Photography User Digital Camera Deals And Basic Photography Information

Learn Great Vacation Photography To Capture The Moment

Don’t travel without taking a camera with you. Great vacation photography and vacation photographs are about what you see and how you see it. You will be surprised at the results.

Shooting What You See

Sometimes you might have taken a photo that looked good in real life but didn’t look so great on the computer. One reason for this could be the type of lens you used. The field of vision of the human eye is 40 degrees. Evaluate this rule against a scene like a landscape. Note the elements of the scene keeping your eyes aimed straight ahead. Compare how this scene appears through the camera. Observe what is now included or what is missing. Experiment with the zoom until you get what you’re seeing without the camera. By trail and error you’ll learn what zoom will equate with your eye’s view.

Composition

Composition is the art of ‘framing’ the photograph or arranging the elements so that it draws the viewer’s eye to what you want seen or noticed. Here are some basic rules of composition:

1. The Eye Scans Diagonally

The eye usually scans automatically from bottom right of a picture diagonally across to the top left. You can get some idea of this by taking any picture you have in your files and flipping it horizontally with your photo editing software. Depending on which way you flip, some elements are more noticeable, some less so. This rule definitely applies in taking portrait photos.

Pose your subject with his body turned 45 degrees to his left. Tell your subject to relax his hands comfortably closed on his thighs,. Ask him to turn his face back toward the camera. This is called a three-quarter pose. Check what you can see through the camera. The hands usually attract your attention, but then direct the eye up to the person’s face. Take the shot, then use your photo-editing software to flip it horizontally. Which view communicates most effectively?

A simple exercise to appreciate this rule in action is to browse a good photography website. You may discover that a shape, color, or line has been employed by the photographer as a guiding element to direct the eye to the subject in the middle of the composition. This rule can also be broken to produce a jarring effect.

2. Frame the Photograph

The edges of a photograph are like the fence around a house. The space is defined by them. You’ll get a clearer idea of this if you have one of your pictures framed. Everything in the picture becomes more ‘defined’. Apply this compositionally by placement of the subject so it is between trees, in a doorway, viewed through a window, etc. A contrasting effect can be achieved by choosing a neutral background like a seascape. The absence of any distracting elements means the eyes automatically seeks out the subject.

Shooting so as to include the background adds to the mood or feel of the final image. Occasionally a background will be too cluttered and distracting or dominate the scene. Try to avoid these, if you can. Your visual story can be made more interesting by the inclusion of some background elements. Once you think you’ve framed the scene, ask yourself if it answers the following questions
Where is this scene located?
Who it is?
Why are they where they are?
What are the subjects doing?

The Rule of Thirds

This rule divides the image into thirds horizontally and/or vertically. The main subject should appear in the middle section. Alternatively, arranged to occupy the points where the grids intersect. A landscape is usually broken down into top third: sky, middle third: subject. The last third comprises the foreground which supports the subject.

In portrait photography, most portraits are composed vertically and include at least the upper torso. Imagine three horizontal lines dividing the frame from top to bottom; the face is at the juncture of the top two lines. In this way you get ‘breathing room’ above the subject, which results in a better look. The horizontal spaces on either side of your subject are balanced this way.

If you’d like a mood of intensity, try some extreme close ups.

With vacation photography, practice makes perfect. Shoot a lot of shots, then analyze both the good – and the bad. You’ll master the basics quickly and be taking great vacation photographs every time.