Clone tool comes in handy

The technique that I am showing you today is similar to Thursday's blog. My black cloth is not as big as you see it on the left. I clone the sheet to fill the cropped photo, but then I wanted to use the photo in an advert for Extremist Nutrition.

Cloning is a fairly easy technique expecially when there is a plain background. However not all the black cloth is the same shade of black. If you didn't have a computer and a clone tool then you might just manage to get the photo on the right if your model was kneeling down and you background was the length and height of the wall. Thank goodness for the clone tool.

Happy snapping

An anatomy lesson

Unusual cropping can add to an abstract effect and so can tatoos and very large muscles. On the left you know you are looking at a chest but it's not usual to see such definition in pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi.

The pecs are the front muscles of the upper chest and if you cant see them on this photo then you never will. the lats are the muscles that lift you up if you were climbing rocks. They are the same muscles that pull you through the water especially if you were doing the butterfly stroke. So they are more obvious in swimmers (partly because you can see their muscles) and they are the muscles at the side that give the V shape from the waist to the shoulder. In this photo they fill the gap at the side between abdomen and arm. On the right Andy is pointing to biceps. I think you know where you find this muscle.

Happy snapping

Can you see the join?

The rules of composition that were broken yesterday are now used to good effect. That space with nothing in it can be used to add some words. It doesn't have to be words. You could put two photos together. At weddings I like to stand back from the venue with the bride and groom and take a photo with plenty of grass or road. Basically I take the photo with space to allow for the addition of photos like photos of the bridesmaids.

I don't like spending money if I don't have to. The background last week was Andy's curtains. This week it is an ordinary piece of black cloth. It's not even a big piece of cloth. I had to work on the computer to extend the cloth and get the space for the words. See if you can find the join. I bet you can't.

Happy snapping

Rules are meant to be broken

I have previously written about rules of composition like the rule of thirds. I have heard many commentators say that the subject of the photo should be fully included in the photo. I can almost hear some people saying why have you not included the full head?

The answer is simple, because I like these compositions. Rules are made to be broken and sometimes areas of nothing can look good. There is so much of interest in these photos that is of a more abstract nature. Sometimes you don't want the eye to be drawn to the usual places and these croppings allow the eye to wander.

Happy snapping.

Can you sense the energy?

Last week I wasn't happy with the shadow caused by the flash when I went round to see Andy Bell. I mentioned that almost always I point the flash to the ceiling to avoid these shadows. The fake tan on Andy's face made it look like he had blonde hair and this effect was increased by the flash pointing upwards, so I was pleased when Andy agreed to come round to see me. I could use my backgrounds and black doesn't show shadows anyway (I still pointed the flash upwards).

I didn't see any warm-up last time because Andy was ready for his photos. This time I was there for the warm-up and as with yesterday's blog, I was able to use a tripod. On the right you can see the blurring effect caused by putting the camera on a tripod and not using flash. Normally you don't want blur but I think here it gives a sense of the energy used in the exercise.

Happy snapping

Take more photos

If you read yesterday's blog then you will see how the use of a tripod and a long exposure means that you can blur movement like a hand on a guitar. The difference today is composition. Compare them yourself and you will see a different angle and the reason for that is no tripod was used here. The camera was just placed on a table and set to timer.

I prefer the composition in today's photo and the irony is that it is pure luck. I wasn't looking throught the viewfinder when this photo was taken.I did crop the photo later on the computer but I wouldn't have thought to use this angle. The moral of this story is take more photos.

Happy snapping

The camera lies

If you didn't know already, when you use flash you capture a moment in time. The extra light means that you don't need a wide aperture, the shutter opens and closes quickly and you generally get a brighter photo. You can see the brighter picture on the left was taken with flash.

The difference between the two photos is that flash wasn't used on the right, but to get enough light into the camera there had to be a slow shutter speed - too slow to let me hold the camera so it had to be on a tripod. In fact both were taken with the camera on a tripod. This allows for ambient light to be used in the photo. Just look at the difference in the lights. There is a saying that the camera never lies but you don't get a true picture of the lighting whenever you use flash. Finally, did you notice the right hand? With long exposures movements become blurs, giving the impression that the camera couldn't catch the image.

Happy snapping