Assignment: Shadows

Shadows is a great thing to start seeing. There are all types of shadows. Some are harsh and some are really soft. So anything goes as long as we can see some shadows. Here are a few creative ideas of shadows. http://www.digitalpicturezone.com/digital-pictures/30-shadow-photographs/

Things to think about.

1. If you want the whole picture to be in focus (mostly for scenic photos), shoot in "A" mode and shoot more towards f/10-f/22. Also, try not to shoot at longer focal lengths if you don't want the blur. Don't zoom in on stuff if you can help it.

2. You will need to make sure your meetering is not on "Spot" metering if you want a well balanced scenic photo. Spot metering meters only the spot where you are focusing on. Look up metering in your camera's manual. If you are taking a scenic picture, you will most likely want a metering that meters the entire picture...not just one spot of it. You probably want center weight metering.

Here is an article on metering if you are interested on learning more about it. http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-metering.htm


How about we post our photos here from now on: http://camfamphotos.blogspot.com/

Debbie - Rule of Thirds

I am glad for this assignment because I am not very good at cropping (which is why none of the pictures I have posted so far were cropped at all!).  I'm not sure I did very well with these so let me know what I need to do different.  The one of Kayla was hard for me.  Is that one of those that will be a little more in the center?  It looked funny otherwise...but maybe that is just because the picture was too close to begin with so I didn't have much room to play around with.  I need to stop trying to get so close in the original picture.

The original picture is on top with the cropped picture below it.

Rule of Thirds

Rule of Thirds

Universities offer whole courses on composition. I am not really going to go into any of it except here is a little article that is useful: http://ruleofthirdsphotography.com/

Mostly though, I just want you to see the elephant and the graph. I don't think the picture of the elephant would be near so nice if the photographer would have put the eye in the center. So we are going to practice composing a photo in different ways.

I have been noticing the tendency to put the eyes in the center of the picture. Let's just try and get the eyes up into the top third of the photo. Here are a few examples. Oh, and it is okay to chop off part of someone's head. ;) Just so you know. Don't be afraid to do this.



Also, in motion photos, give your subject some room. It gives a sense of motion. You can practice some of these. Also, you can crop pictures later to get this effect.



The last one that we will look at is to just simply put your subject away from the center. It gives the photo a different look.



Assignment:
Take a picture the way you normally would for comparision sake. Then reposition your subject so they (or their eye(s)) are not in the center of the picture. Post both. Sometimes, center is best. In this picture, center is best, but let's starting thinking beyond the center!

Debbie - Depth of Field and Bright Eyes

Ah bummer.  Markie beat me to posting pictures first.  :)  I'm so envious of people who do weddings.  What I would love to do is just tag along and do someone's wedding but NOT be the main photographer.  That way there would be no pressure, but I could learn what to do.

Here are two pictures practicing DOF.  I think I was able to get his lead eye in focus.  Is this what you were talking about Erin? (ignore the evil looking tiny windows in his eyes)   :)

Erin, I think I might have teased you about getting "bright eyes" when taking pictures at the family reunion. When I took over your camera for a while you told me to be sure and get bright eyes, and I laughed.  I just thought I'd mention that because it was making me chuckle just now. (tee-hee-hee!)  It is such a funny concept but it really does make the picture look so much better!  I now have the bug and find myself looking for window reflections in everyone's eyes.  :)

This one of Kendal doesn't have very much reflection in her eyes, but I thought the lighting was nice.

This picture of Kayla has nice big windows, but I feel like her eyes aren't very much in focus, even after using your REB Sharpen action.  But still a nice picture I think.

And here is one of Kaiden:

Kayla is by far our most cooperative picture taker.  So here are a few more pictures I took of her.  I have tried doing different angles but probably could have been a little more creative.

And here are two pictures I liked used your orton tech action.  I just love how it makes everything a pretty blur except for her eyes which are perfectly in focus.  For what occasion would you usually use this action?

 

 

Sorry that was a bazillion pictures.  This is just so much fun!  Let me know what I can improve on.  

I'm ready for more assignments!

Okay so here is a little sample of what I did. This was a wedding of Jill's sister Becca. I had a hard time posing do to interference and camera time with Jill's aunt. So to say the least this is the best ones where John and Becca are both looking at me. So let me know. If you want more information on aperture speed and such let me know I can get it.

I am proud of this picture I don't know why I really like it.