November « 2010 « Through the lens with Chris Gamel

Technique Tuesday: Elements of Composition – Space in the Frame

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We have established that placing the subject in the center of the frame is rarely the best option. For the sake of argument, lets say we agree that the rule of thirds offers the best starting point when deciding where to place the subject within the frame. Where do we go from there? The rule of thirds gives us four points of power with which to work. Which is the best one?

The answer depends on your subject and how it is positioned in the frame. With wildlife, and people, the main item of concern is which way the animal is facing. Given the choice, it is more effective to place an animal with extra space in front rather then behind. Take the image above. The mongoose is taking in the beautiful light of sunset while look off to the left. For placement, I have three choices:

Option 1: Put the mongoose in the center. This is a common choice for many photographers, but produces the least appealing results. Lets stick with the rule of thirds and forget about the center.

Option 2: Put the mongoose on a point of power on the left side of the frame. This will place the mongoose near the edge of the frame on the side he is looking. All of the empty space in the photo will be behind the mongoose rather then in front of it, making the image feel crowded. Viewers will subconsciously want to know what they are missing. Why is he looking over there? What does he see that I don’t? Why didn’t this @#$#% photographer show me what I want is over there? Putting the mongoose on the left side of the frame will look like you made a mistake.

Option 3: Put the mongoose on a point of power on the right side of the frame. This is the correct choice. How do you know? It will be obvious when the stars align, the sun shines down on the mongoose, and triumphant music begins to play……OK, maybe not. By placing the mongoose with space in front of him, we give the viewer the opportunity to see the world through the mongoose’s eyes and we want to see what he sees. Ironically, it doesn’t really matter that nothing is there, it just feels right.

The image of the dwarf mongoose was captured while on safari with my family in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. The image was taken using a Canon 1D mark 2, 500mm IS lens with a 1.4 teleconverter, at 400 ISO. The image was shot from a vehicle and the lens was supported on a beanbag.

Written on November 30th, 2010 , Africa, Composition, Photography Information, Tanzania, Technique Tuesday, Understanding Photography Series

Image of the day – Play

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These two elephants can teach us a lot. During a break in her midday meal, this adult female approached one of the young males and started a lighthearted pushing match. While entertaining to watch and great to photograph, the purpose of this contest was serious. At some point in the future, this young male will be on his own. As he progresses through his teenage years his testosterone levels will increase to the point where he is a pain to have around (both figuratively and literally). When that happens, the herd will kick him out. From there, he will have to make his way in a dangerous world without the support of his family. In addition to predators, he will have to deal with other male elephants.

Elephants are massive animals, with bull males weighing in at over 24,000 pounds. With that much weight being thrown around, it is easy to imagine the damage that would result from a fight. The problem is that such fights have a good chance of hurting both elephants, not just the looser. With no vets in the bush, even a minor injury can become life threatening. As a result, bull elephants have devised their own way of determining a winner without resorting to an all out battle. Their solution: pushing matches. When two elephants compete, they face each other head-to-head and interlock their tusks. Once in position, the pushing begins. Back and forth they go, each trying to gain leverage over the other. In just a few short minutes it usually becomes clear who is stronger and likely to win if the fight turned serious. This gives the looser the opportunity to depart gracefully and in full health while settling the dispute.

You might be wondering how this relates back to photography. Never fear, it does. Just as that adult female wrapped an important life lesson into a game, photographers need to remember to importance of being prepared. Wildlife does not wait for you to get your camera ready. Nor does it sit by as you try to figure out the best settings to use. If you want the images, you have to put in the time and effort so that you will be ready when the opportunity occurs. The technical side must be second nature, which means hours and hours of “play” (doesn’t that sound so much better then work?).

The image was captured in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania during a wildlife photo safari. The image was created using a Canon 1Ds mark 3, 500mm IS lens with 1.4 teleconverter, at 400 ISO. The image was taken from a vehicle and the lens was supported using a beanbag.

Written on November 29th, 2010 , Africa, Animal Behavior, Image of the Day, Tanzania

Photoshop Text Tutorial

Earlier this week I posted a image of Bryce Canyon using a text effect from Photoshop. This video tutorial walks you through how it was done.

Written on November 26th, 2010 , Photoshop, Tutorial

Happy Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone. May you enjoy your dinner as much as this guy enjoyed his.

Written on November 25th, 2010 , Personal

Technique Tuesday: Elements of Composition – Centering the Subject

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The first rule of composition we all learn is, “don’t put your subject in the middle of the frame!” Yet, I like the above image. The subject is almost perfectly centered in the frame yet the composition works. True, there are some strong diagonal lines created by the wings, but how do we explain the fact that this image successfully shatters the number one rule of photographic composition?

Wanting this post to be more then a single paragraph, I have two theories.

First, my experience is that centering the subject rarely works, with one exception. Look at a picture and cut it in half. What do you see? If the answer is two mirror images, the subject will probably look good in the center. People find beauty in symmetry and we can take advantage of that when designing our images. In those rare occasions where the subject can be divided into identical halves, try placing it right in the middle of the frame. With that in mind, lets rewrite that first rule of composition.

Don’t put your subject in the middle of the frame, unless you have a good reason.

My second theory can best be summarized by stealing a line by Captain Barbosa, “….. their really more guidelines then actual rules.” The fact is there are no composition police out their. If you break one of the rules, no one is going to take your camera away. The rules of composition exist because most of the time they make our pictures look better. Let me say that again. The rules of composition exist because most of the time they make our pictures look better. There are exception to every rule and you will come across situations where it is best to throw the rules out the window and try something different. That doesn’t mean the rules should be ignored, but they should be treated as the recommendations and guidelines that they are and not the absolute rules many photographers believe.

Written on November 23rd, 2010 , Africa, Composition, Photography Information, Tanzania, Technique Tuesday, Understanding Photography Series

Image of the Day – Bryce Canyon

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For the past two weeks my digital media students have been playing around with text effects in Photoshop. This is an example of one of the effects I showed them. For those who have never been there, Bryce Canyon is one of the natural wonders of the world. The giant hoodoos that make up the canyon floor are works of art carved from the stone by centuries of erosion. Perhaps it is best summed up by the famous words of Ebenezer Bryce (who the canyon is named after) who described it as, “A hell of a place to lose a cow.” Placing the image inside of the text puts a new spin on a well photographed icon.

The image was captured using a Canon 1Ds, 17-35mm lens (set to 34mm), at 100 ISO. The camera was supported using a Gitzo tripod with a Kirk Enterprises’s ball head. The image was taken just before sunrise.

Written on November 22nd, 2010 , Digital techniques, Image of the Day, Photoshop

Image of the day – Gibbon

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Each year I take my high school photography class to the San Antonio Zoo as a reward for their hard work. The students get a chance to roam around the zoo and often come up with some cool photos. Last year, we had the opportunity to photograph the mother gibbon with her young baby. Over a 30 minute period, she moved around the enclosure and gave us repeated opportunity to watch her and the baby. Many nice images were captured, but this is my personal favorite. I like the relaxed pose of the mother and the clear view of the baby as they sit together on the rope.

The image was created using a Canon 1Ds mark 3, a 120-300mm Sigma lens, at 400 ISO. The lens was mounted on a Gitzo tripod with a Wimberly tripod head for support. The image was taken through glass, with great care being made to remove any reflections before pressing the shutter button.

Written on November 18th, 2010 , Image of the Day

Technique Tuesday: Elements of Composition – Placing the Horizon

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Wildlife photographers tend to be a shoot from the hip kind of crowd. It’s not that we take composition for granted, its just that the longer we take to set up the shot, the greater the chance that our subject will walk away. When the subject doesn’t move, as occurs in landscape photography, we have the opportunity to sit back and plan out our shots in greater detail. This offers advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, time gives us the opportunity to perfect the shot. This is a good thing. On the other hand, sometimes we take the analysis to the extreme. You can some photographers agonizing over every aspect of the image. Should that rock be included? What if the clouds move? Should I set up here or over there? What if I wait too long and that tree grows across my frame!?! All good questions, but there comes a point where you need to make a decision and press the shutter button (Can you tell that I am a first and foremost a wildlife photographer?).

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Lets assist the decision making process by looking at one aspect of composition. Where should we place the horizon? The default for most photographers is the middle of the frame. The idea seems to be that cutting the image in half will give the best results. Lets be real here, has cutting anything in half ever made it look better? Arbitrarily cutting the image in half is a subconscious way of avoiding making a decision. Take a close look at the three images in this post. Do you see any similarities? While they are all landscape shots (and yes, it pained me to take them, but I promise I only did it because there were no animals in sight), the subjects (Bryce Canyon National Park and Serengeti National Park) are thousands of miles apart. Yet these three pictures share something in common. None of them has the horizon near the center of the frame.

Years ago I got some advise I am going to pass along. When taking a picture, decide which is more important, the land or the sky. They might both be interesting, but I guarantee one caught your attention more then the other. Once you have decided, frame your picture to showcase that part of the scene. If the land is the star, limit the sky to the top quarter of the frame. If the sky is the main point of focus, move the land toward the bottom edge. In the picture of Bryce Canyon (top), the canyon is the subject, not the sky. Therefore the canyon fills the scene and the sky only appears in the top quarter of the frame. The African savannah picture (middle) emphasizes the space of the savannah and the scarcity of trees. The sky does not assist in the story I ma telling, so it is minimized. The image of the African sunrise (bottom), on the other hand, is about the sky. The ground is a dark silhouette which does nothing but create an end point for the colors so I moved it near the bottom.

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Good composition is about emphasizing the important parts of an image while minimizing distractions. Placing your horizon near the top or bottom of the frame is a great choice for creating dynamic photographs. The rest of the decisions are up to you.

Written on November 16th, 2010 , Composition, Photography Information, Technique Tuesday, Understanding Photography Series

Image of the Day – Being Watched

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A few years ago I was visiting the San Antonio zoo when I got the strong feeling that I was being watched. Turning around, I found this young crocodile staring at me through the glass. He was much too close to capture the entire snout in focus so I decided to get creative. I set a shallow depth of field, focused on the eyes, and let everything else fall where it may. Wildlife photographers often take themselves far too seriously and it can be a lot of fun trying to capture humor in our shots. What do you think?

The image was captured using a Canon 1D mark 2, 180mm macro lens, at 1000 ISO. The camera was handheld and the lens was pressed directly against the glass to avoid reflections.

Written on November 15th, 2010 , Image of the Day

Photo Assignment – Little Guys

In keeping with this week’s Don’t Forget the little guys post, I though it fitting that this week’s photo assignment should be about photographing the little guys. So forget about those big animals that everyone else is lusting after. This week I want you to focus on the little guys. The smaller animals that no one every thinks of. The little, the weak, the hidden, the photogenic. This week is about moving beyond the obvious subjects and going after the details. Good luck.

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