Tips to Better Photographs

I enjoy photography, so I enjoy finding new ways to apply old tricks to make a shot look great. Here are a few of them for your reading pleasure. I hope you find a way to apply, use, and improve upon them.

Tip #1 : Space, Space, Space

I try to make my subject take up the entire frame, or as close to the edges as possible. Decreasing the background means that the subject gets more visual-focus.

Tip #2 : Clarity, Contrasts, Crazy Colours

Blending colours within one subject is what makes a great photograph. Sharp colours work well with architecture, but with organic art the trick is to blend the edges into each other.

Tip #3 : Distance, Detail, Digital

Thanks to the digital age, we can shoot small things to make them bigger and bigger, showing all their detail. I highly recommend getting a macro lens for your camera. Because there is art in everything around you. Get closer to your subject to discover a new universe of detail.

Tip #4 : Aperture, Time or Combination

Have you found the AV, TV, or M modes on that dial at the top of your camera? Not yet? Today is the day. Shooting from the hip with P or any of the dummy-modes is child’s play. Take a chance, have a go, see what interesting images you can get.

The greatest singular event in photography is the digital age. Now we can delete those shots that over-exposed or out-of-focus, over-lit or in-shadow, not enough detail or lost in the background.

Tip #5 : If ALL Else Fails, Read the Manual!

Whilst learning how to use your digital camera is a simple as reviewing the image and twiddling dials, it helps to read the manual. You’ll be surprised: Unlike computer manuals, they are generally easy-to-understand. More often they also have extra instructions on night, action, and indoors photography.

In closing: A good photographer uses all the tools available, not some of them.

Four Days on Kangaroo Island

Today I have returned from a fun four days on Kangaroo Island. I hadn’t planned nor even wanted to go – due to a fairly bad case of the flu. But despite the insistent cough, my wife and I stayed with her parents for four days.

The first day was non-eventful as we didn’t get to their home until after midday, so the afternoon was spent settling in – and enduring torrential rain that sprang out of nowhere! Thankfully I’d taken a few shots from the SEALINK ferry as we travelled across from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw earlier in the day…

It rained throughout the night and into the second day, so I was worried I would spend the entire short holiday inside the house. Considering that I usually spend my holidays on Kangaroo Island photographing the scenery, landscapes and wild-life, the idea of sitting around the house did NOT appeal to me at all!

It wasn’t until the 3rd day that the sun made it’s appearance – and I’m so glad it did! My MIL and wife had plans to do work on their Bee Hives, so I tagged along wondering where I’d be shooting my camera.

Upon arrival at the farm, I got permission to get out the car at the gate. Just across the main road is an old abandoned house that I have photographed before, but this time I had blue-skies and minimal cloud-cover. I also had my MANFROTTO tripod with me, so I was able to set up for long-exposure shots inside the house. I must go again now, as I’ve since discovered my settings were far from perfect.

The torrential rains from yesterday had some benefit after all. It turns out that a salt-lake hidden on the farm had been converted to a stunning lake of water, overflowing across various fields, between trees from one farm to the next. Various tracks had disappeared completely, and some fence lines had piles of natural-debris up against them. Whilst those scenes were fascinating in themselves, I was more interested in the stunning reflections of trees:

On the walk down the fence-line following the flow of water I had scene a glint of metal amongst the trees to my right. At the time I thought nothing of it, as many farms have hidden debris left by farmers over the years. On my FIL’s farm (that he sold early in 2009), tractor parts and other debris were common-place, so I foolishly let the moment go.

But on the walk back, I spotted something in the bush: Three old cars had been abandoned all the way out in the bush. They looked like they’d simply been driven down into the trees, parked a few metres apart, then forgotten about for over forty years! It staggers me to think how many cars must be hidden around the hundreds of farms across Australia!

Well, I’m not one to let a grand opportunity to slide by. I only had to clamber over two barbed-wire fences to get to them (upon which I ripped my good denims, dammit!), so it was worth the effort:

I shot many more photographs than this, but they are destined to be displayed upon my Redbubble gallery.

Before days end, I shot around 500 photographs of the watery-landscape and the cars, plus various organic shots. Much of that evening was spent sorting them out and uploading the images you see above.

The following day I was left to my own, so chose to take a long walk from the Kingscote Jetty down the coast line – just to see how far I could walk before I exhausted myself. I had high hopes to find something interesting to photograph, but it was in vain.

Thankfully I had the good sense to photograph interesting points and places upon the Jetty itself. As usual, I went down the jetty with no plan in mind, simply shooting things as they appeared before me. This time I spotted a down-ramp that right to the waters’ edge. Here are a few shots that I enjoyed capturing:

In closing, here is the obligatory photograph of an Australian Pelican sitting astride a harbour pier.

To see all the photographs together, check out the slide-show of all thirty-eight photographs.

Direction, Path and Destination

I’ve taken a giant leap recently, a leap that will change the person I am and the direction of the journey I am travelling upon.

This is bigger than my move to creating graphics for a fee, more than changing my photographic style and far more important than improving the way my website sells my personality, work and aspirations. This leap is changing the way I see myself. It’s helping me to find the guy I have found myself to have always been.

Simply said: I don’t do YouTube any more, other than for Good and 80’s Music. I get my visual and mental stimuli from TED.

Who is TED? No, he is not a guy, nor is it even a man. It is a website presenting both the worst and best of mankind online, and in such a way that we open our minds a little more each time we view/hear footage displayed. And all of it is free!

To give you a good example about why I would drop YouTube and other online video-storage sites from regular viewing and swap my alliance and alegiance to TED, I ask you to view this thirty minute video entitled: Bono’s Call to Action for Africa.

From 22.02 of this video, I had the chill run up my back and the will-of-change within me found a new dimension. Bono always speaks with clarity, even if long-winded, about his desires, his wishes and his ideas about how we can all change the world. His wishes are are not only achievable, they are fundamentally important.

More reasons TED is a better option

1. David Griffen tells us how photography brings us all together, tells our stories and tells the world how we percieve the world. David explains how a photographic is man’s way of representing his mind’s eye.

One part of his speech is about the work of an photo-artist who uses infra-red action photography to allow animals to shoot their portraits. In his journey across Africa, the photographer discovered how poachers are killing elephants … and he uses photography to capture a narrative of the issue using graphic photography that not only makes you gasp with astonishment, it also invokes people’s desire to help in any way possible.

David then then speaks of the artwork of a photographer, Jonas, who photographed slums around India. Both fascinating and sad, this article about photography brings us all together. His reading and viewing wakes you up to how the other 98% of the world really live, how animals survive in their natural habitat … and in turn teaches us that by showing the world our individual environments, we open up to both ourselves and our reality.

2. Stefan Sagmeister tells us about how the work we perform can effect our happiness levels.

For me, this is an important story to listen and view. When we view life from a different perspective, we see new ways of improving our surroundings, and we smile more. His examples are not only invigorating, they are amusing. Stefan not only makes us smile, he reminds us that our happiness is derived from what we enjoy doing in our life. When our work is sad, mad and crazy, so are we.

When you sit and listen to these interesting video’s, that appear to suffer no buffering, the human mind is both opened and awakened. Even the most depressed and disheartened will find their humanity, then their human-side, then they become better people as a consequence.

If you don’t have the time to watch Stefan’s 15minute video, here’s a list from his diary:

Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
Being not truthful works against me.
Helping other people helps me.
Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking if for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Travelling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Assuming is stifling.
Keeping a diary supports my personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Worrying solves nothing.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Having guts always works out for me.

Mostly, but not totally, I agree with them all. Which mean the most for you?

3. Philip Rosedale tells what inspired him to create Second Life

What we see here is a young man who found himself held back by his home surroundings, held back by the world around him , yet with an urge to escape the confines of his human life. So he created a new dimension from which we can do anything without constraint (either mainstream, moral or man-made) and become either better-looking, highly-regarded, and, yes, a lot more superficial!

Philip expands upon the issue that anything is possible and everything that exists in the real world is now an interactive component with attached-code that enables users to pick up, move, invert and use as intended … and as never thought possible. That’s what makes this SL amazing. When the border on reality is wiped away, the possibilities are endless! (Though it begs a few questions: If I don’t like the position of a grand-piano in my SL house, can I move it? Will I see the wheels move? Will I have to use extra effort because of it’s weight? Will I hear the twangs of piano-strings being stretched and contracted as the piano is pushed from one corner? How real is SL?)

What this video-article does remind me of is my own reaction when people say “I don’t think that is possible.” You see, I have grown up in a era when things that seemed either highly unlikely or not even on the minds of most people are now either common or part of our every day life. SONY walkmen were the tools of the music trade in my teenage years, now we all have APPLE iPods with touch screen facility. Icons are slid out of the window, double clicking is a finger-tip or a stylus, the internet is available everywhere. When people tell me a thing is not possible or highly improbable, I am the first to retort “Nothing is impossible! Let’s find a way!” Unfortunately, people are not easily converted by self-belief. The art is to find the answer yourself and convince others through our actions.

At around 10:30 , Philip says that a chair is what it is. We know it by what it looks like, not by what is named. I like this thought process, and helps me understand the greatest component of SL: There is no language. Our actions speak for us. Our superficaility tells people what we like, don’t like, prefer and want to be. By exploring the worlds that people create in SL, we find out what humans want to become, how we want to evolve, and ultimately which direction we want to take the future.

YouTube could never do that. Ever. Well, except when I listen to David Byrne.

POSTSCRIPT: I’m not asking you to change your ways. I’m only saying that TED is for everyone, whereas YouTube is definitely not for everyone. You do the math’.

Quality Reading

For a few years I have been reading posts by Chris Pearson over at Pearsonified. His site-design is less cluttered than many, thus making his articles easy to follow and read. His posts are always informative and teach old-tricks in new ways and in a different light. This may sound like what every one is doing these days – but Chris puts a particularly good spin on everything that entices you to read on!

A recent post of his says “Really good, really smart people actively seek out those with whom they share an intrinsic kinship.” . Later it says “You want to catch the attention of the other intelligent people out there who will listen to you and appreciate you because of who you are? … Be an anomaly.“

This is a great idea, but it reminded me of an old adage: “It’s hard to fly like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys.” In order to get noticed, one needs to be recognised/seen by people who care and/or understand what it is that makes you believe you are great.

If I sound in anyway negative, it’s because I have lived long enough to know that the “I am great therefore I am” method is only one step in the equation. Believing you are something is one thing. Making others believe is whole new ball game.

When I finished high school in 1986, I honestly had no conception of where life was going to take me. I didn’t have any plans, or any real concerns about the future: I was prepared to let life drag me along without direction. The words “self-belief” were not in my vocabulary. (Hell, “Vocabulary” was not in my vocabulary!). Wondering about where I was heading didn’t even rate as a concept in my way of thinking.

For a short time (1987-1989) I spent time at TAFE doing a “Associate Diploma in Architectural Drafting“. However, for some silly reason -which is not worth mentioning – I quit. How stupid was I?! Do not answer that. All the what-if’s in the world won’t bring back those few years of my life.

Anyhow, I dragged my carcass along life’s freeway of dole-bludging for a few years, working in a MOBIL car wash for some time (If you know the Adelaide CBD, you’ll know the place!), and numerous odd jobs. I even worked as a door-to-door salesperson. It was during these odd jobs that I met and talked with some of the most interesting people anyone would want to meet. In some cases, people I really wish I hadn’t met. But the experiences taught me about self-belief, motivation, inspiration, gaining confidence, and aspirations.

During 1990’s I started purchasing books that would hopefully inspire me. At that time the CES allowed me to attend free training for a few months a time. Consequently, I had the opportunity to listen to some public speakers, both local and national. During one session we watched a video (anyone old enough to remember BETA?) of Anthony Robbins telling us how “Small Changes can Make a Difference“.

He also convinced us to purchase his book: “Giant Steps“. (Which somehow always reminds me of the movie “Baby Steps” – The idea that we should not concentrate on the final goal, which may seem impossible, but rather focus on the small attainable goals on the way to your final destination.) Yes, I bought the book. I even read it. From cover to cover? No. There is only so much ‘Robbins a person can endure per hour of the day.

But there is one page that is most important and relates to motivation and ongoing personal performance: PAGE 143: “A fundamental law of conditioning is that any pattern that is continuously reinforced will become an automatic and conditioned response. Anything we fail to reinforce will eventually dissipate.”
Any good web-designer will tell you this is an absolute fact. In order to learn the correct methods of applying CSS to HTML, or using non-deprecated HTML, meant using the same methodologies time and time again – until it became the only way.

Then I went on to purchase many more books:

(Actually these books were either gifts, bought at retail, bought at garage-sales, or acquired after family-deaths throughout the last two decades.)

1. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – at Work – Simple Ways to Minimise Stress and Conflict While Bringing Out the Best in Yourself and Others by R.Carlson
   …I was advised to read this. Now I advise EVERYONE to read it.
2. Everyone Remembers the Elephant in the Pink Tutu – How to Promote and Publicise Your Business with Impact and Style by M.M. Cronin and S. Caplan
3. Rich Dad, Poor Dad – What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by R.T. Kiyosaki
   …The bible for any businessman, either beginning or on the journey.
4. Secrets of Power Persuasion – Everything You’ll Ever Need to get Anything You’ll Ever Want by R. Dawson
5. Extreme Success – 7-Part Program That Shows You How to Succeed Without Struggle by R.Fettke
6. Giants of Enterprise – Seven Business Innovators and the Empires They Built by R.S. Tedlow
   …Very informative. The story of Andrew Carnegie is always fascinating.
7. Getting past NO – Negotiating with Difficult People by W. Ury
8. Secret Men’s Business – Manhood: The Big Gig by J. Marsden
   …More amusing than informative.
9. Mediations from the Road – 365 Daily Lessons by M.S. Peck
10. Begin It Now – You Have a Purpose by S. Hayward
    …Read this in the early 1990’s. A must read.
11. Live and Learn and Pass It On by H.J. Brown, Jnr
12. The Millionaire Mind by T.J. Stanley
    …Always reading this one. Sits next to the bed so it infiltrates my dreams…
13. Bag of Jewels by S. Hayward & M. Cohan
14. “Just Do It – Inspirational & Quotable Gems” by H. Mills
15. “Giant Steps – Small Changes to Make a Big Difference | 365 Daily Lesson in Self Mastery” by A. Robbins
16. When They Zig, You Zag – How to Achieve Success, Health and Happiness by Doing the Opposite to Everyone Else by S. Reynolds
    … I might be the only owner of this book, but I like it.

Don’t get me wrong!! I have NOT read all of these books in full. I probably never will. Some might say I really should – but there is only so much time in the day. I view each of them like mini-bibles: Open them up to any page to find words of inspiration. “It’s true!“

Although there are many good motivational books, there are only two books truly worthy of reading. I go so far as to say students should read these during their final year of secondary education. These books will influence how a person will turn out. Forget reciting Shakespeare and contemplating Plato – read these two books:

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
2. The Official Guide to Success by Tom Hopkins

Life has changed considerably since 1986, the year I finished High School. I was unable to attend my high-school reunion a few years back, but it got me thinking about those things that had the most influence on the person I have become today. Was it the books? The people? The experiences and free-training? Was it the persistence in learning web-design – or just parental persistence?

Anyone else got any good books worth reading?