Technique Challenge: #1 - Information Here - SBB Digital Scrapbooking Forums | Scrapbook-Bytes

Amy Bleser · #1 (**permalink**) 03-21-2008

Welcome to Technique Challenge #1. Please accept my apologies for being late in posting this, normally it will be posted every Wednesday.

Technique challenge #1 is about composition and filling your frame. Filling your frame is a way of filtering out all the other background "noise" in your photo. The purpose of filling your frame is to both make your photo more interesting and to really focus in on what you want your audience/viewer to see.

Take a look at the two photos I have below.

The picture of the Black-eyed Susan's is simply put - boring. It is a photo that generally you would either discard or take a short glance at and move on. It is hard to determine what the true focal point of the photo is and there are lots of distractions.

Now take a look at my second photo:

Simply by filling my frame with the close-up of the flower itself it is a much more interesting picture. The depth of focus is such that your eye goes directly to the flower. You can see the imperfection in the flower's center and look closely at the top center of the flower and you can see a bug sticking it's "legs" out. Now that is cool!

Here are some links that have good information and examples of "filling your frame" and ways to go about it! In addition, an outstanding reference book is "Learning to See Creatively" by Bryan Peterson. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to improve their photography skills and eye.

http://digital-photography-school.co...ll-your-frame/

http://www.photips.com/photography-t...-up-close.html

http://photoinf.com/General/Theresa_..._the_Frame.htm

Your assignment for the next two weeks is to practice filling your frame. Find a subject and take the first shot that occurs to you. Then on your next photo - "fill your frame." Look through your view finder and identify what distractions there are in your photo. This is harder to do than you think because your brain will automatically draw you to the item you want to focus on. So you will have to actually stop for a few seconds and look in the view finder left to right and top to bottom to see what the camera sees, not what your brain sees. Then determine if you will get less distractions by changing your angle, moving closer or changing your camera settings.

Post your before and after photo in this gallery and then come back here and share with us your experience. What did you learn? What did you do to make the 2nd photo more appealling? We can all learn from sharing our experiences.

I can't wait to see everyone's photos! Have fun with this!

Sarah96 · #2 (**permalink**) 03-23-2008

Ok here are mine. I actually have the opposite problem of this technique. I often zoom in and fill my frame and then remember that it's a 4x6 ratio and I will lose some of it when I crop to 5x7 or 8x10 for portraits. BUT...these pics are some I took of my dd's flowers she got for her birthday this week.

I removed everything from her dresser, and anything in the background that would show through the mirror, then I moved around and took several shots at different angles until I got as much of the flowers as I wanted with the least distraction. Then I realized...oooh this would be great for Amy's challenge this week, so I zoomed out and took a few "before" pictures to show with distraction in the b/g. I should have put all the junk back on the dresser and background too LOL

Before

after

ldtarbox · #3 (**permalink**) 03-25-2008

Well, I have to admit I'm a little frustrated with my photography skills. I am still trying to figure out the macro functions on my camera. But, even though I'm not totally happy with the results of this weeks challenge, I have to admit that my after shot is definitely more appealing and interesting than my before. So, here they are:

Before
After

littlecountryquilts · #4 (**permalink**) 03-26-2008

I love these photography challenges...I certainly want to learn more about my camera!
http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...p?photo=278665

zinzilah · #5 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008

Here is my first attempt
before and
after.
Sure will be back for more.

zinzilah · #6 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldtarbox

Well, I have to admit I'm a little frustrated with my photography skills. I am still trying to figure out the macro functions on my camera. But, even though I'm not totally happy with the results of this weeks challenge, I have to admit that my after shot is definitely more appealing and interesting than my before. So, here they are:

Before
After

Love the composition on your second frame, but feel like it needs more of a pop! I have played with the copy of your image and got this,

don't know if you think it's any better, but if you try to duplicate the layer on the original, and change its contrast, or smooth it, or perform another action on it, and then play with the layers, I am sure you can get an even better result, what program are you using, I could try and write a little tut for you, but it will only be worth something if you are a PSP user like me, otherwise, I won't know what to do...