Subtle but different…
It makes all the difference. I know. You are rolling your eyes right now. Lessons. Again. Boring.
See the room. ?? A little bit more wall makes it look a lot less crowded. Huh? Convincing? Can you see what I am getting at?
Sometimes it really it too subtle to care. And at other times, there is a big change in changing perspective. What does the image convey, or, the photographer wish to convey? … the difference between ooo… and ah…
… not one good. Disney. The location is clear from background. This is another memento, a family record documenting a fun time. The kids were cooperative. My camera failed me. The light was muted. I needed a slower shutter speed. Film! My f-stop was probably as large as the lens allowed. I was doomed to failure. Digital probably would have saved me. Film came in a single ISO. It was inflexible. I suppose I was lucky to get what I got. It is sadly dissatisfying now. But you can tell it is film and it denotes an era long past. iPhone would do so much better now. Film is dead. Long live film.
What to say? There are a thousand ways. But some pictures look better when the subject is off center. The background should not compete. Muted is good. it all comes together. Colleen smiles and it makes me smile. Infectious? Contagious?
As to selfies, you can see my left handedness in play. Camera in the right hand. I peek at the background – too bright, too dark, too distracting. Freeman stage, the setting sun, the living room. Everything is set up for failure. But “the selfie” is the object. Imperfectly it worked.
I just spin the catalog and up popped a dragonfly. Imperfect, there is much to criticize. And yet the image is arresting. Nice dark background. Focus, a bit soft; spider web, potential; flower, past prime. Hey, it was random!
There is always better. I strive. But I accept imperfection. Hey, it’s a dragonfly. You got one to compare?
a la Magritte. No, I am not so presumptuous. However, this image evoked his memory. Lose the pipes. Alas, at the time I did not consider them. The image of the view camera…. I should know better. I admonish myself for failing to get the distraction out. A certain starkness does remain. Almost… no cigar. Better? Can I do…. Sure, but I won’t be back again. Alas.
? Well, I switched over the Sony RX100 and used its electronic zoom to get in close. I don’t see a rooster every day. I settled for a sharply focused close-up. The background was not ideal. Composition was okay for the position of the bird in the image frame. It was what I could get. The bird was on the move.
I shot the next image with my Nikon Z5 and 200mm zoom. The bird is on the move rapidly out of range. You can see the motion blur. Once again, not perfect, but I came away with an image and a memory. Sometimes you know what to do and never get the chance to put the wish onto the memory card.
This blog has been on hiatus since … awhile – about nine years. Ha ha, I got an email from a long lost friend and visitors and even a new follower. Oh my! Nuts.
Cats. Black cats. Hard to photograph. They are black. Yup. And the fur is hard to see in terms of texture. Usually you are left with a black shape. Eyes. It’s in the eyes! You need to be pin sharp in focus with the eyes. Do it and you have a shot. Otherwise… well, composition helps too. Background? Hey! The cat is on a stairway and I am looking down. But the illusion works that Tillie on the stair and I am looking up. Neat!
No technical info
Jennifer has done the same technique. Here the taxi is not quite in focus. The background is blurred. The taxi could be more inside the frame of the image but that is also editorial. In terms of the technical aspect, it’s a good try but not a ‘keeper.’ Someone else has done this and done it better. Still it’s a great effort from an amateur photographer.
No technical info
Jennifer indicates that this is her attempt at panning. It’s a good one. The girl with the yellow hat is in focus while all around her the other elements are blurred. It’s a good way to isolate your subject from a confusing background. To do this one needs to use a slow shutter and move the camera with the direction of the subject’s movement. In this case left to right. If you are accurate, you will come up with something like this. You can also achieve this effect in Photoshop. But it’s more fun in camera.
Technical: Nikon D90, 1.200 sec, f4, focal length 18
Well you can at least tell that this is a stormy day. The lighting belies the storm. I didn’t check but presume you used fill flash as usual. This helps the exposure. But it takes away the gloomy mood of an impending storm. It’s another decision you make as to whether to get a good exposure or to play to the mood of the day. With all those colorful clothes this would not have been a shot to convert to black and white.
PhotoCritical 