Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Isolation {Week 15}

Continuing our focus on perspective this week, Photo 52: Within the Frame sought to isolate our subjects through the use of a telephoto lens or otherwise.  Zoom lenses, with their longer focal lengths, magnify the scene and create a shallow depth of field which, in laymen's terms, means that the environment surrounding a subject is compressed and often quite blurred.  Lovely portraits occur when the subject remains prominent in the frame and the other elements are reduced.    

This past week the weather was either brutally cold (have you heard about the Polar Vortex?) or too rainy to venture outdoors.  Therefore a great deal of our play time was within the four walls of our apartment.  Below is a detail captured with my 70-200mm telephoto lens of my son landing a jet plane onto his aircraft carrier.  Even without his entire face, body or a sharply focused background, the viewer is able to piece together what is happening within a little boy's room, within his greater world of imaginary play.  

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place. 

Comin' in for a landing

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Wide Angle | Inclusion  {Week 14}

It is a new year, new month, and a new topic for Photo 52: Within the Frame.  We will be spotlighting perspective for the next month, examining the way your choice of lens can alter your viewpoint.  Wide angle lenses allow our camera to see wider than the eye can, and therefore allow us to include a great deal of the environment along with our subject.  The perfect lens for a snowy landscape!

This past Thursday night Hercules, the first blizzard of 2014, descended upon the Northeast.  The following morning I went out with my oldest son, traipsing around the neighborhood.  While he had fun tossing snowballs up the hill, I took some wide angle photos of him within the winter landscape.  My favorite is the image below which is intentionally shot out of focus.  The bright red hat reminds me of one of my favorite books from childhood, "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.  It was the perfect book to read to my son when we got home from our adventure.   

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.  

The Snowy Day

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Photographer's Year-End Choice {Week 13}

For this final week of December, our theme is "Photographer's Choice". Some images will be a 2013 personal favorite, some will be a continuation of our month-long exploration of lines, and all will be a reflection of where we are in our photographic journey.

This was a big year for our family with the arrival of our second boy in May. I chose this photograph as my year-end "finisher" mostly for its emotional significance. Not only is the irresistible chubbiness on prominent display, but it is one of the few self-portraits from this year. My handy dandy assistant, who helped press the remote control to set off the timer, just happened to be my three year-old son. I was very proud of him and cherish this image even more because I know we were all a part of its creation.

2013 - you were fantastically crazy, awesome and amazing.

And to our followers, thank you for being a part of our photographic journey over the past year. It would not be the same without you. Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Diagonal Lines {Week 11}

This week Photo 52: Within the Frame sought diagonal lines, either alone or in a pattern, in our compositions.  Not only was I able to find some diagonal lines in the train tracks below the bridge I was standing on, but also captured a fellow photographer in my midst.  I think he adds a nice balance to the tracks and contrasts splendidly against the bright white snow.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place. 

tracks

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Horizontal Lines {Week 10}

This week Photo 52: Within the Frame sought horizontal or vertical lines, either alone or in a pattern, in our compositions.  For half of last week we were in Harlem and the other half, for the Thanksgiving holiday, we were in the suburbs.  I was able to capture my little man, and some horizontal lines in each.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place. 

City | Country

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Leading Lines {Week 9}

For the month of December, Photo 52: Within the Frame will be concentrating on lines.  Leading lines, lines that are horizontal, vertical and diagonal, lines that are real and implied - our goal is to use these to effectively lead the viewer's eye to our subjects, or in and out of the frame. 

Please click HERE  to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.  

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Balance: Photographer's Choice {Week 8}

For our final week exploring compositional balance, we incorporated some or all of the elements of weeks prior into our image(s).

There is a corner in Harlem that has always appealed to me. Despite the building being rundown and abandoned, I've always managed to see great beauty in the muted colors, rough textures and various signage across each entryway. The two doors on the right not only balance the gate on the left but also divide the image into halves, rife with similar patterns, colors and rectangle shapes.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.

Promise Land

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Balance Using Negative Space {week 7}

A great number of photographers including myself often balance their subjects with negative space, allowing the viewer's gaze to trail off into the expanse and then, hopefully, be drawn back in again. This week, however, the space between the left and the right edges of my image is the same and the subject is smack dab in the center. Though not my usual way of composing a shot, I felt that with this particular image, the patterns, size and angelic brightness of my "Little Helper" required central showcasing.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Balance [Objects]  {Week 6}

Continuing with our monthly theme, this week we sought to balance objects with the people in our frame.  My image below has a fairly standard template for balance:  lone figure balanced with lone object, in this case a lamppost.  The fence carries the viewer's eye from the left side of the frame to the right, thus dividing the image in half while the dark contrast of the figure and the object give perpendicular grounding to it.  Balance is of course more complicated the more objects you have within the photo, and components such as contrast, the brightness of an object, patterns and size all become important in achieving a good composition.        

So let's see how the others choose to work with balance this week.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.  

Lady in the park

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Balance [People]  {Week 5}

This week begins a new month of compositional study : Balance.  We will be tackling first the use of people within the frame.  Quite simply, balance is an issue of weight distribution and as a photographer you never want too much "people weight" on one side.  Instead you want the viewer's eye to move about the photo with the visual weight evenly apportioned. 

Below is an image I captured at the opening of the Museum of Natural History.  The figure in the foreground and the sign are the counterweight to the line of people ascending the stairs.  The staircase railings also cut the image into two balanced triangles.

Please click HERE  to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.   

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Geometric Framing {Week 4} 

Holy Cows!  And more fun at White Post Farm out in Long Island.  These friendly bovine positioned themselves perfectly through the fence for our final week of geometric framing and voilà, I just had to press my shutter button.   

Please click HERE to visit our website collective where you can see all of our images in one place. 

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Geometry for Balance {Week 3} 

In photography the visual power of geometry is achieved through the use of balance, in essence making sure the weight of the lines and shapes in the image is equal to that of your subject.  When done correctly, a most interesting and pleasing composition can be achieved.  This was the compositional challenge for this third week of Photo 52:  Within the Frame.  

Please click HERE to visit our website collective where you can see all of our images in one place.

 

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Geometric Patterns in the Environment {Week 2}

One key to becoming a great photographer is being able to see patterns in the environment and capture them in a way that is pleasing to the eye.  This was the compositional challenge for this second week of Photo 52:  Within the Frame. 

Please click HERE to visit our website collective where you can see all of our images in one place.    

The laundromat

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Last year's Photo 52: A Play on Light  [click HERE to view project] was an incredible growing experience for all of us.  As the final weeks passed by, we knew one year was not enough.  There is always more to learn and we simply had to take on something new.  And so, the broad theme of this year's Photo 52 is composition.  We will study geometry and framing, colors and lines, scale and narrative and our hope is that in doing so, our photography will continue to strengthen and grow.  

Like the last round of P52, I will be posting a description of our weekly shooting assignment here in my blog along with a gallery link to our new website collective:  Who We Become.  With so many of us we decided it would be better to view all of our images in one place, as a mosaic.  The mosaic is generated randomly and will look a little different each time you return.  You may also continue on to any individual photographer's website by clicking on her image. 

 

Using Geometric Shapes as Framing Elements {Week 1}

Be it a girl sitting in a square window or a drip of coffee falling into a circular mug, geometric shapes can be powerful framing tools that add interest and dimension to an image.  My image for this first week uses the rectangular shapes of the storage cubby to frame my oldest son on his first day of school.

Please click HERE to see the mosaic of images for the kickoff to our second year of Photo 52.  

First day of preschool