This week we are going to build on our foundation of good light and we are going to add intentional composition techniques to enhance our photos.
These techniques can be applied to portrait photography as you’ll see in the videos but they absolutely can be applied to landscape, products, objects and details.
Since we focused on people last month we’re going to focus on architecture, nature and objects this month.
When we love someTHING or somePLACE we often want to take a photo of it, or it naturally gets photographed beacuse it’s part of our everyday life. Maybe we have a picture of the favorite tree in our yard at Autumn-time or we have a snapshot of our favorite piece of jewlery or a prized trophy. These pictures are GREAT because the important things in your life have been recorded and that’s awesome. But have you thought about how a little tiny bit of effort + some photography knowledge will allow you to take photos of everyday places and items more intentionally to create something beautiful??? That’s right, you don’t have to go to Europe to take amazing photos of architecture, you don’t need to have a pinterest home to take beautiful pictures of your home and you don’t need a photo studio to take lovely pictures of items that mean a lot to you.
A few years ago I walked past Marilee’s room and noticed her HUGE bead collection. Marilee was always making beaded jewlery and I thought I better capture a picture of that stack of beads before she moved on to a new hobby deep-dive, so this is what I got:
It was fine. It was documented and that’s great. It was a snapshot. BUT I knew if I put in a little more effort I could capture this important part of her life, a major hobby and interest for her, in a more beautiful and intentional way. I grabbed my dslr and started taking photos of her beading like a photographer would take photos of her beading and this is what I got instead:
Both the snapshot and the artistic photos capture the fact that Marilee has a LOT of beads, but only one set of those photos tells a beautiful, detail-rich story to go with it. This is the power of capturing the ordinary (buildings, objects, nature) with an eye for composition (and light because light always comes first).
Watch these videos about composition — there are many but they are short. How can you utilize these composition techniques this week as you take photos of places or objects in and around your own home? How can you turn the ordinary into something extraordinary with how you are able to capture it.
Watch all of the videos that start with the title “Composition:” — there are a total of six videos.
No video links on the blog to protect my site, but use the login information you used last time to access the videos! Text me if you have any trouble 🙂
AFTER watching the vidoes, complete the following photo and journaling assignments:
PHOTO ONE: Take a photo that represents your home.
This could be a shot of the outside of your home like you would see from a realtor (but thinking about composition and lighting! It matters even on buildings).
You could take a shot of your favorite room in your house (again, lighting still matters!) — just a note, realtor photographers always shoot from an open doorway, it feels inviting and makes the room feel larger.
You could take a detail photo of something on or in your home that makes you think of home. (detail shots usually use skills like fill-the-frame, negative space or rule of thirds if that helps)
How can you incorporate one or more of the elements of composition (rule of thirds, foreground, frame-within-a-frame, leading lines, fill-the-frame, negative space, and perspectice) into your photo?
JOURNAL PROMPT ONE: Journal about your home including answering questions like what is your childhood home like? What does your home feel like? What room do you love the most in your home? What makes your home unique? Have you lived their your entire life? Are there any special family memories or traditions that specifically involve your home or yard? How has your home changed over the years? What are the most comforting aspects of your home?
PHOTO TWO: Take a photo that represents your happy place. This may be in nature, your yard, your room, a spot of your house, a place in the community. It could be a landscape, architecture or a detailed shot. How can you incorporate one or more of the elements of composition (rule of thirds, foreground, frame-within-a-frame, leading lines, fill-the-frame, negative space, and perspectice) into your photo?
JOURNAL PROMPT TWO: Tell me about your happy place. What does it look like, the colors, textures and overall atmosphere. Where is it located? What sounds do you hear there? Any scents or tastes? How do you feel when you are in your happy place? What emotions does it evoke? What do you like to do there? Who do you share your happy place with? When do you go there? Any favorite memory there? Does this place represent freedom? safety? comfort? something else? Do you ever take elements of your happy place with you when you have to leave it?
PHOTO THREE: Take a photo that represents your faith. This could be of a building like the temple or your church. This could be of a symbol like a CTR ring or scriptures. This one is wide open for CREATIVITY! I don’t want to give you too many ideas but if you enjoy a creative challenge use this assignment as an opportunity to think outside the box. Take a photo that represents your faith and has both good lighting and good composition.
JOURNAL PROMPT THREE: Journal about your faith. Write about things such as spiritual practices that bring you joy. How did you gain a testimony? Who has impacted your faith journey and why? How have your beliefs shaped your life? What challenges have you faced on your faith journey? How have you overcome them? How has your faith community (church or school) helped you or impacted you? In what ways have you seen yourself grow spiritually? Do you have a specific instance experiencing a miracle or tender mercy or answer to prayers? How does your faith give you a sense of purpose and meaning in your life?
EMAIL or TEXT me your three photos before Wednesday at 5 p.m. — be prepared to have your photos shown in class, you will get to tell us about your happy place AND to tell us what composition elements you created in your happy place photo.
** Remember to keep organzied! All of your journal entries should be in one google folder and all of your pictures should be organized in that folder as well!
