Lights! Camera! Photograph!

Light. It drives away darkness. Without it we wouldn't be able to see anything. Imagine that: pictures without light. Who wants a picture filled with blackness? Anyone? Nope, didn't think you would. Light is what is received through the shutter and aperture opening of a camera to create a picture. The longer your shutter is open, the brighter your picture will be. The bigger your f-stop number is the smaller your aperture opening will be.

There are also different types of lighting depending on your position versus the sun's position when you take the picture. Front, back, side, rim, and spotlight lighting are all used to accentuate a certain aspect of a picture. Think of the sun as a dentist's overhead lamp. A dentist moves his/her lamp around so that the light catch's on and highlights different parts of your mouth. Now think of the sun in the same context, except move your body and camera position, correlating with the sun's position to help highlight and capture the aspect you want in your photograph.

Different choices of lighting can give dramatic dynamics to a picture. Always think about your picture's focal point and where the sun is in response. How is the angle of the sun going to affect the outlook of the picture? Are there distracting shadows in the frame? Do I need more light? Also, being aware of the time of day may answer the last question. Photographer's always say that the best light is in the first and last couple hours of the day. Cloudy days are sometimes even better if you are worried about the "right" lighting, because then there is no direct or "hard" light on your subject only "diffused" light. I know its hard to be motivated to take pictures on a cloudy day, but you never know! You might get a better picture than you thought.

Clouds, sun, dusk, or dawn, just don't get a dark one!

Beauty in Scapes of Land

Where do you find the beauty of God's earth? In His landscape. I think my favorite place to take landscape photos so far is in a little town called Washougal, WA. It is smack-dab on the Columbia River and has a few pretty waterways of its own and the best part of all-it is a small town that doesn't have a lot of distracting commercial buildings. In other words, there is still space to live between the bricks (if you know what I mean). So, there you have it- simplicity is excellent in capturing landscapes. Distractions can be...well...distracting to the beauty that you are trying to capture, but it is still important to have a focal point in the picture so that your viewer isn't just wandering through it and wondering why you took the picture. For example: don't just take a picture of a grassy field with just grass, take a photo of a grassy field,  because the flowers or some object catches your eye and draws you into the photo.

Next, make sure your aperture is where you want it to be. Ask yourself: how much of the landscape do I want in focus? Where is the focal point of my picture? Then set it according to your desired depth of field. This is where you might want a tripod. I haven't had the opportunity to use a tripod much with daylight landscapes, but I am certain it helps! The tripod will allow you to get a better exposure just as it did for me with the night photography. Your camera needs to be as still as possible.

Also, make sure you look at the sky! Clouds are amazing. Whether you are laying on your back finding shapes in them or photographing the way they can help dramatize a simple landscape. And even if there aren't any clouds in the sky (I know that is rare around here) a brilliant blue, cloudless sky can still help accentuate a landscape.

But, don't get too lost in the "bigger picture". Landscapes, I think, don't have to be all that big to catch the eye. When taking landscape photos, don't forget to look for the details along the way. A collection of details is what makes a landscape in the first place.

Portland Brilliance

Last night for photography class we took a little trip to the Pearl District. If you have never spent time down there-do it! It is a Portland cultural experience! Powells, street violinists, a coffee shop everywhere you look... Anyways, we had several assignments to get done including: light trails, reflection, neon signs, bracketing, etc. Portland people are good natured for the most part, they didn't mind a bit that we were setting our tripods up and shooting away. Three 70 yr old ladies even wanted us to take their pictures as they were out for a girl's night on the town. So cute! Anyhow, I learned that long exposures and tripods are key to taking night photos especially with artificial street lighting. Whether it's from the passing cars, neon signs, or streetlights, if you don't have a tripod or don't leave your shutter open for very long, you will get one ugly, blurry, dark picture my friend!

Oh, and we got ourselves a little Stumptown while were at it :) Good stuff right here! And look at that art work in the cream-amazing! Best lookin' cup of hot cocoa if you ask me.

I still can't decide if Portland is better in the daytime or night. So, if you ever have the chance: take a night out on the town and your camera as a date! (Oh, and don't forget to bring a third wheel: a tripod :)