Photo Montages

In my first Photography class, one of my last assignments that semester was to create a photo montage, which is a collection oh photos put into one. There are plenty of interesting ways one could go about doing this. The one I did above is 3 photos. One is a picture of some water, another is a picture of my street, and the last is a picture of the sky. I tried to make a surreal looking image. Water engulfing the street, the sky looking like it's falling. I was pretty happy with the end result. I was probably the only one in my class to approach the assignment like this. Most of the other students did theres by taking multiple pictures of someone and then putting them all in one picture. Not that there is anything wrong with that, some of them turned out really great, better than mine even.

http://weburbanist.com/2009/06/08/the-art-of-superimposition-20-marvelous-photographic-montages/

The link I posted above has some really interesting photographic montages. My favorites would have to be the combination of modern and old photos merged into one. Really gives you a sense of going back in time but still staying in the present. They are very interesting to look at.

http://www.smashingbuzz.com/2010/02/85-photo-montages-with-distinctive-surrealism-by-ben-goossens/

This other link I have posted above has a lot of surreal looking photo montages. Although I think most of these would be considered digital manipulations, I want to say they are basically the same thing, since you have to manipulate the photos digitally in the first place. The time it takes to do such images would depend greatly on how skilled with photoshop you are. I have done such other images myself but no way as near to being of the quality of the pictures in the link. I hope to be able to reach such a skill level in the future.

Landscape Photography

Today I shall talk about Landscape Photography. Landscape can be of all sorts of things, such as beaches, mountains, sand dunes, and much more! You might probably think, "oh, landscapes, those are soe easy anyone can take a picture of a landscape!" This is mostly true, but with some extra equipment you can make your landscape photos even more amazing.

Digital-Photography-School.com has some great tips to really make your landscapes look amazing.

• Maxamize your Depth of Field - Get as much of the scene as you can into your picture. This is done by choosing a small apeture setting.
• Use a tripod - There is really no reason not to use a tripod if you have one. They help to keep your camera still so that you get as clear a picture as possible.
• Look for a focal point - all shots need a focal point so the viewers no what to look at instead of wondering throughout a photo.
• Think about Foregrounds - These can really help to add depth into you landscape photos.
• Consider Sky - Most landscapes will have either a dominate foreground or sky. Unless you have one or the other your shot can end up rather boring.
• Lines - lines can give a sense of depth, scale, and can be a point of interest.
• Capture Movement - Landscapes are almost never still and to capture this movement in an image can add mood and drama.
• Work with Weather - Weather can change at any given point or time. Choosing the right time to shoot is important.
• Work with the "Golden Hours" - take pictures at dawn and dusk. You can get some interesting lighting.
• Think about Horizons - Be sure the image is straight and make sure it is composed properly

That's pretty much it for landscape photography. I will provide some links with some pictures as well as the original link where I found the tipsm as it too contains some pretty amazing landscape photos.

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/11-surefire-tips-for-improving-your-landscape-photography

http://www.jturnerphotography.com/

http://www.outdoor-photos.com/

Macro Photography

Macro photography is one of my favorite forms of photography I like to do. Being able to get up close to a small object and take a picture of it, and have it be blown up to 10, even 50 times it's original size is pretty amazing. It also brings out a lot of detail the object might have. Another thing I like about macro photography is how everything else behind the object is blurred out, so you can just focus in on the object in question. The picture I posted is one of many macro shots that I have. Although this one, as some would say, would be counted as selective focus. I had to get up pretty close to it still for the macro function on my camera to work however.

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/40-amazing-examples-of-macro-photography

The above link shows some really good examples of other macro photos. As you can see from what I said earlier, you can capture really amazing details on a subject up close, especially with insects. They have some crazy looking features! The macro feature on most point and shoot cameras work fairly well (which is what I have). However manuals can get different lenses that let you take macro shots even closer as well as allowing for more blur in the background. 50-60 mm range is typically used for small objects. 90-105 mm is the standard focal range to use for insects, flowers, and small objects. And then 150-200 is used for insects and other small animals. There are other things to factor in as well such as depth of field and lighting. All of that of course depends on what kind of macro shot you are trying to take. Happy shooting!

Photography: Painting with light

Painting with light is an interesting thing you can do with photography. It's fun, you can be as creative as you want, and you can really make some amazing looking images. Here you can find some really amazing images of painting with light:

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/01/painting-with-light.html

People think, "oh gosh, that looks so hard!" I was one of those people. It turns out it's actually a fairly simple process. First you get your camera, make sure it's dark enough outside, or you can be in a dark room as well. Now all you have to do is open your shutter all the way (this allows more light to come in). Doing this will allow the camera to not only see the light you have, but also increase the exposure time so that it can record the design you want with your light. Exposure times varies between cameras. Most point and shoot cameras wont have that long of an exposure time like say, a DSLR would. It's no big deal though. My camera has an exposure time of about 20-30 seconds. That's plenty of time for me to at least make a simple design. It's also fun to have more people help you out as you can add even more to the design. The photo at the top of my page is a paint with light that I did as an assignment. It is slightly edited, adjusting some of the colors. I have titled this photo Spirits Within. I was not sure what else I could name it (lol)! Most of the designs I did were of me just randomly waving my cell phone around. I made some Xs some circles, a bunch of squiggles, pretty simple stuff basically. It is an enjoyable thing to try. The possibilities of things you can do is only limited by your creativity and imagination!