Aullwood Audobon and Nature Center

Here are some images from Aullwood, in Montgomery County, Ohio.

Our vision is an amazing thing. Our sight is an irreducible complexity. Our field of vision has a center, and our mind assesses what we see and tells our eyes to scan and find the irregular and the different.

A photograph has a center as well. That is why usually a more pleasing photo, a more attractive photo does not put the "subject" in the center or divide the photo horizontally and/or vertically in half. A photo needs to have the ability to draw our eyes away from its center and stimulate our minds to want to scan the photo - assessing it, usually from left to right, just as we read words on a page or screen.

Using the rule of thirds - the Golden Ratio

When looking through your viewfinder or your LCD screen, divide the image in thirds vertically and horizontally. Imagine the dividing lines and place the objects of interest at the intersection of those imaginary lines. Put horizontal lines, such as horizons, on the upper or lower line - not across the middle of you photo. Put vertical lines that go from top to bottom on the imaginary 1/3 vertical lines as well. This effectively divides your photo into thirds rather than halves. With this in mind, you will see an improvement in the composition of your photographs.

Kentucky Captured

How about a break?

Here's someone with a different "eye" and not afraid to get close. She is quite remarkable...

Check the link to Kentucky Captured in my "Links".

Pennsylvania Farm

This panoramic is three photos stitched together. The lens, a Nikkor 18-200, zoom was set to 50mm focal length to minimize lens distortion and the camera set to manual. Aperture and shutter speed was set and the photos were taken from left to right, overlapping the previous photo by about 1/4. Typically, a tripod should be used to keep the roll angle of the camera level and consistent, but having the far horizon visible, the horizon was aligned with the framing grid in the view finder. No perspective control adjustments were needed and the photo fit flawlessly.

Doorway Columbia Market House

This was taken in the morning - about 10:00 or so. There are three doors on the front (south) entrance to Columbia Market House in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This is the one closest to the east side - and this is the interior of the door. The light is coming through the window to the left.
This produces an image of shapes. If you were to outline the basic shapes, what would it look like to you?
I find photographic or digital images much more intriguing when I break them down to two dimensional shapes and flip back and forth - to and from 2 and 3 dimensions.

Lighting 101

A photo taken inside with a window spilling daylight onto the subject is the most pleasing to me of any source of lighting.

Aullwood Road - Fall in Infrared

DSC_0849 - randomly chosen photo

Bear's Mill - Greenville, Ohio

Wright B Flyer in A Box

Random photo dsc_0696 is a documentation photo of a test being performed on the elevator of the new Wright B Flyer.

Grandmmother & Grandchild

This photo was created on April 8, 2008 and was chosen randomly to appear on this blog. The random number for the day is 0013.

I chose to desaturate the color instead of creating a programmed black & white rendition. Why? Just to be different. Can you tell?