Bam!

Colour, don't be afraid of it.

Things In A Frame

I like this picture. Of course, I like the car and I like the light but I like it as a picture. Part of this has to do with the particular framing. Pictures have borders.

Look from the bottom right to the top left. Can you see the motion? Look at the door opened towards you. Does it beckon you in? Look at the hood scoop and air cleaner. They are at rest in the frame. I don't think I can analyse everything that is going on here but it is a picture I would describe as comfortable in its frame. Your pictures should be comfortable in their frames unless discomfort is the feeling you are trying to convey.

Histograms II

Here's another good example of the opposite extreme. This was a product shot intended to have a white background. Every pixel of the background is clipped to hard white -- as shot on my D80. If it is what is appropriate to the shot don't be afraid to do it.

Just Try It

Are you getting any younger? I read about this technique of running around a car firing at it repeatedly with a handheld flash. This was the result of just getting out and trying it. You will have a hundred questions before you try something new and far less after you first try it. And that second set of questions are the interesting ones that will grow you.

The Ordinary Needn't Be

This picture came from looking up at a light fixture in a room I've been in a hundred times. Always have your eyes open for what is around you. And try to always have a camera.

Bad Weather Is Good Weather

Most photographs are taken in places where people go every day all times of the day and night. A picture should capture something that people don't see all the time. This is why it is important to catch the best light. Sometimes, however, you might want to catch the views that people rarely see because it is unpleasant to be out then. Storms, wind, rain, snow. They can all bring that "something" to a scene that makes it picture-worthy.

Histograms

Any digital camera or Photoshop user will, in time, become familiar with the histogram. It is simply a graph of the distribution of brightness of pixels in an image. A good rule of thumb is that the histogram should touch on the left and right without clipping and that it should peak near the middle. I think this is as good as any an example of an exception to that rule.

Remember that a photograph is for conveying a feeling evoked by something you saw. Night should look like night. If this image were brightened up it would feel totally different.