Sunday 13 September 2009

In search of the magical photo - rambling warning!!!

This post doesn't have anything to do with scrapbooking or any papercrafts. Or it has, because photography is the raw material for the scrapbooker.

I've got interested in photography about 2 to 3 years ago, mainly because I wanted better photos to scrap. We bought a DSLR, I tried to decypher the manual - which was hopeless. So I read books, took an online course (@ 2Peas, by Joanna Bollick), then another two (by Cheryl Johnson), bought countless magazines.

Somewhere, probably several times, I must have been told this, but only now it hit me. If I want to take magical photos I have to have a vision in my head, a vision of what I want to acomplish. It doesn't mean that I have to plan days in advance, sometimes the vision might come only a second before the click, but it has to be there.

It just hit me as I was following my son in the park, I saw him cycling towards the bright area, under the yellowing tree. Then I saw the photo - him in the bright light, framed by the shaded ground, the golden tree, and a second tree trunk.

I didn't get it, the tree trunk on the left is missing, making the tree on the left float like a cloud, and the one on the right is too dark and a bit boring. But it COULD have worked. And the it would have been a magical photo. Well, at least for me. Thanks for listening.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this photo is wonderful, very magical and high impact, with the love one inside, even better. Perfect shot, Elisa! Love it. Hugs, Lily

Sabrina said...

Ah, that's the problem, isn't it.You can see a better shot in hindsight, but in the heat of the moment you don't have time to do all the framing and so on, just click and hope for the best. But I understand what you're trying to say. I still think that some of the best shots are more luck than skill. I like this one, the size of L and the big tree gives a great effect.

vtpuggirl said...

Just keep taking photos, you will get better. And take them from lots of angles, some of my favorite come from an angle I never even considered or thought about.