Composition
In viewing photos on FaceBook in groups such as Nevada Photographers I am sometimes surprised by photos, even those posted by well-known photographers, that could have been improved by better composition. Often when I go out, I take several shots of the same scene, making adjustments in camera to adjust: positioning, focus, motion blur, color balance, and orientation to see which finished photo has the best overall composition (very subjective of course). This led me to this ‘challenge.’
Since some members might be considering offering your work to SCS for posting around the reservation, perhaps as a club activity you might want to share some of your composition trials for discussion.
Post two or more variations of ‘the same scene,’ that have different composition elements. You can use different versions taken in camera or two or more versions that you recomposed using editing software.
For more ideas about composition look up articles on our website about composition or software.
Examples:
Add your images to the Composition Challenge album (click here) showing the original then the recomposed photo. You can recompose in camera or in post processing. You can specify in the album details about each image you post. Limit your posts to five sets (before/after).
That's what happened to Larry Kaufman in 1953 when his mom took him to see "The House of Wax" with a Viewmaster. Although it was a horrifying intro to 3D for a young boy, it must have made a deep impression on him.
Several years ago, while reading about the Civil War, Larry discovered that at least 70% of all the pictures taken during the Civil War in the 1860s were taken in 3D. Ten years ago many TVs included a 3D component, due to the popularity of the 3D movie "Avatar." Larry purchased one of those TVs. Later he bought a used Fuji 3D digital camera on Ebay (he has a collection of antique cameras).
Larry's presentation for the Photography Club will give a brief history of 3D as well as examples of pictures in the various methods of presenting 3D. He will then demo how to take 3D on any camera you have as well as on your smart phone. Additionally, he will bring books, cameras and viewers for a "show and tell" segment.
Who would have expected the old scary "House of Wax" movie to lead to this bonus for our club?
Program Announcement for November 11, 2021
Program Title: Composition
Speaker: Marc Wiseman - Photo Club member
Program Description:
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I would like to share my ongoing journey on improving the composition of photographs. I will talk about my approach to framing the photo subjects and the techniques I am working on to make the subjects pop out from the backgrounds. This includes using shallow depth of field, selecting backgrounds of single color (sky, water), and more advanced shooting with low-key and high-key backgrounds. I will also show some post-processing examples to make the photos more artsy. I will draw on examples from my underwater animal photography as well as my shots on land.
More about Marc:
I have been actively working on my photography for the last 10 years. I have primarily been an underwater photographer shooting sharks, rays and the myriad of unusual critters that live in the sea. More recently I have been developing my land photography skills with trips to Africa, Italy, Australia and other exciting places.
Photo Club Program Announcement for June 10, 2021
Program Title: Photographing Food Using Natural Light
Guest Speaker: Larry Hanna
Program Description:
The Program topic is photographing food using natural light. I will show how easy it is to photograph award winning photographs with the simplest tools. I will demonstrate how I relate background, sets and use of props. All the images I will show were shot in my kitchen nook using window light, my favorite light. I will demonstrate how I use simple homemade light modifiers to shape the light.
Larry Hanna opened an all-purpose studio in Las Vegas in 1976. He quickly found his niche in resort photography. In the last few years, he has concentrated his work on food and architectural photography. He has received the coveted Master of Photography and Craftsman Photographer degrees from the Professional Photographers of America. Larry served twice as the President of the Professional Photographers of Nevada and also President of the Las Vegas Chapter of the Advertising Photographers of America where he also served as a National officer. The last 3 years he has finished in the top 10 in an International Food Photography competition with over 2,000 photographers competing from around the world. The past 5 years he been working on a personal project of traveling the backroads of Nevada photographing old mining camps and ghost towns.
Art is ”the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form …, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” Oxford Languages.
So, is photography “Art”? Of course. That was easy.
But is a particular photo good or bad art? Not so easy. Just as beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, so is artistic excellence. The out-of-focus shot of your favorite grandchild may be precious to you. But some photographic elements are likely to make more viewers pop a particular photo into the “Good Art” category.
The photographer’s creative skill and technical proficiency are in evidence. The picture is in focus, well composed, without glaring distractors such as a tree appearing to grow out of the subject’s head. Not that someone can’t accidentally get a great shot, but the chances improve with increased skill.
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Many of our members have shared photographs where their intent was to evoke an emotion, share a feeling or a sense of the human condition, show the ferocity of nature, the vastness of the universe, or the nostalgic sadness of the passing of the seasons.
So…is photography art? But what in your view makes a particular photograph great art?
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If you would like more information about this speaker, as well as a sampling
of his images,
please click this link.
Hope to “see” everyone January 14, 2021!
Click here to add photos to the January Photo-Theme: Holiday Pictures
Other Links provided by Kah-Wai Lin: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uxtrqxivyv3llp6/USA%20Webinar%202020-08%20b.pdf?dl=0
Here's the link to my talk on YouTube (recorded for other club): https://youtu.be/MpqvGIPSr3g
Nancy and Mike's Latin American Journey and Galapagos Voyage
Presenters - Nancy Sexton and Mike Smith
My name is Nancy Sexton and I moved to Las Vegas in June 2016. I grew up in Syracuse NY and lived in the Boston area for almost 25 years where I was a financial analyst/portfolio manager/bank regulator. I have two daughters, one in Houston and one in Cincinnati.
Nancy has been with Mike Smith for almost four years, hiking and traveling the world. When she travels, she loves to take pictures and try to tell a story. She uses a Sony a6000 with a telephoto lens to get close-ups of wildlife, and uses her iPhone for most everything else.
 | It’s not always about the grand landscape or the largest bull moose. Sometimes, we need to slow down and take a look at the beauty all around us in the details. With this class, we will explore the world at our feet, focusing on macro photography. Participants will learn about finding scenes, gear selection, special lighting considerations, choosing an appropriate depth of field, and basic Lightroom post processing techniques for macro images. |
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Does urban only mean large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles and New York City? What about small urban areas such as Las Vegas or Ely?
Talk about Nostalgia Photos, John Turner, a British property manager and member of a local photo club, died back in 1987, leaving behind a suitcase full of his B&W photos. His daughter and her husband found it in their attic during spring cleaning and were blown away by the photos.
I was
asked about shooting through a cage without showing the bars of the cage. If you can’t get your lens through the
opening or gaps then you have to shoot up as close as you can and use a long
focal length with a wide aperture (low number) Focus on the eye of the animal,
bird, cheetah (located at The Secret Garden, Mirage) etc. I shoot in manual but you can put your camera
in Aperture mode with the largest aperture (F2.8, F3.5, F4.0 ). For point and shoot use portrait mode; this
uses a wide aperture and narrow depth of field.
See if that works. Dale.
