- I was impatiently waiting for the summer people to have their last hurrah on Labor Day. Labor Day is over and they have gone home. Yay!
- The instructions for the lesson were a little long, and I was having a hard time remembering them every time I was out shooting. I solved that problem by printing out the instructions and carrying them with me in my coat pocket.
- Concentrate on one element. The simpler the scene, the better. Now make six to eight different photographs, changing only the position of the camera relative to your subject. Get higher. Get lower. Move left. Move right. Walk around it. The element might not move in a hundred years, but you have astonishing control over its shape relative to the frame.
- Study those six to eight frames. How does the energy and balance change? How does the shape of that primary element change as your position changes?
I am in love with these orange ladders that are on the edge of the pier at our State Park.
This is shooting from the left to the right of my element, the sun, if it was out, would be behind me.
Shooting from above. It makes me a little nervous to be so close to the edge.
Changing energy and direction, shooting from right to left of my element. I would never shoot this direction normally, because the sun, if it was shining, would be shining directly into my face. It also feels more chaotic shooting this direction, even without people, compared to the peaceful scene shot from the opposite direction.
If I hadn't done this exercise, and studied this one element, I might not have noticed the thin piece of rope tied to the ladder. This additional element became my favorite part of the photographs.
It is still the surprise discoveries and the little details that delight me the most.