BILATERAL SYMMETRY EXPLORED

 Bilateral symmetry is a strong option when wanting to design easily readable message. Look for it ... or just make it happen. 

It's fun to play with the phone camera. It's small and easy to use but mostly it behaves wonderfully. In this image the power of bilateral symmetry is explored. To get the mirrored reflection I used a Cokin graduated neutral density filter. When turned on its side this simple filter easily gives you the mirrored reflections you may be searching for. Again, just another reason why having a graduated neutral density filter handy is a good thing!

To use: Just hold the filter straight across the bottom portion of the lens. Slowly move the filter up and you will see the reflected image. Stop when you like it and shoot. It's that simple.

Keep in mind though, the reason the image works so well here is because of the bilateral symmetry created by the mirror. The great photo isn't great because of the tool ... the tool simply made it happen. If you don't know what you want to create in the first place, then all of the tools (even the graduated nuetural denisty filter)  won't help.

If you dont' understand basic and advanced human biases and truly know what you're saying with your camera ... it may be time to take the composition class. We have our hands-on composition class starting this weekend. There are still spots available.

Don't just invest in gear this year ... invest in yourself and learn what it takes to truly communicate with your camera.

We'll see you in class.

NOTE: This photo was taken during a recent landscape class. As we discovered the iphone itself can work as a mirror 'filter' as well!!! 

Hyperfocal distance

How cool us it that your camera phone affords one of the most usable
versions of "hyperfocal distance" that you could ever want to use!
Composition fans check out the solid red anchor, the absence of caps,
similar shapes and actively placed human intent.

Singular intent

I've always believed in keeping things simple. Here the power of red rolls with our bias towards cute kids, basic stacking, repeating patterns, texture inclusion and active placement. So much happening in such a little photo.

Blog author

If you want to be a blog author and publish images ... just send me an email and I'll get you hooked up!

www.sendthistorod@me.com

A few changes

We had to change the upload by email option as it was going to fill our Picasso Web albums too quickly. (Live and Learn).

It looks like only blog authors will be able to post.

And remember, when posting please include some text as to how or why you captured the image. That's an important part of this site.

Panning with the iPhone

Yes, it works. While it does take a bit of practice, panning with a
camera phone is not only possible, but works amazingly well as well.
When panning you'll need to get firm mental picture of the lag time
involved. Do some practice shots at first and make sure your moving
subject is in the dark, this will help quite a bit. If things are too
bright, then your shutter will be too fast to create the needed blur.

Why not everyone?

Okay, so if I'm serious about this exploration ... why not invite eveyone?  I just posted a blurb on my facebook account, letting everyone know about this new opportunity. I'm hoping people join up ... journey's such as this are so much more fun when you have company.

Working with the light

Often with my camera phone I'll be stuck as to what exposure level I
can capture. My iPhone model does not allow me to choose my exposure, I just have to roll with the punches and get the best I can. This means watching for those situations that will give me a chance to play with light. In this image I was able to use the cameras default actions to highlight the backlit flag. Since the camera was pointed at bright light it tried to make the scene appear normal — choosing a very fast shutter. This in turn allowed the flag, which was back lit, to pop out of the scene so vibrantly. I believe the current models of the iphone and some other phones as well offer you the choice of choosing what will appear 'normally lit'. Can't wait for my upgrade time to hit!

Opening up the site

I think I'll open this site up to our In Focus family as well. This will give them a chance to show off what they can do with their camera phones as well and offer any tips or tricks they uncover.

Intro and design

Over the next few days I'll work on an introduction and basic design for this blog. I'm not too happy with the dark and brooding look — though it has its own charm and simplicity.