Thanks to The Camera Store (The largest camera store in Calgary, Alberta, Canada)  for sponsoring the Photography.ca podcast.

A sneak peek to one of the 6 tips which is useful to photographers of all levels is to check out the work of master painters. They knew about the edges, about the overall composition, and the rules of composition. Those rules directly apply to photography. This famous painting below done by Rembrandt shows dark edges all around which is of course no accident. He did it all the time. Notice where your eye ends up in the painting; on the wave at left and this too is no accident. When we can apply some of these principles to photography, our images almost always improve.

1633 — Rembrandt (1606–1669) Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee.

Talk about how edges can add interest! This image by Selena Rhodes Scofield from our forum is framed in an extremely creative way and the unusual perspective just adds to the visual interest. In addition, both the seagull’s neck and its wing are creating interesting positive and negative shapes as they intersect with the edges and the rest of the image. Being on the lookout for these shapes is another way to spicify your photography.

seagull 3 by Selena Rhodes Scofield

Of course when you want to break guidelines, you break them whenever you want to. Just be aware that you are doing so. In this image below, Canadian Master photographer and teacher Freeman Patterson does just that.

From his book Photography and the Art of Seeing he wrote: “I saw this elderly lady as passing away from me and my world, so I photographed her through a window clouded by reflections and curtains. The shallow depth of field, which throws the reflections and curtains out of focus, creates a sense of the surreal and the unknown. The hand of the woman’s friend appears in the lower right corner. By all traditional standards of composition, the hand should not be there because it looks amputated. Yet it seems strangely appropriate, representing support that may be needed in the present, while at the same time adding to the impression of the world dissolving”

Photograph by Freeman Patterson from The Art of Seeing.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Photography and the Art of Seeing by Freeman Patterson. If you can only afford one photography book this year, buy this one.
Composition Basics by oopoomoo

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Thanks as well to Don Crasco and Daniel Cybulskie who posted comments directly on the blog.  Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

If you are looking at this material on any other site except Photography.ca — Please hop on over to the Photography.ca blog and podcast and get this and other photography info directly from the source. |Subscribe with iTunes|Subscribe via RSS feed |Subscribe for free to the Photography podcast — Photography.ca and get all the posts/podcasts by Email

You can download this photography podcast directly by clicking the preceding link or listen to it almost immediately with the embedded player.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

I’m super-pleased to welcome  The Camera Store (The largest camera store in Calgary, Alberta, Canada)  as a sponsor of The Photography.ca podcast! I’ve been buying my own gear there and recommending them for a few years now, and I’m a fussy bugger when it comes to both gear and recommendations. Their customer service is simply awesome and I often find that they have the best prices in Canada. They ship all over Canada.

Both these images were taken within the same minute. The bottom image however, tells a stronger story due to the dramatic gesture of the axe in the air, the smoke coming from the side of the roof and the fireman on the right of the roof that’s facing the camera. The top image isn’t bad, but it easily loses in a poker match when it goes head to head with the bottom image.

Winter’s Meeting — I waited in a window and actively composed this scene last winter. There is a strong suggestion of story here because the person in the background appears to be waiting for the foreground woman. I clicked the shutter only when I felt the timing was right compositionally.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
Long exposure images — Photography.ca forum’s regular assignment — July 2013
Macro photography — Photography.ca forum’s level 2 assignment — June 2013
Layering images with interesting elements — Photography podcast #102
Shoot in any light - Photography podcast #100

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

My Facebook profile — Feel free to “friend” me — please just mention Photography.ca
My Twitter page — I will follow you if you follow me — Let’s connect — PLEASE email me and tell me who you are in case I don’t reciprocate because I think you are a spammer.

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly  Photography forum

Thanks to Ben W who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as well to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

If you are looking at this material on any other site except Photography.ca — Please hop on over to the Photography.ca blog and podcast and get this and other photography info directly from the source. |Subscribe with iTunes|Subscribe via RSS feed |Subscribe for free to the Photography podcast — Photography.ca and get all the posts/podcasts by Email

You can download this photography podcast directly by clicking the preceding link or listen to it almost immediately with the embedded player below.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

The ‘Rule of Thirds’ is used regularly by most advanced photographers. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts (like a tick tack toe board) by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. The shot above is a good example. Most newbies would have placed the model dead center in this image. The image works much better compositionally  with the model to to right of center on one of the lines with the yellow dot. Play with this ‘rule’ for yourself just to test it out.

Depth of Field (otherwise known as DOF), is the area from the foreground to the background within your photo that is in focus. A narrow DOF (F-2.0 or F-2.8 for example) will allow the main subject of your photo in be in focus while the background is blurred. A wider DOF allows one’s eyes to wander over the whole image as there are more details that are in focus.

Other ‘rules’ to consider include leading lines, framing, foreground interest and more.

Original link from our Photography forum

The ‘Rule of Thirds’ is used regularly by most advanced photographers. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts (like a tick tack toe board) by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. The shot above is a good example. Most newbies would have placed the model dead center in this image. The image works much better compositionally‚ with the model to to right of center on one of the lines with the yellow dot. Play with this ‘rule’ for yourself just to test it out.

Depth of Field (otherwise known as DOF), is the area from the foreground to the background within your photo that is in focus. A narrow DOF (F-2.0 or F-2.8 for example) will allow the main subject of your photo in be in focus while the background is blurred. A wider DOF allows one’s eyes to wander over the whole image as there are more details that are in focus.

Other ‘rules’ to consider include leading lines, framing, foreground interest and more.

Original link from our Photography forum