DigaPixBlog

The clever photographer sees beyond the scene as it is presented.  They see the final image this is sometimes called pre-visualization.  Knowing what you want the end result to be and how to get there is why skill and experience will always be more important than the type of equipment used.

This photographer knew where he wanted the final image to go and how to get there.  Through the use of a zoom focus and spot flash they have created a composition that goes well beyond the presented scene.  The viewer should note how the light form the points of illumination are extended out from the center of the composition while the woman’s face is sharp and lit separately from the rest of the layout. 

The placement of the subject on the right of center backlit agent the simple texture of the trees draws our attention to her while at the same time the viewer is fascinated by the streaks of light emanating from the jack-O-lanterns.

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The nice thing about digital cameras is that the pixels are cheap.  You can play and play and play and all you will do is run down the batteries.  If you have a subject you want to work with you can shoot it a hundred times a hundred different ways and not spend one cent more for the resulting images.  The only thing limiting the number of photos you take is your imagination.

This stop action photograph is amazing.  The water droplets captured in midair and flowing from the crater in the top of the apple are fascinating.  The inverted images of the environment seen in the suspended drops shows a viewer greater than is visible in the frame and you will note that these small images are sharper then you would anticipate.  The cant of the apple surface sloping away to the right adds additional interest to the composition.  I also like the dappled gray background selected.  It lets the midair drops standout without any competition for our attention.

The composition is well thought out.  You will not that the stream of drops is not on the center ling of the illustration but at about one fourth distance from the right hand frame.  The lighting is also interesting with most of the illumination falling on the upper portion of the apple and leaving the pool of water at about a stop and a half under exposed. 

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I want to encourage every amateur photographer to experiment and try new techniques.  You have nothing to lose and you may just learn something, even from your mistakes, and once in a while you will get an image you are proud of.  Don’t just stick with what you already know try something different.

This long exposure image was taken after sunset at a time that appeared to have little or no light in the sky.  The photographer tried an experiment and came up with these interesting colors and cloud patterns in the sky.  You will note the visible small squares in the upper left hand corner.  These are what are called noise in digital camera; this is roughly comparable to grain in film.  A digital camera builds up heat when opened for long periods of time and thus noise is a result in the image.  There is computer software that will correct for this condition.  The photographer has created an interesting experiment.

The image could use a stronger subject.  The silhouette does not have a subject of much interest and the graphics are not particularly strong.  I do like the cloud formation on the right and the light cast on the distant hill.  I would suggest to the photo-artist that they continue working with long exposures and learn as much as you can by solving the technical issues and finding strong subjects to work with.

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You don’t have to believe in psychics and UFOs, or take LSD to see hidden worlds.  They can be found all around us though the camera lens.  Our limited human sensibilities do not allow us to comprehend many everyday occurrences.  But with the camera we can capture a micro second or lengthen an hour to fill the clock.  All it takes is a little knowledge and a lot of imagination.

There is nothing like high speed photography to give us wonder, nothing like high speed images to let us see things we were never aware of before.  This remarkable illustration of a drop of liquid frozen in time and space tells us we have much to learn.  The timing and composition of this photograph are remarkable.  This macro shot taken at ultra high speed was able to capture the subject in perfect focus and composition.

The subject is located in the one third - two thirds sweet spot, with lighting that adds amber color to the surface.  The liquid surface is like undulating clear plastic with a suspended world levitated above it which reflects the environment around it through this transposed prism.  I like the use of the cropped edge of the rippled surface on the left side of the frame; this adds tension to the composition.

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Finding ways to photograph subjects that have become clichés is exceedingly challenging.  They force the creativity out of the photo-artist.  Some of the ways to make an image stand out are to try a different shooting angle, unusual lighting conditions or special filters and computer manipulations.

This photograph of a Japanese rainbow bridge could have been just another record shot of a familiar composition but the photographer has applied an inferred filter to the scene to give it a little different feel.  In addition some pastel greens and pink tints have been applied to offset the strong whites and blacks of the layout. The weeping willow tree to the right has some particularly nice textures and detail bought out by the inferred filtration.

It is a matter of choice, the current composition has the viewer standing at the end of the waterway but if the image were cropped a little tighter the viewer would have more of a feeling of being able to cross over the bridge.  It’s one of the personal choices photographers have to make with every scene they present; there is no right or wrong decision just personal perspective.

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Macro when combined with high shutter speeds can let us see the world around us is ways our normal human senses are incapable of perceiving.  Think of the photos we have seen of the balloon being pierced by a dart or the apple flying to fragments as the bullet passes through it.

This photograph falls into that category.  The photographer tells me he was photographing the poppy and the bee got in the way.  (I think his tongue was in his cheek.)  This shot took planning and expert implementation.  He may have even used an automated trigger device, such as an inferred beam, to get this shot.

I believe his selection of a profile composition of the flower allowed the bee to be separated from the nicely softened background without environmental clutter.  The insect has the appearance of being frozen in mid air.  Note the detail in the wings.  The focus is perfect and the timing remarkable.

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Color can do more for setting the mood of a photograph than any other single element in an image, yellow are warm and happy, reds exciting and blues are low key.  Before we even see the detail within the composition we are often effected by the overall hew if the illustration.

This photograph because of the dark blues off set against the whites has a lonely feeling.  The posture of the man adds to this interpretation.  The traveler is alone, shoulders bent forward, head looking at the ground.  He appears to be isolated in the blaek landscape.  The colors also give us another worldly feeling, the night of the traveler’s mood.

The composition has the man located in the left hand quarter of the image.  This combined with the perspective of the tapering path tells us he has a long way to go before his jury is complete.  But he has no chose, he must go forward.  This image tells a story

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A photographer submitted this image and asked what would be the best way to crop.  I can answer that with two questions.  What can you eliminate and where do you want the center of attention placed.

In the original image the near shore with the tree and the land carries the most graphic weight.  Our attention is first concentrated on the land then we proceed to the lake and then to the far shore.  I feel the tree is dominate and pulls the balance to the left.

Crop number 1 has eliminated the near shore completely and we are drawn to the flying birds first then the shore with the man.  Crop number 2 has a portion of the near shore with the egret pointing our attention to the flying birds and then the man. In crop 3 the egret is detached from the land and has equal weight to the remainder of the image, still important but more in balance with the man.  And finally the fourth crop has the man as the dominate subject.

Each image tells a different story. Each is a valid image.  It is the photo-artist who must decide which one, if any, they want to present to the viewer.

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  Crop #1     Crop #2 

Crop #3    Crop #4 

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The eye is what makes a photograph interesting.  You can have all the technical tools; the best cameras, the best computer programs, the hottest camera bag, but it you don’t develop your eye you will walk right by the photographs and just take pictures.

This photographer has the photographic eye.  He is seeing and thinking how to express the images around him in a new and interesting way.  This image tells us about the car show without directly showing us the old cars.  He has taken a day with overcast lighting and used it to his advantage. 

I particularly like the triangle of grass in the lower right hand corner.  This ties the tire to the other car being reflected by saying this auto is sitting on the same grass.  You will also note that the image is cropped in such a way that we do not see the entire tire or wheel rim.  We know the wheel is round. The photograph does not need to show us the entire circle, we need something left to our imagination.  This photographer has distilled his vision down to the simplest form possible.

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When we got our first copy of Photoshop the first thing we did was play around with the cool filters.  Some of them made little or no perceptible change and others were so crazy we could not imagine what in the world we would ever use them for.  The next stage was to take the filters we liked and apply them to bad photographs until we got something unusual that we thought others would like, but generally they were just bad photographs with a filter applied.

This photo-artist is a master of the filters tools.  This is not just some image where someone played around with the filters pallet; this is an image where the knowledgeable artist applied filters to get a desired result.

This manipulated image has all the detail and felling of a water color wash pen and ink drawing by a master.  This is an illustration that draws us into the details and makes us want to look closer and closer.  The subject is the crowd and the crowd is in a flowing motion that draws us into the center of this throng of humanity.  You cannot appreciate this image unless you can blow it up to the largest size possible and study the detail.

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This photograph has the look and feel of the six o’clock “car chase” news helicopter in HD.  Action and speed are portrayed in this study of camera panning.  The placement of the subject is excellent giving a great deal of space for the speeding automobile to travel.  The trees and read awning add interest to the blurred areas.

There are some areas the photographer may want to take a look at.  The subject, the white car, is not a very interesting choice of subjects.  The white also has competition from the other white autos immodestly behind it.

In the foreground I like the blurred tree trunks, I think they may be palms, however there is a parked car facing the opposite direction that is competing for our attention. The background is in nice subdued shadow however the foreground displays a great deal of light area.  By cropping a little off the bottom of the image both these issues can be reduced. 

Overall this is a nice exercise in panning and motion blur.

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