My Most Recent Book, on Landscape Photography

My recently published book, Creative Composition for Landscape Photography, is available in both paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. 

The cover of the paperback edition

• This book, which includes 170 photographs, introduce a wide variety of techniques that can easily be applied to your own photography, including:

• ·         The rule of thirds
• ·         Centered subjects
• ·         Positioning the horizon
• ·         Showing depth in two dimensions
• ·         Incorporating horizontal, curved and zigzag lines and circles
• ·         Using triangles in compositions
• ·         Showing perspective with receding lines
• ·         Using framing and overlapping to show depth
• ·         Using atmospheric layers to show distance
• ·         Showing distance by using relative scale
• ·         Focal length and focus point as compositional techniques
• ·         Using lighting and texture in compositions
• ·         Color priority and color contrast
• ·         Single dominant elements in compositions
• ·         Incorporating balance and weight
• ·         Symmetry and asymmetry in compositions
• ·         The rule of odds
• ·         Using repeating elements
• ·         Simplicity as a compositional technique
• ·         Using themes as organizing principles
• ·         Having creative fun in composition
• ·         Combining multiple compositional elements

Written especially for beginning and intermediate landscape photographers, it includes 170 color and B&W photos along with instructional captions to illustrate the concepts presented.

Starting Out with Lensbaby

I recently purchased a Lensbaby Composer Pro II kit, which includes three lenses, or what they call optics.  The kit includes a "lens" that tilts and several "optics": the Sweet 35, a 35 mm lens that fits into the Composer Pro body, a Sweet 50, which is a 50 mm lens, the Edge 80, an 80 mm lens, and two macro lenses that can be fitted to the other lenses for close-up work.

I've finished reading two Kindle books on the Lensbaby and have started experimenting with the kit.  It's a way different way of working.  The Sweet 35 and Sweet 50 optics create a circular "sweet spot" that's in focus and that can be rotated via the Composer Lens body so the focus spot can be moved around the frame, with the out-of-focus zone in a place of your choosing.

The following photo was made using the Sweet 35 lens focused sharply on the stone fence and then tilted to the right so the "sweet spot" would be on that side of the frame, highlighting the fence and softening the tree at the left so it is barely recognizable.  I converted the photo to B&W in post-processing.

I'm having fun with these lenses, though I have a lot to learn about them yet.

What Makes a Good Photograph, Part I

                John and Barbara Gerlach, in the second edition of Digital Nature Photography, describe three essential factors for making successful nature photographs.

A Photogenic Subject

             You can’t make a good photograph of a scene that is lacking in interest.  For landscape photography, this might normally require a site with natural beauty.

                But when we speak about a photogenic subject, what do we mean?  The term has many synonyms.  Some of these do, in fact, refer to scenes of native beauty, which is what the Gerlachs intend by including this criterion.  These include the terms picturesque, pretty, beautiful, and attractive.  But other synonyms, like graphic, striking, and camera-friendly allow for less than beautiful subjects.

For many landscape photographers, the goal is to create images that portray great natural beauty and have a strong emotional impact.  Sunrises are popular favorites and often successful subjects for this purpose.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.  Nikon D810, Nikon 70-200 mm f2.8 VR lens, at 200 mm, 1/125 sec., f11, ISO 100, tripod.

                Thus, not all photogenic subjects need to be beautiful.  Some interesting subjects may be notable for reasons other than beauty and others may even be downright ugly.  What gives them the potential to make photogenic photos is the fact that they are appealing for one reason or another.

Structures such as this operating water mill can make up in charm what they may lack in natural beauty.  Cable Mill, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.  Nikon D810, Nikon 24-70 mm f2.8 lens at 38 mm, 1/100 sec., f2.8, ISO 800

Not all photogenic subjects need to be beautiful.  Some appealing subjects may be notable for reasons other than beauty.

 I'll have more to say about this in my next posting which, like this, is taken from my forthcoming book, Creative Composition for Landscape Photography.

Norm