Props

Props are visual elements in a scene other than the subject. The first thing to remember is that props should play a supporting role in your photo. If used correctly the subject should still be noticed first and then your eye drawn to the prop second. The prop is going to give a detail about the story being told. If not, your prop becomes the subject, and ceases to be a prop. Make sense?

These examples show a lot of hand held things. They don’t need to be. Or be so obvious.  Props can also be seasoning that easily just brings a little more story into the picture.

So, find some interesting subject and try to spice it up with a prop or two.  Then email me your favorite one. 

Here we go, click on any to see them larger!

Dave	Anders	MaryAnn	Sanna
		Chelsea	Sam

Close to home

So this week will hopefully be a sort of creative treat.  I just want you to interpret however you want the phrase “Close to home” in a photo.   There really isn’t much instruction I’ll give you beyond that.   Just have fun.

See you in a week

-Keegan

Here they are folks.  Since some of the images are all separate, the commenting on here might be strange.  I don’t have a system of alerting you guys on which photos have been commented on. It might be more efficient to comment at the bottom of this page and just note in your comments which person you are referring too.  But i’ll leave that up to you.

But you can still click on any photo and see it larger. In fact, when you see it larger, click on it again to see it even MORE larger.  Enjoy

MaryAnn

Dave

Sanna

Sam

Junius

Where to stand: Points of view

It’s easy to get locked in tunnel vision when looking at a subject through the viewfinder.  It is easy have intention of what you want to be in your picture, and screw the rest.  Paying attention to foreground and what do with background elements is important to making a photo cleaner, and strengthening your subject matter.  A viewer’s eye is going to travel around, lines will lead them away from your focus, and other areas of light and dark will stand out.  But I digress.

What I want you to do, is take many pictures of the same object (or it could be a person, sure) Some sort of subject.  But I want you to pay attention to where you are standing in relation. So move around! A LOT!  Put something in between your subject and you, arrange yourself so there is something in the background, change your elevation. Use a reflection or shoot through sheer curtains.   These are just a few suggestions.  Try not to alter the subject or its environment itself. When you look around, identify what you want to see along with your subject in the viewfinder and make that happen.

Submit at least five that you like, (thought I recommend shooting a lot more) When we get them all together then, hopefully we as a group can discuss and identify which one of those five might have the more interesting composition and why.  If you want to arrange them in a panel as well, (maybe they all compliment each other) then cool! that would be fine, but is not necessary.

The flour mill at the end of Mill Avenue. Tempe, Arizona

These examples cover a wide range, and are some pretty extreme.  It’s not always necessary or possible to get miles away from your subject matter.   Even with a large buildings or architecture.

These are thumbnails, please click to view them larger and leave individual comments.

• Thanks everyone!  I’m really pleased with all of these.  There is a good cross section of things going on here.
• Pay attention to how other people might have viewed and found different solutions for the same problems you might have had to solve with yours.
• • how is my hair?
  • how do I see myself?
  • how do I include myself in a photo ?
  • what am I saying about myself?
  • etc.

(I’m going to see how this works, and probably will need to get a more practical commenting system on here. But this should work for now.)

Self Portrait

Ah, yes I know as much as most photographers can only stand being behind the camera, rather than in front of it. I’m sure we’ve all all indulged our vanity in a self portrait. And it will serve the purpose as a sort of introduction to and for everyone involved. So, set your timer on the shutter. Don’t be shy, be creative. Let the photo tell something about YOU.

-Self portraits can be a signature, saying THIS IS ME for its own sake.
-Self portraits can be a projection of self, where the picture is it’s own work of art. In this sense it can become an icon, it can explore facade or to promote ones self.
-Self portraits can be a self study, a sort of autobiography. Rembrandt sketched thousands of pictures of himself. With over 60 self portraits that created HIS history. In the simplest case you are also almost your always most readily available subject.
-Some self portraits are abstract, and not necessarily a literal representation or study. They can have metaphorical uses of color an embodiment or other expressions.