Simple Photography Rules

This weeks winning image was my Delta IV Rocket Launch but so many other deserve credit for there amazing work that I will just say Great Job Everyone!

This weeks challenge is one that I hope to refresh peoples outlook on the Rules of Photographydagsmf,f.g6iynhmbw86. Now the Rules, are not rules at all but guidelines, tried and true, to creating stimulating photographs. When it boils down to it, thats the idea anyways right? So what are the rules of composition? In most instances the rules are very basic and only designed to bring your eyes into the image, to create focus points, to search out the best layout or lighting that you can get with a subject. Much easier than say learning the Zone System that Ansel Adams helped to create so long ago.

So what are the rules? Well the list seems to grow or change or be renamed with everyone point of view but here are the basics -

Rule of 3rds:

The most common rule used and broken in photography. This rule simply implies that if the image was broken into 1/3 sections both horizontally and vertically, the points where those line cross is a key spot to place items of importance in the image. Often times skylines will be placed along one of the upper or lower 1/3 lines as well with something of importance at the junctions. other times the entire line is used for that item of importance. This rule is about balance

Rule of leading lines:

Leading lines do exactly what they describe. they lead the eye into the image or to something of importance within the image. This is by far the most basic rule but by far one of the hardest for me to put into play. In the image below the focus was on vanishing points and I used 2 leading lines to draw the eye into the image and the vanishing point between the bridges.

Framing images:

While having points of interest in the foreground is important to landscape shots, another technique is to use objects such as trees or almost any vertical object to draw the eye into the image and really highlight the objects in the back. This Image by Kathy Durrett demonstrates this to perfection.

Rule of diagonals:

Diagonal lines through an image can draw the eye into the image. The line does not even have to be 100% straight, using paths, fences, or trees can be used to accomplish this.

The Rule of Odds:

The rule of Odds simply states that subjects in an image should be done in odd numbers. This number is generally best with 3. For some ODD reason it provides balance and helps to draw the eye to important parts of the image. The image below by Rick Mills shows just why the rule of Odds as well as the rule of 3rds is so important to photography.

While using these Rules of Composition can really help to create stunning images. As has been said over and over, these are simply guidelines. The trick is knowing "when" to break them for the good of the image. These are probably the most common rules of composition with the exception of geometric shapes and textures & patterns rules, but, what about rules of exposure?

Yes I just said Rules of Exposure...

Wait my meter says that the exposure is good? what else is there? Well there are other guidelines to help with exposure.

There is the sunny 16 rule:

The Sunny 16 Rule says that on bright sunny days the correct exposure would be:

ISO100 and an f/16 aperture with a shutter speed at or near 1/100

ISO200 and an f/16 aperture with a shutter speed at or near 1/200

ISO400 and an f/16 aperture with a shutter speed at or near 1/400

Now what if it is not sunny out? well using the same shutter speeds and ISO you can change the aperture to say an f/8 on overcast days, maybe an f/4 at sunset or heavily shadowed days.

Did we forget the Zone System? The zone system was created by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer and has been a tried and true way of getting the right exposure every time. While the Zone system is not very complicated in it's structure, learning to use it can be a love/hate situation. The zone system basically breaks up color harshness from pure white to pitch black in increments ranging from 1-10 with 10 being pure white. This generally applies to film but has been adapted to the digital world. Lets say 5 is neutral, 7 is white and 3 is black. Now apply this to an entire color range where sky blue and Green grass are neutral. The lighter the colors get, the higher the number to apply to it. the darker the number the lower the number applied to it. so if you were to expose for the highlights you would meter off the sky or grass or neutral gray area and subtract up to 2 stops of light to compensate. if you were trying to expose for the shadows you would add up to 2 stops of light adjusting for the number that you as the photographer set up for the zone being metered. Understanding the Zone system can also help when bracketing for HDR images because you are trying to capture the entire array of color for a final image. Bracketing can really define the zone system because of the dynamic range of colors you are attempting to capture.

How about the Depth of Field?

Well a good rule of thumb while shooting for DOF in landscapes is to focus about 1/3 up of the way up the page if possible. this changes with subject but can remember your shooting to depth in the background which increases the further back it goes.

I realize that this only covers a very short spectrum of the rules but these rules are in my opinion some of the best to know and to practice.

Poetry In Motion

Ty Iwakiri was the winner of the Wet and Wild Challenge for the week and what an image he had. To me it really showed off the commercial side of photography and his talent for creating amazing images, My hats off to Ty, a photographer with an amazing future ahead of him!

Ty has Issued the Challenge of Motion this week and I wanted to touch briefly on the issues when capturing motion. Although shutter speed can play a key role in showing motion, like any other photograph you have to have your exposure set correct to get the results your looking for. For sharp wildlife I usually start my shutter speed off with the same speed as the  #mm of the lens, for example if I am shooting a 400mm lens I will start with a 1/400 (or as close as I can get) shutter speed for an animal that is still. If the animal is moving that number goes up significantly and numbers in the 1000-2000 range are not unusually.

Ok now lets say we are shooting a woman running with a 85mm lens on a tripod @ 40ft. We know if she was standing still that you can technically shoot down to 1/85 with her sitting still and get tack sharp images (sometimes lower but not by much). So the same woman is out running lets bump that shutter up to 1/800 focus on the eye, pan smoothly - Click! Most likely what you just realized is that you froze her in motion with a blurred back ground. Want to get artistic? show her legs in motion but keep the head and most of the body in focus? Slow that shutter speed a little.

Smooth panning and appropriate shutter speeds are critical when moving objects. People, cars, animals. etc., can make for amazing motion photography if you take the time to do you homework on location.
Depicting motion can be a fun and exciting experience. and can bring really neat images to the table. Photographing light at night can be extremely fun and yield images that captivate.

The following 2 images were taken from the same spot. The first is a small boat that shows light trails that are interesting at best. The second is the light trails from a cruise ship as it leaves the Port. Both show motion in the light trails but for me the cruise ship shows a uniform pattern that pulls me in.

f9 @ 60 seconds, ISO equiv-100

f9 @ 96 seconds ISO-100 equiv.

Another form of motion, often over looked is the motion of your world. Star trails..., like light trails all it takes is some time and some unique lights. in this case the stars do most of the work. use the bulb mode, a low ISO, and an f stop that sits firmly in between I use f9 about 60% of the time, but lower for extremely dark areas outside of cities and towns is preferred. Use your bulb mode and think of times in several minutes. 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 60? find the north star and place it in your view finder along with a mountain scene or a tree in the middle of nowhere... you can really accomplish some amazing earth "motion" that way!

I would like to state that this is not the end all be all way of doing things but it does work well for me. As with any photography, there is an infinite way of doing things.

Good luck everyone, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Wet and Wild

Last weeks Depth of Field challenge turned out to be purely amazing with several pictures being true wall hangers. Tracy Balcius topped us out with her shallow depth of field image above. Congrats Tracy, this image really portrays a mood that puts a smile on my face and makes me feel happy.


This weeks challenge is one that really opens up the mind for creating beautiful works of art. The subject is easy enough - Water...
But how do we photograph water? And why?
First off lets talk about my favorite water subject, the waterfall. Whether you like to freeze water or like the smooth flowing action that a long exposure creates, a waterfall is amazing.

I am a big fan of nice flowing waterfall pictures and this image shows very well the effect of a slower shutter speed. Now to get an image to do this there are some things that make life easier, ND filters are priceless for being able to slow down your shutter speed, I almost always have an ND4 with me and have even been known to use both an ND4 and a polarizing filter together. Remember even though many image editing software have "filters" to show the ND effect there is no real effective way to simulate an ND for waterfalls. Get it right in camera and you cant go wrong.
Another important piece of equipment is your tripod. Like any long exposure shot a tripod is a key piece so tote it with you!

Also remember that water as the feature opens up possibilities for reflections, water drops, snow, ice, motion freeze, splashes... the list goes on and on. I hope this has been helpful and look forward to seeing every one's pictures this week. Don't for get to get you pictures in by Tuesday at midnight so that we can all vote on Wednesday. Thank you all so much!