Lunch with a Side of Photography

Today I went to Sam Houston Park with my friend, Katie, during lunch to practice using the manual setting on our cameras. A couple of weeks ago Katie and I went to a photography class at Hermann Park. Besides learning about photo composition and how to use the Manual setting, I came away with a renewed sense of excitement towards photography. Katie and I decided that, even though it is 100+ degrees outside at noon every day, we would spend one lunch break per week practicing photography.

:: It is fun to have photo-taking buddy :: 

Thanks {Katie}!

This is Katie! (Not me, Katie, but my photo bud, Katie.)

Our subject today was the church.

Cute green shutters.

I also wanted to quickly share some of the lessons taught at our class by {Jimmy Loyd}.

Six Guidelines of Photography Composition:

1.     Simplicity

·       Keep it simple

·       Fill in the frame, and don’t leave any dead space.

·       Make sure there are no distracters in the background of the photo

2.     Frames

·       Frames help keep your eyes in the photo

·       You can frame your subject with circles, squares, two people, trees, etc.

·       Not every photo has to have a frame

3.     Balance

·       Extra people and/or items in the photo will help tell the story

4.     Lines

·       Your eyes follow lines until they end

·       Lines in the shape of the letter “S” or “C” are very peaceful

·       Diagonal lines often mean action is going on

·       For scenery, don’t let the horizon line cut your picture in half

5.     Rule of Thirds

·       If you were to make a tic-tac-toe board across your photo, your subject should be where the lines intersect

·       Don’t worry about this rule with group shots

6.     Mergers

·       Don’t let your subject and your background merge together to deform your subject

·       Ex: child sitting in front of a fountain looks like he has water spouting out of his head.

·       Don’t cut your pictures at the joints (elbows, knees, etc.)

Five Steps of the Manual Setting:

1.     White Balance

2.     Image Quality

·       Small = Low Quality

·       Medium = Medium Quality

·       Large = Best Quality

3.     ISO (International Standard Organization)

·       Sunny = 100-200

·       Shady/Indoors = 200-400

·       Darker/Night = 800-1600

·       Remember, less light means you need a higher ISO

4.     Aperture

·       5.6 = letting in a lot of light

·       16 = letting in very little light

·       Remember, for a bright place you need less light coming into the photo

·       Going up the scale is letting in less light

·       A lower number creates a more narrow focus

·       For landscapes, use a higher aperture

5.     Shutter Speed

·       Controls the action by controlling the light that goes into the camera

·       A higher bottom number lets less light in and stops the action more (ex: 1/1000 lets in less light than 1/60)

up close and personal

fierce.

All photos on this entry were shot in manual. It is starting to get easier!