTim gives great tips on how to capture spectacular vistas. While on our trip to Colorado I tried to use some of the tips to make my landscape photos better. Tim says that the lighting is one of the most important things in capturing the great landscape picture; I had to shoot in full sunlight. Sorry, when you travel you have to shoot whenever you are at a particular spot.



Tips:


  • Allow ¼ - 1/3 of frame for the sky.
  • Include overlapping terrain features
  • Include as many planes as possible to create a greater depth of field.
  • Shoot from different angles
This book contains so much information to pass on to you, so go to your local library and check it out. It’s a great read and learning tool.

 
This week assignment from Better Photo:
Capture a Scenic Landscape

  • Compose your scene, pay attention to graphic elements such as line, shapes and forms.
  •  Look for interesting shadows or reflections.
  • Try to make all elements lead in a nice way through the picture
I took these picture out in Colorado.

 My layers/fields in this picture are the sky, the snowy mountains, rocky hills and tundra field. 
By the way this is Red Rocks National Park, CO.

Can lanscapes be vertical?  Sure....  Here my layers are the sky, the tree, the rock and grassy area.  I focused on the two sides of the rock and let the grassy area pull your eye up to the tree at the top.


Rocky Mountain National Park

Here we have the sky, cloulds, trees, grass, water and reflection.  Can you see how each picture has different layers and elements to make it pleasing to the eye?  I really enjoyed taking these pictures.  While they are not the best lighting, I learned a lot about composition.
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Monday, October 3, 2011

Photo Assignment

This week's assignment is
MAKE GREAT BLACK &WHITE PHOTOS

I was going to delete this picture until I notice how the land drew your eye left and the clouds drew you eye right.  Since it was a cloudy day the land and water seemed to blend together.  So I changed it to B&W and I liked it much better.

Black and white photography is classic.  It helps you to focus on important elements in your picture.  Below, I took a picture of this gate with the lions head.  In color it seemed busy with all the stuff behing the gate.  By turning it black and white it helped to focus in on the lion.

Black & White tips:
  •   Shoot in color and convert your picture to B&W use photo software.  I use PICASA.
  • Look for lines, patterens,shapes, and forms as you frame your pictures.
  • Remember to "save as" a copy so you still have your color print.
  • I liked the curve of this buildings doorway.

Soooo many shapes in this one!

Happy shooting.............
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