Taken with Nikon D300s at f/7.1, 1/160 sec., ISO 200

Ahhh, summer is finally here!!

And just like our kids, school’s out for us, too , here at the Hands On! Photography blog!  We’ve completed this section of tutorials so for the summer, I’ve going to give you all a super easy assignment, with a chance to win a fabulous prize, as always!

We’ve covered a lot of ground since our first blog post and now’s the time to show me what you’ve learned!  Here’s a list of tutorials, with links to each one:

May 2011:  Balancing Elements
April 2011:  Depth Perception
March 2011:  Backgrounds
January/February 2011:  Leading Lines
January/February 2011:  Symmetry and Patterns
December 2010:  Cropping
November 2010:  Framing
October 2010:  Perspective
September 2010:  Rule of Thirds
August 2010:  Natural/Available Light
July 2010:  Artificial Light
June 2010:  Daylight/Sunlight
May 2010: Backlighting
March/April 2010: Side Lighting
March/April 2010: Front Lighting
February 2010:  Sunny 16 Rule
January 2010: Depth of Field
December 2009: Bokeh
November 2009: Light Graffiti
October 2009:  ISO
October 2009:  Slow Shutter Speeds
September 2009: Fast Shutter Speeds

Summer 2011 photography assignment:

Go out and capture your summer!  Using ANY of the above tutorials, photograph bits and pieces of your summer this year and submit your photo to me.  Please include the tutorial you used, as well as your camera information (make, model, aperture, shutter speed and ISO) in the comment section of the submission form.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, Aug 31st, 2011

And now for the fun part – the prize!! Because this is a summer-long project, I am going to combine the prizes for June, July AND August and draw ONE lucky winner!!  You will receive one ballot for each TUTORIAL you use.  So, the more tutorials you try, the more chances you have to win!  That is to say that if you send me 10 photos, using the Dec 2009 tutorial on Bokeh, you will still only receive ONE ballot.  But if you send me 3 photos, each using one of the tutorials from Dec 2010, Aug 2010 and Sept 2009, you will receive 3 ballots!!  The prizes will be announced shortly!

As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between July 18th and August 31st, 2011, inclusive. Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest.

2) Please send original-sized files – I will size them for our blog.

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera make and model, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form! Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form, for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Happy Clicking – and enjoy your summer!

In September, I wrote a tutorial about using the Rule of Thirds as a guideline for achieving pleasing composition within an image.  Somehow, though, using the Rule of Thirds can create an empty void in the scene.  To balance your image, try placing an object of lesser importance in the void to offset the weight of the focal point in your scene.

I stumbled across a good example of this online when logging into Flickr:

[source]

The couple dancing in the foreground is offset by the dancer sitting on the sidelines.

Another example:

Taken with Nikon D80 and 18-70mm lens at f/11, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

Here, the barn acts as the image’s focal point, yet is offset by the long grasses in the lower left corner of the scene.

So, are you ready to play?

May 2011 photography assignment:

Using the May tutorial as a guide, photograph an object or scene using the Rule of Thirds – and then offset it with a balancing object.  Try to look for scenarios that are naturally occuring – it’s sometimes difficult to spot!  As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, Jun 3oth, 2011

And now for the fun part – the prize!! This month’s randomly drawn winner will receive this yummy Bo Bunny prize pack:

May 2011 Bo Bunny Prize Pack

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between May 1st and June 30th, 2011, inclusive. Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest.

2) Please send original-sized files – I will size them for our blog.

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form! Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Happy Clicking!

Photos display images as two-dimensional objects.  Because of this, it is important to try to create a feeling of depth within a photo, to allow the viewer to sense the depth in the scene.

To do so, it’s important to incorporate three areas – foreground, middle ground and background – that include an object of interest in each.  Take the following photo, as an example:

Taken with Nikon D60 and 18-70mm lens at f/5.6, 1/500 sec., ISO 360

The barn itself is in the middle ground of the image.  However, it is the fence and farm equipment in the foreground and the shoreline in the background give the image its’ sense of depth.

Another way to create depth is similar to layering on our scrapbook pages.  When we use dimensional adhesives to layer items, we create a three-dimensional object.  And even though images are only 2D, by overlapping two objects in a scene, you can create layers that the human eye will recognize as different depths.

Ready to try creating depth in your images?

April 2011 photography assignment:

Using the April tutorial as a guide, photograph an object or scene and create depth within the image.  You can try layering objects in the scene, or use the suggestion of including objects of interest in each of the 3 areas (foreground, middle ground and background).  As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, Jun 3oth, 2011

And now for the fun part – the prize!! This month’s randomly drawn winner will receive this yummy  prize pack from 3 Bugs in a Rug:

2011 April 3 Bugs in a Rug Prize Pack

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between May 1st and June 30th, 2011, inclusive. Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest.

2) Please send original-sized files – I will size them for our blog.

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form! Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win our awesome prize. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Happy Clicking!

While the earlier focus of our Hands On! Photography tutorials was geared towards the technical side of your digital cameras, we are now into the artistic side of photography (composition).  For this reason, we will gladly accept photos from other cameras.

All digital cameras store the camera settings in the image file so they are still available.  You can easily see them in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements by clicking on File Info.

<Note, other programs may also be able to read this info, but I am unfamiliar with them – if anyone knows, please let me know and I’ll pass the info along!>

If you do not have either of these programs, please submit them anyways!  I can try to view the settings and include them when posting to our blog.  This will still provide a learning tool for those who view an image and wonder what settings were used to achieve the exposure.

Hope that is clear to all!  If not, please contact me via email at sue {at} canadianscrapbooker {dot} ca.

Cheers,

This month, I want to discuss an aspect of composition pertaining to backgrounds in your images.

As you grow and learn about this wonderful hobby called photography, you are not only learning the technical side of your cameras, but you are training your “inner eye” to be more aware of your surroundings. The key to good photography is not just about proper lighting and the rule of thirds. It’s also having a sense of everything around your subject and how it will be perceived in your finished image.

And although your subject may not have ill-placed tree limbs behind them, a cluttered background can be just as hazardous.  Look at this photo of my son, taken by my husband:

Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4.2, 1/60 sec., ISO 200

Cute as he may be (and yes, I know I’m biased… ) and while the story is being told, the image lacks effectiveness and doesn’t convey his concentration, nor his obsession with art.  Notice how this all changes as he zooms in on his subject, eliminating the distracting furniture behind him:

Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4.5, 1/40 sec., ISO 200

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of waiting for your subject to be engrossed in his craft.  And at times, when you can’t or don’t want to zoom in, you will have to change your position until your subject is in front of a neutral backdrop.

However, it is sometimes not feasible to move your position or your subject. For example, when you are photographing a performance, or in a small location where there is no neutral background. In that case, you can set your camera to the widest aperture to create a very shallow depth of field. This will blur the background, as discussed in our Winter 2009/10 issue (see my January 2010 tutorial on Depth of Field here).

So, are you ready to try out what we’ve learned?

March 2011 photography assignment:

Using the March tutorial as a guide, become aware of your backgrounds. Explore your surroundings and potential distractions in your images.  This month, you will submit TWO photos – one with a distraction behind your subject and a second one, with the SAME subject, but with the distraction removed.  You can use any of the techniques discussed above (zoom in, move your position, or use a short depth of field).   As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, March 31st, 2011

And now for the fun part – the prize!!  This month’s randomly drawn winner will receive this yummy Sassafras prize pack:

March 2011 Prize Pack by Sassafras

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between March 13th and March 31st, 2011, inclusive. Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest.

2) Please send original-sized files – I will size them for our blog.

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form! Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Happy Clicking!

Stay tuned…

There are various types of lines that can be used when composing photographs to create visual impact. They can add depth, draw the viewer’s eye to a focal point or area of interest, and they can often elicit moods in photographs by giving the illusion of motion.

Various types of lines used include vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved and converging lines.

Vertical:

These type of lines are easy to find in our photos: buildings, trees and standing subjects are all indicative of a vertical line.  Note how in the following photo, the sailboat masts draw your eye up into the white space, or sky, in this case:

Taken with Nikon D300S and 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens at f/8, 1/400 sec., ISO 200

Horizontal:

This type of line naturally occur in images and usually elicit feelings of tranquility or stability.  Horizons, sunsets, shorelines, even your subject laying in the grass are all examples of horizontal lines.  These horizontal lines, often set in the lower or upper half of the photo (as per my September tutorial on the Rule of Thirds), act to anchor the rest of the image.

Taken with Nikon D70 and 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 lens at f/3.5, 1/60 sec., ISO 200

Sometimes, an image of a horizon can seem boring when it is not broken up by other objects.  Not in the case of the photo above, where the landscaping on the left and the boats dotting the horizon, break up the scene and keep it from remaining static.

Diagonal:

Diagonal lines in an image give a sense of motion or energy to a photo.  They can also point your reader to your subject of interest, such as the rays of sunlight lead your eye directly to the ship, in this beautiful photo by Ken Schulze.

Taken with Nikon D300

Curved:

Curved lines denote beauty and gracefulness in an image, especially when it is leading to a focal point, as the rock breakfront in this image draws you to the lighthouse in this image:

Taken with Nikon D80 and 18-135mm VR lens at f/13, 1/640 sec., ISO 400

Another curved line is the “S” curve.  According to William Hogart, in his book, The Analysis of Beauty, the “S” curve is referred to as the Line of Beauty.  You can see it over and over again in paintings and drawings – and photography is no exception.  Look at the beautiful lines of the instrument in this image by Kent Landerholm – not only is the ”S” curve represented by the shape of the instrument, but also in the F-hole :

Taken with Nikon D80

Converging:

Converging lines convey depth and distance.  The human eye is naturally drawn to converging lines, so including them in your photo increase its’ impact and interest.  You can use railway tracks, fence lines, , roads, pathways, stairs or any other set of parallel lines, such as this boardwalk at my local marina:

Taken with Nikon D80 and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at f/11, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

As you may have noticed from the above examples, lines occur naturally in  our environments – it’s up to us to train our eyes to look for them when composing our photos.   So grab your camera and look around and try to become aware of naturally occuring lines.

February 2011 photography assignment:

Using the February tutorial as a guide, capture lines in your images to enhance composition.  Explore your surroundings and look for various types of lines.  As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline:  11:59 pm EST, February 28th, 2011

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: 

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between January 7th and February 28th, 2010, inclusive.  Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest. 

2) Please send original-sized photos – I will size them for our blog. 

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to  include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form!  Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog  or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize.   A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline.  Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw.  Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Our prizes for both the January and February photo assignment contests will be revealed shortly!

Happy Clicking!

Today, we’re going to learn about symmetry and patterns in your composition. Both can be used, either together or independently for effectiveness in composing your shots.
Symmetry in a photo is when both sides of an image, either vertically or horizonally, are of equal weight. That is to say that while they can be symmetrical in actual content, like this image:

Mount Rainier reflected in Mirror Lake (from the University of Washington Libraries)

Similarly, a photo can be considered symmetrical even though it is not identical, if it is weighted equally on the horizontal or vertical axes, such as in this photo by Kevin Steele:

Neighbours by Kevin Steele. Taken with Olympus D600L.

Both left and right sides are equally weighted by stairs, door and mailbox, even though they are not identical.  However, there is a big difference in the symmetry in this photo:  the dog.  Having a break in symmetry like this in a photo can be just as effective.  It provides a resting point for the viewer’s eye as he is perusing the image.

Consider this beautiful photo by Fabio Montalto (Wagman_30):

The Orange Chapel. Taken by Fabio Montalto with Nikon D200.

The perfect symmetry of this composition is offset by the little orange trash receptable in the lower right hand corner.  This illustrates that sometimes, breaking up the symmetry can prevent a photo from becoming ordinary in its symmetry.

Similarly, patterns can enhance a photo’s composition with their presence or an abrupt break in one.  Repetition can be used effectively in photography.  One method is to emphasize the pattern by capturing it in your scene, such as in this image by Christopher Rose (khowaga1):

Repetition by Christopher Rose (khowaga1). Taken with Canon EOS DRebel XTi

 Just as effectively, a break in pattern can offer relief from the pattern and lead the viewer’s eye through the image, as in this photo:

Taken with Nikon D80 and 50mm lens at f/1.8, 1/50 sec., ISO 200

Finding patterns and symmetry in our lives is not difficult – they can be found everywhere.  We just need to “train” our eyes to look for it through our viewfinder.  So get out your camera and look at your world through new eyes – and send us your images with symmetry and patterns!

January 2011 photography assignment:

Using the January tutorial as a guide, photograph patterns or symmetry around you.  Explore your surroundings and try to photograph both styles – with a break in symmetry or pattern and without.  As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline:  11:59 pm EST, February 28th, 2011

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: 

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between January 7th and February 28th, 2010, inclusive.  Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest. 

2) Please send original-sized photos – I will size them for our blog. 

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to  include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form!  Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog  or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize.   A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline.  Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw.  Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Our prizes for both the January and February photo assignment contests will be revealed shortly!

Happy Clicking!

Because we’re knee-deep in magazine progress (and we know you don’t want us to delay that!), I’ve decided to combine January with February’s tutorial, which will be posted on or around Feb. 1st.

If you want to get a headstart, read my article in your Winter 2010/11 issue and start snapping! January’s topic will be Symmetry and Patterns, and February’s topic will be Leading Lines. Only photos taken between January 7th and February 28th, 2011 will be accepted and posted for this assignment.

Cheers,

We are in the middle of a server change and to avoid any trouble with lost posts or images, I will be posting the tutorial later this week.  Don’t worry – we’ll allow extra time for the delay!  But if you want to get a headstart, the tutorial will be on symmetry and patterns – and I’ll allow all photos that were taken between today (Jan 10th, 2010) and the deadline!

Thanks for your patience!

Cheers,