Tag: iPhoneography Tips

Lesson 63: Photo Makeover

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

As I’ve mentioned, my best friend Gina is the inspiration for this blog.  Today, she sent me a picture at just didn’t work for her.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to pull together several earlier lessons in the context of one photo.

Here’s the photo Gina sent me:

Original

She and her husband were recently on vacation with another couple and Gina wanted a shot of her friends standing in front of the lake they were staying at.  Unfortunately, it was extremely windy, making it difficult to hold the phone still.  Although the photo was shot at 7:58PM during the golden hour, the lake and sky were far brighter than the light on Gina’s friends.

The first thing I did was try using Snapseed to see if the photo was fixable.  Had I had my glasses on and realized the severity of the focus problem, I might not have tried–focus is something you really can’t change much in software.  However, ignoring the focus problem for a moment, let’s look at what can be achieved through editing:

Snapseed–brightened and cropped
Aperture–brightened only

To some degree, the lighting on the people can be helped.  I edited in Snapseed using the Selective Adjustment tool to brighten the people.  As a comparison point, I also edited the original in Aperture using several general adjustments rather than selective adjustments.  Both methods work to brighten the subjects.

So what would have prevented the focus problem?

  1. Selecting a face to set focus (see Lesson 4)
  2. A faster shutter speed, which can be partially accomplished by setting exposure separately from focus (see Lesson 8 on using Camera Awesome and Lesson 61 on picking a brighter part of the scene to get a faster shutter speed).

But how could Gina have gotten more light on her subjects’ faces?  Given that this was shot right after sunset, it might have been a good time to have her subjects facing the fading light.  They might have been lit in the last glow of the golden hour–or, they might have gotten some light bounced off the lake.  In either case, they would at least have been brighter.

The other choice, if having the lake in the background was important, would have been to apply two previous lessons:  Lesson 22 on placing people in front of landscape scenes and Lesson 31 on using the flash to fill.  The combination of these two might have allowed the flash to brighten up the people.

Since none of these things may have been possible (I wasn’t there and every situation is different), a couple other thoughts on how to prevent the motion blur:

  1. Turn on image stabilization (see Lesson 34)
  2. Prop yourself against something stable or set the phone on something stable (see Lesson 34)

And, finally, for exposures that are so disparate, this might be a good time to use Pro HDR, see Lesson 9 and Lesson 18.  It’s kind of a toss up–with a high wind, the movement might have been too much.  But, if Gina’s friends were willing to hold still for 30 seconds or so, Pro HDR might have solved the exposure problem and still achieved focus (although the blowing hair would have been a problem).

Your Assignment:  Pull up a “photo failure.”  Can you fix it using Snapseed?  If not, what is causing it to “fail”?  Do you know what to do differently the next time around?  Now, test yourself.  Pick a subject with similar challenges to your “photo failure.”  Shoot the subject every way you can think of.  Use every app you know how to use.  Shoot vertically, shoot horizontally.  Use the rule of thirds, the rule of symmetry, the rule of telling a story.  Try different angles and think about position for light.  Try with and without flash.  Try to get at least 20 different photos of that subject.  Did you get anything that surprised you in a good way?

Lesson 62: The Rule of Telling a Story

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

“Every Picture Tells a Story” isn’t just a Rod Stewart song and album, it’s a rule that many photographers live by.  We’ve all heard the expression, “a picture speaks a thousand words.”  That said, sometimes, the story isn’t so obvious.  Sometimes, you could make up a lot of stories and they would all work and yet the photo is still compelling and/or beautiful.  But sometimes a photo works only because it tells a story.

Here’s an over-simplified example using my favorite chair.  Compare these two photos:

Story of a neglected, lonely chair
Story of a missing person who has left their comfortable reading chair briefly

What story would you tell about the first one?  Is it a story about someone wasting electricity by leaving the light on for no apparent reason?  Is it just someone who wants to show a friend what their favorite chair looks like?  There’s not really any hint about what the photo is about besides that I seem to think the chair is interesting.

Now look at the second one.  What story would you tell about that?  The presence of the book and glasses suddenly explains why the light is on.  It implies someone has just walked away.  Do the old-fashioned paper book and old-fashioned glasses sitting on the modern lines of the chair give you a sense of irony?  Does it make you wonder what the book is about and where the person reading it has gone?

To me, the second photo is more of a cliff-hanger.  It asks us to wonder why the book and glasses have been left at the ready.  While, perhaps it’s not as exciting a story as, say, a hardcore photojournalist’s shots from the frontline of a war, it leaves more to the imagination.

Sometimes we catch a facial expression that says it all.  Here are a couple of recent dog photos that I think express what my dog is thinking pretty clearly:

“OMG! I fell asleep for 2 seconds and she snuck up on me while I had my eyes closed!”
“She’s still flashing that thing in my face . . . yep, still at it . . . still flashing . . . will she ever leaving me alone?”

Sports photos are compelling largely because of their elegance in expressing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.  Sometimes, the story a photo tells is simply, “the world is beautiful.”  So much for a thousand words.

When it comes to photos of people, my personal opinion is that it’s best to avoid photos that say, “I posed these people uncomfortably so I could get a photo.”  I prefer awkward moments, ridiculous faces, raw emotion, all-out belly laughs, and loving looks given in moments when the subject thinks you’re not looking.  This explains why I’m not a portrait photographer–most people don’t want to see what they look like frozen in time with contorted expressions.

Your Assignment:  What’s your story?  Can you take a photo that says a thousand words?  How about 10 or 20?  Can you include everyday objects in a photo that changes it from a “record of what something looks like” to a story that draws people in?  Do you find these photos more interesting?

Lesson 61: The Rule of Light

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

In yesterday’s post, I compared the iPhone 4S and 5S flash photos.  Today, I want to switch gear’s and revisit the rule of light.  This is a rule of photography that cannot be broken, although it can be bent, manipulated, and worked around.  But no matter what you do, you have to have light and enough of it to get a photograph–after all, that’s what photography is: a recording of light.

In Lessons 16, 17, and 18 we talked about how time of day affects outdoor lighting, how you can choose the direction you shoot from based on the lighting, and how to use Pro HDR to help combat big differences in light and dark areas in your photos.

What we didn’t talk about is indoor lighting.  The iPhone has traditionally struggled with low-light situations and most rooms create a low-light situation–especially at night.

And what happens when you shoot in a low-light situation?  Well, if you might remember from Lesson 31, when you don’t have enough light you get more blur.  In Lesson 31, I didn’t explain this because my best friend Gina, the inspiration for this blog, doesn’t want to know.  However, today I have decided to risk upsetting Gina by explaining that it’s because the less light you have, the slower the shutter speed will be on the camera and the slower the shutter speed, the more blur you’ll get.

The best way to combat this indoors is to add light.  Add light by turning on every light in the room.  Move a lamp over to your subject.  Move your subject over to a lamp.  Position the lamp to light your subject as best as possible.  Do all of these things if you can.  For example, you may remember this example of flowers from Lesson 50:

 

Still flowers under bright light = sharp photo
Still flowers under bright light = sharp photo

By putting the bouquet of flowers directly under a lamp, I was able to get a sharp photo because both I and the flowers were holding still.  The more light you have, the faster the shutter will open and shut.  The faster the shutter opens and shuts, the less blur you’ll get.

In this photo, the shutter opened and shut at the exact same speed as in the photo above.  However, because Twiggy, the dog in the foreground, was moving, her face blurred:

IMG_1350

If you can’t add any more ambient light, you can always turn on the flash.  But there’s another option we haven’t talked about in past blogs:  set the exposure based on a lightest part of the photo.  For example, in this photo of my dog, I chose to expose on the white side of his face:

IMG_2232

This got me a slightly faster shutter speed than in similar photos where I set the exposure on a darker part of the subject.  It’s probably not a big enough difference to stop my dog’s motion if he were to, say, jump up from the couch.  But, it is enough of a difference to help with more subtle movement.  Because white reflects more light than black, when you select a white area for exposure, you get a faster shutter speed.  If you need a reminder on how to set the exposure separately from the focus, check out Lesson 8 on how to do this in the Camera Awesome app.

Your Assignment:  Try taking some pictures indoors.  Try taking a picture of your living room for example.  In one photo, choose a dark object for the exposure.  Take a second photo with the same composition but pick a light object for the exposure.  Can you see the difference in the exposure of the two photos based on what you selected?  Now, try including a subject with a tiny bit of slow motion like a relaxed dog or a person who will move slowly for you.  Does choosing light vs dark areas for exposure make a difference in stopping the motion of the moving subject?  How slowly do they have to move before it makes a difference?

Lesson 58: The Rule of Getting Close

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

In Lesson 53, I talked about what “filling the frame” means when you’e shooting a landscape.  In Lesson 3, I talked about filling the frame when you’re shooting a person (or dog).  In Lesson 3 (and a few other times), I’ve mentioned not to use the zoom function on the iPhone but to use your feet instead.

There are two times when using your feet might not be a good idea.  First, sometimes getting physically closer to your subject is not possible without peril (like Capa, who, as I mentioned in Lesson 53, was killed stepping on a land mine).  There can be physical obstacles or social ones to getting close to your subject sometimes.  Second, as I mentioned in Lesson 41, getting too close can cause unattractive distortion in the your subject’s face.

So, if you’re not supposed to use the digital zoom feature on the iPhone (the only “zoom” capability the iPhone offers) and you can’t get physically closer to your subject, what are you supposed to do?  Well, the only other option is cropping your photo.  I showed you how to crop a photo using Snapseed in Lesson 41, but I thought I would show you today how cropping compares to using digital zoom.

Compare the following 3 photos:

iPhone 4S with no zoom, uncropped
iPhone 4S Digitally zoomed photo
iPhone 4S Cropped version (from the first photo)

The first one is taken with no zoom and I didn’t crop it.  The second one is zoomed in all the way using the digital zoom capability.  The third one is actually the first photo cropped to approximately the same “zoom” amount as the second photo.

Notice that the digitally zoomed photo is blurry and very grainy compared to the cropped photo.  In theory, this should not be the case.  In theory, taking a photo and cropping it after you take it should result in the exact same quality photo as digitally zooming while you’re taking it.

Since my dog doesn’t usually hold perfectly still, it’s possible the increased blur is due to him moving rather than the difference in zoom vs crop.  To test that, I did the same exercise using a wooden bear carving since, so far, it has never turned its head in the middle of a photo:

The cropped version of the bear
Bear shot using digital zoom

Interestingly, I got the exact opposite results.  The digital zoom yielded a slightly sharper image than cropping a non-zoomed photo.

This is not exactly a scientific process, but my experience in the field is that I have consistently gotten better results by taking the photo without zooming and cropping to the degree the photo can tolerate before it gets too grainy and blurred over trying to zoom in while I’m shooting.  the main advantage to not digitally zooming while shooting is that you can decide later how much cropping your photo can stand without creating graininess and reducing sharpness.  If you shoot the photo already zoomed in, you cannot go back–the only photo that got recorded has the noise and blur recorded, too.

As a side note, in case you’re curious, I also got out an old 10 megapixel DSLR (to make it somewhat more comparable to the 8 megapixel iPhone–although it’s still apples and oranges) to demonstrate what optical zoom looks like.  Optical zoom is always better than cropping (assuming all other variables remain the same).  You get closer to the subject using a lens rather than degrading the quality of the image by spreading out the remaining megapixels when you crop (or digitally zoom).  Here’s a comparison for you:

DSLR cropped
DSLR using the optical zoom of a lens

Your Assignment:  Try the digital zoom function.  Do a similar exercise to the one I did–take the picture both zoomed in digitally and without zooming and cropping later.  Are you able to get better photos with the digital zoom or by not zooming and then cropping?  How about with a subject that doesn’t necessarily hold still all the time?  Do you get the same results?

 

Lesson 57: The Rule of Going Vertical

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

Here’s a simple tip that we haven’t talked much about:  when you find yourself struggling to get a photo you like, try shooting vertically.  I was once told by a photography instructor that roughly 85% of all photos taken around the world are taken horizontally.  By this, I mean the widest side goes left to right and the narrower side goes up and down, like this:

 

Shot horizontally (also called Landscape, even when the subject is not a landscape)
Shot horizontally (also called Landscape, even when the subject is not a landscape)

I can’t verify the statistic (I don’t even know how anyone would know that), but it is definitely true that the majority of the time, photos you see posted were shot in the horizontal (or landscape) camera position.  It’s pretty fascinating to take the same scene and look at it through a vertical frame.  Let’s compare these two photos:

Horizontal view taken with iPhone 4S and Pro HDR app
Vertical view also taken with iPhone 4S and Pro HDR app, 2 minutes later

These were both shot using the iPhone 4S with the Pro HDR app.  Notice how different the two photos look.  The horizontal framing cuts out the rocks in the foreground and puts the emphasis on the sky and the reflection of the sky in the water, putting the bridge mostly into silhouette.  By going vertical (and shooting from a slightly different position), I was able to include the rocks in the foreground and expose for them, which also allows the details of the bridge to show.

Each photo has its own merits and each has its own deficits.  Which one you like better is a matter of taste.  But the point is that, in spite of these being of the same subject about 2 minutes apart, they look completely different.  That’s the beauty of changing the shape of the lens you look through–it gives you a whole new way of seeing.

In addition to giving you an option on how to look at the world, sometimes subjects just work better vertically.  For example, most portraits of one person work better shot vertically if you just want the person in the frame.  Dogs also often look better vertically when you want a photo of just their face.  (Check out Lesson 3 for an example of how shooting vertically let’s you get tight on a canine subject.)  And, of course, shooting tall, narrow subjects vertically allow you to eliminate empty background space.

Your Assignment:  For the next few days, every time you pull out your iPhone to take a picture, take one vertically, too.  Compare the horizontal and vertical framing to get a sense for what works well vertically.  Many subjects work equally well horizontally and vertically, but give you completely different looks.  Did you get anything you really like?

Lesson 56: The Rule of Opportunity

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

OK, I made this one up.  But, as someone who has missed many, many moments when I saw a great photo op, I think it’s worth talking about.  The rule of opportunity is:  Get the shot!  (within reason–I do no advocate harming others, wildlife, natural habitat, property, your iPhone, or yourself.)

I am personally haunted by many missed moments.  One of the realities of photography you must accept is that each moment is its own.  It doesn’t happen twice.  If you think you’ve recreated the same moment, you probably aren’t paying attention to details.

There’s an old adage of photography that “the best camera is the one you have with you,” which is a paraphrase of the original quote from Barry Staver, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer.

That is the power of the iPhone–you have it with you.  But having your iPhone with you is only the first step in getting those moments that happen unplanned.  As someone who has a long, complicated password on my iPhone, I have frequently missed shots trying to unlock my phone so I could get to the app I wanted.

The first strategy for making sure you can capture moments is to know ahead of time what to do.  If you, like me, cannot unlock your iPhone in fewer than 3 attempts, repeat this mantra:  “ The default app is the best choice when an opportunity presents itself.”  I say this because it’s the only camera app that can be launched while the phone is locked (which is something I would love Apple to fix).

With the advent of iOS7, if you upgraded this week like I did, this is a good time to re-familiarize yourself with the Apple camera app.  It looks quite different!

The camera icon blends with my wallpaper; swiping upward on it opens the camera app
Fortunately for the quick draw, the app still defaults to the camera mode, but you might want to practice swiping to pano mode for rainbows

I suggest turning off the HDR setting if it’s on so that, if you’re in a hurry, you will be ready to shoot.  The point is to know how you are going to capture a moment that presents itself before it disappears.

Here are some moments that I barely caught (all of which I can list a bunch of things I wish were better about them) because I had a camera ready:

While shooting a parade for a local paper, I spotted this sleepy guy on dad’s shoulders–I had to run ahead of them to get this shot and couldn’t get back far enough for the framing I wanted. (DSLR)
Beams of light (or in this case a shadow) in the sky often don’t last long–you have to be quick to catch them. (iPhone 4S)
I was out shooting with my iPhone 4S when I spotted this spider. It held still just long enough–then it started running up the web towards me
I hopped off my bike and grabbed my iPhone for this shot
During dinner at a restaurant on the French Riviera, I just happened to catch this with my iPhone 4S
While waiting for a train in Nice, I grabbed this shot with my iPhone 4S.
Rainbows are so unpredictable. You don’t know when they will appear or how long they will last. iPhone 4S panoramic.
The last bit of sunset with the moon barely in the frame. iPhone 4S panoramic.
Who hasn’t seen great clouds from a plane window? Sunrise over Madrid–iPhone 4S.
Another parade shoot and another run to get ahead of the local ballet group’s performance. (DSLR)
Capturing my husband seeing himself in an ad with my iPhone 4S.
The tiny boy wearing a cape in front of a giant cloud made me stop and shoot while out for a walk with my dog and DSLR.

Sometimes a moment presents itself that lasts longer than a moment.  For example, dogs present endless passing moments (many which I’ve missed), but they also do cute stuff when they’re relaxing.  Here are some examples of dog silliness:

One a quick walk to a local nature preserve, my dog got hot and decided to wallow in the mud. iPhone 4S.
My dog demonstrating some confusion about the proper use of pillows. iPhone 4S.
Here my dog seems to have the hang of pillows. (iPhone 4S)
Keeping warm on a cold winter evening. iPhone 4S.
A misinterpretation of the blanket protecting the couch. iPhone 4S.
Daddy makes a good pillow. iPhone 4S.
Taking a roll during a stroll. iPhone 4S (Hipstamatic).
Sharing toys with a visiting friend. iPhone 4S.
Of course Moose has to go, too. iPhone 4S.
Sharing the sofa. iPhone 4S.
Giant leap. DSLR.
Good scratcher. DSLR.

One of the important lessons of being a better photographer is to think like a professional photographer.  Recognizing an opportunity to grab a shot is an important step.  Ironically, if you don’t recognize the opportunity, you will never kick yourself for having missed it.  But once you start looking at the world as a series of photo ops, you’ll want to be a quick-draw with your phone so you don’t miss them.

Your Assignment:  Practice swiping upward on the camera icon on your iPhone lock screen to open your camera app.  This may seem silly, but the way you access it changed a few updates ago from tapping the icon to swiping it upward, so you’ll want to make sure you have the feel of it.  Take a few photos with the default app.

Remember that you can only set focus and exposure together in this app (unlike Camera Awesome, which we’ve been using for many lessons).  Remind yourself that you’re going to have to make more compromises between the focus you want and the exposure you want if you need to capture a moment quickly and don’t have time to unlock your phone.

Experiment with choosing different focus/exposure points to get a sense of how much you can keep in focus and how much you can have exposed correctly using this app.  The only thing more depressing than not getting a photo at all is getting one that fails to capture the subject–something in human nature prevents us from deleting that one bad photo of that one incredible moment and leaves us to torture ourselves with our failure every time we see it.

Lesson 55: The Rule of Leading Lines

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

This is a “rule” of photography that we haven’t really talked much about.  When you’re composing your photo (meaning deciding what angle to shoot from, what to include in the frame, how close to get, etc.) one of the considerations should be whether there are leading lines in the subject or scene you’re shooting.

Leading lines refer to lines (they don’t have to be straight) that lead the eye into or through the photo, usually helping to draw the eye to a point of interest or main subject.  I sometimes end up with just lines because I find the 3-dimensional aspect they add to photos interesting.

For examples of leading lines, I could just refer back to yesterday’s lesson on symmetry–many of those examples work because of the leading lines combined with the symmetrical framing.  However, let’s look at some new examples.  First, here’s are a comparison to make this concept obvious :

iPhone 4S with Camera Awesome app–Only the reflection on the river creates any hint of leading lines
DSLR. This shows a strong leading line that makes a more 3-dimensional image

The photo on the left captures the Tennessee Aquarium across the river.  While the piece of foreground tree branches in the lower right (which are otherwise more of a distraction than a help) and the shadows on the river in front of the aquarium help create some sense of three dimensions, it’s what one might call a “flat” photo.

In comparison, the photo on the right creates a strong line that the eye follows down the gray curb and path to discover the Tennessee Aquarium at the end.  While, if you goal is to show off the Tennessee Aquarium, this perspective might be a bit far away to really achieve that, the strong lines drawing the eye create a different a much “deeper” photo than the previous one and provide an interesting option, at least.

I mentioned the shadows in the previous comparison.  Shadows can create interesting leading lines that add to photos like in the following examples:

iPhone 4S with Hipstamatic. The shadow contrasted against the lit rail makes for a doubly strong leading line
DSLR. The shadows create intense leading lines that take us down into the bridge

Similarly, light can work the same way.  While the light in the following example doesn’t exactly for a “line” per se, the reflection on the water creates a visual path through the image that draws the eye in from the front and then up to the moon above.  To demonstrate this, I removed the reflections on the water from the photo.  Notice the difference on how your eye moves over the photo and the sense of depth in the two versions:

DSLR. Original photo with reflections on water.
DSLR. Edited version with no reflections,

Here are some more examples of photos with leading lines (not all are iPhone photos, as noted in captions).  Notice the variety of ways to create leading lines, including dogs’ legs:

iPhone 4S, Hipstamatic. The dock and boat act as leading lines off to the river and beyond
iPhone 4S with Camera Awesome. The sidewalk leads us down to the bright blue railing
iPhone 4S with Camera Awesome. The lines leading from the corners to the background take the eye through the photo
iPhone 4S with Camera Awesome app. This would work better if the paw was sharp, though
DSLR. The bridge forms its own leading line
iPhone 4S with Camera Awesome and fisheye lens attachment. Same sidewalk in earlier example used in a different way.
iPhone 4S with Hipstamatic. Another dog leg creating a leading line.
iPhone 4S, Hipstamatic. The path curves into the sculpture.
DSLR. The trail leads up to my dog.
DSLR. The curve of the path takes us into the photo and then points at the bridge
DSLR. The leash takes us to the dog.
DSLR. The log points us out to the ocean.
DSLR. The dock takes us down into the lake.
DSLR. The foreground bridge takes us down to the background sunset

Your Assignment:  If you’re sitting on the couch reading this and your iPhone is in reach, try taking a photo of something at the end of your couch by positing yourself/phone so that your using the back of the couch to form a leading line to your subject.  Or if you have a wood floor, how about getting down close and using the lines formed in the floor boards?  Maybe walk outside and use the sidewalk, street, gutter of your roof.  Leading lines are everywhere.  Sometimes you just have to move around a bit to find them.  Do you like this look?  Can you see how it can help make some photos have more depth and interest?

Lesson 54: Revisiting the Rule of Symmetry

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

In Lesson 11, we talked about the Rule of Symmetry.  What I said in Lesson 11 was that if something looks symmetrical, don’t mess with it.  Perhaps a better way to state it is that at least try shooting symmetrically along with applying other framing techniques because it might look really cool.

Merriam-Webster offers this as the first definition of symmetry:  “balanced proportions; also :  beauty of form arising from balanced proportions.”  Research bears out that all cultures find people with more symmetrical faces more beautiful; therefore, it seems logical that we might also find symmetrical photos beautiful.  Oddly, this is less true than you might think.  For example, placing a non-symmetrical subject dead-center in the frame does not make it more beautiful.

However, there are many subjects that offer themselves up and beg to be shot symmetrically.  Let’s revisit some of the examples I used in Lesson 11 and compare how they look symmetrically vs using the rule of thirds.  I’ve cropped the originally symmetrical photo into a rule-of-thirds photo to show how the symmetrical version works better.

Moon shot (DSLR photo):

Original, symmetrical framing
Cropped to place moon at an intersection of thirds

Bridge (iPhone 4S with Hipstamatic D-type film and Helga Viking lens):

Original, symmetrical framing
Cropped to center bridge at intersection of thirds

Madrid Courtyard (iPhone 4S with Camera Awesome)–as a side note, this is a really bad photo that I should just delete, but it’s come in handy for lessons and it does work better symmetrically:

Not a great photo, but symmetrical framing
Cropped to place arch at intersection of thirds

Now that you hopefully see that sometimes subjects just work better symmetrically, let’s take a look at a bunch of other symmetrical examples.  Unfortunately, most of these were taken with a DSLR, but I’ve noted in the captions if they are iPhone photos.  The point is that many subjects work well symmetrically.  They might also work well using other framing, but symmetry is a great rule to apply as an option.

Underside of bridge
Mars, Venus, and the moon are not symmetrical, but the trees create symmetry
Guitar
Mt Hood, Oregon
I love shooting up stairways symmetrically (or almost symmetrically–this is a case for a tripod)
Fireworks often form symmetry
Bridges with railings also make good symmetrical subjects
Another staircase and another need for a tripod–notice the twist
Flower parts (or whole flowers) often look good in symmetry, especially up close
Reflections of things often create great opportunities for symmetry
iPhone 4S with Pro HDR app. Symmetrical buildings and landscaping works for symmetrical photos
iPhone 4S with Hipstamatic app, Black Keys film and Helga Viking lens. Sometimes a simple sidewalk can be made more interesting with a symmetrical photo

Your Assignment:  Try cropping copies of your rule-of-thirds (or other) photos into symmetrical photos.  Can you find some subjects that work particularly well in symmetry?  Now go out and shoot.  Look for opportunities to try out this framing technique.  Hint:  using the level in Camera Awesome can help you get better symmetry, particularly when shooting architectural subjects.

Lesson 53: The Rule of Filling the Frame

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

One of the oft-cited quotes of famous photographers is:  “If your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough” (Robert Capa).  Given that Capa (famous for his images from wars as a photojournalist) reportedly died when he stepped on a land mine, it’s probably best to bear in mind that there is such a thing as too close.

There is an important message to consider in the context of our earlier lesson on filling the frame, however.  As I said before, your frame will be full of something.  Make sure it’s the something you wanted.  In Lesson 3, I used the example of taking a picture of my dog and how I would caption each example based on what was included in the frame and what wasn’t.

But what about when you’re shooting large landscapes?  Landscapes don’t often present themselves with logical end points.  And part of the impact of a landscape is expansiveness and scale.  There absolutely is such a thing as being too close when the story you want to tell is about vastness.  (The following examples were taken with iPhone 4S and Pro HDR app.)

What I like about this framing: the wires sweep to the upper left corner and the last bridge support in the frame has space to the left
What I don’t like about this framing: The wires hand awkwardly and the last bridge support is chopped in half

You have to make choices about what will fit in your frame and what won’t when you’re shooting a landscape.  One of the things I love about landscape photography is that there is usually time to figure this out.  Granted, changing light, weather, or a rising moon may make me feel rushed, but even then, a little bit of planning gives me lots of time to choose what I want in my frame.

There are many details to consider.  One of the things I look at are the edges of my frame.  Am I cutting off a city scape smack dab in the middle of a building?  Could I change my angle slightly or take a step back to hit between two buildings instead? (The following examples were taken with iPhone 4S and Camera Awesome App.)

What I like about this framing: first bridge support has space to left and building at right is fully in the frame.
What I don’t like about this framing: bridge is chopped at left and so is building at right

Similarly for a wilderness scene, I’m often shooting through tree branches.  I want those foreground branches to create a frame for the distant view.  I also want those tree branches to be in focus because I find blurry branches distracting.  Sometimes, I have to pick one, no matter how much I love pick-two menus.  (The following examples were taken with iPhone 4S and Camera Awesome app.)

What I like: tree frame works OK. What I don’t like: buildings at end of bridge look clunky
What I like: buildings cleaned up a bit. What I don’t like: Tree at upper right doesn’t work as well

Your Assignment:  You’re frame is full every time you point your camera at something.  The key is to decide what you fill it with.  Get closer when your subject warrants being close–like people or subjects where the details make the difference.  Get further away when your subject needs distance–like vast landscapes.  Then look for what else is in your frame that you didn’t pick.  Do you want it there?  Can you do something differently to exclude it if not?

Lesson 52: The Rule of Thirds Revisited

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons

We talked about the Rule of Thirds very early on in Lesson 2.  In that lesson, we talked about framing a dog or a person and placing the intersection of the rule of thirds grid on the subject’s eye.  However, there are lots of ways to apply the rule of thirds.

Today, let’s talk about landscape scenes.  Landscapes are usually divided between sky and ground or sky and water.  To apply the rule of thirds to big sweeping scenes, you can make a simple choice:  is the scene more about the sky or the stuff below it?

If it’s about the sky, make two-thirds of the frame sky.  If it’s about what’s below it, make the sky one-third of the frame.

Here is an example of a landscape photo where I split the sky and sea about down the middle of the frame. I did this on purpose.  I wanted both rocks, the bird, and the water washing back to sea over the sand.  There was no way to apply the rule of thirds and get all of these elements into the frame the way I wanted them.  I happen to like this photo (sorry, it’s not an iPhone photo, but it makes the point).  I’ve also included two cropped versions that put the line between the sea and sky at the lower ⅓ of the frame.  In this case, I prefer to break the rule of thirds.

Original Framing
Cropped to keep left rock and put sea at 1/3 point
Cropped to keep right rock and put sea at 1/3 point

On the same beach, I took the following shot of a bunch of seagulls rising off the beach.  I was pretty far away when this happened, but I liked the breadth of the flock of seagulls (for all you old enough to remember, no, I’m not referring to the band).  I also like the expanse of beach underneath them with an almost equal expanse of sky.  However, I thought we should try this with the rule of thirds applied, so I cropped with ⅔ of the frame beach and another with ⅔ of the frame sky.  I think the one with ⅔ of the frame sky works rather nicely with the gulls taking off.

Original Framing
Cropped with sand taking up 2/3 of frame horizontally
Cropped so sky occupies 2/3 of frame horizontally

The next example splits the sky and land about ½ way.  This one is an iPhone photo, by the way.  I’ve cropped the photo to show ⅔ sky and again to show ⅔ land.  I prefer the one with ⅔ land in this case.  The sky is not particularly interesting or well exposed.  The land is a bit dark, but the bridge in the foreground adds more interest to my eye than the sky in the previous version.

Original Framing
Sky taking up 2/3 of frame
Land taking up 2/3 of frame

My final example, another iPhone photo, is one where the rule of thirds was perhaps over-applied in the original photo.  The foreground rock starts at the ⅓ point on the left.  The mountains in the middle of the frame end at the ⅔ point on the right.  It’s almost too stripe-y.  I cropped this one very slightly to put the mountains at the ⅔ point on the left side of the frame.  To me, the first version confuses my eye as to which element the photo is supposed to be about.  The second version makes it obvious to me that the photo is about the river valley and surrounding mountains.  I would prefer if the barge were further in the frame, but somethings can’t be fixed.

Original framing
Tops of mountains starting at the 2/3 point on left side of frame

Your Assignment:  Take a look at any landscape photos you’ve taken with a strong horizontal line.  Is that line at ⅓ or ⅔ of the frame?  If not, try cropping the photo just to see if you like it better (Snapseed provides a nice cropping tool–see Lesson 41).  Sometimes you will.  Sometimes you won’t.  Just remember that the rule of thirds can help you emphasize the part of the scene that you most want to draw the eye to.