Fall No.2
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
In black and white shapes and shadows often control the image. You hear people use the word impact with respect to interesting photos. The word is often too active for the scene it describes. I prefer in cases like this to think more in terms of the interest a photo engenders.
Fall No.1
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Fall is colourful, but at the same time a bit sad as flowers and leaves die off. I think this is better captured in black and white as colour distracts from that reality. It’s also in tune with the times, if not Halloween.
Interruptions (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Our minds, if not our eyes, see patterns and interruptions in them. It’s the opposite of the leading lines that lead the eye to a subject. In the case of irregularities or broken lines there is a slight reaction that can help a photo and its composition make a mark on the viewer.
Fill the Screen (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Almost every photography teacher will utter the words “fill the screen”. In journalism it’s a very good idea to include all the details in the frame, but in art and nature what is in the frame or not is a matter of opinion and how close we crop is a matter of taste.
Realism (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Sometimes when it comes to processing a photograph I find the raw photo extremely realistic and there is little or nothing to do to the shot but prepare it for the web. I don’t call this out-of-the-camera as the camera’s computer and the import into Lightroom modify the shot.
A Happy Accident
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Happy accidents do happen in photography. I took this photograph when I was distracted and not thinking about all the things I should have. Yet the photo that I saw in my catalogue caught my eye and I was pleased with the result. Doesn’t happen often but its nice when it does.
More on Choices (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
The approach we take to a photograph, the cropping, etc. all involve choices. For some that is what make photography interesting. We would all prefer to spend less time behind a computer screen, but in many cases that is where the photo comes to life and lets us further interpret the scene.
Choices (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
In my last post I said photographers interpret the world around them, in other words, have choices to make as to their final product. The choice between colour and black and white could not be easier today, given that many software packages make conversions easy. Given all the options I am often stuck with hard choices.
Colour (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Most photographers today grew up in the world of colour photography, TV and movies. That does not mean we have less appreciation for black and white. It’s just that colour is seen as closer to reality and more familiar than monochrome. The danger is of course two-fold: the technicalities of colour reproduction make it hard to be true to life, and secondly the temptation that few can resist, to improve the colours (even with just a bit of contrast). In black and white the latitude for “reality” is arguably wider as one works with shadow and light.
The Sweep (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
You don’t have to read a lot about photography before you hear about how leading lines lead the eye into your composition. Taking that one step further, the leading line can be the subject. Think of majestic staircases or vines like the photos here.
A Background (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
After my suggestion to take photos from many angles, my next suggestion is to be mindful of the background. It can help or hinder your photograph. Simple is only better sometimes. In short watch your backgrounds, change your angle or distance to get a nicer one.
Stark and Formidable (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Building on post processing techniques I used earlier this week in another post on leaves, I have tried my hand at two more photographs I took last year, this time with a bit more contrast. Post processing software is moving along faster than I can keep up, every update brings more tools and things to learn.
Natural Chaos and Order (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
One of the parks I frequent for photography was very badly hit by a flash storm that knocked trees to the ground. For a while the animals seemed in short supply. But nature is a bit unpredictable and a very short distance from the hardest hit area was this patch of greenery totally unscathed.
Beetle with Flower
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
I say beetle with flower but it could just easily be flower with beetle. Moreover a close look at the flower appears to show some strange looking faces looking back at you (or so it seems to me). Combined it’s an odd but interesting combination that breaks a few of my photographic guidelines but still has potential to create some interest.
Yellow (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Most people have favourite colours and science proves that colours influence our moods. I am sure there is relationship between those two facts. Nonetheless, and science not withstanding, I find my tastes in colour varies by the season.
Dystopia (TwoPhotographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
These days we don’t have to look too far for dystopia. Eventually things will return to normal and those of us hibernating will be able to comfortably come out of our cocoons. But it’s a ways away and curbing impatience is a trial for us all.
Composure (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Perhaps it’s unfair of me to be so adamant that the rule of thirds is not a rule but a guide. Do I use it, yes but unintentionally, it is meant to be a guide to composition. I have almost lost my composure over clubs that rule photos out of competition because they do not following the “rule”. I believe composition is part of the artistry of photography and may at times follow the “rule”. Here I have shown an experiment in composition, two shots of the same scene to give me a choice of composition in processing which leads me to my rule: “ when possible take a shot from more than one perspective”.
Tableau (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Walking in the reserve I often see scenes that remind of the painted tableaus I have seen in museums. In these photographs I have tried hard to capture that perspective. However, photography is its own art form and I have avoided any painterly effect.
Never Bored (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Photography can be frustrating at times, but it seldom bores me. Being an opportunistic photographer I am not out to shoot anything in particular. I am more interested in the exploration. Exploration of new ideas and techniques or approaches. I say this because photography is an investment in learning, skills and gear and it pays to be a bit more open to other themes in photography.
Purple (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
Purple is a royal colour. In some societies it was restricted for use only by the serving monarch. Purple continues to be a symbol of royalty even if over time it has been considered garish and monarchies in general past their due date. But in nature while the colour is not rare it still stands out in a field.
Flower Photography (Two Photographs)b
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
I seem to take a greater number of photographs of flowers than any other subject. I tend to think of myself as an opportunistic photographer, who will take shots of anything of interest and who is always trying something new in photography. But given the numbers, I cannot avoid the statistics that call me a flower photographer.
Lessons Learned (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
As I continue to try my hand at extreme macro I am learning quite a bit, for example: microns are also called UMs, and flowers out of water and hit by many flashes wilt very quickly. From these two lessons, come these rather abstract photos of fresh flowers. As the shots for stacking and combining were taken, the flowers entered a surreal and abstract zone that turned out quite well to my eye. But technically it was a disaster.
Coming Soon (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
We live in uncertain times. Fall is coming and after this super hot summer I wonder what the winter will be like. The government predicts a repeat performance of the pandemic, especially if masks, distancing etc are not followed. I’ll be hunkering down and a mite unfriendly as I avoid possible contagion.
Some Needed Color (Two Photographs)
To view more of my photography please click on www.rakmilphotography.com
The pandemic makes everything a little bleaker, and though we could walk in the woods, the trails are mobbed, the ticks are out and West Nile Virus has made a comeback. No locusts yet! Speaking of ticks, on one of my rare outings I took home a small garden flower to photograph. As I was processing the shots I discovered that it was home to a tick (unfortunately, the tick is out of focus in some of the stacked photos and I threw the flower out immediately).
