Friday, August 19, 2011

Rule of Thirds

Rule of Thirds


Dog Blog Post #419: The Daily Shoot went technical today, with

Make a photograph that is obviously composed using the rule of thirds.

If you don't know what they are talking about, you can read it about in Wikipedia, which states, in part, that:

"an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections."

Right.

Think of it as a tic-tac-toe grid drawn over your image, with the important stuff showing up on the lines and where the lines cross.

In the image above, you have the tip-top of Henry's nose at the upper-left point, the far lower corner of his eye at the upper-right point, his mouth generally follows the lower line with the lower-right point being the corner of his mouth.

This isn't rocket science. You don't have to be perfect.

Rule of Thirds
Tuft of Ivy and nose are on opposing points, with his eyes on the upper line surrounding upper right point


Many cameras have the option to display such a grid, and mine lets you set up a single little focus point, which you can then position at one of those focus point so you are pretty much guaranteed a picture that follows the rule so long as you put something interesting under the focus point.

Of course, you're somewhat on your own if you want to have things at the rest of the intersections.

Today is dedicated to those folks who prefer the "natural" dog - unencumbered by hats and/or ball obsession.

Rule of Thirds
Nose and tongue on opposing points

Rule of Thirds
Ball on lower right point, eye on the upper line.

I said ball obsession - I didn't say the ball wouldn't show up in a picture! Note the soft eye, the big smile, the tongue hanging out... he's a happy boy. :)

© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Handsome Boy

Handsome Boy


Dog Blog Post #418: Nope - the picture above has absolutely nothing to do with the Daily Shoot. But I don't often see (or at least capture) that look on Zachary face, and just couldn't resist sharing.

This is NOT a cookie look (no drool).
This is NOT a Lacrosse Ball look (no laser eyes).

This is a "squirrel in the trees" look - with his head up, his eyes focused, but lacking the obsessive intensity that marks the Lacrosse Ball shots.

If only I had remembered to decrease my shutter speed (increase exposure time), which was left over from this sunny's afternoon's Daily Shoot assignment...

Make a photograph today featuring a hand.

The winning shot?

Hand


But it was a hard call for me. I came very close to picking:

All in a Row


Seeing the boys in a row behind the ball was just too funny, but it was a terrible picture of a hand.

Did someone mention laser eyes?

Undivided Attention


And now for something completely different... from Scavenge Challenge, we have:

#25) "Education Center: In the days before digital cameras and photo processing software, photographers often used fabrics, grids and oils on glass as creative filters to achieve soft or sparkly effects. This month, try one of these ideas!"

Intentionally Blurry?


Yup. I wrapped a piece of sheer fabric around the lens and made a blurry picture of a weed.

Hmm....

© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - Hey!

H and Z


It Got Me!


I Got Wet!


Fetch


Happy Obsession


Editor's Note: Sorry about the duplicate links, below. Linky popped up an error and I needed to try it again! :(

© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved