You are currently browsing the archives for September, 2010.
Here is an image of a statue of Abe Lincoln in a park in Springfield, IL across from his museum. I liked the way it looked from this angle with his hand and face in the shot.
This is a great example of looking for an angle of a subject that is different than your first view. I walked around this statue for a few minutes before I found this angle.
Abe Lincoln Statue in Springfield, IL
Please feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
By using a strong diagonal line with only two subjects in the frame I was able to produce this image with a fairly boring sky as a background.
By splitting the scene diagonally and placing the tree and the dead branch by using the rule of thirds, what could have been an ordinary shot becomes an intersting juxtaposition of the living tree played against the dead branch.
Oak Tree in Paso Robles, CA
Please feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
I was walking around in Chicago in 2008 and came across the sculpture of The Spearman at the entrance of Grant Park. There was something about the sculpture that I really liked, but I didn’t want the usual trees and light posts in the background and, in fact, I didn’t want any other evidence of man in the frame. After walking around the bronze statue for a few minutes, I realized that it was impossible to find an angle that allowed me to show the sculpture in a way that I could do that. I could have just had the sculpture against a blue sky, but I felt that it wouldn’t “pop”.
Then I realized that I could actually use the city as the background. There were several building that had VERY regular features, one of which was the Congress Plaza Hotel. I found an angle that allowed me to get only the sculpture and the hotel in the frame. I worked hard to fill the frame with nothing but the building which meant that I had to shoot the frame from the middle of Congress Plaza Drive, which turns out to be a pretty busy street. I waited until there was a small break in traffic, ran out, and got my shot.
I think the regular pattern of the hotel adds an element of juxtaposition to the image.
The Spearman
I got a great site recommendation from Sandy Steinman at the Natural History Wanderings website that lists a LOT of wildflower reports. You can see his post here: Wildflower Reports at Natural History Wanderings
While this is a fairly classic image of the “road going into the distance” thing, this image is a great example of using leading lines in an image. The road leads your eye into the frame to the horizon.
Road to Nowhere
There is a great article in Outdoor Photographer on a similar type of image. The author, Ken Schram, discusses the crop of the image, but the idea is the same. You can read the article here: The Winding Road
Here are the posts and sites that I found that I think you as a photographer should read. Not all of them are always related to photography, but take a look at them.
POSTS
7 Random Tips for Portrait Photographers – A great quick read for some ideas on improving your portrait photography.
Links to CA Fall Foliage – Natural History Wanderings’ list of fall color locations in California.
[b] at Burning Man – The [b]ecker is a VERY giving photographer in SoCal who attends The Burning Man and this is his post about this year’s event. I need to go to this at least once.
NPR on Camping – A quick read about how the economy is or is not affecting camping.
David Cardinal’s Camera Bag – A well written explaination of the equipment that David Cardinal carries and why.
SITES
The Digital Experience – Rick Sammon and Jon Pons produce a great podcast and a complementary website to go with it.
Morro Bay Photo Expo – I attended the first annual MBPE and found it VERY rewarding. Here is the site for information and registration.
Eastern Sierra Fall Color – The Mono Lake Committee website has a great resource page for tracking fall color in the Mono Lake area.
Nature Photographers.net – A good starting point for individuals interested in nature photography.
The Weather Channel – Pretty much everything you wanted to know about local weather in one place. It isn’t deep, but it does give lots of basic information.
Here is an image I took at the Morro Bay Bird Festival in 2010. I liked the way the bubbles all draw your eye to the waves in the background.
Beach Runoff at the Morro Bay Bird Festival
Please take a moment to post a comment and tell me what you think.
During my last trip to the Mono Lake area, I stayed at the Mono Vista RV park. No, I don’t own an RV, but I needed a
shower and they have good campsites and warm showers.
While there relaxing, I looked up and saw these trees. At first I didn’t think anything about them, but then I started thinking that there was a nice texture there, but I didn’t know how to capture it so that it would show the feeling I had while there.
Then I remembered that I have been working on trying to see more images in black and white. BAM! How to frame and shoot it became clear.
Here is the result.
Lee Vining Trees
Ok, it’s been a little while since I got on here. Lots of things going on over the last three months, but nothing that needs to be gone over here.
That didn’t stop me from shooting and taking part in some other photography related activities. I took some time on the Eastern Sierras, visited Las Vegas for Skip’s Summer School, and of course attended the Orange County FEO meetings. In addition I did some reading and just plain played with the camera.
I will be posting information on all of those things in up coming posts, but until then, it is just nice to get back online and say hello. Please be sure to stop by in the near future for more updates.
Until then, here is shot that I took on the road to the Yosemite Creek campground.
Wildflowers on the road to Yosemite Creek campground.