Evil is as evil does

· 2 Comments ·

“Perspective” and knowing what your main topic is – or, in my case, this often means only finding out later when I review my photos what the main topic was.

When I am out and about with my running friends I often snap photos – literally snap because I’m there to participate in the fun and taking pictures comes second.  Usually my main objective is to capture the people that are there with me.  We were having a break from our jogging/hiking day at the shores of Lake Constance.  Beer was waiting for us bobbing on the waves. I like the fancy clothes people are wearing at these occasions and I am particularly drawn to runners’ socks and their messages.

 

The next four shots were all taken at a pre-wedding party.  I was there with my camera and my brief was to take pictures of the guests as unobtrusively as possible.

In the first photo the focus is very obviously on the people and the overall garden setting showing off the newly acquired house of the soon-to-be-weds and the party area in front. Not a great shot per se but one setting the mood and showing the crowd.  The second photo was taken from the same position but focussing on the balcony with its pretty flowers and the bird cut-out and reflection in the window.

The following two shots are again taken with completely different objectives in mind.  The first one shows three guests on a cigarette break, totally unawares of being photographed. I liked the way they were standing next to the little amorette all in white.  It would have been better if the third person had not been blocked by the one in the middle (I could have moved to the right to avoid that).  The second shot focusses clearly on the head of one of the women.  I found the colours of her dyed hair fascinating.  Coming to think of it, this would have been a good photo to illustrate the 2/3 rule, bokeh and all.

CEE’S COMPOSE YOURSELF PHOTO CHALLENGE: WEEK #13 Perspective

CCY

 

Das Runde muss ins Eckige

· 4 Comments ·

A quote – reputedly from the former German national football coach Sepp Herberger – that’s not easy to translate since “eckig” means “angular” rather than “square”.  But f0r Cee’s next topic: “Centre point – breaking the rule of thirds” it is spot on to say:

“The round thing has to go into the square thing.”

Round things are fairly easy to centre and so these flower balls are perfect to illustrate pictures with a centre point.  In white:

9

and black:

7

and white again.

8

The rose below does not quite work as her middle is slightly off centre and the distribution of the petals is unbalanced.

10

The focal point here is the little bead below the earlobe which almost makes one miss the building reflected in the red stone.

4

I found this interesting as the centre point of this picture is found in the negative space slightly above and to the right of the knee but because of the diagonal division of the shot I think it works.

5

I like this little duckling and I’ve included a copy with the centre clearly marked.  It is not the beak as one might expect but the fluff on its chest where the feathers create a swirl looking almost as if everything radiates from that point.

And here is Mama Duck with a magnificent orang beak as the centre point of the photo. I have changed the photo to black and white with selective colour for the beak in order to emphasize the centre point and not get distracted by the pinkish feet or the brown duck to the left.

11

 

Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge: Week #11 Centerpoint – Breaking the Rule of Thirds

CCY

Two thirds can make a whole

· 2 Comments ·

Cee’s next challenge is concerned with “Using 2/3 of your photo frame” just the opposite from the previous one. 

I’ll start off with a gnarled treebark where the background was so light that it showed off completely white and featureless making the bark almost into a cut-out.

3

This was a “naturally occurring” 2/3 – a graveside flowerbed in a display of such plantings at the German horticultural show in Brandenburg an der Havel.  These small plots showed off gardening en miniature and since it was also a competition for gardeners meticulously cared for, I watched a gardener trim a bed with something that looked like nail scissors.  In this case the colourful display contrasted with the two variety of greens of the border.

5

A macro of a tulip – the spring colours at the moment are stunning.  The dark green leaves in the out-of-focus range form the perfect contrast to the bright orange of the blossom.

9

The same botanical garden features this abundance of tulips. In both shots the colour covers two thirds.  I think I prefer the second photo – neither of which I would have taken like this before reading Cee’s essay.

 

7

8One more flower shot, this time another landscape photo shot from below to block out anything but the clear blue sky in the upper third.

6

A cockerel contrasted by the green bokeh behind and to the left.

2

 

And to finish off a close-up of a white pony.

1

Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge: Week #10 Using 2/3 of your photo frame

CCY

OWPC: Bottle

· 1 Comment ·

owpc bottle 1

 

It’s spring – and yes, this means hayfever time is here!

 

Bonus pic: I kind of struggled with the word given this week – bottle – and the only other picture I could come up with was with this little creature loving his bottle a bit too much:

owpc bottle 2

A late addition, but I just came across this picture in my archive and it reminds me of a fun day with all that beer in bottles stored in the cool waters of Lake Constance:

owpc bottle 3

https://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/04/19/one-word-photo-challenge-bottle/

Audit

· 1 Comment ·

I haven’t managed to work through the backlog of Cee’s challenge (I hesitate to call it challenge it feels more like my private online tutoring) so my choices are limited to the early assignments.

I’ll start off with a photo which is not the greatest but it reminds me of a wonderful holiday.  The diagonal line divides the picture into two contrasting colours – not a hundred percent according to the colour wheel but close enough.  The famous Eiger Nordwand is as geometrical as triangles come and the mountain to the right (I think it’s the Jungfrau but don’t quote me) is not only a triangle but the slope of the Eiger and the slope in the foreground create a negative triangle as well.

Eiger

Here are harmonious colours, i.e. colours which are next to each other on the colour wheel. From the yellow green in the bottom third to the deep green of the cornstalks to the blueish hue of the upper third.  Surprise! The photo is divided in more or less even thirds, and the different colours and patterns are so well defined that they create horizontal lines.8

 

Another photo teeming with geometrical shapes from the pink rectangle on the left, the acute triangle next to it and the isosceles triangle with the right angle in the upper right hand corner. There are a couple of smaller triangles as well. But I like it because of the great laugh which is so infectious.

1

Lines seem to show off best in black and white photos.

lines 1

Another leading curved line. The viewer is drawn along the the line created by the pier to the lighthouse which is off centre and a bit to the top. The sky above the horizont is an enormous amount of negative space.

lines 6

And one of my favourites with contrasting colours (blue opposite the orangey rust), the seagull with her head, the focal point, in the upper right 3/9.

6

I have definitely learned about taking photos and have realised that I use some of the principles now instead of just clicking.  But more so Cee has opened my eyes to see why I like some of happy-click photos a lot and others less. I tend now to think more before I click.  What I want to say to Cee is: Thank you!  You have taught me a lot in the last weeks (and I hope that you will keep doing this).

Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge: #20 Review and Practice

CCY

 

 

 

Drei mal drei macht neune 🎵🎶

· 2 Comments ·

This time it is Cee’s introduction to the rule of thirds  – which harks back to the golden ratio.

Here are some simple versions of the rule of thirds – all taken in Northumberland – where the picture is divided by three lines, more or less dividing it into equal vertical stripes.

1

a

2

3

b

And now for something completely different – NOT.  The same principle but from a very different landscape (the Odenwald in Southwest Germany) and in very different colours.

8

Back to the see with a rusty detail.  It is often not so easy with automatic cameras to focus on a subject which is off centre – often this can be rescued later on with cropping.

7

This cat – Louis by name – shows off the rule of thirds to his advantage, the eyes are in the upper left field and are the obvious centre of this shot.

4

His mate Charly presents two focal point – his eye and his nose, in the upper right and lower left field of the photo.  Both focal points vie for attention, the nose through its light pink colour but the eye with his intensive looks take the prize.

5

d

This is one of my favourite photographs with a model that posed like a pro.  Again, the rule of thirds is displayed in the horizontal lines, the more solid lower one, the upper one being less obvious one, as well as in the main focal point of the photograph, the head of the seagull.

6

 

Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge: Week #9 Rule of Thirds Introduction

CCY

Sandwiches cut diagonally just taste better.

· 2 Comments ·

“Diagonal lines” – #8 from Cee’s Compose Yourself. One can write essays on diagonal lines, but the quintessential is,, : they make a photograph less boring.  Here I have experimented with cropping and angling the shot more.

Running up a bridge – in pretty red dresses.

2

I didn’t need to angle this goose, it swam into my view in a perfect diagonal. Since I was standing practiacally on top of her/him this worked out quite well, and definitely less boring than just a straight horizontal swim.

4

A spot of outdoor bowling.  The diagonal of the bowler conveys the action of the moment, her face does the rest.

7

The diagonal here dominates the shot as basically the whole head of the animal is in a diagonal, the grass stalks points towards the focal point of the photo, the horses eye.

a

The drama in this photo comes, of course, from the woman’s face.  But the two diagonals (the arm, and from her middle to her nose) make this shot more dramatic.

1

A bench on skis … if I there was any snow it might just slide off the picture.

d

A dramatic sunrise in the alps – with the closer mountain ridge just blocking the sun.

c

 

Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge: Week #8 Diagonal Lines

CCY