Time to Click: Last thoughts

As I close this series, I truly hope I have inspired, and taught each of you something that you didn't know before.

I have said it many time and I will tell you again in case you have missed it... I am an "explainer." That's my job. That's a passion. I LOVE to share my knowlage and give you the "why" not just tell you this is how you should do something... or tell you what a button does... but to paint you a picture of WHY you might want to use it!

This month was FULL of technical explanations, and loads of information... mostly so we have a place to build on together. I am focused and committed to expanding your photography world. I hope you will continue to be a part of the discussion and let me know what helped you, where you are still struggling... or even submit your images for review, and help! I LOVE doing that!

Now... I used to play a game with my class at the end of our basic photography series - So I thought I would do the same for you. Below are 5 images. Comment below, or send me an email (vertephoto at gmail dot com) 

Include: The name of the composition used (or compositions if more then one), and what type of mode (aperture, shutter speed, or scene mode) was most likely used. From the entries I will draw names and I will send you a surprise! Who doesn't like a surprise?

Here are the images: note: Not all of these are my images... some are simply awesome!

1.

2.

3.

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/08/08/18/

4.

5.

Good Luck!

Time to Click: Composition

Did you know there are basic rules that photographers follow... it's not all technical and functional!

Composition from Wikipedia is described as:  the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art or a photograph, as distinct from the subject of a work. It can also be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art.
The term composition means 'putting together,' and can apply to any work of art, from music to writing to photography, that is arranged or put together using conscious thought.


So to kick off our "putting it all together" week... I thought what better place to start then the real down and dirty... core element of photography... Composition. 

There are several "rules of composition" that photographers commonly follow. Here are some of my fav's! 

(I have posted some of this prior, if it seems familiar... this is a much more in depth and inclusive list)

1. Fill the Frame with your subject. (imagine if Dad was shown... it would really limit what you could see of baby! Plus it would make him look HUGE because she is SO small!)

 #2 If your subject is TALLER then they are WIDE, shoot VERTICAL

#3 If your subject is WIDER then they are TALL shoot horizontally

Note: If you cant get what you need with your camera's zoom or lens, use your physical zoom... YOUR LEGS! Move yourself closer or farther to be able to fit your subject!

Leading Lines: When we look at an image our eye is naturally drawn along lines. These lines can be made from a background such as a road, bricks, steps, as well as using people and your pose to create it!  Look for lines within your image to create interest and tell the viewer where to look! Check out your favorite scenic shot... I bet you find a leading line in it!

Lines from the elbows up to the topmost head

Perspective or Viewpoint: Before photographing your subject, take time to think about where you will shoot it from. Rather than shooting from eye level, consider photographing from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, change it up!

Angled Down

Rule of 3rd's: Imagine you have a tic-tac-toe board over your frame. It is separated into 9 equal parts with 2 vertical and 2 horizontal lines. This rule says that you should position the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect. Filling either 1/3rd or 2/3s of your frame to do so.

NOTE! Some cameras even offer an option to superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen! This is EXTRA handy when shooting anything with a horizon line so you can keep your perspective and horizon straight!

Balancing Elements: Sometimes having a subject on one side of the frame, may leave a lot of empty space on the other, and it may feel unbalanced especially in scenic photography. You can balance the "weight" of your subject my including another object of lesser importance to fill that space.

Symmetry and Patterns: Capturing a pattern, or symmetry in your image can make for breath taking views and amazing scenic photography. This image is framed amazingly, with a full square shown around the border, patterns in the windows and symmetry on both sides. Sometimes adding an item of interest or (in portrait photography) your subject into this will break the symmetry but create more interest.  I am hard pressed to find a better example of Symmetry and Pattern for you, however I wish the bucket was larger (or more preferred it was a little girl playing on the side of the steps) to better showcase the broken effect.

The symmetry of this chapel is broken by the bucket in the bottom right corner. Image by Fabio Montalto.

Framing Your Subject: While the above image does create it's own frame along the edge... Framing your subject typically applies to using things to highlight your subject. Utilizing natural elements or props to "frame" out your subject. Trees, holes, archways, shadows, grass, door frames... even real "frames"!

©VertePhotography

Background: The human eye is great at distinguishing between subjects and backgrounds. Your camera however does tend to flatten the image, and subjects tend to "get lost" into busy backgrounds. Creating images that are not as dramatic or engaging as the could be. You can control your background with aperture, backdrops, or even light placement to create the perfect image.

Example of a "lost" background opportunity.

Clean backgrounds make products pop!

Amazing baby... distracting background.

Priceless

Well there you go... a more in-depth look at composition and how it will effect, change and improve your photography! Keep in mind, several of these images have more then one technique being used... besides the baby who's image I used twice, can you find some? Be sure to comment below and let me know!

Time to click: Red eyes

While we are talking about flash this week... I thought I would take a few moments to explain why you get Red eye, (or pet eye sometimes called eye-shine - with the green or white reflections in animals), and a few ways you can prevent it!

First, lets look at what the science is behind Red Eye's.

Red-eye's in photos are effectively the reflection off of the back of an eye.  Typically you will notice them in lower light situations, or when an intense flash is used. The Flash enters the pupil from a direct angle, and reflects off the blood vessels in the back of the eye. That light then exits the eye headed back to the camera.  The closer the flash is to the lens (like shown above) the more direct the reflection path is back to the lens....

So how do you reduce, eliminate, or fix Red-eyes?

1. Change the position of your flash.

When the flash is moved away from the lens it hits the reye at an angle, and reflects back at an angle as well... just like the ball in a game of pool hitting the edge of the table. So the further away your light sorce is from your lens, the less you will have red eye from your camera to start with.  By using a flash with a bounce option you will see a drastic change in your end result.

Not only do you see the rest of the room.. but there is no more red eyes!

This is great with cameras that have an attached flash, or the ability to use an additional flash, but if you don't you will need to be more creative in your solutions!

2. Turn on Additional Lights in the room! The less intense your flash is the less chance of red eye as well. If you have the abilty to ADD light to your situation this will lessen your need for flash (or the intensity of it) and it will allow your subjects pupils to contract. Smaller pupils mean less light coming into the pupil and less light being reflected back out!

3. Use Red-eye reduction flash function.

Yep! It's what we just reviewed yesterday, and it is a functional option. The theory is that it will give eyes a chance to adjust to the brighter light allowing pupils to contract, before the flash fires. Just be sure to warn your subjects.

4. Change YOUR shooting angle.
Just because you can't change where your flash is, doesn't mean you can't change the angle of where your flash is hitting an eye! Grab a chair and shoot down at your subject, (more flattering then kneeling shooting up at them! Trust me, no one likes images shot up their nose). Or move to the left or right and have everyone look slightly over your shoulder not directly at the camera!

5. Kick up your  ISO setting.
Bet you didn't know you could change your film speed on a digital camera did you? ha! In truth its still called ISO, but its really the sensitivity of your chip and how they see light that your changing. Just like in film, the higher the number the better it is in lower light situations... but also the more "grain" or in digital terms "noise" your image will have. Typically your camera on "auto ISO" will shoot the lowest number available for the lighting situation. If your overriding.. no need to go crazy a 400 or 800 is usually just fine for most indoor situations where your still using flash. Yes, your flash will automatically know of this change and compensate by not being so intense... there for reducing your red eye!

6. Shoot, and Edit later.
Any photo editing or viewing software worth ANYTHING, has some sort of basic red eye removal tool. I personally don't like suggesting you do anything that REQUIRES you to have to spend time editing. However, it is a real option and you can choose to do it. Just promise me, like cropping you will do this on your computer for better results, no need to make your camera do it! (Yes, some have the option to do small edits like this in the camera.)

Eye Shine: While effectively the same as red eye in humans, eye-shine or pet eye is typically greenish or clear. Because some animals have the addition of a reflective layer behind the retina.  This layer is called the tapetum lucidum (Latin for “bright tapestry”).  The obvious advantage of this design is the increased availability of light for the retina. The draw back, making for poor pet photos.

This effect causes an equally haunting iridescent glow in the eyes (typically green).  Take a normally cute and cuddly creature and photograph them with a harsh flash and they will look absolutely demonic. It is also the effect behind the “deer in the headlights” look. So why, do you ask did the cat at the beginning have red eyes? Because blue eyed cat's tend to reflect red. In fact, my red tipped Siamese will shine red in regular house lights... no flash needed. Creepy right?

Unfortunately they don't like all the above solutions so well.. especially telling them where to look.  Fortunately, all the same things will work! You just have to find one your pet wont mind sitting still for!

Latest Coffee Mug Swap

First a big shout out to Heather from Heatherly Loves who put together this great mug swap that I was lucky enough to get an invitation too. If you don't know Heather, shes super fun, and crafty and I highly recommend you check her out, and get to know her via her blog, pintrest or even twitter. 

I really enjoy doing these swaps... not just because I get a new mug, but because I learn so much about the person I get to send something to. AND I must say it is always interesting to me to see what is selected as a mug that fits my personality and interests.

For this swap I was partnered with Megan from Whimsically Homemade
whimsicallyhomemade.blogspot.com
http://pinterest.com/whimsicallyhome/

Since this was a partner - I sent something to her, and she back to me! Which I LOVE btw!

For her, I was very thoughtless and completely forgot to send her a note with her mug. So Megan, I am sorry for that! I was so proud of myself for getting it shipped early - I ran straight from the store to the USPS store and didn't think of it again until I saw your SUPER cute card!

I had been to the Whimsically Homemade blog before, and it stuck in my mind due to the owl theme. Which I thought super cute to start with... but as I dove in as a stalker, I found there is so much more to the gals on that blog. But when I came across your mug in the Halloween section, I couldn't resist it! If you want to know what I found - check out Megan's post on Whimsically Homemade

For those of you reading so patiently to me ramble on - Megan more then out-did herself on finding just the right mug for me! As I mentioned it came with a super cute card and handwritten note.

Go Green - in French... how adorably perfect! I don't know where you found it - but I cant think of anything that would have been better! Thanks so much for being so thoughtful!

 If you enjoyed this reveal - you should check out the others on the Reveal Link Up!

PhotoTrek: Butterfly Pavillion Denver

Not so long ago we took out annual extended vacation to Denver to visit friends and family. While we did several wonderful adventures there, one of my favorites was a quick afternoon trip with my mom and daughter to the Butterfly Pavilion.

Located in Westminster, if your from Denver you know this place, if your not and looking for a quick afternoon activity it's a great place to hang out!  Now, I went here maybe 10 years ago or so, and I left saying "really, thats all?" since then they have beefed up some exhibits, added in a kid play room complete with a learning maze.. cute idea! They also now have a large creepy crawly room host to loads of spiders, bugs and these bazaar things that look like sticks... I'm not big on this room - but my daughter loved it... of course. There was also a new small room which displays some fish, stingrays, and starfish which you can touch... now I know "whhhat?" - but this ties to a partnership with the Butterfly Pavilion and the Denver Aquarium - plus its a nice feature to get kids hand on with nature.In fact, I have to say the best part was the interaction with the kids. While I enjoyed it from a photographers perspective, watching my daughter interact was by far the best part!

The butterfly room is small and you sometimes have to work around other photographers and viewers in order not to have someone in your shot. But patience pays off. If you know me you know I am not a nature photographer, I DON'T have the patience for that, waiting for something to land or for the light to be right just is not my thing, much less working around other people all trying to do the same thing. However, even with my limited investment of time I found some great stock images, along with some very cute memories.

PhotoTrek Review: 7 out of 10 Camera

We went on a Tuesday afternoon expecting it not to be super busy, and while there were only about 40 people, the tight spaces made it hard to maneuver or camp out a spot. Just when the butterfly would land, someone would turn the corner causing it to fly off.

Equipment Suggested:  Macro lens, with a large aperture. No flash. I would HIGHLY recommend a camera bag as they have misters and high humidity which could cause camera damage if your not prepared.

All images are ©Verte Photography. 

If you would like to own them or use them as stock photography please contact me for options.