Browsing all posts in composition.

Five SOOC Tips

Hello friends! I was just e-mailing with Steve Russell, our regularly featured guest writer, about his weekend photography shoot. He was lamenting the fact that he had over 500 shots to post-process after a photo-heavy day. I, too, find it sometimes wearying to conceive of hours of post-processing after a long day of shooting. I [...]

Street Photography

The buzz and excitement surrounding the discovery of Vivian Maier’s vast collection of photographs has generated a renewed interest in, and curiosity about, street photography. Street photography reveals a candid look at a city’s population, architecture, and events. It can also be used to deliver a personal, social, political, or environmental message. Photographs are taken [...]

Learn From Your “Bad” Photographs

For every one great photograph that we post on-line, upload to Flickr, share on Facebook, or show our friends and family, there are twenty “bad” photographs hiding on our hard drives that never see the light of day. The reason? They’re overexposed. Or underexposed. Or composed strangely. Or out of focus. Or just… off. Here [...]

What Does Your Best Shot Say About You?

I spent some time before writing this article searching for the photographs that I, personally, consider to be among my best shots. Here are three of them: In considering these shots, and others that I’m fond of, it’s easy for me to see that I gravitate towards landscapes. I know precisely why that is – [...]

Trying Something New

By Steve Russell As I have mentioned before, my first and true love in photography is nature photography.  Being outdoors and off the beaten path has provided many hours of enjoyment in the past and will continue to do so in the future.  However, I decided this year that I wanted to try my hand [...]

Sometimes It’s Just About Having Fun

By Steve Russell We each use our photography equipment in our own way.  We have different cameras, different lenses and different flash equipment.  More importantly are the different ways in which we approach the same or similar subject.  A few minutes browsing a site like Flickr.com can really bring that home.  Wouldn’t photography be boring if [...]

The Rules of Photography – Follow Them or Break Them

By Steve Russell Wait! Before you hit the back button, I’m not going to list all of the rules of photography – just a few of them. Many of the rules, especially those regarding composition have been around longer than photography. For example, the rule of thirds appears as early as 1797 as a rule [...]

Fix My Pic #1

Hello, all. Back in August I asked for volunteers for Fix My Pic, in which readers submit their own photographs for analysis and advice. This photo was submitted by Amit Khanna for our consideration. As seen here, the surfer is right in the center of the photograph. The photo might benefit by applying the Rule [...]

How Have You Grown?

One of the things that I appreciate the most about my Flickr photostream is the growth that I can see emerging in my photographic abilities. I’ve maintained a Flickr membership since February of 2006, and have had an on-line presence since 2000. Throughout, I have taken thousands upon thousands of photographs, and have had several [...]

What NOT to Photograph

While considering what kinds of pictures you should set your sights on capturing, you should also take a moment to ponder what photographs you shouldn’t take. Avoid clutter. It is a proven fact that a tidy, neat, and clean home sells more quickly than a messy, cluttered home. This concept translates to photography as well. [...]