Proud Photography Blog

To compose is to combine a variety of elements into a whole. A person who writes music is called a composer because he puts musical tones into an order that appeals to the listener. A photographer needs to do the same thing with his photos- put the various elements of the scene in an order that appeals to the viewer and catches his attention. In photography, just as in music, there are some basic rules that have been proved to work in achieving this end.

The first, most famous and basic rule it the Rule of Thirds which has been used by artists for centuries. This rule states that the frame should be divided into three equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines (your frame is divided into nine boxes). Any of the four points in the frame where these lines intersect is a point that will be a “hot spot” that will attract the attention of the viewer more than any other part of the picture. No one really understand why the mind works this way, but the brain focuses more on points away from the center of the frame.

The rule of Leading Lines says Read the rest of this entry »

If there’s one thing every home and office must have, it is a calendar. Although we live in a world of computer calendars and organizers, online calendars, PDAs and mobile phone alerts, nothing will ever replace the printed calendar. One glance at it will tell you where you are in time and the notes you have made on it will remind you of important dates and things to be done. Nothing to switch on or buttons to press – its just there.

Calendars are of two basic types, the small self supporting desk types and the larger wall ones. There are many variations in these types – one page per week or one per month; just days and dates or space for noting things down. Whatever type you prefer, the one thing that will influence your choice is the art work or photographs on the calendar. Since this is such a major factor in a calendar’s appeal, why not try making your own photo calendar? Its easy.

The first thing to do is to choose the pictures you want to use. Its normally a good idea to choose a theme such as the family, holidays, the home, children, pets and so on and select your pictures around this theme. Read the rest of this entry »

Professional photographers say that “If you can shoot food, you can shoot anything.” The main cause for this is the insufficient time you have to actually take your shots. From the time food is kept on the table its look starts deteriorating. Steam stops emerging from it, ice cream begins to melt, shiny food stops shining and so on. At times a photographer has time to take only 5 or 6 pictures before the food stops looking its best. Read the rest of this entry »

More than any other kinds of photographs, those of your children as they grow up are the ones that you will treasure the rest of you life. Don’t let this mean that every picture has to be perfect. If kids are not perfect, why should their pictures be? What you need to do is try not just to capture the ways your children look, but capture memories. Pictures of them doing things that you associate with them or candid ones which reveal a side the parents’ not normally see are the ones that have the most value are the years pass. So what is the best way to go about it? Read the rest of this entry »

Manipulating colors in photographs can hugely enhance the effect that the image creates. From simply making it more eye catching to adding feelings and emotions, everything is possible using software like Photoshop of its equivalents. The effects may be subtle as in toning down clashing colors or extreme as in applying a bright color to a specific area to make it stand out.

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Everyone learns from their mistakes; so if you’re wondering why those mountains in your landscape photo are blurry, it’s time to ask yourself what went wrong. It takes a bad shot once in a while in order to crank-up those thought processes and arrive at solutions. What if the mountains would be sharp but that sailboat in the foreground would be blurry? That wouldn’t be a good landscape shot either. You would want almost everything to be sharply visible. To learn how to get the mountains in focus without sacrificing the visibility of the sailboat, you must learn to maximize your depth of field. At the same time you must learn how the depth of field is associated with hyperfocal distance. Read the rest of this entry »

If you don’t understand why your photographs are not being appreciated, there may be an underlying reason to it. Place your pictures alongside pictures taken by a professional photographer and look carefully. You may notice that most professionals do not center their subjects. While the mountain in your subject appears in the center, the mountain in the professional photo is off the center. You might be disappointed because, like most people, you were taught just the opposite.  You were always taught to make special effort in putting your subject bang in the center, to avoid those photos with heads cut off or to avoid a shabby surrounding.

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Photography is the art of capturing and presenting the subject in an aesthetic manner. Glamor is a treat to the eye, and it appeals to the senses. It grabs attention, throws the first impression, attracts, entices and engrosses. Therefore the media depends on glamor; and glamor photography has become one of the most sensational forms of photography.

Once upon a time glamor photography would range from photographing celebrities to spectacular events; and shooting the lifestyles of the opulent to capturing magnificent structures. Nowadays, photographing models is a popular form of glamor photography. The photographer can focus on male or female models. Most magazines and newspapers use glamorous pictures in order to attract the reader’s attention.

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