Some Strategics

Shot another parade yesterday.

Learned three things:

1. It would have been worth it to get there early and wait an hour to get a spot up against the barricades.
   
   
2. If you have a photog's vest and big blue Lowepro camera bag, you can pretty much go wherever you want, and no one will say anything.
   
   
3. Stop wearing black t-shirts on hot days.

(Photo by, but not of me.)

NYCC: To the Orchards

"We're off to the Orchards, a magical place at the end of South Mountain Road, where time seems to have stood still.

Lunch at Dave's Bagels, a stop at the farm store, the pleasure of a South Mountain Road descent, and the Hudson bike path into Nyack.....until we finally have to ride home."

Some conversation snippets:

Friend: "C'mon, you can do 18 mph."
Me: "Yeah, but not for 75 miles!"
Friend: "So you're fast, but lazy."
Me: "Hmm ..."

Me: *stretch, stretch* *grunt, grunt* *moan*
Friend: "Do you stretch just so you can make those noises? = )

Beyond the Rule of Thirds

I took the day off work today to attend to some things, and came across this workshop at B&H Photo, Better Photographic Composition - Beyond the Rule of Thirds

Notes:

Try using macro lenses also for abstract photos.

Remember to consider foreground, mid-ground, and background.

Negative space vs. Positive space:

• Negative space - Empty or void space around an object or form (could also be textures).
• Positive space - Space that is filled with something, lines, colors, shapes, etc.

Always try to find that spiral.

Negative and positive space can reside in itself.

Directional elements vs. Anchor elements:

Directional elements;

• Physical lines - A curb, surf on the shore
• Spatial lines - Positive/negative "rivers"
• Highlights and shadows
• Spatial features - Directional gaze, inherent movements

Anchor elements;

• What will make the eye stop?
• Subjects - People, objects, etc.
• Highlight and shadow masses
• Color masses and (illegible)

Image complexity:

• Environment
• Subject
• Elements

Does it tell a story? Does the image have a voice?

What am I trying to say in this photograph?

Consider square photos.

Step forward, isolate details.

Portrait styles:

• Full-length
• 3/4 - Crop above the knees
• Head shot - Keep eyes in third. Don't be afraid to crop heads and hair.

1. Choose your subject.
2. Locate directional elements that lead to or away from subject.
3. Locate horizon.
4. Be aware of positive/negative spaces.
5. Contemplate.
6. Make exposure.

Three Composition Vows

1. I will take more time to make less images.
2. I will go to more photography exhibitions.
3. I will read more photography books.

(Photo: Joe McNally Photography)

Gray vs. Grey

I just saw this funny YouTube comment:

Gray is a color.
Grey is a colour.

PHC-1161-A, Week 4

I was absent.

But the teech sent me the assignment:

Make pictures under fluorescent lighting;

1) daylight and with fluorescent icon setting,
2) with mixed light,
3) and a portrait.

Philadelphia, Winter 2009

Last week, I went down to Philadelphia to visit my Little Sis'. She moved down there last August, and I still hadn't seen her new place.

In sum:

Dinner and drinks with her friends from work at The Black Sheep.
- I haven't hung out with Office People in a while.

Brunch at Sabrina's Cafe. I had scrapple for the first time.
- The waitress refused to tell me what it was until I had finished it. It seemed just like smushy sausage with a crispy outside.

A long walk up the Schuykill River, up to Boathouse Row.
- We estimated it was about five miles.

Nap.

Spicy hot chocolate at the Naked Chocolate Cafe.
- Thick to the point it nearly wasn't hot chocolate in the traditional sense. It had to be eaten with a spoon.

Sushi at Raw.
- We ordered too much. And the spicy scallops were a bit too much for me to take.

The Old Man Down the Street

I saw Gran Torino a few nights ago. I highly recommend it.

Glowing reviews aside, it got me thinking what kind of old man I'd turn out to be. Hard and cranky, or warm and friendly?


(Image: Trailer Blogger)

Books

Yesterday, a friend forwarded me this article criticizing the book club division of Scholastic at which I used to work. A children's advocacy group is protesting the clubs' sale of uneducational items such as, "jewelry, toys and makeup." (Items for which I wrote tens of purchase orders.) In the clubs' defense, a Scholastic VP explained, "We're losing kids' interest (in reading). We have to keep them engaged."

I can't imagine a childhood without books and reading. It's one of my favorite childhood memories.

I still remember my green and white Yonkers Public Library card with the metal plate in it.

I loved when the bookmobile would pull up in front of my building and even then thought it was an idea too good to be true. I also remember being told I was taking out too many books, heh-heh. Taking out science books and doing the experiments with my dad was also one of my favorite memories.


(Image: Signal vs. Noise)