October 1, 2008

Do You See What I See? photography challenge Oct. 1

So how are all your camera’s doing? Not sitting forgotten on the shelf I hope! Remember that cameras do not like to collect dust, so we have come up with these challenges to help us all stretch our photographer muscles and discover how easy it is to take some awesome photos! Look for examples and tips on the challenge topic and be sure to join in with your own!

I suspect we have LOTS of dust covered cameras out there cuz I am not seeing many folks playing along with the challenges lately. Hmmmm….hows about a possible RAK?? If I get more than 6 people (other than me and Carrie) playing along I will choose a random person to get a cool RAK!

Sooo…what is our focus going to be this week? I’ve been thinking about Symmetry lately and how it appears all over the place in nature and in the things we buy and create. We are made to be drawn to symmetry, scientists have even documented that when we find faces with more symmetrical features to be more attractive than faces with assymetry. Photos that depict symmetry can be pretty straightforward, like a picture with a reflection in it….the mountain reflected in the lake kinda thing, but they can also be symmetrical in shape but not an exact mirror image. These types of images are actually more interesting and powerful because while we like to see symmetry, it is the deviations of it that hold our interest and keep us coming back to a photo to try to make sense of it and explore what it is about it that we find appealing. So look at the colors, shapes, and sizes of the things in your world and see what photographs you can create that make the most of symmetry.

* Filed by DidiR. at 4:51 pm under Challenges, Photography
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September 18, 2008

The Golden Hour (Do You See What I See Challenge Sept.17)

So did everyone have fun with their night photos last time? This week’s challenge is another one that has to do with WHEN you take your pictures. Everyone loves a sunset or a sunrise photo….of course we do, they are gorgeous! But did you ever turn around and notice the effect that the light from the rising or setting sun has on the things around you? Actually this phenomenon is known as “The Golden Hour” by photographers and is the hour before and following sunrise and sunset. You get all sorts of interesting shadows during this time, and also the light is more diffuse since it has to come through more of the earth’s atmosphere, so it has a softer warmer quality to it. You can take advantage of this light no matter what kinds of things you are shooting, not strictly landscapes. Try taking some portraits, or architectural detail shots. Experiment with how to make the most of “The Golden Hour”. One technical tip that I read is to be sure to set your white balance on your camera to sunlight if possible. If you have it set on auto white balance your camera will adjust its ‘brain’ to the different kind of light and compensate for it instead of capturing it.   Remember, not every day will automatically be a “golden day”, if it is overcast or very humid or something the light rays will already be diffused and the golden effect won’t be apparent.  No worries….every day is a new one!!!  Try again tomorrow.  And don’t forget to come share your beautiful photography with us in the Scrap Shanty gallery!!!

* Filed by DidiR. at 12:49 am under Photography
* 1 Comment

September 10, 2008

Scrapable Snaps 9/10

soooooo ladies…lets talk about best friends!
do you have pics of you with your bf? what about your dh? your kiddo’s????
are they just pictures or do you have shots that ‘tell a story from this special friendship?
lets see those best friend photos!  Then create a layout that will mean something someday :)
here is mine :)  Kimi and her bf, Alex, and a special memory..their matching bags.
kitty power

kitty power

* Filed by Carrie at 9:12 am under Photography
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September 9, 2008

Do You See What I See? (photo challenge Sept. 4)

So far the focus of most of the “Do You See What I See” challenges has been about composition. This week we are going to step away from that type of challenge and give us all a chance to stretch our creative muscles in a new way. In fact to help you with your creativity I am going to NOT give any sample pictures this week either! I don’t want to direct anyone’s focus or vision so it will be truly individual. The theme this week is “NIGHT”. The only rule is that your photos must be taken between the hours of sunset and sunrise, the rest is up to you. They can be taken inside, outside, with or without flash, up close, far away. If you want to really challenge yourself why don’t you try to see how many different types of NIGHT shots you can come up with? And most of all HAVE FUN playing with your camera and growing as a photographer, cuz you know cameras don’t like collecting dust!!!

We have already had some AWESOME shots you have shared with us in the challenge thread on the Scrap Shanty website.  Come see and share yours too!

* Filed by DidiR. at 8:17 am under Photography
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What’s your angle? (photography challenge Aug.20)

Most of us are pretty careful about making sure our pictures are lined up straight…you know, keeping our horizons horizontal, making sure things that are supposed to be up and down are at right angles. Well for this challenge I want us to FORGET ALL THAT! Of course we won’t be doing this all the time…(anything can be overdone after all)…but lets experiment with what cinematogrophers call the “dutch angle”. This technique adds interest to some types of photos that might be just ‘OK’ if framed in the traditional way. Yup…our cameras can be held at other than 90 degree increments! Be sure to give it a good tilt…if the angle is too slight it will look like a mistake.

Here are a few examples of photos taken in this way:

I have seen some portrait type photos also framed at an angle and they look cool too. Lets get out there and experiment with angles. Take lots of pictures…at different angles…rotate your camera…take the same shot again and again and see what you learn. Sometimes this technique is just the thing and other times you will say ‘nope that isn’t it’. Practice and get a feel for what works. Don’t forget to share your photos and your thoughts on this with us so we can learn together!!!

* Filed by DidiR. at 8:12 am under Photography
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August 29, 2008

Scrapable Snaps 8/29

ok this week the challenge is…BACK TO SCHOOL!
my kiddos arent back yet…..til next week….but i wanna see those photos/layouts of your kiddos and their back to school activities….
could be shopping for supplies or the 1st day shots….whatever you think is important about back to school :) Here is mine…since i dont have any official back to school pics yet….so i did a photo of kimi’s new ID card….

its hard to see in the layout but her pic is HILARIOUS..hehe
ID ME

ID ME

* Filed by Carrie at 10:04 am under Photography
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August 12, 2008

Scrapable Snaps 8/12

ooopsie

ooopsie

ahhhhhhhh lets talk about something NEW you or someone in your family tried this summer :)
What did you try????
What are you hoping to try??
Did someone else try something new??
We wanna see your photos and then the layout about this NEW experience :)

The new thing in our house this summer i plan on scrapping is Kimi’s experience learning to drive a JetSki…hehe
she did great but had a lil crash when she brought it back to shore…OOOPS

* Filed by Carrie at 2:57 pm under Photography
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August 6, 2008

Dust off those cameras!!!

So how are all your camera’s doing?  Not sitting forgotten on the shelf I hope!  Remember that cameras do not like to collect dust, so we have come up with these challenges to help us all stretch our photographer muscles and discover how easy it is to take some awesome photos! Look for examples and tips on the challenge topic and be sure to join in with your own!

This week’s theme is the RULE OF THIRDS!
No I don’t mean it means you get to fill your plate at dinner a third time….(But if its really good hey why not?! LOL) And don’t worry….there are no tricky fractions involved so if you are like me and your brain goes to MUTE when math is mentioned you can relax, the rule of thirds is really very simple.  And also (like most all rules in photography and design)…..they can and should be broken sometimes, just not this week!  So anyway….lets start by looking at some examples and then we can talk about the rule.

 When you are thinking about the rule of thirds you want to imagine a tick tack toe grid over your photo (just like I drew on mine).  Notice where the lines cross…these are the places is it best to put your focal point…like in my first photo I have Bill positioned there, and in the second one the flag is there and in the last one the flower is there.  Also notice that it isn’t an exact science..yay!!  Another thing to notice is where the horizon is….it should fall on one of the horizontal lines, like in the first photo.  I put the roof of the building in the second photo on that line too.  The vertical lines can be used too….like my flagpole lines up with it.  If I had some other strong vertical element like a tree trunk perhaps or something that would work too.  So basically you want to keep things off center. 

Clear as mud?  Naw….cmon it isn’t that bad is it?  Lets get out there and take some great pictures.  And dont forget to share them and link them to this thread so we can learn from you too!  (and if you have any tips or things you learn along the way definately tell!!)

* Filed by DidiR. at 8:49 am under Challenges, Photography
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August 4, 2008

Scrapable Snaps 7/30–ooops late ;)

had a busy week and forgot to post this last week…..sooooooooo sorry!
ahhhhhhhhh sometimes we pull out the camera and start to take a picture or two of something and then wonder ‘why am i taking a pic of this???”

today’s challenge is to take those pictures regardless if no one will understand why or they seem silly and unrelated to anything….

then of course you should scrap em!…hehe

for an example….dh made a basket on a pulley for the girls playhouse so they could get things up and down without killing themselves….i started snapping pics of aimee and calliope having fun with it and then thought to myself….”what a silly thing to take pics of…its no big deal blah blah blah…”
BUT when i looked at the pics–2 of them jumped out at me and i decided maybe they would be something we would want to remember someday!

get where i am going with this challenge????

here is my layout for the challenge!

a pulley

a pulley

* Filed by Carrie at 2:26 pm under Photography
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July 17, 2008

Scrapable Snaps 7/16

ok ladies…this week…lets see the ‘fruits of your labor’……..
this could be your garden, a household project–ya know something that you had to work at to enjoy :)
be sure and scrap it for future viewing pleasure! ;) Sometimes we forget to scrap these things even if we take pics!

cant wait to see what ppl come up with!

my photo is of our first raspberry of the season.  Something tried to kill our canes this year and after mucho babying we managed to save some of them…and even have a few raspberries…this truly depicts the ‘fruits of my labor’!!  LOL

 

fruit of my labor

* Filed by Carrie at 10:11 am under Photography
* 1 Comment

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