Tag Archives: photo technique

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Break the Rules!

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Ritva states this week’s challenge like this: “We work so hard to learn the photography rules (at least I do), but now it is time to BREAK them!! The problem is just that in order to break a rule, you must know that there is a rule in the first place!”

Well, I never really studied photography, but Ann-Christine from the blog “Leya” was kind enough to post this graphic, which I found on Etsy:

So, it would seem that there are “rules” for composition, and probably rules for light exposure, focus, color treatment, and maybe a lot more factors as well. And what would be the point of breaking any of these rules? Possibly it would open an opportunity to “see” something quite differently. For instance, what if your group shot didn’t include faces, but feet?

This shot will always remind me of standing in the rain in New Orleans with my family as we waited for a table at a popular restaurant.

And what if you hadn’t prepared for a shot in any way at all but just pointed your camera at something happening around you at took your chances? You might record a moment of spontaneous action, Life in all its unpredictable beauty.

And what if the only thing you get is cluttered and out of focus and poorly lit – but happens to be exactly how the scene felt? When there just isn’t time to follow the rules, maybe it’s better to live in the moment and improvise. Get jazzed!

singer
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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Cinematic

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lilac

This week’s challenge is “Cinematic“, hosted by Sofia. She describes the theme this way:

“There are a few things that give a photo that cinematic feel: camera angles, bold and high-contrast colors, light, locations, just to name a few. The main objective is to take a shot that is part of a story, there’s mood and a sense of location; our image is but a snapshot of a much wider situation.”

My opening image was taken in a meadow that always reminds me of the opening scene in The Sound of Music. Imagine the helicopter shot through the clouds, and the camera swooping closer to Julie Andrews as she begins to spread her arms and sing. The cinematography is iconic and plays up the contrast between a sweeping landscape and a single character. Background and foreground allude to a wider situation. If I were to expand on my image, I’d imagine the camera panning down to a vase of lilacs on a picnic blanket, a bottle of wine, a loaf of bread, a wheel of cheese, and two fascinating characters…perhaps a talking Douglas squirrel and Steller’s jay.

Two movies stand out in my mind for their cinematography. The Brutalist is a 2024 film that looks and feels just like the title. It’s full of abstract, angular shots. I felt as I was watching it that I was less aware of the story than I was of the photography.

The second movie that came to my mind is Lawrence of Arabia. I was advised to see it on the big screen so that the cinematography could have its full affect on me. I will never forget the desert sunrise scene. It has been hailed as the “greatest cut of all”, a close-up shot of the main character blowing out a match, and then the desert sun rising on the horizon in an extremely sparse long shot. Of course, the music enhances the scene: eerie and mesmerizing, then triumphant and glorious.

I feel like ending this with a 1970s “rom-com” shot…

Thanks, Sofia! This was super fun. 🙂

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Behind (Backgrounds)

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What’s your back story?

What creates the context of this moment?

What supports and informs the action playing out in the foreground?

There is always so much more history to a scene than we can ever imagine. Eons of evolution, dependent and co-arising, have gone into this particular instance and presentation of matter.

Background is a LOT. It can be overwhelming and distracting. Sometimes we minimize it in order to pay attention to the immediate subject.

Perhaps there is great wisdom in the practice of selecting and managing the background to our focus and our living when possible, while being humbly aware that there is so much more involved. We are all part of an interdependent web of life.

There is always more than we can comprehend at play. Be kind. Be humble.

Thank you, Ritva, for inviting us into this challenge. Do visit HER POST to learn great tips on background composition.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Tell Us Why

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Tina of Travels and Trifles is an award-winning photographer. Her challenge this week is a tough one: “choose up to a MAXIMUM OF TEN images which are your all-time favorites. No matter the subject or how long ago they were taken, you need to TELL US WHY you chose them. If you select images for their sentimental value they should still be strong from a technical perspective.“

This one always gets great reviews, and I’ve posted it a few times. It’s got the “WOW!” factor of an exceptional landscape that shows depth, scale, color, and unique geographical features. Steve is the human scale model in the lower third, perfectly placed. I love how it turned out! I also love that it was an absolute WOW moment in real life. We’d driven a long way from Wisconsin to the Badlands of South Dakota, and this was our first view of the Sage Creek Wilderness, where we’d be camping. We pulled over at this vista to stretch our legs and take a look. And yes, WOW!

This one is a shot that I was really excited about. I had just bought myself my first digital camera for my 50th birthday and was learning how to use it. We were out on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail when these sandhill cranes suddenly took flight just yards away from us. I quickly shot off my new Canon without even looking at the settings, and this is what I got. I was thrilled! The clarity, color, wing position, composition with birds and clouds…everything came together in an instant without any forethought. What luck!

I think I did a pretty good job depicting this iconic Wisconsin landmark. I got the rule of thirds in the composition, great Fall color, and an interesting sky. After I posted it, someone contacted me asking to use the image on a Memorial Service leaflet. I consented proudly.

I was both thrilled and terrified when my son asked me to do his wedding photo shoot. Outdoors, to boot. I’d never studied portrait photography, never even played around with it much. The weather was perfect, fill-in flash helped eliminate shadows, somehow I got the lighting to work with their very contrasting skin tones, but the fact that they’re both ridiculously photogenic was my absolute best strategy. It all worked out beautifully! I love the old-fashioned lace and the Mona Lisa smile in this one.

This one may be my technical best. I took a long time playing with exposure settings to get the water to do that impressive silky thing. Then a Lens-Artist Challenge taught me how to soften the image in post processing (thank you, Bren Brashley!) to create a dreamy look that I really love. This is Alsea Falls in Oregon, my new home state, so it also represents a journey.

These four just prove that there are plenty of fascinating things in the natural world that make great images when you capture them in their ordinary splendor. Color, depth of field, cropping, and getting close make them stand out.

This final one is my favorite as a photo journal; it really tells a story. There’s mood and action, reflection and great light. Plus, it’s my daughter on the Oregon Coast, so it’s sentimental to me.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my favorite photos…again. And learning why I think they’re special. I love seeing your favorites, your travels, and hearing your stories. Thanks, Lens-Artists!

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Bringing Softness

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Bren of Brashley Photography is the guest host for this week’s challenge. She has an amazing studio aesthetic and creates beautifully dreamy photographs. She inspired me to find out what my very limited software can do. I don’t have Photoshop or Lightroom, just the editing software that came with my Canon and the Microsoft jpeg editor that’s on my laptop. I did discover a Clarity tool and a Vignette tool that I’ve never used before. I wish I had the spot focus tool that Bren mentioned because I can see how a little pop of clarity would greatly enhance my photos. Nevertheless, following her suggestions, I came up with a few new versions of flower and landscape favorites:

When I got my first Canon in 1979, there was a soft-focus style of photography that I learned could be achieved by smearing a filter with Vaseline or stretching a nylon stocking over the lens. I’m really glad I can play around with this affect without those measures!

Thank you, Bren, for the fun of this challenge and the invitation to Dreamland.