Superhero Photo Challenge: Hidden messages

As I wander through the streets with my camera in hand I often like to play a game. I tell myself to look for things hidden in the landscape; hearts, faces, secret messages. One particularly low day, I looked up to see this, and felt like it was a sign from the heavens. More recently, I was walking with a friend who was overwhelmed with work and being pregnant and trying to keep up with all of it. She was in tears by the end of the conversation, not knowing what she should do. At some point we looked down and noticed that we were standing on a bike path that said "Slow down."

This week's challenge is to find a hidden message. It might be just what you needed to hear.

Options

 

I don't know about you, but when I am editing photos after a shoot of any kind I like to have options to work with. Sometimes a pose or angle that I thought was great at the time ends up falling flat when I see it later. But if I am able to get a variety of shots, I feel much better when I start looking at them on screen.  Obviously it's not always easy to shoot your subject in 10 different ways. When it comes to photographing kids I think we just take what we can get. So a beautiful little vase of flowers is a luxury to play around with.

These are just 4 of the best shots from the 30 that I took. But I love being able to pick and choose the best.  If you have a chance, try it out and show your options in the comments section.

Blinded by the Light

"What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?'  Mary Oliver

 That question has been with me long before I had heard of the poet Mary Oliver or dared to picture myself on  daring adventures to faraway lands.  I couldn't have imagined then, that a ten day trip to Rwanda would be in my future.  In a little over a week, I will be visiting villages, making new friends and trying to uncover the plans waiting to be revealed for more than one African schoolgirl like my little friend above. 

 I'll be taking not one camera, but two.  One for me, and one for my host.  Of all the things he could ask me to bring, he's wishing for a camera more than anything.   He has an artist's eye, my friend tells me.  He knows how to see things.

 I hope I'll know how to see things, too, when I finally arrive.  I don't know if I'll have the luxury of waiting for late afternoon to capture my subjects in the best light.  I don't know if the sun will work against me in a place not too far from the equator.  I'm still such a new photographer that I'm still learning how to see the shot when the sun is shining bright.

 Do you have one capture in particular that really shines in bright light?  What are your best tips for taking photographs under these kinds of conditions?  Bring them one and all--I'll be taking notes.  I don't want to miss the moments that are waiting for me in what is sure to be a wild and precious chapter in my life. 

a is for aperture

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”  – Ansel Adams

I spent this past Saturday morning in a digital photography workshop lead by shutter brothers Jack, a serious amateur photographer, and Al, a professional sports photographer. Opportunities to connect and learn like this with fellow photographers are rare in my small Southern town, so when I heard that the photographers were coming, I noted the event on my calendar with a big, fat Sharpie.

My approach to photography has been primarily artistic vs. a traditional technical approach, though I consumed a photography class in college with a heavy appetite. And while I did learn the technicalities of F-stops and aperture, and the speeds of shutters way back then, I often leaned on an artistic eye in the dark room to turn an okay image into something special. I rarely remembered the formula for chemical soaks, nor did I take the time to document my pinhole camera exposures to simplify the subsequent shot. Numbers and calculations simply didn’t mix with the art of aesthetics for me. I just sort of “felt” that an image was done when it was done.

Even today with my digital SLR, I lean on my auto settings to quickly capture my compositions because I can’t force myself to reference the manual or fiddle with buttons in the presence of a fleeting moment. As a means of controlling light, I keep my flash turned off at all times and follow the rhythm of natural light, shooting in the morning or early evening, feeling confident that if the lighting or contrast isn’t quite right, I can tweak it on my MacBook. But to really mature into a serious photographer, I’ve come to realize that there’s a delicate balance between firing the right and left sides of the brain…like ah, simultaneously. A balance I intend to cultivate.

So when shutter brother Al suggested that I shoot in Aperture Priority setting – giving me control of the size of the aperture (the hole in the camera regulating the amount of light that comes into the camera) and keeping the camera in control of the shutter speed – I made him turn the dial to the “A”.  Large apertures (low f/-numbers) reduce the depth of field, blurring objects behind and in front of the main subject. Small apertures (high f/-numbers) increase depth of field, bringing out details in the background and foreground. Al then pressed on the +/- button to show me how easy it was to increase and decrease the exposure setting simply by turning a control dial in this A-priority mode. The higher the number > the more light let in.  The lower the number  > the less light let in.  Well, now.  That wasn’t so hard.  So I proceeded to play in A-priority mode for the remainder of the weekend increasing and decreasing my depth of field and exposure settings, and comparing the images quickly to see the difference. Suffice it to say, I now can’t imagine shooting any other way.

What about you? Do you shoot with auto or manual settings?  Share your best-lit images in the comments and your tips/tricks for controlling light.

Chopping Heads

The above photo was an accident. I intended to capture Roxy's whole body, but because I wasn't looking through the viewfinder I chopped off the top of her head. But I actually really like it. I realize now that some of my favorite photographers go around taking headless pictures all the time and I am often really drawn to those photos. But it had never occurred to me to do it on purpose until I took this one. I think there's a certain element of mysteriousness to a photo that is cropped below a person's (or animal's) eyes. What's the first thing you typically look at in a portrait? The eyes, right? I know I do. So when that element is taken away, you are forced to take notice of other details.

Most "old school" photographers would tell you to never, ever cut off someone's head in a photo. But I don't really care what they say. And think I'm going start experimenting with this a little more. I did some poking around Flickr to find some good examples. Although, let me encourage you to never search Flickr with the words "chopping heads". I am still scarred from that. However, after looking through the streams of some of my own contacts and the Shutter Sisters pool I quickly found what I was looking for.

Our own Tracey, chops heads all the time with great success! And I see lots of maternity photos taken from the neck down. It's a great way to focus on those big beautiful bellies.

Here are some more of my favorite headless portraits:

Beebee Mod 

Emily (RWP) 

strawberrygoldie 

camerashymomma 

I could go on, but I'll stop there for now because I want to hear from you. How many of you find yourself cropping heads out of photos and how often do you do it on purpose? Of course, I'd love to see examples!