Sharpness Isn’t Everything, But It Sure is Something

Every now and then, I get a glimpse of the gear’s possibilities, and it makes me more determined than ever to become a more disciplined shooter. No small task for the self-proclaimed premier blogger for lazy, disorganized, impatient photographers. Well, sometimes we have to compromise and put some effort in.

When the Rule of Thirds Helps Me Most

Question: Is the photo above this text better than the image below?

I think the photo at the top is far superior to the other, even though the differences seem minor. For me, the “rules” of composition become more important as my frames become simpler, as much about shapes as subjects.

As you can see in this cropping overlay from Lightroom, the dark center of the flower is precisely aligned with one of the points of interest as understood in the “rule of thirds.” This composition adds space at the bottom and reduces space at the sides. The difference between the two is most visible when they are side-by-side in thumbnail format, which suggests to me that the rule-of-thirds version makes better use of negative space.

In the rule-of-thirds version, I feel like every line is contributing to the composition, keeping the eye moving around the frame and then back to the flower. I don’t always compose by the rule of thirds, but it is ALWAYS my point of departure when shooting and I ALWAYS explore it during post-processing cropping.

A lot of my photographer friends have grown ambivalent toward the rule of thirds – others have developed an enmity: Who wants to be constrained in the act of personal creative expression? I do! I want to learn the language through which I have chosen to express myself.

March Came and Went, but I Got a Few Frames

“Whole lot of hard times, a little bit of magic.” Dang I love Patty Griffin. This is what March 1st looked like in Ojai. (D7100)

I’m not sure what happened to March, but I’ve got big plans for April.

I got to see and photograph some Cedar Waxwings at Soule Park. (D7100)

…And a bluebird too. (D7100)

I attended an event with Susan Stamberg, founding mother of NPR. She might not like this photo, but I do. (X100s)

My day at the Getty did not result in a lot of good photos, but I got a lot of exercise and started playing around with Nik filters. (D610 w/24-70 f/2.8)

I may have visited The Vine with the D610 and a macro lens.

I had a near-miss on my motorcycle and wrote about it at KindlyGentlemenMotorcycleClub.com. (D610)

So March was, um, meh. In April I’ll revisit Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly and see if I’ve learned anything about landscape photography. (D7000)

What If It Isn’t Me?

I want to be a better photographer, so when I don’t get the results I  expect, my first impulse is to blame myself, not the camera. This week I shot a dance rehearsal and, two days later, the performance. I spent a lot of time studying the results, and for the first time since I made the move to digital SLR photography, I believe I may have actually pushed my gear beyond its ability. Shooting top quality lenses, wide open, I found myself at ISO 6400 on almost every frame, and while many of the images look quite good at very small sizes, they fall apart quickly with enlargement, showing lots of unpleasant noise/grain, and corroborating an opinion I formed with my first D7000 low-light shoot (Romeo and Juliet): The D7000 does not focus well in low light.

Non-Photographic Vacation: Day 5

Very slow wi-fi here at the Bryce Canyon Lodge, which can be forgiven because everything else is exquisite. We started the day at Capitol Reef National Park, then meandered along Route 12 (an awesome motorcycle road, but pretty nice in a car too) to make our way to Bryce. Tomorrow we go exploring, weather permitting (we arrived during an impressive thunder storm).

Turn in any direction in any part of Capitol Reef National Park for a beautiful view.

When he was a little boy, his need to climb everything drove me crazy. Now it’s kind of amusing.

Making friends everywhere we go.

Bidding farewell to Capitol Reef.

Taking a break on Route 12, which took us through deserts, forests, mountains, canyons, and all the way to Bryce.

The view right outside our cabin at Bryce Canyon Lodge. Tomorrow we explore!

At the Kiva Koffeehouse outside Escalante. After we return I’ll blog about the many photographic lessons I’ve learned on this non-photographic vacation, but the most important lesson so far is this: I thought that I was taking this trip for John, so he could see this part of the country that I love so much. But I realized today that he is also taking this trip for me.