We as human beings have evolved to see things horizontally. Our field of view spans about 200 degrees side to side, though much of that is peripheral vision, while our vertical sight range is around 150 degrees. Yet we insist on taking photos with our cellphones vertically. It’s not a problem with DSLR cameras because, […]
The subject for the next readers Photo Challenge assignment is as clear as day: glass. Glass has some interesting qualities that can make it challenging to photograph well. Most glass is clear, sometimes to the point of near invisibility. It’s only when we see reflections upon it, from light or the surrounding scenery, that we […]
The latest challenge assignment eschewed the use of fancy DSLR cameras and instead use a simple cellphone to take a photo. Cellphones are as common as the air we breathe. Nearly everyone has one. That pervasiveness often lends itself to the perception that cellphone photos are not as good as images take with other kinds […]
I recently came across this quote by the legendary photography pioneer Edward Steichen: “Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper…the photographer begins with the finished product.” I don’t believe that Steichen was criticizing or downplaying photography’s artistic role compared to the other arts. I see it as a statement on […]
On Tuesday, May 26 I woke up as usual. I didn’t have any early morning assignments so I was puttering around the house before going into work. I checked social media for anything interesting when I saw a photo of large column of smoke rising from a large fire. It didn’t mention where, but I […]
Most of the challenge’s assignments are geared towards DSLR users. Those “big” cameras have great controllability in terms of exposure and depth of field and flexibility with their interchangeable lenses. But for this challenge, we’re going to ask you to put down those cameras, reach into your back pocket and use your cellphone. Cellphones, and […]
In the latest Readers Photo Challenge, entrants were asked to forsake visions of grand vistas and to think small. “Closeups” was the assignment and readers abandoned the normal sized world for one that embraces the minuscule. The found whole new worlds, most not farther than their own homes. 177 photos were sent in by twenty-nine […]
Some photographers, especially those of my generation and older, yearn for the old days of film. They think that things have gotten too easy in the digital age and they lament the fact that the photography’s golden age of Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, and others, is gone. While it’s true that those early […]
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” Robert Capa In this time of the coronavirus the best thing to avoid exposure is to stay inside and away from other people, but my job doesn’t afford me that luxury. I can’t take a picture over the phone or through a closed car door. […]
Often photographers concern themselves with grand vistas but for the latest Readers Photo Challenge assignment we are asking you to think on a smaller scale. Closeup or macro photography explores realms of the overlooked and unseen. Flowers are often the subjects of macro photography but almost anything will do. If you look carefully and closely […]