A tribute site to those photos that I think are amazing and contributions of my own – My Own Interestingness – Click on Images to View Owner’s Original Photos
A tribute site to those photos that I think are amazing and contributions of my own – My Own Interestingness – Click on Images to View Owner’s Original Photos
There are a number of great articles written about taking great photos with camera phones, and I, personally, am a great believer in being able to take a good photo with just about any camera. It’s all about knowing the limitations of your equipment and working with them.
Fundamentally, I believe it comes down to three factors: light, composition and know the limitations of your equipment. This applies to all photography, it’s just that there are greater limitations with camera phone photography.
One of the benefits of camera phone photography can be the post-shoot processing that can be done on the phone. Usually the phone software makers make it easy to tune the image after you’ve taken it. This interview with an iPhone photographer highlights this as part of their article.
Also there is the added bonus of having the camera with you. Sometimes the key part of taking a great photo is to just have your camera with you! A camera phone allows you to do this – as well as sharing it on the spot if you have internet access (either through your phone network, or wifi).
If you are able to upload it to services such as Flickr, then you may be able to take advantage of online editing software on your PC, such as Picnik, which is integrated into Flickr and makes adding effects and fine tuning exposure and colour on a PC a breeze.
Regarding composition, think about those limitations again, and the style of photos that they will suit. Mostcommonly, camera phone photography is said to be suited to street photography, but note a key limitation – often camera phones are NOT good with movement. So if there is motion and a blur, aim for it to be intentional, like this fantastic shot:
Using motion blur in camera phone photography
And don’t forget to practice! Take lots of photos!
Lafango.com is holding a Summer Edition 2010 Photography Contest! What a great way to welcome the summer with beautiful photos celebrating life. Photographers and photo hobbyists are all welcome to enter the competition, and there is NO entry fee!
OK – the last one in the title was a joke – R-D-R-R (get it, ha-de-ha-ha).
I sometimes get frustrated with the way that others crop my photos, so I’ve developed some templates, and I’ve included a grid in them so that I can try and fiddle with placement and the rule of thirds.
Below is a table of common photographic sizes and the pixel sizes required to print each size. It is important to be aware that your camera doesn’t usually take photos in these sizes, and sometimes the action at the sides or top and bottom of an image can be cropped.
I’ve recently been printing in 8R format, so I have some templates:
Recently my family went to India to fulfil a desire of my husband’s to take the kids to see the Taj Mahal at the same age that he first saw it. There were loads of images of the Taj Mahal, and I don’t flatter myself thinking that my images were any better than the myriad of photos that have been taken before, but there was one photo that I took of my darling, gorgeous husband that just plain floats my boat (or rocks my socks, whichever you prefer).
My Love - at the Taj Mahal
Is this a great photo? No, not really – it breaks a lot of rules about focus and exposure. But I think this is why this particular photo works for me. As a portrait it conveys a lot about the character of the person.
I have some other great classic shots of him, however the grittiness of him on vacation, smiling, carrying the kids’ shoes over his shoulder, with one of the most classic symbols of love in the background seems to be expressing him better in this overexposed shot than in some of the more traditional shots that I took that day.
Is there a formula for over- or under-exposing shots? Well it certainly involves letting more or less light into the photograph, but as for when or how to use it, there are better writers than me that can describe this. However I will say that over-exposing tends to lend itself to more edgier and informal shots, and under-exposing adds moodiness and tends to increase contrast (especially with very light or bright elements within the photo). This can also serve to highlight shapes (eg. a silhouette), or increase the saturation in some colour elements.
Certainly I’m not the only one to appreciate this. Check out the links below.
I am thinking of putting a portfolio together, and as such I am putting together some links for reference in what to do (and what not to do). At the moment it’s a work in process, so no links to my work yet, however any contributions for online portfolio website or any useful tools will be welcome. Post here or on the Facebook page!
I was with a friend recently and he told me about his Dad taking photos… basically he uses a camera that has a swing out LCD screen, and takes the photos from about hip or thigh height.
It got me thinking about perspective, and how I like to occasionally put the camera on the floor and take a photo, so here goes with 7 things you can do to change perspective in photos and make them more interesting.
Lay on your back and look up – this works really well under a tree or in a field of flowers, but can work equally well for buildings, in rooms, under stairwells, underwater (if you have the gear), to name a few. In some cases you don’t need to lay on your back… some good shots can be taken with your camera on the ground pointed up, but it may take you a few goes to get it “just right”.
Turn you and the camera, or your subject, upside down – this can give startling results. If you are upside down, and you focus on composition, sometimes the change in perspective can give you a new way to look at an old subject. Subjects can also be turned upside down for interesting results, although be careful with pets – I will not accept any responsibility for scratches and other injuries!
Take a step back – I use this one for portraits, and it works well with camera phones as well as regular cameras. Taking a step back from just a person in a shot often forces us to consider a principle composition technique that is used with landscape photography – include a foreground, a midground and a background. The photo on the left is one that I took of my nephew could have just been an expression of joy on his face as he was placed on the Ben & Jerry’s cow by my brother. Taking a step back included the cow (the source of the joy), and the background (Singapore Zoo’s Ben & Jerry’s outlet), and provided a bit more context and interest for the shot.
Tilt the horizon – be warned with this one… you either do it a lot or not at all. What I mean is either tilt the horizon drastically, so that it looks deliberate, or keep it flat and straight. A small tilt usually ends up looking like you couldn’t be bothered setting up the shot correctly.
Shoot from the hip – don’t use your eye in the viewfinder, or (depending on whether you’re trying to be surreptitious) even look at the LCD screen. Shooting shots from this low perspective can either be done so that people don’t realise you’re taking the photo, often resulting in more candid photos, or just a different height level – 2 or 3 feet off the ground, instead of 5 or 6. And because you aren’t consciously framing every detail of the shot, sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised by the results.
Get down on their level – advice often given for taking photos of children and pets, however this works on objects as well. A popular example is flowers in a vase – don’t (some say never) shoot from above. Try side-on or below. This works for rooms as well. If you take the photo from a 5-6 foot level, you often see all the clutter on tops of surfaces. You could try taking at a lower angle where less clutter appears (just make sure you dust, because at this angle it can be quite apparent if you haven’t )
Shoot from above – this works for subjects that you wouldn’t normally look at from above, like buildings and adults. As the objective here is to change the perspective, don’t include pets and children in this one, as we are constantly looking at them from a height above. This is probably why a lot of people like aerial shots.
Obviously the above is not a definitive list, and if you have more ideas or links to sites that have other suggestions, please post in the comments below.
Other articles that are available with information on shooting from a different perspective are as follows.
Digital Photography School forums has a photo assignment based on breaking some photographic rules.
I did a post a few days ago about Breaking the Rule of Thirds, and one of the ways to do this was to centre your subject in the photo – also called the Bulls-eye technique.
So get practicing and submit your photos – the topic closes at 8am GMT on 3rd Feb, and make sure you check out the rules…
I love photos, and it never ceases to amaze me seeing the imagination and skill some people have in creating them. This is my tribute to those photo (especially those hosted on Flickr).
All rights for images on this site are owned by the original takers of the photograph, and distributed under Creative Commons license. To find out more, please click on the image itself. This is an image appreciation/fan site.
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