Category: <span>Blogging</span>

Published October 30, 2017 by

Allow Your Shadow in Your Photo Sometimes

Avard Woolaver, shadow, self portrait, backyard,
© Avard Woolaver

Allow Your Shadow in Your Photo Sometimes (Day 30 of 31)

Sometimes your shadow ends up in a photo by accident, but other times it’s not a mistake. Lee Friedlander was one of the first widely known photographers to make use of his shadow as a photographic element, and many people have done it since.

Why would you have your shadow in a photo? That’s one of the marks of a rank amateur, right up there with having your thumb over the lens.

Well, your shadow poking into the frame can convey a few different things. For one, it reinforces the truth that a photograph is not reality. No matter how much we’re capturing the truth of one moment, it’s still only a single moment, and it’s subject to the photographer’s point of view, conscious and unconscious biases, and frame of reference. So the photographer’s shadow in the picture operates at a very meta level, reminding the viewer that a human being held the camera.

A shadow can function as a graphic element, directing the viewer’s attention like a pointer or signpost toward something you want to emphasize in the frame. It can be used to add balance or resonance to your composition.

A third reason for letting your shadow be part of the picture is that sometimes there’s no way around it, if you want a particular shot. At certain times of day, in certain places, the only way you can include all the information you want in a photo is by letting that other piece of information—this is where the photographer was—be a part of it, as well.

And, fourth, it can add a touch of lightness or humour to your shot. A photo that’s not particularly witty or irreverent can take on those characteristics when you let your shadow fall into the frame.

As with many of our photographic efforts, what may initially seem like an egregious mistake may end up being something you like a lot. If you’ve never fooled around with including  shadows in the photos you take, it’s a fun thing to experiment with.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

Blogging Photography

31 Days Avard Woolaver self portrait shadow

Published October 29, 2017 by

A Frosty October Morning Can Be a Gift

Avard Woolaver, frosty, morning, Nova Scotia,
© Avard Woolaver

A Frosty October Morning Can Be a Gift (Day 29 of 31)

In October I try not to underestimate the joy of forcing myself outside on frosty mornings, not long after sunrise—camera in one hand, coffee in the other. Sure, it’s not what I feel most like doing when I first wake up; it has its plus side, though.

On fall mornings you have to make a move early in order to photograph the frost before it melts. To head outside and be part of the cold air and silvery world is, I find, a meditative and calming way to get the day going. While things are still relatively quiet, you have a chance to clear your thoughts and get a handle on the day.

If you live near a pond or lake, mist rising from the water can lead to some beautiful photographs. Birds are getting their own day underway, and it’s often a time to get wonderful pictures of them. The solitude that’s one of the innate pleasures of taking photos is so conducive to calming your mind and just watching the mist rise, the day start to take shape.

Whether we’re greeting the day in a yard, a forest, or a park, making the effort to get out there early once in a while tends to the day in a peaceful, optimistic way. The busyness always returns to engulf us again—but the quiet always comes back, as well.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

Blogging Photography

31 Days Avard Woolaver frosty morning

Published October 28, 2017 by

Photos Remind Me of Songs

Avard Woolaver, songs, music, Good Day Sunshine,
Good Day Sunshine          © Avard Woolaver

Photos Remind Me of Songs (Day 28 of 31)

Certain photos are so much like certain songs, and often in ways that are personal and probably not apparent to other people. If you’re in need of inspiration in taking photos, my experience has been that this can be one way to find it again.

The relationship may be obvious (a bright cloudless day brings to mind the Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky”), but frequently the connection is oblique. A thicket of branches may bring to mind John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” A wave splashing could make you think of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound; a steady line of trees might remind you of the beat of a Chuck Berry song.

Another aspect of the music/photography pairing, for me, is that there’s often music going on in my head when I’m taking photos; I’ve found that often plays into the kinds of shots I take. A photograph can seem staccato, or dreamy, or lush and sweeping.

Music and photography have so much in common and share so many of the same attributes: repetition, rhythm, texture, form. It’s a fun challenge to try to reproduce what you hear using what’s in front of you visually, and it strengthens our creative muscles to when we experiment in these ways.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

Blogging Photography

31 Days Avard Woolaver music songs

Published October 27, 2017 by

You Can Always Make a Note and Wait Till Next Year

wait, sun, Avard woolaver, light,
© Avard Woolaver

You Can Always Make a Note and Wait Till Next year (Day 27 of 31)

Some photos are dependent on the rhythm of the year and the movement of the sun, and sometimes you have to wait until the next year to get the shot you want.

For example, one photo I’ve taken again and again through the years is when the sun is overhead and shining on wet pavement. It’s that hard light that makes the road look white. (Over time I’ve learned where I might be able to take one of these photos in different places near where I live. In winter, for instance, it’s King Street in a town nearby.) To get a photo that looks the way I want, I have to be in the right place at the right time of year.

Some of these pictures you’re going to miss more often than you get them. With my wet-road pictures, rain, or road salt, is the critical factor, and the sun has to be out while the pavement is still wet. Like the ancient worshippers at Stonehenge, sometimes you’ll have weather that disappoints you; other times you’ll be working, or out of town, or at a child’s holiday concert. The best we can do at those times is make a note—actually write it on your upcoming calendar, so you’ll remember—and wait until next year.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

Blogging Photography

31 Days Avard Woolaver light wait

Published October 26, 2017 by

Experiment with Your Flash

Avard Woolaver, flash, snow,
© Avard Woolaver

Experiment with Your Flash (Day 26 of 31)

My experience has been that it’s useful to play around with the flash in all sorts of different circumstances; experimenting with it can lead to surprising outcomes. The past few winters I’ve used it a lot to capture snowfall, and I’ve been really pleased with how some of these photos have turned out.

I’ve gotten good results at twilight, when the sky is sort of an indigo blue. The flash stops the snowflakes and makes them show up really clearly, and the air itself is revealed to be three-dimensional. It can be a beautiful effect. It’s so rare that we can see air as something that takes up actual space; with some of the snowflake shots, empty air is given a foreground, middle ground, and background.

Some of the snow-with-flash photos I like best are taken in my yard, and others are in a little patch of woods on a hill at the top of my yard. Snowflakes among the trees at twilight are a very peaceful sight.

Experimenting with your flash is a great way to play around with your camera. You can see what happens when you’re shooting up close, or focusing on a distant object; in all kinds of different lighting conditions. At least a few will end up being pleasant surprises that teach you something unexpected.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

Blogging Photography

31 Days Avard Woolaver flash