Simply a great story about a great shot.

How Photography Changed the World (Picture This Podcast)

https://youtu.be/gN_Jre5DQ84

Click on the link below, it's an interesting read imho.

Times Insider

25 Photo Cliches You Should Stop Doing

"I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learned to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently. I simply looked at the world, not really prepared for anything."

- Saul Leiter

I prefer to work and capture images that invoke feeling and to what I'm trying to convey.  Definitely it's not to please others or to gather a huge fan base or a following.  If what I capture does it for me, I don't care what others think.  Only my personal feelings about those captures will matter and not those of others, of course comments are always given credence and consideration.  If others choose to compliment me then so be it, and thank you.

I've included a couple of links in case anyone is more interested about this, enjoy!  Or not. :-).

Ted Forbes

David duChemin

Old Cameras

While I agree that insurance is a great decision but on the other hand imho it is one that should be kept private and confidential to avoid any and all inquiring minds or thieves from knowing about your property and it's vulnerability.

Safes lined with asbestos do inherently store moisture, and sealing a container with moisture will give the contents inside little chance to escape any damaging effects that may result from this.

Not every place or situation is humidity free, even in Houston. Safes are great, and moisture control is another concern, or shall I say, it should be.

Just my 2 cents.

Joel Sartore, a respected and famous photographer best known for his National Geographic and Photo Arc work is perhaps #1 in molding my direction and desired output in photography.  He has casually mentioned many antidotes and all are very good but one has stuck in my head and in turn has become a useful resource.  

His traveling hints and experience have probably provided me with more resource than I had ever wanted or needed, yet very useful. 

I’ve experienced many personal carryon nightmares, from 7kg carryon restrictions in Dubai, Abu Dabi, UAE. Mosul, Baghdad, Kabul along with many more.  His insights and generous hints along with the shared experiences have helped me immensely.

Here is a quick quote from a webpage of his, hopefully this will be useful to some. 

http://www.joelsartore.com/about-joel/common-questions/camera-equipment/

“I always carry more than one camera body, more than one lens, more than one battery and more than one charger. It

makes for a lot of extra baggage, but better that than a missed opportunity. When traveling by air, I take the minimum I

need to hit the ground and start shooting in a carryon.

That way if my checked baggage is lost, I can still accomplish the

mission.”

I should mention also that during a long lens class that he was sharing, he mentioned the difficulty of transporting gear on the local commuter jets (his local airport in Lincoln, NE only has small jets), as he has experienced a lack of overhead compartment space for his gear.  Rather than risk checking in the expensive camera gear in, as his backpack wouldn’t fit, he has repeatedly carried his gear in his photo vest and around his neck, smashing the empty backpack in the small overhead bin for takeoff or seating.  At first chance he will then replenish the backpack without further disruption or problems.  This is a method that has worked for me also, many times.  Although I don’t recommend it, it is an option that may be available at some airports.  

Keep in mind that the tripod and monopod always goes into the check in luggage minimizing the carry on possible problems.  For some reason a bulky tripod have not been easy pickings for some airport staff, so far.

By all means, check the airline’s website and their carryon restrictions.  Being in compliance is probably your best bet.  The aforementioned tips are only for if you may run into complications and not something that I recommend as a first line of strategy while transporting your valuable photographic gear. 

Color has become such an important tool to the photographer today.  It evokes varying emotional responses such as excitement, awe, wonderment, joy, peace, fear and many more.  These colors will be one of the first things to capture a viewer’s attention, creating an emotional impact.

Color comes in all kinds of flavors, from being bold to muted, with billions upon billions of combinations in between.  Another compositional tool, when it's used successfully it will permit you the artist to create the emotion allowing your photographs to shine.

Complimentary colors are best described as being opposites on the color wheel.  They are my favorite color tool to use when; of course they are available to be included in the composition.  I’ll use my logo (which uses a color wheel) as a reference color wheel.  It’s handy to have around when using it to reference colors and figure out their place in the color spectrum.

Look at the colors opposite each other on the color wheel.  This is what draws the viewer’s eye to these colors giving a feel good feeling at what they are seeing, it’s pleasing to the eye.  It allows your viewer to feel an emotional response.

Gold (Orange) on Blue

Complimentary Colors Purple and Green

I highly recommend looking for subjects with complimentary colors as it will give a lot of power to your pictures.  Perhaps that’s why sunsets and sunrises are considered so beautiful and popular.  Blue and orange being complimentary colors in the following examples.

Then we have what are called primary and secondary colors.  These are not to be discounted as they are also possibilities to be used with great strength in your composition when they are available.

Primary colors are simply the boldest of the colors, those colors being red, blue and yellow.

Primary Color Blue

Secondary Color Orange

Secondary colors are just a mixture of two of the primary colors.  Blue and yellow primary colors will give you a secondary color of green.  Blue and red primary colors will give you the secondary color of purple and so on.

Using either primary or secondary colors by themselves or in combination with each other can make for some stunning photography. 

Unfortunately most times you won’t be able to choose your color or colors in a scene with your subject.  You can include or exclude colors from your composition with careful positioning, movement, or adjusting the field of view with your capture. 

I like to hover around like a fly moving in and out, up and down, left and right looking for that perfect angle, using different lenses or focal lengths and a different field of view. Many times changing the aspect ratio will help with the selection of your colors, square versus rectangular and so on.

Colors can be strong with the use of complimentary colors, multiple colors or as a single color.  The color or colors can dominate the scene or perhaps a single color could be just a small part of your scene.  The colors can be bold and brash, cool or warm, or with high contrast or muted subtleness.  When used effectively they will create an emotional response from the viewer which will make your pictures more pleasing to look at.

The main point here is to keep your eye out for color which can make your photograph visually stimulating.  Don’t hesitate to add color to your photographic tool box, experiment and enjoy!

Orange with Blue

Well that concludes this installment in Composition, Elements for Photography series.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog entry, stay tuned as next week I'll share another.

Please leave me a comment or two and let me know what you think!

The rule of thirds is probably a rule most photographers have heard of and use it as their primary source of composition.  This is sad because there is so much more to composition than just this rule. 

The rule of thirds is basically nothing more than a grid with two vertical and two horizontal lines forming four intersection points (golden points) within a square or rectangle.  When a photographer puts his subject into one of these golden points that photographer has successfully performed the rule of thirds.

I know many pro photographers, photo contest judges and very talented amateurs that eat drink and sleep with the rule of thirds.  In fact I personally know a contest judge that confided with me that if you don’t use the rule of thirds he’ll deduct points from your entry.  This means that you’ll never win if you don’t follow this rule!

Perhaps one of the most overused and over taught element of composition for photography is the rule of thirds.  Because of the static and non dynamic nature of the horizontal and vertical lines this rule can be quickly boring and make for a predictably uninteresting composition. 

I may be a little extreme with all of this but trust me; the love for the rule of thirds is real. In its defense there is possibly no better method for beginning photographers to get their subject unstuck from the middle and create a more interesting composition.  Not that shooting in the middle is always bad; in fact many times shooting in the middle can be the best way to capture your image.  Overusing an element of composition or shooting the same way (like always in the middle) can quickly become tiresome and dull nevertheless. 

John Thomas Smith has been credited with first writing about and describing the use of the rule of thirds in 1797.  Please note that this is centuries after many painting and sculpting masters had studied and produced their works of art.

Skills grow on the basis of understanding not ignorance.

Artistic skill is not genetic or a divine gift nor is it learned through faithful copying.

Myron Barnstone

If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery it wouldn’t seem wonderful at all.

Michelangelo

Many of the painting masters spent years in a school studying composition before they even drew a line on the canvas.  There is so much more to composition than what I’ve written about previously.  The methods I’ve mentioned before are effective techniques for an immediate improvement to your photography not a mastery. 

Master painters such as Picasso, Michelangelo, and Di Vinci studied for years before their art became serious.  Their studies included extensive study and mastery through understanding very structured geometric systems.

To study in depth at a level only known by the painting masters one would have to study much more in depth, dedicate their lives and spend numerous years learning their craft.  This in depth composition is heavily composed of geometry, trigonometry, edge flicker, color, dynamic symmetry, gamut, figure to ground, simultaneous contrast, gamut area of contrast, enclosure, aerial perspective, gazing direction and so much more.

The takeaway from this is to always search for and learn new composition techniques. Use the previous mentioned elements of composition to make an immediate improvement on your photography.  Once in awhile one might get lucky and capture a winning photo and of course only with years of practice, learning and study can you guarantee an increase with the mastery of your composition skills and luck.

A good composition begins with and is highly dependent on having a good subject that attracts the viewer’s interest.  Having a good background is essential to sparking that subject interest by not being distracting or by successfully adding some context and interest to the subject.

Always check your background first before capturing your image.  Be aware of distracting elements.  Things like competing bright colors and lights, lines that draw attention away from your subject.  Beware of other subjects in the composition that compete for the viewer’s attention also.

There are numerous ways to improve your background.  I’ll share some tried and true methods that will help make a great composition with the use of good backgrounds.  Most of these strategies are largely effective for portraits or portraiture but they can also be used for a variety of other subjects.

1.  Change the Angle

Try getting high or low on your subject. Getting low will fill your background with the sky or trees.  Getting high will generally fill the background with less distraction with for instance grass when outside.  Shooting down by getting up high on your subject is also an effective way of slimming down your model when shooting portraiture.

2.  Use a Long Focal Length

When using a longer focal length the depth of field or area that’s in focus decreases.  This is useful for blurring your background away into mush, allowing the subject to shine.

3.  Keep Your Background Distant

The farther away you can get your background the less in focus it will become.  The distance will also add depth to your composition which adds impact.  This is why open fields are so popular with outside portraiture.

4.  Move the Subject

Find a suitable background that doesn't distract the viewer from the subject.  Keep distractions like tree limbs growing out of the subjects head out of your composition.

5.  Open up Your Aperture

Especially effective with a distracting background, blurring the background by opening up your aperture will melt the distractions away.  This is useful because it shortens the depth of field, or the area that is in focus.  Stopping down the lens will have the opposite effect when context and added interest is needed to tell a story.

6.  Fill the Frame

If you fill the frame with your subject the distractions will have a less of a chance as there’s less room in the photograph for them.  You can also crop the image during post processing to eliminate distractions.

7.  Move in Close

Moving in close will also aid in blurring out your background.  It is even more effective with a combination of moving in close and keeping your background distant.  This will enhance the subject to background separation or isolation.

8.  Supply Your Own Background

This is especially useful with indoor portraiture but there’s little reason you can’t use it outside as long if it’s feasible or practical.  There are many commercial solutions out there but if budget is a concern there are many homemade solutions out there that may also work just as well. 

My favorite homemade solutions are black and or white felt, sold at many fabric stores.  I prefer felt as it has proven to be far less reflective than other fabrics.  Having a reflective background can be a distraction.

9.  Post Processing

You can blur the background, darken it desaturate it, or even replace it.  The possibilities with this solution are almost endless.

10.  Fill Flash

Using fill flash to properly expose your subject while underexposing your background.  This will remove a lot of interest or distraction from the background and enhance the attention on your subject.

11.  Backlight

You can use the sun or flash as a backlight to wash out your background.  By properly exposing your subject the sun will become overexposed and will in effect blow out your background.

Improving your background will almost always improve your composition.  Including a background that adds context to the subject can add interest and help tell a story.  Keeping your background blurred, vague, or just plain uninteresting will add focus and interest to your subject.  This allows your composition to be more pleasing to the viewer’s eyes.

Creating a great composition with an appropriate background doesn’t have to be hard and it usually isn’t.  The main thing to remember is to be aware of your background and take the steps to change it if it’s found to be too distractive.

Putting the image in the middle is something that comes naturally for many of us and it is especially true for beginning photographers.  It’s boring because the viewer goes right to the subject without looking at anything else; missing out on the story you’re trying to tell.

A simple and sometimes over taught technique utilized to prevent using the middle excessively is to use an interception point or golden point on the “rule of thirds” grid.  Because this method is commonly applied, heavily used and encouraged you have to be careful as it has a great potential to be equally as boring and overused.

Despite what we’ve been told and taught, centering the subject can actually be the best solution for good composition among certain subjects such as landscapes with reflections and subjects that are symmetrical.  This is usually most effective when the subject is supported in the entire photograph allowing the viewer to see everything within the frame.

The use of centering the subject is also very effective when shooting portraits.  It is a very honest, simplistic and a formal technique that’s about as basic as it gets for composition.  Many times, especially in portraiture it works best centered and it just looks better in the middle.

Most of the time not putting the subject in the middle forces the viewer’s eyes to follow the composition to the subject.  All the objects or elements in the photograph will be better appreciated which will make your image more pleasurable to view.  Instead of always going to the “rule of thirds” try moving the subject off center until you get a sense of good visual balance.

When photographing landscapes a common mistake is to always put the horizon line in the center.  Choose which is most interesting, the sky or the foreground and move the horizon up or down to emphasize what is the most interesting.  Raising the horizon line will showcase a great foreground and lowering it will call attention to an amazing sky.

Another technique used to avoid over using the middle, is to use the outer focus points in the viewfinder on your subject while composing the photograph.  This will force the subject away from the middle.  At the very least half press the shutter button on the subject with the center focus point, then recompose and capture your image.

Maybe using the middle sometimes works best but you’ll find most times that it just doesn’t.  Moving the subject around in the frame to find a good visual balance in your composition instead of using the viewfinder like a gun sight will result in a more pleasing photograph, more times than not.

Centering the Dominant Eye

Placing the dominant eye at the center of your photograph will often infer or give the viewer a feeling that the subject is looking back at them or is following them.  It is just another technique that can add power to your composition.

I hope you enjoyed this article on avoiding the middle and when to embrace it, please feel free to leave a comment.  Stay tuned for my next installment on Backgrounds.

Until then, happy shooting!

Widely taught in Art schools but sometimes unknown or ignored in photographic circles, negative and positive space is another powerful tool that can dramatically improve the composition in your photography.  This element of composition is basically made up of three things.

1.  Positive Space.  This is the subject; it’s where the viewer’s eyes are drawn to, the focus of the photograph.

2.  Negative Space.  This is the space other than the subject many times surrounding the subject and bordered by the frame.

3.  Frame.  The frame borders around the photograph and surrounds the negative space.  Of very high importance in painting but sometimes overlooked in photography.

Positive space is usually the main focus that the photographer concentrates on, ignoring the negative space.  Instead of always zooming in and trying to constantly fill the frame change up a little and try leaving some negative space in your composition.  Doing so can actually draw more attention to the subject which helps tell the story.

Negative space can be thought of as a road that leads the viewer’s eyes to the subject.  Areas of void can add interest to the photograph however don’t allow it to dominate the photograph or overpower the subject.  Using negative space that lacks in interest or detail will allow the focus of the photograph to be drawn to the subject. 

A few effective ways to use the negative/positive space to improve your composition and tell your story are as follows.

You can use negative space to add content.  It will give the viewer a sense of where the subject is or what’s happening.

Use the negative space to balance the positive space.  Make the subject and the negative space equal or symmetrical giving you balance in your photograph.

Use the negative space to create a sense of scale.  Used a lot in landscape photography you can tell the story of loneliness, seclusion, isolation or give a sense scale and space.

Use negative space to show what or where the subject is and draw attention to it.  The use of negative space should be lacking in detail and clutter leaving the subject as the main attraction that catches the viewer’s eyes.

Over emphasize the negative space.  Use the negative space to make it the focus of the photo producing its own visual desirability. 

Use the space for the subject to lead into.  This is especially effective for action or sports and wildlife.  You can use this in portraits having the subject on one side of the frame looking towards the other side leaving negative space in front of them.

Using space and it’s three components positive, negative, and framing takes focus and practice since it doesn’t often come naturally, it can prove challenging. We’re hardwired to see objects a certain way and tend to capture them the same way like we’re stuck on auto pilot.

One thing to try is to lose focus on your subject for a little bit and instead focus on the space around that subject.  Move that space around in the frame experimenting to find a composition that draws attention to the subject and help tell its story.

Why include aspect ratios into a series on composition?  Choosing the frame size or aspect ratio can have a huge impact on your photograph and its composition.  It has the power to emphasize your subject if one size is chosen over another.  It can also create problems if you have a desired image size and the image was shot too tightly at another aspect ratio. 

Basically aspect ratio refers to the height and width of your photograph.  It could be square (1:1), or like most television screens (16:9).  35mm (full frame), crop sensors, or your modern DSLR’s use a 3:2 aspect ratio while the 4/3^rds camera format, old tube television sets and many compact digital cameras use the squarer format of 4:3.

If you want to or need to change your aspect ratio you have to crop.  There are two schools of thought on cropping, don’t do it or to use it as a compositional tool.  I prefer to use it as a compositional tool although I’ll admit I fail to use it as much as I probably should.

What’s the madness behind all of this you might ask?  Well if shooting with 35mm (3:2) and the print sizes are 5x7, 8x10, 11x14 and 16x20 your captures will all have to be cropped.  If you don’t want to or can’t crop you’re stuck with relatively the unpopular sizes of 8x12, 10x15, 12x18, 16x24, and so on.

Many cameras now offer in camera cropping.  Personally I prefer to crop after the capture, not before.  Leaving all the options open for further post processing to me is very desirable.  Some might argue it makes it easier to visualize the final capture by cropping in camera first rather than later.

One thing to keep in mind is to shoot a little loose, leave some real estate available for cropping in post processing later.  Why throw away parts of your image during the capture when it’s so easy to decide later what to crop out?

Choose your subject and then choose your aspect ratio, not the other way around.  Build your image by first capturing it then later find an aspect ratio that matches it for the best composition. 

1:1 Aspect Ratio

2:3 Aspect Ratio

1:1 Aspect Ratio

3:2 Aspect Ratio

4:3 Aspect Ratio

I hope you enjoyed this article on aspect ratios and will find it useful in your photography.

Stay tuned for my next installment on Space, Negative and Positive.

There is no better way of eliminating the clutter from your photograph than to fill the frame.  It gives great impact to your composition as it definitely leaves no doubt in the viewer’s eyes what the focus or subject is.

There’s an old saying by Robert Capa, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough".  Two methods come to mind on getting close enough, move in with your feet or use a telephoto lens.

Filling the frame seems to be most effective when used with macro, portraits, patterns, repetitions and textures.  This adds to your composition by leaving out all of the distractions and allowing your subject to be the only attraction.  If it doesn’t add to your photograph, leave it out.

When using the composition tool of filling the frame you don't have to be as concerned with distractions such as noisy backgrounds but you need to be careful with tight framing as it can become quickly boring. 

To prevent excessive use of filling the frame you can try adding a little context to the frame by adding something that identifies with the subject.

Ask yourself three questions before adding something in your frame.

1.  Does it add context to the subject?

2.  Will cropping add to the subject?

3.  Will the added element or elements distract from the subject?

If you find yourself too close, compose and shoot first, then back-up.  You might be surprised and pleased at what you capture.  Remember it’s okay to crop, better to be able to crop later than to find out you should have left more room in your photograph.

Portraiture is just one area where filling the frame can shine.  Don’t be scared of cutting off limbs or the tops of heads.  A good thing to remember is to try avoiding cutting off limbs at the joints such as elbows, knees, ankles, and hands.  It just isn’t pleasing.

Filling the frame is just another powerful tool for great composition.  When appropriate it really stands out, when overused it quickly becomes boring.  And it’s probably not recommended for stuff like landscapes, an example being the Grand Canyon.

I hope you enjoyed this issue in the Composition series and find it useful in your photography.  Please leave a comment if you liked or even if and what you disliked.  Any input is appreciated and will be kept confidential if requested.

Stay tuned for the next installment in the Composition Elements series, Aspect Ratios.  Sounds boring but surprisingly it has great impact on your final composition.

Simplicity is a great tool for good composition, while it’s easy to imagine it’s also difficult to master.  A photograph will often tell just one story which makes finding a sole subject so important.  Everything else will just draw attention away from your subject; you want to simplify it, bringing the focus to your subject.

One subject, zoomed in to eliminate distractions

Simplifying your photography is a bit deceiving which makes it pretty hard to do.  While your mind automatically picks out the subject the camera will capture everything, including the distractions if you allow it.   

Putting too much in your composition is like over packing your bag, or having a cluttered room, it’s distracting.  Distracting the viewer from your subject is not something you want to do so strip the capture down to the bare essentials and leave the distractions out.

Sometimes when admiring a beautiful scene it’s tempting to include too much.  Think of what the subject is then try to eliminate everything else.  It easier to tell the story and allow the viewer to understand that story if it’s simple. 

Methods for simplifying your composition can be things such as brightly lit subjects against a muted background, or using a silhouette against a bright background.

Brightly lit subject against dark background

Dark subject against bright background

You can use subjects such as textures, patterns and silhouettes.  One can also use a selective focus with a wide aperture which will draw the focus on the subject by blurring out the distractions. 

Patterns

Most times when shooting a landscape I’ll use three focal lengths, wide, normal and telephoto and select a favorite later.  Many times I’ve preferred the telephoto shot as it provided more isolation and simplified the photograph. 

Landscape with a 400mm focal length

The main take away from this is that some of the best photography out there is often just a simple composition.  It doesn’t have to be overly complicated and most times being complicated doesn’t work.  Don’t only just get rid of the junk in your image, try to also limit the wonderful stuff you may want to include.  Remember your subject is the main focus for the viewer to be drawn to.

Use the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid) and remember a telephoto lens and or a large aperture can be your best friend when simplifying your photograph. 

Telephoto lens with a large aperture blurring out the background

Using lines in photography is just another powerful tool that can be utilized when there’s an opportunity to do so.  It’s a great tool in your compositional toolbox.

Lines guide the viewer’s eyes to the subject, they also control the way people will view your photograph.  If you make it hard to find the main focal point in your picture the viewer will become quickly bored and won’t appreciate what's being shown.  Or in another words if the person has to search for the subject they become disinterested, in a hurry.  Using lines assists the viewer therefore making it easy and pleasing to look at your photograph.

Lines come in many different types, shapes, forms and sizes.  There are curved lines, zig zag lines, natural lines, radial lines, diagonal lines, vertical lines, horizontal lines, S curve lines, converging lines and many more.

You can find lines everywhere, power lines, roads, trails, paths, fence lines, walls, buildings, rivers, shorelines, just to mention a few.  When you can find a line to use, it makes your composition so much stronger.

Curved lines can draw you around the frame leading your eyes to the point of interest.  It allows the eyes to wander along that line right into the subject in a pleasing way.  Note the use of the rule of thirds placing the bee in the left lower golden point.

Curved Line

An example of a S curve being the subject by itself.

S curves are another flavor of curves but can be much more powerful, so powerful that they in themselves can become the subject and point of interest.  Or, like curves S curves can gently lead the viewer’s eyes to the focal point or subject.  To me S curves are pleasing, being graceful, elegant and even stylish.

S curve used by the roadway

Converging lines have a three dimensional depth with a sense of perspective making it very easy for the eyes to follow.  They can create many shapes such as triangles, rectangles, squares, and curves

Converging Lines

Converging Lines

Diagonal lines can add more mystery, depth, drama or movement.  If you have to, tilt your camera to introduce these diagonal line and experiment.  There’s a wow factor to be found when you use diagonal lines effectively.  Although I’m not a big fan of tilting the camera, I won’t hesitate if it makes my capture more appealing and getting diagonals in there can do that.  Diagonal lines by themselves can also stand alone as being the subject and they can connect with other diagonal lines giving your capture even more power.

Diagonal Lines

Horizontal lines can be very relaxing, calming or soothing.  They can also be a barricade or a separating line in your photograph.  Horizontal lines can make or break your picture so caution should be used when adding them to your picture. 

Horizontal Lines

Vertical lines tend to be more lasting, permanent, or established.   They have power, more muscle, strength and can give a sense of height.  Vertical lines are also powerful enough to be the subject, like trees in a forest.

Vertical Lines

Think about how to use these lines in your photographs.  Where do you place it in the frame?  You want to entice the viewer into the subject by guiding their eyes through the use of lines.  Place the lines in your viewfinder where it works the best.  Move around if you have to, go low, high, left, right, or tilt the camera.  Get close get farther away, use a different lens, experiment!

When you use lines that go off into the distance you make the photograph so much more powerful by add a sense of perspective and distance.  If you have lines that go off the frame, try to position those lines so that they end in the corners.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter on lines and will find it useful in taking your composition to a higher level, or at the very least give you some new ideas.

I'll post a new blog in a few days so keep an eye out for it.  Until next time.

While framing your photograph can enhance its appearance, framing within the image is a highly effective way to enhance your composition.  It draws the viewer’s eyes to the subject and emphasizes that subject and gives a sense of depth, of being there and adds perspective.

Framing can also add interest and intrigue to the composition.  If it is prepared poorly or if it’s overdone it can detract from your photograph.  Using a dark frame, an out of focus frame or a frame that doesn’t compete for the viewer’s eye will work best. 

Some examples you could look for when wanting to utilize a frame for your image could be arches, doorways, bridges, trees, silhouettes and vignette with dark tones.  Types of frames are environmental, natural, shapes, round, square, light and shadows, architectural and many more.

Most effective frames will lack detail and are simple in design and nature so as not to detract from the subject but rather draw attention to your subject.  An important point to keep in mind is to ask, does this frame detract from or does it enhance the subject?  Many times leaving the frame dark or out of focus will help downplay the importance of the frame allowing more attention to be drawn to the subject.

Don’t be frustrated with not being able to include all four sides of the frame as you’ll find that just one or two sides of that frame can be just as effective in improving your composition. 

Framing like the other so called rules of composition can be broken and when appropriate may also make your photograph or composition strong.  An example of this is when the frame is actually part of the subject and adds context to that subject.

All three are closely related so I decided to include them all into this chapter.  When you repeat something such as a shape, line, color, or object they are repetitions and are pleasing to the eye.  When your repeat repetitions many times they become patterns and repetitions of patterns can make a uniform texture.  All of these can and will give your photograph a strong boost in composition and enhance your viewer’s experience.

Patterns

Patterns are everywhere around us both man-made and natural.  If you look all about you will find patterns everywhere but they are easily overlooked during our day to day activities. 

Patterns in their nature are isolated allowing them to be serene and calming which gives us a sense of order and rhythm.  A symmetrical pattern can be a very powerful tool in your photographic composition.

Patterns

Patterns are easy on the eyes, sometimes breaking or interrupting that pattern will create tension drawing the viewer’s attention to that disruption.  This can make the pattern or your capture so much more interesting and powerful.  When using this technique keep the rule of thirds in mind when using the interrupter to further enhance and strengthen your photograph.

Pattern with an Interrupter

Try using an unusual view point; think carefully where you shoot from as it will have a huge impact on your photography.  Sometimes just a half a step one way or the other can completely change your composition.

Isolating the pattern is critical.  The final crop either in the camera or during post processing is crucial to the strength of your composition.  This is true not only with patterns but with repetitions and textures as well. 

Pattern

I prefer to shoot a little wide and crop later so that there are always more options.  Sometimes cropping too tight will ruin an image.  For instance if I need to later rotate an image in post processing for better symmetry or composition but run out of room for the final crop I may not be able to fit it into the frame. 

Also, consider using a telephoto lens.  Many times using a longer focal length will help with subject isolation.

Repetitions

Repetitions like patterns can be man-made or natural.  Enough repetitions will become patterns.  Although they may seem dull during your daily activities, using them in your photography can make a huge impact on your image. 

Music has and uses repetitions for its composition with a repeating chorus, notes and harmonies.  In nature many things repeat themselves such as flowers, trees, animals or for an example the chirps and song of a locust.  Man-made objects like fence posts, power lines, windows, cars and so on.  Even people are a popular source for repetitions.

Repititions

Repetitions work because they are used all around us and are readily available.  Put these repetitions together and they become very pleasing to the human eye.  The viewer will forget what the subject is and instead is entertained and intrigued by its interesting properties, which is a sure fire formula for a strong picture.

Repitition

Textures

Textures like patterns and repetitions are all around us just waiting to be discovered.  Finding interesting textures can be both fun and challenging. 

Simple things like lighting, front lighting, side lighting, back lighting, etc. can bring a texture to life and make it very interesting to the viewer.  The key here is to make sure the lighting is right and it highlights the texture effectively.

When using textures successfully in your photograph the viewer is left with a feeling of being able to touch the subject, almost 3D like.  It can be an old piece of wood, or a smooth porcelain object or possibly an old wrinkled face among many other possibilities. 

Every photograph has balance or an imbalance that is used in the final composition.

Although balance is probably one of the most important elements of a good composition, it is probably one the most overlooked and least taught method of creating a powerful image.  More than likely this is due to balance being very complex, hard to grasp and teach all the while being extremely subjective. 

Symmetrical Balance (Formal)

To have a perfectly balanced or symmetrical photograph both sides, either left or right, top or bottom, or both will draw the viewer’s eye equally to the subject. 

For more than one subject you could use the example of an old weighing scale or of a playground’s seesaw, keeping it on an even keel.  The subject’s weight or power successfully creating balance in the final composition making them the same or equal.

While using this symmetry to create a feeling of stability or balance many different elements can be used.  The subjects or elements in your composition may be objects, colors, textures, sizes, shapes, dark and light tonalities, and quantities.  All of this is based on their placement or selection of the subjects or elements.

Although not true for all images, portraits are commonly used in a balanced or symmetrical way.  When a balanced or symmetrical composition doesn’t work, it can be boring and very weak.  The eye isn’t lead anywhere, which is why the rule of thirds works so well and is so popular. 

Asymmetrical Balance (Informal)

Instead of mirroring the images or placing them in your composition symmetrically they are placed around the frame forming a balance even though the subjects are different from each other.   An example would be a large element and a smaller element weighted to the other side.

With an asymmetrical balance the object or subjects can be of different elements within your composition.  Most of the time, they will be utilized with different sized subjects although they don’t have to be.

Look for visual weights such as colors, textures, sizes, shapes, light and dark tones, and quantities.  Arrange these different elements in your photograph so that it’s balanced within the frame. 

As mentioned earlier although size is very popular when you’re assembling an asymmetrical composition many other elements can be used just as effectively also.

Off Balance

Sometimes the so called rules of balance can be deliberately broken with great success.  Using an off balanced subject is used to cause a disproportion and stress within your photograph. 

When used correctly and appropriately it makes your composition very interesting and powerful.  You the artist must decide which method to employ on your composition.

I hope you enjoyed the first in a series of Composition for Photography.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog entry, stay tuned as next week I'll share another.

Please leave me a comment or two and let me know what you think!

So stay tuned if you'd like to create more powerful photography and take it to the next level.

Below is a short prologue of things to come.  Enjoy!

Composition, The Elements and Techniques to Create Outstanding Photography.

Compositional elements are included for your photographic toolbox with superior and proven techniques for outstanding photography.

You have to know the rules before you can break the rules!

During the next several weeks there will be a compilation of my favorite elements of composition designed to strengthen and make your photography more powerful.  Many of these techniques are and were being used by the master painters and artists of the years past and present. 

It is not my intent to provide a complete resource of the elements of composition, but rather a guide of what works for me, and others I’ve learned from and have taught.  Photography and art for that matter is so subjective, not everything I’ve listed and explained will be agreed upon by everyone, and that’s fine.    I feel that it would be impossible to do so.

My main goal with this series is to not be too technical or “artsy”, only wishing to add to or improve on compositional tools in your photographic tool box. 

Again, included will be simple elements and techniques which I’ve learned, shared and used through the years.  They are a collection of proven strategies and techniques  that will allow your photographs to have more power and be more pleasing to the viewer through the use of superior composition skills.

Anyway I'd like to post a link that is giving away a free Canon 5DIII or Nikon D800 camera for anyone that might be interested. 

Good luck if you enter, I did.

http://www.cameragiveaways.com/

I’d like to share some Christmas humor with a few quotes from a photographer I admire.

Ming Thein   

Take the time to read a few of them, I’m sure you’ll get a chuckle out of least a few of them if you’re living and breathing photography at least a little bit.

Enjoy! 

Merry Christmas,

Roger Lee

You know you’re a real photographer if

…cameras rank above clothes on your holiday packing list; you’d gladly go cold or wear the same jeans for a week if it means you can fit in another lens/ tripod/ gigapan/ etc.

…you look at the egg holder slots in your fridge and think, ‘hey, they’d make for great film storage…’

…your fridge has more film than food in it

…none of the film has expired, but all of the food has

…the weather forecast is 1/60s f2 ISO 200 instead of ‘rainy’.

…your favourite times of the day are sunrise and sunset.

…your tripod costs more than your car, and you’re thinking of getting another one ‘just in case’

…a ‘whale tail’ isn’t something you find on a marine mammal

…’Linhof’ is not a type of cheese.

…a red dot on something doesn’t mean it’s cheaper or on sale, to the contrary: it costs significantly more instead.

…you live in a tropical country but choose not to tint your car because the film degrades optical quality ever so slightly, in the even that you want to take a picture out of the window. Even if it’s just with your phone.

…gold boxes make you excited.

…Paypal upgraded your personal account to a merchant one because of all the buying you do off eBay and forums…

…you harbour a secret desire to be caught candid on Tokyo Camera Style, if you happen to be visiting Tokyo.

…you actually think about what camera you’d like to be caught with on Tokyo Camera Style.

…you look for exif data in adult images.

…you run your iPhone images through ACR and Photoshop

…you use keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop at the same speed you type normally

…you carry at least one camera at all times. And you know how to use it.

…you keep a spare camera/ battery/ tripod/ lens/ compact/ roll of film in your car

…you have more bags than your partner

…your partner just sighs and starts posing for you automatically when you bring home a new piece of equipment

…your partner can’t tell the difference between one piece of equipment and the next because you’ve got so much of it

…you have more memory cards than free hard drive space

…you ask if a car you’re interested in buying can carry a golf bag because it’s about the same size as your lighting bag

…umbrellas only come in two forms: bounce and shoot-through

…you select your spectacle lenses because they have a high T stop, low flare and low chromatic aberration

…you own all the adaptors necessary to mount any lens you own to any body you own, regardless of whether they are actually usable in practice or not

…you select your seat anywhere – a restaurant, an airplane, the park – based on the direction of light and the ambient composition in front of you

…you select your flights based on the light at that time of day and what the route probably flies over

…your wardrobe has a high component of black or white garments so you can control reflections

…those black or white garments are color-neutral and grey balanced

…poor lighting design at restaurants bothers you more than poor food

…seeing somebody use instagram to replicate an effect that’s actually a mistake, like cross-processing, makes you want to choke them with their phones

…the compression and colour gamut of Facebook bother you more than their draconian IP policy

…coffee is good for two things: making caffenol developer, and keeping you awake while you use the caffenol developer

…you really don’t want to date a model

…you don’t wear your wedding ring because it interferes with your manual focusing ability

…and your wife doesn’t give you hell for it

…you buy micro fibre t-shirts because they can also be used as lens cloths

…your micro fibre t-shirts have little holes at the bottom where the filter threads of your lenses cut through the material whilst you were using them as a lens cloth…

…you own an enlarger and you’re proud of it

…you look at the phone numbers 1-424-247-070 ext 200 or 1-635-247-028 and get excited

…on negotiating a taxi fare, the driver offers to use the meter. You reply ‘real pros don’t need a meter son, we use our eyeballs.’

…White Balance is not a political movement

…when an evangelist says the Trinity changed their lives, you ask if they went with the 14-24 or 17-35 for the wide end

…you dump your partner because they’re Nikon and you’re Canon or vice versa, and the two beliefs simply cannot coexist peacefully.

…when you overhear a colleague saying they’re taking Delta flight 100 on vacation, you suggest they might also like to try Acros or TMAX

…you go out of your way to photograph things other people specifically go out of their way to avoid: riots, extreme weather, wars, plagues, zombies…

…one day, you and some friends are discussing what constitutes emergency survival kit. You try to convince them a camera is an absolute must, then spend the rest of the evening in internal turmoil because you can’t decide if it should be digital or entirely mechanical and film, and if so, how much of which film to bring.

…you get motion sickness in a moving vehicle unless you’re shooting from it, then the motion is just annoying because it causes blur

…you can’t stand the sight of blood but would kill for the opportunity to photograph a live surgery, because that’s just awesome

…you look at hipstagram images and it annoys you that people choose the fake frame with ‘RVP100′ in the margins, but the image is faded and faux-vintagey-looking

…there’s at least one plain wall in your house to use as a backdrop

…your walls have no photographs hung because you can’t decide which ones deserve to be up there forever

…a random person asks you to take their photograph at a tourist site, and by the time you give the camera back to them, you’ve completely reconfigured it to your preferences and they can’t figure out how it works anymore

…a random person asks you to take their photograph at a tourist site, you take a look at their camera, and instead offer to take one with yours and email it to them

…random people at tourists sites always ask you to take their photograph because you’re the one carrying the most camera gear, ergo, you should know what you’re doing

…the photographer you fear/ respect/ loathe/ stalk/ are inspired by the most is the little ninja dude in the corner with the point and shoot or phone whom you never actually see shooting, but somehow produces the most amazing images you’ve ever seen

…you think 100mm is a long lens for shooting a pride of wild lions (sorry Nick!)

…you see a place through your viewfinder, not through your eyes

…you think about buying a 4K UHDTV just to view images on…in the long run, it’d be cheaper than printing, right?

…a ‘baryta’ is not the person who makes your coffee in Mexico

…you buy furniture that you think will photograph well, it doesn’t really matter if it’s comfortable to sit on or not

…mismatched fluorescent lightbulbs really bother you because it plays havoc with your white balance

…you are late to the opening night of your own exhibition not because you’re trying to be fashionable, but because you couldn’t decide which camera to bring

…you own an editing tablet

…you own more than one editing tablet, to match the size of your screen

…your editing tablet is so well-worn that by looking at which portions of it are shiny and reflective, you can tell where your Photoshop palettes are and if you’re left or right handed

…you can’t watch a movie with a camera in it and not be irritated at an existential level by the way it’s being handled

…you own a piece of plastic or other object that’s perfectly neutral grey under every lighting condition

…on a first date, you’re more interested in whether she/ he would look better photographed with a 50 or 85mm lens

…you know what licensing is

…it takes you longer to decide which cameras to bring on vacation than where to go in the first place

…A, C, E, F, G, K, L, M, P, R, S, T, X, Y are not just letters of the alphabet but have optical significance attached to them…

…’stock’ is not a soup base

…when you talk about the sums of money you spend with your ‘regular dealer’, people get a little concerned about you

…you get nostalgic at the smell of different films

…you get nostalgic at the smell of fixer

…you have brown fingertips from handling too much fixer

…you have cancer of the fingers from handling waaay too much fixer

…you watch an F1 race and the lolly pop man reminds you of a giant dodge and burn wand

…lolly pops remind you of dodge and burn wands

…souping up in the kitchen has nothing with anything that’s actually edible. Or soup, for that matter.

…Marissa Mayer’s statement about professional photographers insulted you.

…but her decision to use an overaggressive sharpening algorithm for downsizing on Flickr insulted you more.

…you can wake up at 5am for sunset sunrise but you can’t wake up at 7am for the daily commute

…you get an itchy shutter finger if you haven’t shot for a day or two

…your shutter finger has a callous on it right at the point you hit the release

…your cameras have names

…’the local’ is a not a bar/ pub, but a lab/ printer/ camera store/ rental house/ studio…and they save a seat for you!

…you get a sickie off your day job on Friday not because of laziness but so you can shoot a three day assignment over the weekend

…you don’t want to learn how to dive because you can’t afford a proper underwater housing

…’blimps’ in your world aren’t capable of flight

…you’ve seen and remember that photograph of the 70s-looking dude on a golf course in shorts with twelve cameras, none of them with lenses under 300mm, and one bazooka/ antitank weapon/ nuclear warhead/ 1200mm lens over his shoulder

…you think that flashing somebody is perfectly acceptable in public or polite company

…you think nothing of sticking an enormous threatening-looking tube in somebody’s face, then making machine-gun noises with it, smiling and walking away

…somebody asks you to recommend a camera, and eventually they fall asleep because your answer is too long

…somebody asks you to recommend a camera, and you ask them ‘how long is a piece of string?’

…somebody asks you to recommend a camera, and you tell them any camera will do, it’s the photographer that makes the difference

…somebody asks you to recommend a camera, and you send them a bunch of referral links

…somebody asks you to recommend a camera, and you suggest the most expensive thing you can find just to see if they’ll buy it

…somebody asks you to recommend a camera, and you try to sell them yours so you can upgrade

And the number one reason: you’re reading my site!

This photo was taken in bright direct sunlight.  I know, very harsh generally not pleasing conditions.  But given time constraints due to her schedule I was able to knock the contrast down with a silver reflector bouncing light on the left side.  Thai style lighting used, whitening the skin a little with the silver.  One would be hard pressed to notice any hint of harsh lighting, courtesy of using the reflector.  Processed in DPP correcting the white balance there and then converting to TIFF and then further processing in Photoshop CS6.  There I adjusted the levels, vibrance, and contrast, finishing with the Portrait Professional plug-in.

Som is a busy business woman in Jomtien, Thailand.  She owns and manages 2 condominium buildings, a salon & massage business, and three bars.  She is the proud mother of two daughters and a son.

Lightroom seems to the most popular editing software out there now and for good reason I suppose.  It's

inexpensive, easy to use and effective.  But sadly it's one program that I've never been attached to.  

Something about the cataloging system gets me.  I'm using multiple hard drives and back ups plus my workflow is

different than what works with Lightroom. 

Perhaps one day I'll sit down and make this Lightroom program work, bypassing ACR.  I've never been

a big fan of 3rd party RAW conversion software.  My thoughts are that the manufacturer of the RAW file

probably knows a great deal more about it than any other company possibly could.  And I have noticed

that this is indeed true, especially on new cameras.  Sometimes the noise reduction, color, etc. isn't quite

right with the 3rd party software as compared with the OEM's.

My workflow goes as follows, DPP (Digital Photo Professional) a free software supplied by Canon to convert

and cull my RAW files, and Photoshop to process my keepers.  The only thing really missing that Lightroom

adds is the Clarity slider.  I've added a Clarity plug-in from Topaz.  A little clunky perhaps, but workable.

There is much dismay with Photoshop about everything going to the Cloud and subscriptions becoming

mandatory.  I was listening to Jim Hammer's blog last night and he was reporting that even Lightroom might

be going to the cloud.

My thoughts on all of this cloud stuff are I think I'll hang on to Photoshop as long as I can.  I did pay for the

software anyway and will continue using DPP for RAW conversion.  Hopefully by the time my versions of

Photoshop become inaccessible or unusable there will be alternatives out there.

What alternatives you ask?  Well one of my favorite photography forums just answered that for me today. 

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1250822

If you drill down to about the 7th post you'll see all kinds of alternate software out there already.

I'll go ahead and post those alternatives here in case you don't want to open the above link.  Enjoy!

Aperture - Download / Site - Good/average but a little slow, OS X only AFAIK.
CaptureOne Pro - Download / Site - Probably the best there is.
The Gimp - Download / Site - The last 2 or 3 point releases are excellent!
CinePaint - Download / Site - Very powerful but used to have stability problems on Mac/Win - I dunno current.
PS Plugins 4 Gimp - Download / Site - Haven't tried it but used similar for LightWave3D which worked well!
Matlab - Download / Site - Excellent but very technical and not good for photo editing.
PaintShop Pro - Download / Site - Excellent tool but same experience a lot of crashes.
Photo Impact - Download / Site - I have no experience with this one.
AfterShot Pro - Download / Site - Extremely promising but needs a few bug fixes!
Pixelmator - Download / Site - Sexy and fun but I dunno if I would base a workflow on it with no 16bit support.
GraphicConverter - Download / Site - Excellent but better for web and game graphics than photography, OS X only AFAIK.
RAW Therapee - Download / Site - Haven't really tested any of the latest versions.
ImageJ - Download / Site - Never used it but it looks like a web and game tool not really a photo editor.
PhotoLine - Download / Site - Excellent, I dunno why I don't use it more.
PhotoShop Elements - Download / Site - Scaled Down cheaper version of Photoshop.
PhotoShop CC - Download / Site - Excellent, this is what I use most, that and CS6.
LightRoom - Download / Site - Scaled down Photoshop with workflow streamlines GUI.
Acorn - Download / Site - Very simple features - I never used it - it's supposed to be fast.
AVS Photo Editor - Download / Site - I dunno but older versions were OK-ish - no Mac.
ACDSee Pro - Download / Site - Excellent but not worth the asking price IMO!
F-Spot - Download / Site - Excellent, there may be Mac or Windows compiles of it.
PhotoStudio - Download / Site - Excellent but I haven't used it all that much.
Silkypix Dev Studio - Download / Site - I think excellent but I only really feature-checked it.
ArtRage Studio Pro - Download / Site - Excellent unique PSD compatible editor - no RAW support last I checked.
Photogenics - Download / Site - Raw support but mostly just good for HDRI editing.
Photo Mechanic - Download / Site - Excellent, simple editing, good cataloging.
DigiKam - Download / Site - Looks excellent, it's strengths are DB interfacing and organizing.
Erdas Imagine - Download / Site - Never used it the dox say it's good for geospatial image processing and analysis.
Krita - Download / Site - Haven't used it much.
PhotoPerfect - Download / Site Never used it before.
Photo Plus - Download / Site - It's supposed to be good, <shrug>
Zoner Photo Studio - Download / Site - Excellent, shareware.
Project DogWaffle - Download / Site - Awesome but really more of an animator's paintbox than a photo editor.
UF-Raw - Download / Site - I've heard of this but never tried it.
RawStudio - Download / Site - Beats me, looks worth trying.
DxO Optics Pro - Download / Site - Excellent, very structured workflow.
Forografix - Download / Site - Ultra simplistic, pretty average results.
Photo Filtre - Download / Site - Looks very powerful, Windows only.
Paint.NET - Download / Site - Windows only I think. Looks nice.
Photo Ninja - Download / Site - Looks OK... I have no experience with it yet.

Please keep in mind I can't be held responsible for any of the above links, as far as I know they are good links

and nothing malicious is involved.

Until next time, happy shooting!

Roger

Issan Home near Korat

The above photo was taken during a morning hike in the back roads in Issan near Korat.  It was beautiful out

there and I keep telling myself I'm going back someday.  Iirc I was using a Canon Rebel XT with the kit lens,

handheld.

studying their methods, quotes and so on.

Anyway I keep on seeing and reading some of these quotes and thought, wow, I've got to remember this, or dang,

how true.  Then I thought, why not put or keep some of my favorites in a place that's accessible to others also?  I

truly believe that other photographers such as myself will enjoy these quotes also.

Please comment or add any famous or not so famous quotes that you enjoy and I'll add them to this page.

You can find it on the home page, drop down menu that says Photographs and Other Stuff, Famous Photographer

quotes, or just click here.

Thanks and enjoy!

The above photo was taken during a night market in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Mother and child were selling

souvenirs and other stuff each enjoying an ice cream bar.   Shot with the Canon 50L F1.2 wide open

with existing light, it was dark. 

This next month will a busy one as we are already booking clients for the 3 weeks that I'll be in the Pattaya/Jomtien area.

Stay tuned for more updates!

The below photo was metered about -1 stop of ambient and a fill flash to the camera left using a bounce card off the flash.  The overhead lighting was pink in color, the flash helped to wash out a lot of that.

have no plans :-).  My focus will be to shoot anything and everything that looks interesting, possibly a trip to the

islands for a night or two.

Stay tuned, more to come picture wise along with some simple and easy to understand tutorials.  I firmly believe

in the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) theory.  My focus will be in flash and white balance.  The subjects will be the

locals, flowers, markets, wildlife, nightlife and portraits.

Btw, I'll be reorganizing and restructuring this website bit by bit, feel free to leave any comments and or suggestions.

Thanks for reading!