HOW TO SEE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD!
If you want to become a good photographer, you want to practice, practice, practice taking photos. I have heard it said that you finally become a good photographer after you have taken 10,000 photos. I don’t know how true that is, but, I am sure someone said that to make you realize that you need to take a lot of photos before you really learn what you are doing.
I have heard upcoming photographers say: “I want to take a lot of photos, but, don’t know where I can take photos”. And let me tell you the biggest challenge you have as you become a good photographer, is learning “To See” a photo. And it is hard at first, because most people don’t know that it takes practice to see photos. Take time to look around you, and see if you can see photo opportunities to just practice on. This is the way that when you practice in your own backyard or neighborhood, you will see even more amazing photo opportunities when you go out to a “real” site that is beautiful. And then as you get there, you will see more things around you that you didn’t see before. That is when you become a good photographer, by seeing things different than most people. I have done this once, and I remember hearing someone say: “Now that is something I didn’t think about taking pictures of”.
Today’s video is showing how to find things to practice on in your own backyard. I will take you on a photo expedition of my own backyard. And then we will take a look at these photos after our expedition:
Click on the video to watch how to take photos in your own backyard.
Here are the results of the photos I took in my own backyard:
The picture of the bird feeder. Make sure when you take a photo like this that you have some angle to it, so you can see the whole thing. Shooting it straight on, may not show the dimension of this bird feeder.I couldn’t remember the name of these flowers during filming, but they are Gazania’s. Notice while I was taking this photo, a bumblebee graced this flower at the bottom. Thanks Mr. Bee.
Beautiful miniature roses taken close up to give you some practice taking “close-ups”.
This is different than the video shows, but, this leaf had less contrast on it. The original leaf in the video, I noticed after I closed the video, that it had both shade and sunshine on the leaf, making a contrasty photo. This is something you have to learn to see as you take photos as well. Beware of scenes that have both shade and light in the same photo. Unless you want to practice doing that type of photo, this one usually will give you better results.
A variety of flowers is always a good thing to practice on. Notice, however, the background. Not exactly a pretty background, and my dog photobombed me too. Always watch your backgrounds before you snap your photos.
Remember in the video we talked about making this a black and white photo. What type of photo would you take that you would want to change from color to black and white? This is one of those that I like better in Black and White than color. It actually gives it character rather that a bench that needs painting.Now this is one to have fun with, and watch for as you take photos. Should you take the photo where the subject is in the center, or off to the third of the photo? Well, composition rules tell me that the walnut should be in the third quadrant of the photo. But, I also gave it something to hang on to, which gives it lines to follow it to the subject.From the video, we were trying to get rid of the camper in my neighbors yard. With a telephoto lens, I was able to get a great photo of our mountains close by. Once again, watch out for “clutter” that might ruin a good photo.
Once again, remember to view the video, like it, and subscribe to it as more of my blogs may be YouTube hits. Haha. But, I hope you have learned more about how to take photos around you.
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