Digital 101 Lesson 5

Color Harmony
did you know that are influenced by color everyday.  each color suggests something different to us.  let's take for example a shopping trip to pick up some steaks for a cook out.  have you ever thought about why the meat case is always lined with green astroturf?  to give the "down on the farm"  look, not really.  actually astroturf comes in different colors.  but... anything that is next to green appears more red.  since fresh meat is pink to red then the green background makes it more appealing to the consumer, whereas that same t-bone could be displayed on purple astroturf and no one would buy it because it appeared yellow.

fast food places know that hot colors (red, orange & yellow) project.  they make you anxious, you supersize yourself, eat fast and leave thus turning the table over for the next patron.  if they served drinks, they would want you to relax and have one or two.  this is no place for hot colors so then the choice would be pastels or earth tones.

okay let's apply this to our photography.  let's say that we are going to make a group portrait.  there are going to be four people in it.  three show in either green or blue and the fourth in red (they didn't get the memo on how to dress).  as i said above, hot colors project.  cool colors on the other hand recede.  if you lined them up in a straight line, the viewer's eye go straight to the red top.  if you grouped them with the red top in the center front for color balance, the red would pop and the others would become a background.  the solution is to place one cool color in front, two behind on the sides and finally the red directly behind.  this would cut the amount of red in the image and what little is left would optically pull the others in cool colors forward.

all of this said, people prefer warm fuzzy things to cool prickly ones.  try to arrange subjects in the same type, either all warm or all cool.

blue is the universal like me color.  nice color to wear for a job interview or to make a bank loan.  too much contrast in dress could make one appear a lot stiffer than they are.  extreme case, you can make a tuff guy look like mr. nice by putting a sweater on him. honestly this done several years ago to a news anchor because his ratings were falling.

i once spoke at a grade school where the class room was painted orange.  afterwards i asked the teacher if she had more problems with the children that room than others.  the answer was yes but she didn't know why.  think about it, how would your day start off if your bathroom was a bright orange.  you wouldn't need caffeine.  if your walls were light and the ceiling was painted black, you have back pain.

in photography, look beyond the elements of the composition and see what the colors are doing.

Youth Basketball Photos

this week will photographing boys and girls basketball teams after school each school. sunday i will be photography a special needs league that grew out of one team that was started a couple of parents.  those devoted parents are managing a league now with no help from any organization.  people bring their  special kids from miles around because there is nothing else like this offered.  amazing what a few motivated people can do and the effect it has on others.

Back to School

the university has asked me to teach a basic photography course again this summer at their Clermont College branch.  last year this corse was shut with a full enrollment a month before it started.  it was uplifting to walk in and overhear someone talking about getting the next to the last slot.  in the past the class has usually been scheduled on a monday and wednesday starting at 6:30. besides classroom instruction we go outdoors and shoot.  i try to mix in digital and photoshop techniques with the basic instruction.  if you always wanted to take a fun class and learn something at the same time, this is it.

University of Cincinnati, Clermont

Let's Teach an Old Dog Some New Tricks

again this year i will be attending the WPPI national convention at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.  last year i attended it with my old friend Bill Smith (Master Photographer, Nashville).  this year Bill and i will be joined by our friend Jeff Batterson (Washington, IA).  Bill and i have judged print competitions and given programs throughout the country for the PPA.  Jeff and i served together for years on an advisory board of a color lab network out west.  Bill, Jeff and i started meeting each other for conventions and family outings years ago.  last year we learned the latest trends in wedding photography and hope to build on that again this year.

WPPI 2010 Convention

Digital 101 Lesson 4

Composition - Lines
whenever people talk composition they always think "rule of thirds". let's break our subject down to the basics, lines. lines suggest or lead. we can use this to our advantage when we create images.
1. vertical line - masculine or a line of strength. in the early days they always had the gentleman stand, sometimes next to a grecian pillar and add a book to imply wisdom.
2. horizontal line - line at rest or pastoral. okay for landscapes but can become boring if you are not careful. since we speak English, we read from left to right, so a group of people standing in the fig leaf position could become a linear row of heads.
3. diagonal - line of of action. you will follow a diagonal line. let's take a guy just standing with his hands straight down, a vertical line. now let's have him place his hands in his pockets with the thumbs out. now his arms are bent at the elbows creating diagonal lines. now let's bring over his buddies. have one sit on something in front and another stand next to our model. now we have created a triangle with the heads. your eye will move around the the which is now more dynamic than the original row of heads.
4. "S" Curve - the feminine line of nature. yes you could pose a person in this by having one foot presented forward and bending the knee in towards the other. this also shifts the shoulders the opposite direction. mostly we see s-curves in calendar type shots as winding roads or creeks. this is a graceful line that your eye follows slowly. a waterfall would be an example. using a long shutter speed blurring the water even better.
5. zig zag - line of conflict. you're not going to see many of these on office calendars. accelerated line of action creates excitement.
6. converging lines - always have a vanishing point, whether you can see it or not. your eye will seek it out even if it's not there.

okay quiz time:
you go to a waterfall, you set the shot up perfectly using the rule of thirds and decide to take a shot with a person in it. the person gives a scale of reference to the waterfall.
What's the difference between a snapshot and a postcard?
if the person looks at the camera, it's a snapshot. you will look at the person.
if the person looks at the waterfall, it's a postcard because you will look where they looking.