HHC Blog

This is my submission for Brenda’s A Photo Study: Rule of Thirds.

Brenda said, “Photography is an art form and as such need not rely on rules. Yet, it is important for the photographer to keep in mind that the composition rules help create balanced, dynamic, and interesting images that invite a viewer to stay and visit in comfort.”

Before I say anything about rules, I want to share a story with you. When I took my first photographing workshop, I kept receiving one particular feedback from my instructor: “try not to place the subject in the center.”

His words stayed in my mind long after the workshop was over, and the rule of the third became the RULE for me even when taking portraits.

One day my husband said to me, “Why do you always place your subject off the center? It doesn’t look good.”

“I like it that way,” I said, even though, deep down, I do feel that particular portrait with an off-center model looked odd.

I continued following the rule of thirds for more than a year, and, slowly, I began to realize I knew exactly how I wanted my photos to look.

Now go back to what Brenda said about creating balanced, dynamic, and interesting images… my guess is that each of us may have a different definition/idea for “balance, dynamic, and interesting” and because of that, we have our own unique photographing styles.

Thinking back, those days, when I followed rule-of-thirds diligently, had given me a better understanding of how I would create balanced photos. Some of my photos may still look a little weird, but that is more “by-design” nowadays 😉

I took the following American flag photo through mini-blinds. The gap was very small, which made it difficult to focus. I was happy how it turned out.

Which one of the following two do you like better? I like how the left one looks, but the right one gives me more “alone” feeling.

Which one of the next two do you think is more balanced?

Finally… cropping tool, for me, is quite useful for composition. I often move the cropping grid all over my photo to find out which composition I like better.

Thanks, Brenda!

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This is my submission for Brenda’s A Photo Study: The Photographer II.

“To have a point of departure is not to go out and shoot. It’s to have a project in mind and going out looking for a shot that represents or showcases this emotion or concept that your project is about.” ~Ralph Gibson (I copied this from Brenda’s post 😉

Even though I often go out to shoot whatever I see, Ralph Gibson’s words do resonate with me, because (1) if I have a project in mind, I would focus on the project and see things (related to the project) that I usually may not be able to see. (2) I know what to look for, and that makes easier for me.

So, this morning I went out to look for lines and shapes.

(Snowed yesterday, can you tell?)

Thanks, Brenda!

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This is my submission for Brenda’s A Photo Study: Negative Space.

Many years ago, one friend showed me several of his friend’s paintings. He flipped through each one, and kept telling me how wonderful they were. At first, I wanted to be polite. I told him they were pretty good. Seeing the fourth painting, I couldn’t stand it any longer. “They are good, but I don’t think I like them,” I said, still trying to be polite.

Later I told another friend what had happened. I used the word “suffocating” to describe how I felt on that day, and told her I didn’t really know why I felt that way. My friend said, “Do you know that Chinese paintings usually have a lot of white space, and many western paintings don’t?” (Ah ha!)

Gradually, I learned to appreciate paintings without any white space and learned to appreciate white space (negative space) even more.

The first photo was taken with 300 mm focal length. The goose was far away, but seeing through the viewfinder, I felt she was looking straight at the camera.

In the middle of taking neighbor’s boy’s photo, I saw the moon and the treetop. I quickly took several shots. Standing quietly next to me, the boy looked up to the moon. He kept staring… at that moment, I felt we were connected.

I was having fun playing with light for the next 3 photos. I didn’t really get the effect I wanted. I will keep trying for sure.

Thanks Brenda for another good lesson. I truly appreciate it.

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This is my submission for Brenda’s A Photo Study: Abstract Photography.

For many years, whenever I saw an abstract painting, I felt intimidating. It’s just a black canvas, isn’t it? Why is it hanging on the wall at this museum? What’s there to see? I didn’t get it, and frankly, it didn’t bother me a lot that I didn’t get it.

I was surprise how much I liked abstract photos. I guess it is because abstract photos are not totally abstract. I mean they are based on real (not abstract) subjects. Since I know they do exist in real form, I don’t have a need to question why they exist, so I can focus on seeing their beauty. (Make sense?)

First photo was taken at a dental office’s parking lot. I wonder if they knew how it would look like on snowing day before they built this wall.

One side of Zumbro River …

A different view of Minnehaha Regional Park… 😉

As always, I checked around on the Internet, and this time I found: ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIAL – Macro Photography Challenge Using Spoons. After seeing that video, I took the following photo.

Brenda said, “I’ve come to understand abstract/non-representational imagery as an absence of the type of discrimination and labeling process that seeks an answer to, ‘what is that?’ to one that invites the viewer to explore, ‘what feelings does this image evoke?’”

Ah… I think I am ready to go back to the museum to take another look at those abstract paintings! Thanks, Brenda!

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This is my attempt for Brenda’s A Photo Study: Rule of Space.

Ted Forbes, in Rule of Space, said, “The Rule of Space is simply a technique that creates a sense of motion, activity or conclusion in your composition. It simply involves creating negative space that relates to your subject.”

He also said (in his video), “Negative space is a space with very low activity… The rule of space is to balance your subject with this negative space.”

I took this first photo while walking on the Douglas Trail. I had my phone ready to shoot soon after I arrived and kept it ready for a long time, but after seeing many gray or black jackets passing by, I put my phone away. And guess what?

The next photo was shot by a frozen lake. Ice was already melted on some part of the lake. These two guys must know something that I don’t.

One cold day we managed to go out to take some sunset photos.

The last photo was taken a couple of years ago. I miss that little girl who didn’t care if there was a camera pointing at her or not. Do parents really have to teach kids how to pose in front of cameras?

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This is my submission for Brenda’s A Photo Study: Tempo.

I knew it! Tempo follows rhythm — it’s logical, but I was hoping it wouldn’t happen this way. 😉

This time, I couldn’t even get helps from google. The word “Tempo” is often used to describe “Rhythm”. For example, in Elements of Art, Rhythm is describes as “A principle of design that indicates movement, created by the careful placement of repeated elements in a work of art to cause a visual tempo or beat.” Doesn’t it sound like if a photo has rhythm, it has tempo, too?

And, in Ted Forbes’ Tempo in Visual Composition and Photography video, he does use several photos he showed in his Rhythm video as tempo examples.

These rhythm and tempo exercises remind me of my golf lesson. After listening to my instructor for a while and watching him demonstrating how to hit a ball several times, I was still not able to hit the ball correctly. Both of us were frustrated. I finally said, “Numbers! Can’t you give me some numbers?”

“What numbers?” he said.

“How much do I bend my upper body? 25 degrees? 30? How far do I turn my body? 45 degrees? Numbers like that! I need numbers!”

Well, after he managed to come up with some numbers, I was doing much better. 😉

Hmm… maybe there are numbers that go with rhythm and tempo, too… Before figuring it out what numbers I need, I guess I just have to wing it. (By the way, I enjoy Brenda’s photos a lot. I think she knows this subject well.)

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