Mary Denman: July 2012

7.31.2012

Wordless Wednesday

Morning Glory

Wordless Wednesday

Mary Denman

Please drop back by on Fridays for Photo Tip Fridays where I give photography tips to help improve your shots. Mary

7.28.2012

Photo Tip Friday

Horizontal or Vertical?

When you see a shot worth taking, one consideration you need to evaluate is whether to take a horizontal or vertical picture.

So, I have a couple of examples for you.

Edie Melson

The first one is a great shot of my friend Edie Melson. We had a blast doing her photo shoot at an interesting location. Here is a horizontal shot I took. Notice the strong lines from the wood of the wall? A horizontal shot made great use of the lines.

Edie Melson

Now here’s a shot of Edie that was taken vertically. Do you see the difference? I minimized the strong horizontal lines of the clapboard so the photo has a different feel to it.

Which one is better? I think both turned out to be great shots. But maybe you have a preference. Please chime in and let me know which you like more.

Let’s move to nature as a subject matter. Here is a horizontal shot of a rose. I have more rose in the picture and a little less stem.

But we need to see what it looks like in the vertical. So here it is. Notice how much more stem I have in this shot? It does create a different feel to it. Again, which do you prefer?

Sometimes you may not know which shot will work better. So try both. Same subject. Different approach. Different feel. Experiment. You will be glad you did.

Keep on recording life’s special moments!

NOTE: Unfortunately, Blogger is compressing my shots so they don't look right and I haven't been able to figure out why. But if you click on them, I think you can see them as they should be. Mary

7.25.2012

Wordless Wednesday

7.20.2012

Photo Tip Fridays

Here’s the next tip for the composition of a shot.

Driving in NC, hubby and drove past these great railroad tracks. I knew the lighting was tricky, but could yield some great shots. So, hubby turned around and let me do a photo shoot.

I started shooting and loved the reflection of the sun off the tracks. However, my first shots weren’t that great. Here is one of them.

See where the road crosses the tracks? It’s very distracting. It draws your attention to the road, not the tracks.

Once I caught this, I moved across the road and look at the shots I got then.

So, for composition, you need to look out for “clutter” in your shots. The road had to go to make the shot better.

Remember to really look at what’s in your shot. Shoot clean. Move if you need to to edit out the distracting stuff. I don’t have hours on end to crop and fix photos and you probably don't either. Be more aware of what’s actually in your shot. Try to shoot clean and your skills will definitely increase!

7.17.2012

Wordless Wednesday

Original orange azaleas

Wordless Wednesday

7.14.2012

Friday Photo Tips

Let’s start going over some photography tips that you can employ to improve your shots right away. I think one of the biggest challenges to great pictures is figuring out how to compose a shot.

While composing a shot consists of several parts, let’s start with one of the basic principles.

This technique pertains to taking shots of people. Or animals. It can apply to landscapes, but we’ll look at that later.

The common mistake most people make is looking into the camera, finding their subjects, and then taking a shot with the faces in the center of the photo. What does this mean in the shot? Usually, a lot of extra space above their heads and no feet on their friends.

Here’s an example.

This isn't a terrible shot. But it needs some help. So, how do we improve on this?

Look at the “bigger” picture. Pun intended. Think about what you’re trying to capture. The bride and groom look happy, but the saying is cut off and there's extra space above their heads. So, here's a much improved shot. You get the entire bride and groom, the entire saying on the wall, and a nice mood.

Is it a group shot where you’re focusing lots of people?

Here’s an example of a group shot that’s done well. Notice there isn’t a lot of extra space overhead. And you can see everyone’s feet. And their faces aren't smack in the middle of the shot!

Can you see the difference?

Now it's time to grab a friend or family member and give it a try. Both ways. With the faces in the dead center, or pulled back to get the entire person in the shot.

Let me know if it helps! I’ll be happy to talk to you more about it if you need.

Until next week, keep learning and practicing!