7 Day Photography Challenge-Day Six
August 30, 2007
Our digital photography assignment was to photograph water. These two photographs demonstrate something great AND something frustrating about water. You almost always have to deal with reflection. It could be from the sky as in the top photo or in the landscape surrounding the water as in the bottom. photo.
Why is the water blue? Because the sky is blue. Cloudy day - no blue sky. Ok, so how do we use the reflection to our advantage? Being aware of it can lead to some interesting design patterns in the water. Let’s try just photographing the water reflection patterns as in the bottom photograph. Give it a try, you will be surprised by the interesting patterns that nature makes. Then add in the fall colors of the leaves and you have a very cool mosaic art piece - all for reflections in the water!
Save Your Heritage Now With A Digital Photo Book
August 29, 2007
If you have fond memories of things that happened to you as a child, then you probably would enjoy creating heritage scrapbooks. This is especially true if you enjoy going through photo albums and sharing the great stories that lie behind each of the pictures.
Thanks to technology today you can reproduce old photos so that they can be enjoyed for many more years to come. A film developer can make new, clean copies out of your torn, yellowed photographs without the discolorations that may have occurred over time.
One very important part of heritage scrapbooking takes place when you ask lots of questions of your family’s older generations. You may be surprised to find that many of your older relatives will truly enjoy telling you their stories and even sharing copies of their birth and marriage certificates with you. These things can oftentimes be received from the hall of records too if it did not happen too far back.
After you have heard your family’s stories and got copies of their various certificates, it is also a good idea to do some research. Go online to find out what what the city that your relative was born in was like whenever they were born. You can then easily add this information to your heritage scrapbooking page as well. Something else that you may wish to include on such a page is a recipe that was passed down by that family member. They will make a wonderful addition to your heritage scrapbook.
I have a great website for you that will help you get started with making a digital photo heritage book. Visit http://www.photoalbummakers.com. Click on “Guide To Storybooking” andthey will show you how easy it is to start your very first book.
7 Day Photography Challenge-Day Five-Gratitude
August 28, 2007
Our mission in day four of our digital photography challenge was to photograph events in our life. To photograph some of the things that we do that we are grateful for. I get to display my American flag each day. That’s something I am grateful for. One of my son’s serves in the Air Force. The flag reminds me of him.
This flag photograph uses two digital photo techniques. One is the close up focus setting on a digital camera (I’m using a point-and-shoot camera for this 7 day series) and the other is diagonal composition.
Your digital camera has a close up setting on it. You have to go into the “menu” sometimes to find it. Sometimes it’s a button on the back of the camera. What it allows you to do is to focus closer than 2 feet. You couldn’t do that in the old days (4 years ago) with film cameras. So give it a try - find out where the close up (macro) setting is on your camera. And try doing a dozen photos focusing under one foot. It’s really cool. Your photographs will take on a new look.
One of the reasons that this is a dynamic photograph is not only because of the highly symbolic subject ( like a cross would be also) but also because I put the “leading lines” of the photograph at an angle, rather than vertical or horizontal. It adds more “visual tension” when the lines are at angle or diagonal. Leading lines are what our eye follows in a framed piece. Painters have used them for years to lead your eye around inside the frame to where they want you to look. Try photographing some objects at an angle. What do you think?
Tomorrow I’m going to photograph water. I’ll show you a few things that can ruin your water photos.
Please post your comments at the bottom of the page.
If you need a new camera, see our video on choosing the right digital camera, click on the link below.
Click here to see the video now.
Posing People In Group Photo’s
August 27, 2007
Here’s a nice family that I photographed in my studio. While you may think that when you take pictures you should space out a person’s body from another person’s body, this is not the case. Instead what you should really be doing is imagining a dot on the person’s nose, right between their eyes. You will then want to space this dot properly.
If you do not honestly think that it can really be this easy, here is a little experiment that you can try. The next time that you are taking a picture of a group of people, go ahead and set the photo up just like you normally would, then take the photograph. Now wait! Take a second picture. In this picture you will want to take a moment to space out the dots just perfectly before you shoot it. Once you are able to print both of these photographs out, take some time to compare the composition of both of them and you will really see a big difference. In the photograph where the dots are spaced just right, you will notice that there is a nice, professional look to it.
Now that you are familiar with using Horizontal Subject Spacing whenever you are taking portrait photographs, it is time to get creative and combine this technique with Vertical Subject Spacing. Herein you will want to use your models’ heights to decide upon who you want to have sit, kneel or stand. You will then want to combine both vertical and horizontal subject spacing for taking these photographs. This is a more advanced technique in which you will want to form geometric patterns with the dots that you “see.” Herein you can be creative with making circles, ovals, triangles and so much more. This will make for some wonderful, high quality group portrait photos.
If you need a new camera, see our video on choosing the right digital camera, click on the link below.
Click here to see the video now.
Scrapbooking Ideas
August 26, 2007
Scrapbooking Ideas
Scrapbooking can be a lot of fun. As you preserve your memories in each of the scrapbook pages that you create, there are some great tips that you will discover. If you have not already discovered these tips, they include:
1. If you have just about finished a scrapbooking page that you have been working on for hours when you mess up the ink on it, do not despair. Un-Du Adhesive Remover will remove this mistake for you without ruining your whole page.
2. While scrapbooking take the time to add some texture and personality to your scrapbook with such things as 3-D embellishments, puff paints and even textured paper.
3. Digital photographs can be enhanced with programs such as Photoshop. This program will allow you to lighten your photos, fix red-eye, erase blemishes and even turn your photos into black and white pictures.
4. Before you decide to actually glue anything down to your scrapbooking page, you really should arrange it on the paper first. This way you can be creative and work out any problems that you may have before they turn into mistakes.
5. Do you have a lot of left over stickers, tags, rub-ons, etc. lying around your home? Then why not put them to use? You can use them to create monograms on your scrapbook pages. These monograms can be for either your name or the page’s title. This really is a fun, cute way that also helps you to use up any extra supplies at the same time.
6. Die-cut patterns can be very expensive and therefore you probably do not want to have to purchase them over and over again. Well, there is a way around doing this. All you need to do is trace your die-cuts before you use. You can then use them again in the future use.
You can find more tips like this in a great Ebook that I recommend called “Simply Stunning Layouts“. If you’re feeling the pain and frustration of “scrapbookers block”, this will help you breakthrough.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR FREE 7 DAY PHOTOGRAPHY E-COURSE
7 Day Photography Challenge-Day Four-Gratitude
August 25, 2007
This is day four of our great 7 day digital photography challenge. My mission today was to take at least 7 digital photographs that show “things we are able to do” with the theme of gratitude. This digital photograph is a great example of an activity that I glad that I can do. Ride my bike. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Something most people would take for granted, riding a bike. My focus today was on on of the simple things in life; easy to take for granted.
This photo is also a great example of giving depth to a photograph. Here’s a simple photo tip. When you want to add interest to a photograph, have a main subject in the foreground and another subject in the background. In this case it is the handle bars of my bike and the American flag in the background. the object in the backgound will usually be smaller because it is further away from the camera.
Here’s another tip. Any time you have red in the photograph, it will command attention. Be careful where you show red; it will overpower just about any scene.
So let’s concentrate on this idea for tomorrow. When you take a photograph, keep the subject very simple, Only one or two subjects/objects, with a simple background. that way you are conveying a simple message with little distraction.
So, 7 more digital photographs tomorrow. Our new theme will be “events” What events in your day are you grateful for?
I would really like to hear about your 7 day journey. Please post your comments here at the bottom of the page.
If you need a new camera, see our video on choosing the right digital camera, click on the link below.
