March’s meeting is now behind us and we grew 33% - yay! We had a look at our “light streaks” images – Rachel had an interesting, creative approach with some fireplace photos, while the rest of us went more traditional. Brett had some awesome images overlooking Hamilton and Gary had some that included ethereal ghost cars.
There was some lively discussion about the images and about some that Roy Scott brought as well, as he tried out his new Canon XSi.
Thanks to Brett for the donuts!
This 4wk Challenge!
Some time between now and the next meeting, shoot a series of photos based on the 4wk challenge. The photo has to be new and shot in that date range. Take as many as you like (it’s a digital world) and pick a few of your best ones. Bring them on a media stick and we will display them on the projector for us to review.
SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD – EASTER!
This 4 week challenge actually has three parts: technical, thematic and stylistic.
The challenge is to take an Easter still life that uses a shallow depth of field to emphasize the subject. Brett spoke up and said he is challenged by still life setups, so here’s his chance to work a little at it! (and yours). Your image might be of the Easter bunny variety, or it could be the more traditional Jesus and the Cross theme, or perhaps you want to go with elements from the crucifixion (whip, dice, nails, etc) or from the resurrection (stone, grave cloths, perfume).
Grab a few objects that relate Easter to you and set them up somewhere for your still life shot. Create some lighting using whatever you have and shoot away, remembering to use depth of field to emphasize the subject of your composition. As always, get creative.
Depth of field is an important concept in photography as it aids creativity, highlights your subject - and can ruin your composition if done incorrectly.
Here are a few good websites with tips and directions to help you with this subject.:
http://www.diyphotography.net/depth_of_field (lots of good examples)
http://www.emmettlollis.com/tutorials/digitalphotography/shallow-depth-of-field.asp (Simple and straight forward)
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm (somewhat Technical)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field (very Technical)
Here are some examples (thumbnails from google image search - click the images to see their origin):
(Note: the last one is not really a still life, but could have been set up as one)
Freebie of the week:
At our meeting, we were discussing “Muslin’s” (Backgrounds) and I mentioned that I had come across a site that showed you how to make your own. Here’s the link for all who are interested – the website also shows you how to make the backdrop stand.
There are plenty of other great diy tips on the web site too!
Our next meeting is April 19th.
Our next regular meeting will be on April 19th. Roy Scott is going to see if we can gain permission to do an in-between shot at a local pub in town. Date is to be determined, but we should be able to announce it at the next meeting.
See you all then!!!
