Create, Explore, Inspire
I was feeling antsy so I headed to the Welsh Mountain Nature Preserve with my camera. Because it was an overcast day I knew I wouldn’t get any dramatic light and shadow photos. I decided to concentrate on patterns and textures. I was especially drawn to tree trunk patterns.
Do you see a face in the top knob?
A bark beetle made this pattern.
These horizontal marks identify this trunk from a cherry tree.
I love the texture of this pattern.
And this one.
One of the most well known composition guidelines in photography is the Rule of Thirds. Using it helps draw the viewer’s eye into the photograph and places more attention on the subject.
I took this photo on one of my city walks. I like the texture of the the wood and bricks, and the pop of red in the photo’s focal point. But the composition is static and boring.
I cropped the photo using a thirds overlay, putting the focal point on one of the guidelines. I used Adobe Lightroom, but most photo editing software has a similar crop overlay.
Here is the photo after cropping. Do you agree that using the rule of thirds creates a more interesting composition than the original?
During my last hike I came across an old bait shop. Because I love abandoned buildings I took a quick shot with my camera. But it was the middle of the day, and the light was pretty flat so the photo was uninspired.
I continued on with my exploring and when I came back to the bait shop the light had changed. It was later in the day and the sun was lower in the sky. The resulting photo is much better, the wood colors are warmer and the shadows are more interesting.
Remember, if your photos are uninspiring, wait for the light.
