Composition Lesson: The rule of thirds

There are a few things about composing a photograph that can make an image more appealing. The rule of thirds is one that I enjoy using in my photos. When looking through the viewfinder of your camera, use your imagination to divide the frame into three both vertically and horizontally.

Now if you have a point of interest in your photo such as a red apple, you should compose the image so that the apple is placed not in the exact center, but at one of the points where the lines intersect.

So here is an example of how I shot an image of several green apples with one red apple placed among them. This is a pleasant photo because of the color, texture and contrast but if the photo had been composed with the red apple in the middle it would lose some of the impact. Take a look. So the next time you are snapping images with your favorite camera, try composing the photo with the rule of thirds in mind.

How to Improve Your Photos of Children

Capturing great photos of children can be challenging. Here are some tips that can help improve your results.

Get Down. The first thing is get down on their level. Adults are taller than kids and many mediocre pictures could have been great if the person with the camera had just taken a lower vantage point. So if you sit, kneel, squat or bend down this simple act can make you photographs of children better.

Get Ready. Children have a lot of energy and those little hands and feet are constantly in motion. Even their heads are turning and their expressions change in an instant so be ready. If you are photographing children you have to be ready to click. Also, it helps to set your camera to a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. When you are indoors using a flash, the camera’s recycling time can be a limitation. Lower end cameras especially can take a long time for the flash to recycle. For that matter those same cameras can cause a problem with slow focusing and taking a long time to write to the memory card. So this is a situation where a better camera can be an advantage.

Be patient. Even though kids move fast a photographer who wants to capture amazing images of kids has to be patient. So you may have to wait a while to get the perfect shot, but that is okay. Enjoy the experience.

Shoot, shoot, shoot. Back in the days of film taking more pictures meant spending more money. With digital cameras that is no longer true. So you can shoot and shoot while the opportunity is there. Later delete the ones that were no good.

Get Closer. One easy thing that will improve the pictures of most hobby photographers is simply to step a bit closer. That applies not just to children but 90 percent of the subject matter. So get close and fill the viewfinder.

Applying these simple points can help you capture great images of your precious little ones. Now go get your camera bag and get busy.

Camera Buying Tips - Don't Forget the Accessories

If you are going to be purchasing a camera here are a few tips concerning accessories. The advertised price of the digital camera you are yearning for may be amazing low, but don’t forget to leave room in your budget for the extras.
Back in the days of point and shoot film cameras all you really needed was film and batteries. But now it is different. Photography and computers are now interlinked so you should consider peripherals such as photo editing software, LCD screen shades, card readers, cables, printers and paper.
Batteries come in all shapes and sizes. Most digital cameras do not use the AA or AAA batteries. Instead a special rechargeable battery pack is required because a digital camera is a complicated device demanding plenty of power, especially if you are using the flash. To avoid missing a great photo opportunity because of a dead battery it is a good idea to purchase an extra battery. That way, you can shoot lots of pictures of Jimmy blowing out the candles on his birthday cake and opening his presents. Then when your battery power gets low you just replace it with your spare battery and keep shooting as the birthday boy continues with his cute antics. Meanwhile the first battery is placed in the charger and will be ready to go by the time you see the low battery warning again.
Film has now been replaced by memory cards but just as people used to run out of film, they now run out of memory. So when purchasing a new camera, make sure you get enough memory. The camera manufacturers often include a starter memory card which holds only a small volume. The day you leave the camera store you don’t necessarily need to have a stack of memory cards, but you should plan to have at least one memory card in addition to the one that ships with the camera. Perhaps in the coming months you may need to buy more memory cards. Memory is one rare item that despite recent economic downturns continues to drop in price.
You may or may not need to buy a memory card reader. Recently some laptops have a built-in card reader so if you have one of those you are all set. If your desktop computer or laptop doesn’t have a built-in card reader, you should purchase a memory card reader. The most convenient type are the ones that connect with a USB cable. Many of them can accept more than one type of card. Just be sure that the unit you end up choosing accepts the card that your camera uses.
Digital cameras are very sensitive to dust. So you should buy a camera case to protect your camera equipment not just when you are out shooting but also when it is stored away at home. Many people go for weeks or months without using their camera so don’t let a camera sit there and collect dust. A cleaning kit may be worth considering, too. A soft bristled brush or air blower can keep your lens free of dust and debris. There are lots of sensor cleaning products, too.
This time of year the stores are selling plenty of cameras and if you are going to be one of the many shoppers keep these tips in mind.

Do I need a tripod?

Yesterday I was talking a man who works a teacher but is also passionate about his hobby of photography. We were sharing about things we enjoy shooting when I mentioned one image that was made with my camera on a tripod. "I have never used a tripod. Why do you need one?" he asked.

There are several reasons to use a tripod. I like shooting neon signs. That is a situation where a tripod comes in handy. Holding the camera steady for an exposure that could be a half second to several seconds would be a blurry photo. But attach the camera to a tripod and the problem is solved.

The dark shade deep in a forest is another setting where a tripod can make the difference between sharp focus and a blurry of soft image. Because the human eye is so versatile the average person is not aware how dim the light is in a wooded area where the canopy of tall trees captures the light and allows very little sunshine to hit the forest floor.

One evening a few months ago there was a brilliant full moon so I set up my tripod and clicked a few frames with my trusty camera and was pleased with the result. The shot with a handheld camera would have been a waste of time.

Sports is not my forte, but for photographers that shoot action such as soccer, horses races and cycling, long telephoto lenses yield the best images. And the longer the lens, the more a shake, bump or vibration is amplified. So a tripod goes together with a long lens like a helmet goes with a motorcycle. Bird and wildlife photographers depend on long lenses and tripods.

Over the years I have owned many tripods. When I was starting out I looked for a bargain but cheap tripods have wobbly heads. Not good. The whole idea of a tripod is keeping the camera steady. So if your tripod wiggles a little bit what purpose does that serve? So five or six years ago I spent a generous amount of money on a Bogen tripod with a ball head. It was well worth every penny. My photos improved and that piece of equipment has never failed me or caused any regrets.

So if you are seeking sharp photos, shooting in dim or using long lenses you need a good tripod.

Brett Weston is One of My Favorite Photographers

On my book shelf are a few books of Brett Weston's black and white photos which are so powerful because he often made a mundane object such as a vegetable or a few blades of grass look like an amazing work of art.

Even in this age of Megapixel cameras, advanced Photoshop techniques and image stabilizing lenses, few photographers are producing images that rival what he made with a manual camera, sheet film and his genius in the darkroom.

He was born in 1911 into a household frequented by painters, sculptors and photographers that hovered around his father photographer Edward Weston.

Brett's father soon recognized that he had a talented son and let him use his camera. At the age of 21 he was already an experience exhibitor of fine art photographs. However, no one should conclude that he was a copycat of his Dad. Far from it. The son sometimes inspired the father. Whose idea was it to upgrade to

newer photographic paper? Brett.

As the younger Weston kept on shooting and showing his career spanned over 60 years. His mastery of the darkroom was a gift. And the world may never again see such a gifted and talented photographic printer.

His art lives on through books, a great documentary DVD and best of all a show of his prints entitled Brett Weston: Out of the Shadows. If you want to gaze upon the stunning art of this Master visit the Currier Museum in Manchester, NH. Just make sure you get there before it ends on Jan 3, 2010.

learn more at www.brettwestonarchive.com

Capturing the Quality of Light

The average person does not pay much attention to light, but photographers develop a sensitivity to the quality of light. For outdoor photography the "magic hour" occurs before sunset and one hour after sunrise. The sun at that time of day is not directly overhead and so it creates long shadows. The light is also not as bright and has a slight yellow cast.

The first image here was shot in the afternoon. It is okay, but the version just below was shot as the sun was setting and the golden light provides a pleasant image showing tones not found during midday.

The famous photographer Ansel Adams knew all about light. He would climb to a high mountain vantage point with his heavy view camera and glass plates and then wait for hours until the light was just right. His patience paid off and he is one of the most famous photographers ever.

Candles Create a Mystic Feeling

This photo was taken while I was shooting a wedding and I almost forgot about it. After the 1,000 or so images of the wedding were edited, rotated, cropped, color-corrected and submitted I took another look and found this photo as a reject. But I decided that even if it did not belong as part of the wedding album it was still an image with potential.

So I tweaked it a bit. I had my camera on a tripod when I took this shot using a slow shutter speed. The original image was a bit crooked. So in Photoshop I used the cropping to tool to get the lines of the horizon as straight as possible. It is still not all 90 degree angles but why be obsessed with that?

All these candles were inside a fireplace at the wedding reception and when I looked closely at the image I could see some detail of the bricks. I didn't like that so I used the burn and dodge tool to darken those details.

One other thing I did was add more black space as a border. In most photos this would not work but here it was easy. I just went to to file and added an inch or so to the canvas size. Then I had an image that pleased me.

This image is featured in my fine art photo book VARIOUS VISIONS

Various Visions

fine art Photography

By Jon Wason

Book Preview

"That sure is an impressive camera"

A couple weeks ago I was at an event and saw some people with very nice cameras including long lenses and camera bags packed with equipment. Ever had Lens Envy?
I told myself, "I am not trying to impress people with my camera. I am trying to impress them with my pictures."

That was one thing that passed through my mind after reading an email notifiying me that my photo titled: Everett Road in Early May was awarded First Prize in th Easton Arts Council Photo Show. Yes, it is better to impress the judges with an image than the faceless public with a new camera and a long lens.

Switching from film to digital

Goodbye film. After years of popping a roll into the back of my camera and shooting 36 exposures it was fun to go digital. But being a digital photographer is not all fun and games. Along with the advantages of seeing the images right away and not having to change film after every 36 shots there are some drawbacks.

Digital cameras go hand and with computers and software. Looking back I see that I used to hand off the film to the lab and later pick up my proofs. They did all the processing while I was shooting more images or doing something productive. Or sleeping. Then I selected the best images from the proofs and instruct the lab how to create the enlargements I wanted.

Nowadays there is very little work handed over to the lab. So who does it? Me. When? at night when I used to sleeping. Or when I could be out shooting. Oh well.

So to anyone recently converted to the wonderful world of digital photography or still shooting film and pondering "going digital" I say get ready to spend lots of time sitting in front of your monitor and late night editing sessions.

But all in all I do prefer my digital lifestyle because I am in control now more than I was when things were trusted to the lab.

Trouble with your digital camera?

Troubleshooting Camera Glitches

Digital cameras are great; until a problem arises. Then the fun of using this little electronic marvel is over and fretting begins. However, the problem you are experiencing may only be a minor issue and nothing serious.

Before taking the camera to a shop for repairs, try these tips:

Check the Batteries: Some cameras behave erratically when the battery is low. The display may start showing unfamiliar icons. The viewfinder may go dark. Put in a fresh battery or set of batteries and see if that solves the problem. This is simple place to start, but some people overlook this approach and end up at a repair shop with an embarrassed look on their face as a person behind the counter smugly saves the day with a new battery.

Check the Memory Card: A full memory card will prevent some camera models form turning on. Offload all images from the camera card to your computer. Next reformat the card. Turn on the camera and you may be back in business.

Give the camera a rest so it can reset: Taking the battery (or batteries) out for 24 hours may allow the electronics to reset.

If the camera has been dropped and there is visible damage pieces rolling around; it is time to seek repairs.

Does the Warranty cover this? Most cameras have a one-year manufacturer’s warranty. Some consumers buy an extended warranty. If the camera is covered, follow the instruction on the warranty to get it serviced.

Manufacturer’s Website may be helpful: Service advisories are occasionally issued by camera manufacturers. This is a formal statement outlining some particular issue a certain camera. You may be fortunate enough to have the repaired at no charge if you follow the manufacturer’s instructions closely. Remember, try the simple approaches first.

My fine art photography book Various Visions is now ready

My fine art photography book Various Visions is now ready!

For quite some time I have wanted to create a book featuring my favorite photos. Now I have accomplished that goal.
The course to this achievement began with a different book with photos of barns, sheds, windmills and rural scenery of Western Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota. But that idea was put on hold.
Some of the photos I captured this spring thrilled me so much I used them for the book and gave it the title: Various Visions.
Last summer I got a hardcover prototype delivered and as I held it in my hands I liked it but was not completely satisfied.
So I added more pages and more pictures. After that I put in more of my writings.
Now it is here.
The amazing thing is that with the technology available to us now Various Visions is available online and is offered as a print-on-demand book. The publisher, Blurb.com, prints the books as they are ordered. No waste.
Here is a link

Various Visions

Fine Art Photography

By Jon Wason

Book Preview