Thursday, December 22, 2016

Photographing Parks with Perspective

National parks are great places for shooting nature. Even if one keeps going back to the nearest most accessible national park, there are hundreds of photos that can be produced from the same place. The photographer just has to know how to apply different perspectives with the same scenery.

Parks will always draw photographers, and it is best to avoid the cliché by simply shooting at stunning objects as they meet the eye. Find a creative angle at shooting. For example, look for repetitive or symmetrical patterns among lines of trees, flowerbeds, or even street lamps.



Image source: picturecorrect.com


Another technique for composition is to find contrasting colors. A lone parked red bike with dozens of trees with dark green foliage behind it is an example of great color contrast. In winter, black and white photography looks great on nature as dark subjects interrupt the white in the vastness of snow.

Image source: loadedlandscapes.com

The key technique is to select only a few subjects that give an interesting story, instead of shooting at the wealth of things that can be photographed at the park and end up having repetitive and ordinary pictures anyone else could take.

Hi, I'm Keith W. Springer from New York. Although I've retired as an event photographer, I've never given up my passion and I continue to develop my craft in the outdoors. Connect with me on Facebook here.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Why centering is the top photography mistake you should avoid

Photography is a craft that takes years to master. It is a learning process with many pitfalls. Just like many artistic endeavors, photography has its set of rules. Although the existence of bad photographs is debatable, there is a pretty ultimate consensus when it comes to separating amateur and great photography. There are, of course, a few rules of thumb to follow, but none as more fundamental as the rule on centering

Image source: digital-photo-secrets.com


When horizon lines are placed in the middle of a photograph, it halves the picture in two. This is one of the most, if not the most, common mistake new photographers make. Viewers are sometimes confused by the image, wondering which half they should look at. The subject then becomes a topic of debate in their minds.

One of the first things taught to photography students is the Rule of Thirds, which is a sure-fire way to remedy any problems regarding centering. It states that horizon lines, even subjects should be on a line that divides the image into thirds.

Image source: photographymad.com


This applies to subjects as well. If you’re taking a picture of a person or an object, have them at them vertical “third” lines. If you’re confused which line to use, take two photographs and choose which one brings more out of the subject.

Hello! I’m Keith W. Springer and I am a photographer. For more on my work and photography in general, follow me on Facebook.