September 2008 Archives

We've all seen signs like this. With apologies to comedian Bill Engvall, this is a "Here's Your Sign" entry.

As if a driver wouldn't notice that this road was closed. Duh.

Indianapolis is the 13th largest city in the United States, and the second most populated state capital in the country, and somehow, you'd expect a more sophisticated welcome to the home of Peyton Manning, the Indy 500 and more soybean fields that you can imagine.

The state seems proudest of its breadbasket with this sign, something I came upon while on my way to an in-law reunion. Seeing humor in photos is another way to keep interest in pictures, and this one seems to fit-- Indianapolis and all its skyscrapers, welcoming visitors with its soybean fields.

Splashing through the creek at York College could have been so much fun this summer; and you wished you could just forget about mortgage payments, gas prices, your job-- just for a moment.

Newspapers once used a lot of what we at the YDR call 'free art', that is, just photos that are fun, pretty, or unusual. Generally, however, newspapers have now steered away from this type of photo unless it goes with a story. By itself, it's too much 'fluff'. People want news, and photos that are linked only to those stories.

This photo was shot years ago on one of those miserable hot days in summer, when kids were finding ways to cool off. You see some interesting things just cruising around town...

Silhouettes are relatively easy to shoot, and often, especially with point and shoot cameras, you'll get a silhouette even when you don't want it. The light meter will read all the strong light from behind the subjects and adjust accordingly, giving the silhouette. Many cameras have a backlight mode which will allow more light into the camera, and put more detail in the subjects.

Someone once said you must know all the rules in order to break them all properly. That's probably true in any field, but certainly in photography.

One rule I've generally gone with is the Rule of Thirds, where the main subject is at the intersection of horizontal and vertical rules, dividing the photo in thirds. It seems to give photos more life, less static.

But this photo, which won a first place ribbon at the York Fair, has the main subject -- the flamingo's eye-- smack dab in the center. As an experiment, I cropped the photo different ways, taking the black upper left corner out, accentuating it, etc. None of them worked for me.

And that the picture is nearly perfectly square isn't especially pleasing either, but rules are made to be broken.

And this photographer knew the rules and broke them-- properly and perfectly.

How often have you/me taken a picture of a wonderful scene, and it just doesn't 'make it'? It looks much better to your eye than in the camera.

On Monday, as I traveled through the backroads of southeastern York county, I found a serene pond, partially covered with lotus and lily pads. This late in the season, most of the flowers and color was gone. But there was a picture to be had, and as I often do, I obsessed about finding it. I spent hours staring at a single lily pad and a dragonfly (it could have been dozens of different 'flies). That's not like me; I have patience of a cocker spaniel puppy.

Found plenty of photos, made different by the fading sunlight, the dragonfly's exact position, the curling leaf.

And the pictures were interesting, including this one with the shadow of the dragonfly projected on the leaf below. It's still not as interesting as I saw. But without this shadow, a detail, the photo wouldn't be as strong.

There's tomorrow, always looking for the perfect photo. That's what keeps me going.
What pushes you to become a better photographer?

York Fair week is, in my mind, one of the best times of year, for a carload of reasons. It signals the end of a usually hot, miserable summer (my least favorite season), football season begins, autumn and all its color may be just a month away, depending which part of the country you visit.

But of course, it's Fair time. Photographs are everywhere-- kids joyfully fighting with a stick of cotton candy, the animals, the carnival workers and of course, the rides. I wouldn't pay the high prices they ask to just enjoy the ride, but to get a picture, now that's another story.

Instead of getting the usual off-ride, blurry night action picture of a ride, take a camera on the ride, hang on tight and start shooting. If you are traveling the same speed as the rider, you might get a blurry background (that's a good thing) and some terrific expressions, as in this photo taken years ago.

I'll be at the fair every chance I get. It'll be over too soon.

Normally, when we think of contrast in a photo, it's lightness or darkness.

But use other kinds of contrast--big and small, short and tall, fat and thin, old and young or black and white --to create an interesting picture.

This picture of York's Matthew Dorgan, taken in 1981, shows Matt sitting in his grandparents' pool on a floating chair. His aunt, who was watching him, swam up behind and stuck her feet up. It created a kind of head-scratcher moment. It's kind of comical, the size difference.

It was unrehearsed, candid and funny. Have your camera to catch moments of contrast. It's more than light and dark.