Tag Archives: trees

little man…

My Manual settings:
ISO – 200  (it was a sunny morning)
aperture – 4.0  (I wanted to get some of the fabulous trees in the background)
shutter speed – 1/1000 second (just used that speed to balance out the incoming light so it wasn’t overexposed)
lens – 50mm 1.2L

little man...

an adorable little guy

My Manual settings:
ISO – 1000 (it was pretty dark and shady under all the orchard’s trees)
aperture – 2.8 (open wide enough to get some fabulous blurry bokeh behind the little boy but still a good fstop where his whole face, hair, and shirt are sharp)
shutter speed – 1/250 second (just used that speed to balance out the incoming light so it wasn’t overexposed)
lens – 50mm 1.2L

an adorable little guy

avoid spotty shade

I’m not sure what the appropriate term for this is but I call it “spotty shade”. You know that shade from trees and the leaves from the trees that creates random inconsistent shade? Some people have sunny spots a portion of their face. And they also have shady spots on their faces.

Forgive these not super lovely pictures. But they serve the purpose of a visual example. :)
This picture below has spotty shade from the trees/leaves above them. Do you see the spots of shade and sun on a couple of the kids faces?

avoid spotty shade

Then this picture below is in full shade. Though it’s not the most fabulous or interesting picture. The kids are all in full shade. See the difference?

avoid spotty shade

The simple act of avoiding spotty shade will make your images much better.

composition: lines & patterns

Lines and patterns make pictures interesting. They also can control the path of your eye. They can guide your eye toward the focal point of the image. They can also keep your eye in the picture (and not let it escape). I’ll show you what I mean with some examples below. Now remember, this is from my experience and my eyes, not the terminology from a college class. :)

In this first image below look at the lines in the brick wall, the lines created by the pipe on the right, and the lines created by the sidewalk. All the lines draw your eyes toward little Molly’s face.

composition: lines & patterns

Ok, now look at the two images below. First let’s look at the image on the left in the autumn trees. The lines from the sidewalk guide your eyes toward the family. The parking meters guide your eyes toward the center of the family. The trees create a canopy that your eyes will likely follow. Possibly like this. Your eyes go from the family, up the left side of the tree trunks, not able to escape the top of the picture, and back down the tree trunks on the right, in turn…guiding you back to look at the family again.

The picture on the right with the little guy leaning on the brick wall. The lines in the brick wall draw your eyes toward his face.

composition: lines & patterns

I love this picture below. I love the lines and patterns in this picture. I think it’s very interesting and pleasing to the eye. And again…your eyes follow the railroad tracks toward little Audrey.

composition: lines & patterns

This picture below has a few different things going on. First the line created by the green grass draws your eyes toward the couple. The lines from the dirt near the trunks of the trees cause your eyes to follow them toward the couple. And then the canopy created by the trees up in the sky keep your eyes in the picture. What I mean by that is that your eyes don’t escape through the top of the image because it’s plain bright white. There is a canopy of trees, so often, your eyes will follow the lines of the branches back down to the subject yet again.

composition: lines & patterns

All righty, so go use some lines and patterns to create some beautiful pictures! :)