Abstract photography takes the idea of looking at a subject in a new way to an extreme. Abstract photography obscures the subject, sometimes so much that it’s impossible to identify what it is. Understanding the elements of composition can really help you create effective abstract images. Taking advantage of and highlighting strong and interesting lines,…
Color contributes enormously to the effectiveness of an image. Color has a big impact on the viewer’s perception and emotional response. There is an entire field of color psychology, used by marketers to figure out what will make you buy the product they are trying to sell, film directors to enhance the mood they are…
Make your images stronger and more interesting by using reflections in your composition. What is a reflection? A reflection is a mirror image created when light bounces off of an object onto a reflective surface and then off again to create the reflection. If the surface is hard and smooth like glass, then the reflection…
Patterns are soothing when we see them in images, because our brains evolved to make sense of the world and to protect ourselves through pattern recognition. Learning to recognize and use patterns in photography will improve your photography. What Exactly is a Pattern? A pattern is a repeating element in your image. The element might…
January can be one of the bleakest times of the year. After the busy-ness of the fall- the months of holiday planning culminating in wonderful festivities and traditions – the quiet and solitude of January can give us emotional whiplash, make us feel a little blue and depleted. Today’s challenge is intended to be a…
Today’s challenge is to photograph water. Water is a wonderful subject because it is readily available in three different forms, liquid, solid (snow, ice) and gas (fog, mist, bubbles) and there are so many opportunities to photograph it. When we think of photographing water, we may initially think of bodies of water like an ocean…
In mathematics, a line is the shortest distance between two points. It is always straight. In art, and in photography, a line is a moving point. So a line might be straight, curved, or zig-zag. Lines contribute to the mood and energy of an image. Vertical lines give a feeling of grandeur, strength, and height….
Images are composed of negative and positive space. It’s easiest to explain negative space by starting with a definition of positive space. Positive space is the area occupied by your subject or other elements in the image. It is an attention hog, it draws the eye. Negative space is the empty space that surrounds positive…
Our psyche is soothed by symmetry because it appeals to our innate desire for balance, order, and structure. Incorporating symmetry into your photography is a great way to create pleasing, calming, and harmonious images. What is Symmetry? Symmetry in photography refers to images that, when divided by a horizontal or a vertical line are identical…
This challenge reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” by Marcel Proust. Today let’s look at damaged, imperfect, incomplete things with new eyes. Let’s see the beauty in imperfection. What is Wabi-sabi? Imperfection means lack of perfection, and…