strictly scenic: November 2008 Archives

In an 11-point study in composition I got together quite a few years ago, each letter in THE BEST RICE corresponds with something to keep in mind as I take my next picture. Check the previous blog entry, called Entrance and Exit.

Now, it works for me and we passed it on to correspondents who shot pictures for the York Daily Record. But yours might be different. One reader, Brian Hermans, came up with his own at my request, and while it's different, it makes plenty of sense. I'll be including his list soon.

The first "T" to remember is the Three Hundred Sixty Degree Rule. Imagine your picture from a different angle; maybe shooting into the sun, maybe higher or lower; maybe from behind. And look at 360 degrees as time, as well. Would the photo look better in the morning sun, or evening? Maybe at night?

Or as this photo shows, shoot from higher or lower perspectives than what people usually see. Fellow YDR photographer Jason Plotkin always searches for high or low angles-- he's always searching for something 'different good". And "different good" is terrific, but "different bad" is awful. Find a different angle, but keep in mind what you're trying to show. If you confuse the viewer with convoluted lines, colors, subjects, he's gone.

This picture was taken from a man-basket dangling from a crane while workmen built a 'dish" frame (radio, telelphone, I don't remember) atop the smokestack at Pershing Avenue and Philadelphia Street in York. The Codorus Creek is near the top, with Philadelphia Street bridge over it.

Yep, we could have gotten the shot from below, but it would have shown nothing that anyone else had already seen while driving past. I was harnessed in the bucket, the workman was tied off. Everyone was safe, but the photo doesn't make it seem that way.

In THE BEST RICE, a list of points of composition I put together a while back where each letter corresponds to a photographic point, entrance and exit is one "e".

Here, in this photo of Brigus, Newfoundland, the tiny road leads up to the town. From there, let your eye wander over the churches, the wall of rocky mountains, the colorful fall colors and the man walking his dog.

Newfoundland is a wonderful place to visit, and during any time of the year, you'll find photos worth framing at every turn. The ferry trip to the west side of the island is about six hours, the east side about 17 hours. Once on the island, view the icebergs, moose, whales, and enjoy the company of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. And you won't have to fight the elbow-to-elbow tourists as you would on Alaska cruises.

While at the Brigus Blueberry Festival, we sampled all the local food, including fish and brewis, fried cod tongues and cod jerky. Being an island, much of the economy is based on fishing, and they eat what they catch. For a recipe for fish and brewis, click here. For a recipe for fried cod tongues, click here. The latter recipe I gleaned from Joyces Fine Cooking. Honest. Be aware, both are very, very salty.

The scenery is varied, from Scandanavian-looking fiords to forests to sparse tundra. Remember, they don't call Newfoundland "The Rock" for nothing.

Yep, winter's getting here in a hurry and my sister in Mentor, Ohio, shoveled about five inches of snow Monday. Mentor is just east of Cleveland in the famed snowbelt area on Lake Erie, so they have learned to expect it. We have no snow yet, but...

But the critters around my house and probably yours as well, are hitting the feeders with a fury. The birds are emptying the sunflowers seeds in half the time it usually takes, and the neighborhood squirrels, well, they'll eat anything that doesn't move. I keep a tin garbage can full of corn-on-the-cob so they'll stuff themselves with that and not the sunflower seeds, but they were even walking around on the can this afternoon, trying to find away inside.

For tips on feeding birds in winter, click here

For tips on how to keep squirrels off bird feeders, click here

Now, when that doesn 't work, be careful of leaving anything edible outside. While playing tennis, I left a bag of animals crackers on the court. Within minutes, this one decided it was his/hers.

Another good lesson-- keep a camera handy wherever you go.