DigaPixBlog

One in a thousand photographers is born with the eye.  They have a natural ability to see images.  For the rest of us we have to acquire this capability.  This can be done a number of ways; taking photo classes, self education thorough reading about photography and composition or getting feedback and seeing other photographers work.  The purpose of this blog is to give honest feed back and let you see other people’s compositions with an eye to what works and what does not.  We all have a lot to learn by seeing the images of other photographers and deciding what to take away from the experience.

This scene of a young lady feeding the geese has a lot of potential.  There is a nice inner action between the girl and the birds.  I like the placement of the main subject off center with the birds entering the frame from the right. 

I would like to make some suggestions.  On the left edge of the frame there is a person’s hand entering the frame from nowhere.  This can easily be cropped out.  In the background we see a portion of a building which takes away from the natural environment of the scene.  This would be difficult to crop and still keep the same composition but vegetation can be cloned in over this distraction.

There are two other things that can be improved on the computer.  The image appears to be a little overexposed and shifted to the light side of the spectrum.  The last issue is a little more difficult to change.  There are too many overlapping people in the frame which makes for a confusing composition.  These can be reduced using our old friend Mr. Cloning but it will take some time to get it just right.

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Nature photography requires preparation, persistence, luck and skill.  You don’t walk into the forest and get the perfect image of a bald eagle.  It takes preparation or darn good luck to even get close to a wild creature of nature.  As you have seen on National Geographies these photographers will go out and live on the ice for weeks to bring back that hart stopping shot of the polar bear.

While the subject of this photograph is not a denizen of the jungle it is a creature with quick reflexes and an aversion to human presence not to mention the monstrous eye of the macro lens.  The photographer was able to capture this Fancy Lizard in the few seconds before he was off and running.  The focus is excellent, the head and face are sharp as a tack.   The natural background tells us this was not some poor animal trapped in a glass box but one of nature’s free and wild citizens.  Like cactus reptiles are survivors of the extreme and this image tells of their fascinating and raw beauty.

The only comment I would like to make is there may be some value in moving the focal point of the image off the center of the composition.

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It must be spring.  This is our third bee photo in a week. 

This is an interesting comparison to the other two bee images we have seen.  The first on March 19th is a similar composition with the notable exception of  the shutter speed used.  This photographer elected to use a slow supper speed and thus the wings of the bee appear to be moving a high speed, the March 19th shot was fast enough that the wings do not appear to be moving.

I find the plane of focus to be interesting in this image.  You will note that the bee and two of the flowers; the one on the right and the one at the top, are in sharp focus and a portion of the branch is also sharp.  The lighting is nice with the bee almost translucent with the back light yet the three important flowers on the right are in just enough shadow that they to not become to burnt out and loose detail.

The photographer may wish to consider cropping out the portion of the stem at the bottom that is in focus.  I think it may be competing for our attention.

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When we photograph a subject that has captured our imagination we need to keep our viewer’s attention on that selection.  Sometimes if we are not careful we have distracting elements in the scene that cause the eye to wonder.

I believe this photographer was very much aware of what he wished to capture in his composition.  The subject, the bee, is very prominently place within the scene in the lower fourth of the frame.  The depth of focus works well from the bee with flower to the branch which is just a little out of focus to the background which is completely obscured.  The lavender hue helps to tie everything together.

There is one suggestion I would like to make about this composition.  At the top of the frame above the bee is a cluster of buds entering the frame.  They appear to be in competition for our attention.  We know the insect is the focal point but the buds keep drawing our eye away.  This could be resolved one of two ways, either cloning our cropping. 

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      Cloning     Cropping

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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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We have seen many images from this and other slot canyons.  The trick is to find a way of photographing the wonderful colors and light in a new way.  In a way that makes the viewer say “I’ve never seen it shot like that before”.  This is true of many often seen subjects.

An abstract image was selected as the subject of this composition.  This image is interesting in that it is pure color.  It’s almost an optical illusion.  The two shades of orange may appear to change place, which one is in front of the other?  It would even be possible to reorient the composition and still have a nice image.  I am not saying you should but you could.

There is one detail that gives me pause.  The lavender triangle in the lower left hand corner is a bit out of place to my eye.  I am certain the photo-artist intended it to be there but he may wish to consider allowing the image to just consist of the two orange hues.  Or if possible could this feature be larger and have a more prominent identity?

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We have just seen an image (Cherry Blossom) which was an example of patterns.  This photograph of Cholla Cactus is similar in style but has no partner.  The plants and crests are arranged in a random pattern.  What do you think is the subject?  Is it the patch of cactus, the light on the crests or perhaps it is something bigger?  This is what I refer to as a chaos subject.  It has no particular center of interest yet it holds and appeal to our eye. 

The photograph was taken about thirty minutes after sunrise giving us the brilliant high lights on the crests of the plants.  Their diminishing size creates the illusion of depth.  I like the fact that the photo-artist cropped out the sky, creating a semi-panoramic image.

I would like to point out to the photographer a small detail, which may or may not be important.  In the lower left hand corner there is a small portion of a bolder that could be removed.  It almost looks like the tip of a finger.

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Look for repeating patterns.  They are all around us.  Repartition of the same subject, the same shape, the same color can result in an interesting image.  They don’t have to be all exactly alike; the mind’s eye needs to interpreter them as the same.

This image was taken last week a Balboa part in Encino California.  The cherry blossoms are spectacular this time of year.  The low morning light adds shape to the branches of the trees while illuminating the strong colors of the flowers.  There is a pattern of trees that leads us back into the scene.  The photographer has elected to look through the grove rather than full face along a front which we have seen so often.

I might make one suggestion to the photographer.  There is a small, skinny tree along the right hand edge that takes away from the pattern of the other trees.   Perhaps this could be cloned out.  This will allow our eye to follow the natural path of the patter to the left.  You might also experiment with the saturation of the color.  It is nice the way it is but with our expectation we can enhance even nature’s best efforts.  As you can see I am not a purest.

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Have you ever had the experience of seeing what might be an interesting photograph and saying to yourself “I’ll come back later and take that” only to return and find that the light has change, the subject has moved or the access to the subject is now limited?  My suggestion is take the shot the first time you see it.  You can always come back later and try a redo, but the chances are that when you do it will have changed. 

This image was a take it when you can shot.  The photographer had less than a minute to capture this Monarch on the blossoms.  No time to worry about it just get the shot before the subject was gone.  When you consider the limited period the photographer had to compose and take this photograph it is nicely done.

If I were to make a criticism it would be the incomparable colors of the orange against the pink.  It’s better than most butterfly pictures but not much going on to hold our interest.

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Details in nature are always fun to photograph.  One of the things we generally look for are perfect specimens of our chosen subject.  That is to say we normally don’t want to include damaged or wilted leaves or peddles in our scene.

This image is fresh and alive with perfect specimens.  The young leaf with water droplets is our subject.  This combination suggests new life and spring time. 

This image was photographed in the shade or on an overcast day.  If the photo-artist were to increase the saturation and remove a little blue for the scene it would help to add more punch to the image.  Also cropping out the small leaf in the upper left hand corner would keep our attention focused on the larger leaf we are drawn to.

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I love cactus.  But I don’t know about the Cholla.  This native of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico is sometimes called the Jumping Cactus.  When you walk by them the long prickly spins grab to your clothing without your being aware that they have attached to you and before you know it, if you are not careful, you have a number of spiny balls hanging on your garments, as if they jumped out and grabbed you.  And they are no fun to get off your person.

This photograph has nice depth of field focus drawing our attention to the cactus fruits.  The side lighting gives good definition to the spines that are in focus.  I like the touch of blue sky leading to a point directed to our subject.  This would make a nice text book photograph.

I think that I would suggest cropping in a little closer to the subject to focus our attention on the upper part of the subject.  The spines in the lower left corner are in competition for our attention.

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With the amount of data being captured by the latest digital cameras we have an abundance of detail in our images.  This allows the photo-artist to rethink their final image after they get it back to the computer.  If they are not satisfied with the look and feel of the scene they can crop down to the area of interest.

These images were sent in by one of our contributors with the suggestion that I talk about cropping.  My suggestion is that you experiment with your images on the computer.  Crop out things that are not important and isolate your primary subject.  Have you ever played the game in the back of the magazine where you try to find the hidden objects within an illustration?  Cropping is the same thing.  There are a lot of good images hidden within most photos and most photographs could use a little cropping.  Don’t be too concerned about the final format size.  You can make it a long horizontal or a perfect square.  If you are printing and mounting you can cut the mat to fit and if you are showing it on the Internet who cares?

Here the photographer started out with a relatively large scene with the bee in the center.  The original is not a very interesting composition and the primary subject is lost in the clutter.  Then the photographer cropped the picture three different ways.  Which one do you like best?  It’s your call but they are all better than the original picture.

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Crop #1    Crop #2    Crop #3

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Few people stop to look at the macro detail all around us.  But when the photographer “with the eye” takes the trouble to show us nature in all its amazing specificity we are delighted by what they saw and are shearing with us.  Most people have walked through and stepped over these gems all their lives and never know they were there.

This image shows us the common teasel up close and personal.  It’s not the pretty flower, but one of the unseen jewels of nature.  The subjects are placed low and to the left in the one third sweet spot.  I find the muted tones of the background with just a hint of green quite appealing.  Most of the ancillary twigs are simple and do not cause distraction.  The detail and colors make this an appealing image.

The photographer has done something that they may want to reconsider.  It appears that the stem of one of the plants was deliberately left in.  This may be distracting to the viewer.  It could have been removed at the time of the shoot or in the computer at a later time.  It’s the photo-artists call but I find it distracting like the old telephone pole out the the subjects head situation.  I also notice a horizontal ling about halfway up the image that looks like a flaw in the “print”.  I have no idea what caused this imperfection.

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Sometimes improving an image is not a matter of big changes but very subtle alteration that is almost imperceptible.  Sometimes we want a 20 pound sledge hammer and sometimes a tack hammer to do the job.

This photographer wanted to capture the feeling of a rainy day in the garden.  The original image they started with was flat with a distracting background.  By lifting the contrast and saturation the photo-artist was able to bring some life to the subject without giving it the look and feel of a sunny day.  The cropping is not extreme but just enough to eliminate most of the hectic background. 

Below are shown the presented image, the photographer’s original shot, and one that I have over modified with color.  My over modified image looses the feeling of an overcast day and becomes a totally different story.

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This semi-abstract photograph allows the viewers imagination to see a number of images, like interpreting the clouds.  A combination of hard and soft, real and elution this illustration could appeal to the viewer on a number of levels.

I like the soft movement of the water that envelopes the leaf in the water yet a portion is in the air with clarity.  The range of hues visible in the moving water gives the illusion of colored fog.

There are a couple of things I would suggest the photographer consider.  If partial leaf on the top of the rock was removed and the single leaf in the water was sharper at the top it may create a stronger element.  The rock itself is covered with moss that gives it an unclean, slimy look.  This is a bit disturbing.

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Breaking the rules is a good news / bad news story, it works sometimes and it does not work most often.  But if you break the rules and it works you have a wonderful photograph.

Some of the rules are:

    1.   Have a definable subject

    2.   Keep the horizon straight

  3.   Have a strong graphic elements

I have seen very good photographs that did not have a strong subject, what I call chaos photography, where the lack of subject was the subject.  There are examples of rotated images that work well.  And I am sure you can recall images you liked that did not have strong graphic elements.

In this image we have an interesting rainbow spectrum of vertical bands of color that look like they just came out of a prism.  As a background they are interesting.  The grass is not a strong subject because there is a confusion of patterns created by the number of elements with lack of graphic definition.  Another consideration is the photo-artist’s technique of rotating the image 180 degrees.  In this case it has added to the graphic uncertainty of the grass.  I feel the photographer broke too many rules for this image to work. 

I would suggest trying to find a simpler pattern of grass, one, two or three stems that create an interesting pattern.  As always it is the photo-artist who has to decide if the final work is what they were after.

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It’s said that the more you practice the luckier you get.  This photograph shows both skill and luck.  What are the chances you would have your camera out, ready and prepared to photograph when this combination of elements all came together?  When you look at this image you will notice it is broken into three distinct horizontal bands; the mercurial water, the soft translucent fog and the cloud clad sky. 

A water fowl managed to place itself in the right spot at the exact moment of lifting off the water about to enter the fog and then the sky thus transitioning through all three bands.  This is the story told.

Our photographer might want to crop just a little of the very top of the image.  The rest of the illustration is full of texture and this portion of the sky is contrastingly smooth.   

When you watch a movie made in the 1980s’ or 90’s you will often notice the colored skies.  The camera person added a split color density filter to the lens to give some interest to flat gray atmosphere.  Most of the time it went unnoticed but if a little too much color was added it looked artificial.  I feel the color added to this sky is just a tad too much.

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We have all seen a hundred photographs of hummingbirds in mid flight.  But it is rear to see one perched in the wild let alone a photograph at that moment.  Hummingbirds have the highest metabolism while in flight of any animal except some insects.  These little fellows often consume more than their own weight in food each day.  No wonder they never sit still they are always going out to lunch.

The photographer has a very nice nature shot here.  The image is sharp from the eye to the tip of the tail while the background is a blur of soft greens and tans.  The exposure is excellent with detail throughout the white feathers of the bird’s breast. He have good placement of the subject within the frame and a pleasing proportion of bird to background.  Another detail we often look for is a highlight in the eye to add life to the subject.  This will occurs naturally in many cases but a little fill flash is sometimes necessary.

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