52/365 - Day 43

This is a "wood rose." It's not dead...that's what it looks like when it blooms. Notice the unopened bloom in the bottom of the picture.

Week 7 - Composition: Fill the Frame

This week's challenge is another composition technique: Fill the Frame.

Here is the assignment:
One very simple technique for improving your photos is to move in closer to your subject and fill the frame. Filling the frame means that your subject is the only thing in the photograph. By filling the frame with your subject, you remove any distracting surrounding clutter and make it obvious what your intended target was. Filling the frame also makes for a more compelling photograph. For example, a photograph of an athlete from far away in the middle of a field is much less compelling than a closer look at their facial expression as the athlete battles for a ball. A portrait of person from far away isn’t nearly as personal or interesting as a full shot of the person’s face. There are two ways to fill the frame:

• Use a telephoto lens and zoom in on your subject.
• Move your feet closer to your subject.

Challenge: 1. Choose a subject to photograph. Fill the frame with your subject and take a shot using Manual mode. (Remember to set the ISO and white balance.) 2. Move back a few steps or reduce your focal length and take a shot of the same subject. Adjust your settings if necessary. 3. Compare the 2 photographs to see which one is more interesting and compelling.

I used the second way to get close to my subject...I got right in her face!

Here are three examples of filling the frame:


f/5.6
1/50
ISO-100
55mm
AWB - Shade
No Flash















f/5.6
1/30
ISO-100
55mm
AWB - Shade
No Flash















f/5.6
1/40
ISO-100
55mm
AWB - Shade
No Flash














Here are two of the same subject doing the same thing, but from slightly farther back:


f/5.0
1/30
ISO-100
43mm
AWB - Shade
No Flash


f/5.6
1/20
ISO-100
55mm
AWB - Shade
No Flash
















You can see that the event (First Lollipop) is captured better in the close-ups. Those photos are more interesting and show more detail. You can really tell she is enjoying that apple sucker. Also, the distractions of the stroller pattern and the blaring light in the top corner are removed when I moved in close and filled the frame.

I tend to fill the frame 90% of the time when I am shooting. Sometimes, I need to remember to move back a little though. When processing the prints, I tend to forget that when making enlargements, the image gets clipped a little and I unfortunately lose some of the photo when going from a 4X6 to a 5X7 because of the ratio/proportions.

52/365 - Day 42

She is holding Flash, our Bearded Dragon, for the first time.

52/365 - Day 41

Not a technically great image...I didn't even use my "big" camera. Just a quick shot with the "purse camera" of the pile of beads (from this past weekend) that Amelia created in the middle of the living room. She is having so much fun playing with them.

Week 6 - Composition & The Rule of Thirds

This week's lesson from the weekly ScrapShare Photography Challenge was about composition. For this week's composition lesson, the goal was to apply "The Rule of Thirds" when shooting. Instead of positioning the subject directly in the center of the frame, you can create a more interesting shot by placing them off center...imagine cutting the frame into 9 equal parts and utilizing those parts for visual appeal.

Here are a few shots I have so far that illustrate this concept.

The first two shots show a little blue heron: the first one centered withing the frame and the second one applying the Rule of Thirds. Personally, The second photo is a bit more interesting, although it would have been better if the lighting was better...the little heron blends in with the rocks a bit too much!


f/5.6
1/640
ISO-200
55mm focal length
AWB - Custom
















f/6.3
1/640
ISO-200
55mm focal length
AWB - Custom















The next set of pictures all show some form of using the Rule of Thirds rather than centering the subject within the frame.


f/10
1/160
ISO-100
18mm focal length
AWB - Custom

In this one, the clown (subject) is to the far right of the image rather than centered.


f/13
1/400
ISO-100
55mm focal length
AWB - Custom

In this photo, there is more sky than water. I tried to take this shot so that the horizon line would not divide the photo into two equal parts.


f/10
1/200
ISO-100
43mm focal length
AWB - Custom

The sailboat (subject) was shot to take up the full frame from top to bottom, but was placed to the far right of the frame rather than center.

52/365 - Day 40

I went to a Sushi Class tonight...had a blast. This is a shot of my California Roll. Not the best shot, but I liked the shallow depth of field in this one!

52/365 - Day 39

And this is just a glimpse of what you can see up and down Bayshore Blvd. after the Parade of Pirates! What a mess!

52/365 - Day 38

I was out of town without access to a computer with photo upload capabilities...so here are the pics for the 52/365 Challenge for Saturday and Sunday.


This is the beginning of the pirate invasion at Gasparilla as the pirate ship and a large flotilla of other boats invade the harbor and dock at the Convention Center before taking the keys to city from the Mayor (whom I actually know).

Random Picture Challange

Coming to you every Saturday from Brittany's Blog


This week the photo comes from March 2008, 10th folder, 5th picture from the end.

Feeding the giraffes at the zoo...she loves animals no matter how big or small! She always want to reach out and touch every single one of them...no matter fuzzy or scaly!

52/365 - Day 37

Crooked Tree!

Going out of town...watch for Saturday and Sunday's pictures when I get back! See you on the other side...

52/365 - Day 36

A beautiful dragonfly that we saw today while on a hike at Bill Sadowski Park.

52/365 - Day 35

Grilled Ham & Cheese...one of my favorite lunches!

52/365 - Day 34

Ahh...storytime at Pottery Barn Kids...waiting for the story teller always means playing with the cool toys she'll never have! Not that I am completely opposed to the idea of her having a play kitchen, but certainly not at those prices. Can you believe that for three peices of the Pottery Barn Kitchen you would have to fork over almost $700...for a toy that would get played with, abused, and then abandoned...not to mention my feminist hang-up with the whole idea...no way...that's a 24-70 L lens!

I'm Late...but whatever!

I should have started on January 1st with this challenge, but hey, better late than never. And I figure the more photos I take. the better I will get.

This challenge is about taking one photo every day! There are lots of blogs and websites hosting this, but I got the idea from Shirley's blog and found some great challenge information over at PhotoJojo.

Being that today is the 3rd of February, I will be starting on Day 34...so here goes to taking my camera everywhere I go! Who knows what I will find each day to take pictures of...and when all else fails, there's always Amelia (my favorite subject).

Week 5 - Manual Mode

I knew it was coming...shooting in full manual. This makes me a little nervous, but I learned a lot and am much less timid about being a manual shooter.

Here is the assignment for this week:
In full manual mode, you control all of the settings on your camera – shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, etc. Most professional photographers shoot in full manual mode because they have more control over their settings and they can achieve exactly what you are after creatively. To amateur photographers shooting in manual mode can seem complicated and overwhelming, but with practice, shooting in manual mode gets easier.

When I am shooting in manual mode, I try to remember the acrostic LISA White:
L – Lens
I – ISO
S – Shutter speed
A – Aperture
White – White balance

This helps me to remember everything I need to set before shooting in manual mode.

When deciding how to set aperture and shutter speed, first think about what kind of photo you are taking. If you are taking an action shot and you wanted to freeze the action, you would want to choose your shutter speed first then set the proper aperture for a proper exposure. If you want a shallow depth of field, choose a small f-number first and then set the proper shutter speed for a proper exposure.

The way to tell when you have a proper exposure is to look at the exposure line which can be seen when looking through the viewfinder. It looks like a line scale with a center mark or a zero in the center. When the marker is on the center or at zero, you have a properly exposed shot. When the marker is to the left of center, your shot is underexposed. When the marker is to the right of center, your shot is overexposed. A properly exposed shot means that it is neither overexposed nor underexposed.

Challenge:

1. Take an action shot setting your shutter speed to a fast setting and then set the aperture for a proper exposure by following the exposure line and adjusting the marker to zero. Remember to set the proper ISO and white balance.

2. Put your hand behind your back and pat yourself on the back because you just shot in full manual mode!

3. Take the same shot underexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the left of center.)

4. Take the same shot overexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the right of center.)

5. Take a portrait with a shallow depth of field setting your aperture to the smallest f-number and then set the shutter for a proper exposure by following the exposure line. Remember to set the proper ISO and white balance.

6. Take the same shot underexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the left of center.)

7. Take the same shot overexposed by 1 (the marker on the exposure line will be to the right of center.)

So, here are my shots. I shot three different subjects and played with the f/stops and shutter speeds. All shots were taken with a Canon 20D, 18-55mm lens (which I am started to strongly dislike after this challenge!), no flash. I set the White Balance depending on the situation and lighting available.

Set 1:

Correctly Exposed
f/7.1
1/200
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade



Under Exposed
f/10
1/200
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade



Over Exposed
f/5.6
1/200
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade



This was the easiest set for me. Manatees don't move much so I had plenty of time to play with the settings. Might be why "little intimidated me" decided to shoot this first.

Set 2:

Correctly Exposed
f/9
1/100
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade










Under Exposed
f/9
1/160
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade










Over Exposed
f/9
1/60
ISO 100
55mm
AWB - Shade











This one was pretty easy as far as the adjustment went...but I think I like the over exposed shot the best. I started with lens disappointment with this shoot because I could not make my lens open up any further than f/9...I wanted the blurred background to be more dramatic. That 50mm lens is in my immediate future!

Set 3:

Correctly Exposed
f/5.6
1/4000
ISO 800
54mm
AWB - Sunny










Over Exposed
f/5.6
1/2000
54mm
AWB - Sunny












Under Exposed
f/5.6
1/6400
ISO 800
54mm
AWB - Sunny










This is the one that confused me. I left the f/stops constant and played with the shutter speed...but I did the same thing for the portraits. I also had a lot of difficulty with the lighting. While it appears to be sunny on the court, I was sitting in almost complete and dark shade. The lighting was forever changing and I could not get a decent shot without flash so I increased the ISO. Trying to do this same thing at the park was virtually impossible...I had to use flash in order to get a shot where you could actually see the faces....the shadows were just too much...so I scrapped the park in favor of these nice people who allowed me to take pictures while they finished their game.

Another note: I had a hard time keeping the exposure line in the right place. Every time I would get it centered, I would go to take the shot and the exposure line would move left of right...the light just had a life of its own at this location.

At least the tennis ball is completely stopped!

Remember that you can click on the images to see them larger and then click the back button to get back to the blog. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think, and as always, constructive criticism is always welcome!