Week 47 - 365 Day Photography Challenge

Day 323 - Melting snow on windshield

I do not do layers. Yet. But I do find myself taking photos of patterns I think would look good as a future layer. This one may certainly be that. It was also a new camera challenge. There are a lot of reasons to take pictures. And even more if you are on the cusp of being a professional photographer. The photo below was an audition for new characters in winter still life photos. Last winter was one of my first explorations into still life photos and I really enjoyed myself and learned a lot. I want to do it again. But I want to use different objects. Frequent followers of my blog will remember the silver cream pitcher.

Day 324

The cast is a sheep skin, a rusty table which was once tiled and which I plan this winter to re-tile, a hand made pot from a friend and various rocks and weeds, and of course the ever present candle stick. I have tons of them of different sizes and shapes.

Day 325

But when the weather is good I plan to be out in it. I guess I am basically a landscape photographer. I hate doing portraits, will not do weddings, catch wildlife when it presents itself in my landscapes, and try to capture the nature of a beloved pet in an unguarded moment. I also use photography to record my paintings. This next year challenge I am going to include some of those in my challenge. And perhaps a blog or two about how to take pictures of your art work.

Day 326

In last week's blog I mentioned needing to know your subjects. And being just a little bored can be a plus from time to time. I do a lot of reflections in ponds of my acquaintance and I am always looking for a different approach. Early spring and late fall just before the ice closes them in ponds are like mirrors. It is hard to resist taking a picture even when you know you have stood at that same place before and taken one.

There is a lot of debate in photography books about where to put the horizon. In pond reflections it is where to put the edge of the pond because putting sky and water in a picture usually makes the sky look sick. I generally to by the rule of thirds or not at all. Photo above has pond edge vertically on the side. Below it is in the upper 1/3 of the photo. That is probably my favorite placement.

Day 328

The photo below is out of sequence so I could put the two reflections together but there is still the horizon placement to consider. And it is not an even Kansas horizon. If you have an uneven horizon placement is more of a guess. Remember the "horizon line" does not have to be the horizon. The bold line in this photo because of clouds and mountains is really the band of snow beneath the trees. It is in the bottom 1/3 just above the straight line of a path through the meadow.

Day 327

Decided to end the week with a bright green house blossom.

Day 329

So many flower pictures put the flower right in the center. If you have one of those digital cameras with the little flower icon as a choice on setting you will find it often focuses right in the center. I prefer my flower just a bit off center. The mass of this flower is to the right and in the background are balancing pinks of other flowers.

Balance, weight, and horizon are parts of composition which need to be considered if not when taking the photo then when cropping it. What is the horizon in the first photo?