Since people seemed to enjoy it last week, I’ll share my pics and the teacher’s comments again. I didn’t like most of my pics as much this week – but hey, it isn’t every week that I get to go to Florida and have so many great picture opportunities! Though he wouldn’t complain if I used older pictures, I know he does want us taking pictures the whole time, and so I’ve set it as a strict rule for myself to only use the pictures I’ve taken in the past week. I need to get out and take a photo excursion this weekend, I think! Plus I want to go to the Ansel Adams showing that ends this Sunday.
That’s Crackerjack in that picture. The instructor really liked him, and we talked about whether to crop out the sky. I do actually have a picture that is more of a closeup, but you can’t see the cool sky things going on, and while Jack stands out more, part of what drew me to take the picture was the sky itself. So, a toss-up! I think the instructor and I agreed on the picture overall.
He liked this one too. The really light parts of the sky I was sort of worried about and had wondered if I should crop them out. He said they were just on the okay side of almost being burnt out, so he was fine with them in there. He liked the composition of this one and the previous one. (He didn’t have that much to say about either, really.)
This one I included mostly to show the “before” of a picture that was cropped to greater effect.
This is the cropped version of the previous picture. He liked this one, thought she was an interesting chicken, and said I did exactly right on the cropping to simplify and cut out the distracting bright area in the previous picture. (He then talked about how his dad had run a hatchery, “producing” one million chickens a year, which was disturbing and which I really wish I hadn’t learned!)
He liked this one the best, which is oddly affirming for me (it was the one I liked the best as well), and he was pleased that I took a picture of just part of Tempest, and he encouraged all of us to do things like that.
So, somehow not as exciting for me as last week, but I have been encouraged overall by the way I seem to be on the same wavelength as the instructor. Which isn’t to say I haven’t learned anything, because I do feel that I’m learning things every week!
I’ll have to see if I can do a summary of the things I’ve learned in the lecture/slide-show portion of the classes soon, because it seems like it would interest at least a few, and I find it helps cement things in my mind when I “show” others what I’ve learned!
January 24, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Thanks for posting these pics and comments. I am one of those fans of your feedback from your instructor. I really like the idea of cropping a picture to turn it from landscape to portrait. I never thought of cropping that way, it makes sense and really works for the photo you posted. Having seen a lot of your pics I love the technique of shooting a small part of a pig picture. Tempest’s paw is a great example of this. I would never think of doing that.
The best part though is that alien white stuff in the first two photos, we no longer get any of that mystery stuff in NYC.
January 24, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Yeah, I’ve been pleased to see how much it helps to get feedback from someone with specifics of “such and such is distracting and here’s what I would do”. He’s a big fan of cropping (not everyone agrees with him), and I’ve often cropped to make a picture more what I want, so that was something I agreed with him on right from the start!
As for the alien white stuff, it is just proof that y’all in the north are evil! EEeEvil, I say!
Or, for colder snowier winters, move south? lol.
January 24, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Dig the shots. You are just da bomb, Shutterbug!
I know diddly about photography. About the only thing I can do is point and shoot. If it ain’t automatic, I don’t fool with it.
Always good to see what’s happening in your neck of the woods. BTW, how much snow is on the ground in your locale?
Later…
January 24, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Thanks Hawk! And all photography starts with shooting and clicking! Actually, it starts with seeing, and then shooting and clicking, and then looking at the results, and repeating the procedure about a million times! It is more about the seeing, and that’s when it gets fun. One of my friends was told in his first photography class to lock himself in the bathroom and take a roll of film. He said it was really instructive in learning how to see everyday things in different and creative ways. So, you see, you might still have it inside you!
As for amounts of snow, none now. At the time of these pics (last saturday), there was maybe an inch on the ground (at least on the grass), though the roads were clear.
All the snowlovers have been disappointed by the snowfall in this area this winter, but I’m not complaining…not at all!
January 24, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Those are very good. I am always amazed at the clarity pictures can have, as opposed to many of ours that are blurry! I’m better at it than my husband, but still…
The paw is my favorite too. I love the contrast of colors in it, and I also love the chicken. The close up really brings out his eyes! LOL!
Thanks for these lessons. It inspires me to take more myself!
January 24, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Jazmine – believe me, I take plenty of blurry pictures too! Some of it is how steady your hand is, some of it is the camera itself. Some lenses have image stabilization, and it can also have a lot to do with how much ambient light you have. (The more light, the faster the shutter speed, and the less issues we tend to have with handshake.)
One trick is to keep your elbows close to your body when you’re taking the picture, and to exhale all the air – both these things tend to keep the body more still and stabilizes the hands a bit.
Take many and take them often! The more you take, the more good ones you’ll get!
January 25, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Thanks for the photography lessons, Deb. I get a lot out of whatever shots and comments you share. I’ve never taken a photography class, but I do like to imitate! Tempest’s paw translates to my son’s foot.
January 25, 2008 at 9:14 pm
fw – your son’s feet were great! Glad tempest’s foot can inspire others, not just me! lol.
January 26, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Kitty photos always win out in my book but I do love the barn. I’d be inclined to crop the sky but I agree with the teach. The chicken well – second is much better than the first but – I’m going out on a limb here and letting my truth out…I have a thing against chickens, geese!, butterflies, hummingbirds and most any flying thing but chickens very much so.
Man, I didn’t mean to go there but it’s out now.
I too am learning much reading here with others and I thank you very much. I’ve always had admiration for you and still do – more and more as time goes by.
Peace always.
January 27, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Ruby – I have some friends who are afraid of birds. I thought it was sort of weird when the one friends said she was afraid of them, was even creeped out by them, but I think there are a lot of people out there who are!
I didn’t think much of chickens (good or bad) before I started going to the sanctuary, but having gotten to know them (and a swan and a peacock, turkeys and a couple guinea hens), I have to defend them a bit here – they’re intelligent, lovable, the males are quite gallant, they band together to warn each other of danger, they form close bonds, they have all the quirks of personality that you’d expect to find in dogs or cats, just expressed a bit differently. They’re really quite fascinating!