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Photographing Light

Usually we use light to illuminate or enhance the subject we are photographing, but once in a while the light itself becomes the subject, and we find ourselves photographing light.

The lighting on this snowy day gave a pristine, crystal clear feeling to everything around us. It wasn’t something you could catch on camera – or so I thought. Then I noticed this view. I was standing in the shade, and my daughter had climbed up the embankment to see something close up. She had disturbed the snow from the branches above, and the air was suddenly filled with tiny explosions of light as the snow caught the sunbeams on the way down.

I suppose we are photographing light every time we try to capture a rainbow, or take pictures of sunbeams through the clouds. Interesting. It has no physical substance, yet we can document a visual image of it. I wonder if that has some deep philosophical implication?

Think about it next time you find yourself photographing light, and let me know what you came up with.

Controlling Depth of Field With a Pocket Camera

I’ve covered the problem of controlling depth of field with a pocket camera once, but found some interesting information since then.

The idea in controlling depth of field with a pocket camera, or an camera, is to create a photo composition where the subject is in sharp focus, and the background is blurred. This produces a clean result that draws the eye to the subject without compromising the richness of color in the background.

This type of photo composition is normally achieved by adjusting the aperture, or f-stop, and the actual distance to the subject. A larger aperture (smaller f-stop number) and shorter focal distance will result in a narrow depth of field and serve to produce a photo composition with the desired effect.

This is all very well and good with a proper SLR, but sadly, most pocket cameras have such a tiny lens that it isn’t practical to change the aperture, so there are no f-stop settings.

There is a theory that controlling depth of field with a pocket camera is possible by zooming up on the subject, but in actuality, if you zoom up on the subject, you will have to step back and increase the distance, so the depth of field remains essentially the same. There is some merit in using the macro setting and making sure the background is some distance away from the subject, which will work to some extent for flowers and other small objects, but of course wouldn’t be practical for a larger photo composition such as a portrait.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, pocket cameras are set to focus on as much of the frame as possible. In other words, it’s set to have the largest possible depth of field, which essentially renders controlling depth of field with a pocket camera impossible.

Cell phones, on the other hand, are usually set to have the sharpest possible focus for any given object, and have a shorter depth of field. This photo was taken with a Japanes Panasonic cell phone (905i) with a 5.1 megapixel camera. I’m not familiar enough with i-phones to know if they would work the same way. Perhaps someone who has one could comment on this?

Nature Photography Tips 16

So far, in our nature photography tips series, we’ve covered the Rule of Thirds, and all 14 basic lines and shapes commonly used in photo composition. I’ve enjoyed putting this together, and hope it’s been useful to you as well. Here’s a summary all 14 photo composition lines and shapes, with the basic concepts they tend to portray in nature photography.

1. Horizontal lines – freedom and open expanses
2. Vertical lines – strength and power
3. Diagonal lines – excitement and motion
4. Single Diagonal line – dramatic contrast
5. Radiated lines – dramatic force and freedom
6. Curved lines – grace, beauty and dignity
7. Upright Triangles – solid strength and stability
8. Inverted Triangles – tension, instability and freedom
9. Multiple Triangles – happy dynamic movement
10. Central Dot – clarity of thought and purpose
11. Comparison of two or more objects – interest, uniqueness, rhythm
12. Crossed lines (an X)- depth and distance
13. Repeated themes – rhythm, unity, completeness
14. Tunnel effect – concentration, objectivity

Of course most photo composition will be a mixture of these 14 lines and shapes. You will also want to remember that rules and guidelines in art are often best broken as long as you are aware of them, and why you are breaking them. This applies to our nature photography tips as well.

Nature Photography Tips

Your challenge is to create an album of your own original photo composition using all 14 lines and shapes. Try to collect at least 2 or 3 examples of each concept, and continue to replace the ones you don’t feel are prize winning compositions. In time you’ll have an album of nature photography that’s rich and varied. You might try confining yourself to one theme such as cats or trees, or all photos from one area.

I’m planning to have photo contests and critiques available on Photo Lifestyle soon, so you’ll be able to share your work with all of us. Enjoy!

Nature Photography Tips 15

We’ve been covering photo composition in our Nature Photography Tips for some time now. The last photo composition technique in the series is the tunnel effect. Granted, a parapet from the ancient castle grounds in Amakusa Japan isn’t exactly a form of nature, but it does a good job of illustrating this type of photo compostition.

You can achieve this same effect by using, of course, a real tunnel or covered bridge. A classic tunnel effect can also achieved in nature photography by simply finding a narrow opening between the trunks of two trees, boulders or even leaves of a tree. The idea of this photo composition technique is to achieve a sense of looking out onto the bright world from inside a tunnel shaped, darker area. The main subject can be the ‘tunnel’ walls such as a mossy stone or log, or, as in our example, it can be the bright world outside the tunnel.

The tunnel effect emphasizes a sharp contrast, and invites direct concentration on the subject. It’s also possible to express the feeling of looking at a subject from a great distance, and serves to distance the viewer emotionally as well, thus producing a sense of calm and objectivity.

Nature Photography Tips:

Do you tend to take advantage of the tunnels and holes you find when you have your camera out? Check you files to see if you have used the tunnel effect in the past, and try it if you haven’t.

Next time we’ll list all 14 photo composition techniques we’ve covered in the Nature Photography Tips series. Thanks for staying tuned, and do leave a comment!

Nature Photography Tips 14

The next type of photo composition in our Nature Photography Tips is randomly or evenly distributed repeated themes. Nature photography lends itself to this type of photo compostion. Clouds, flowers, birds, sheep, fallen leaves and rocks along a coastline or in a desert are just a few examples of repeated themes in nature photography.

The clouds in this photo composition by Elizabeth Laurel are a great example. They are randomly placed, but spread themselves more or less evenly over the sky.

A photo composition of multiple flowers is another classic application of repeated themes. Repeated themes provide an excellent way to express a pleasing rhythm and a beautiful sense of unity and completeness.

Nature Photography Tips:

The photography tips are really about the same as usual. Find repeated themes in your photo files, then go out and find more repeated themes to photograph.

Notice the rhythm and unity you discover in these photos.

I do hope you’ve been creating an album of photos that utilize the 14 basic compositions in nature photography. You’ll find as your photo lifestyle progresses, you’ll be adding to these files until you have a ton of great photo compositions in each category.

Stay tuned for the final style to cover in this Nature Photography Tips series.

Thanks to Elizabeth Laurel for the great sunset!