February 06, 2010

turning the camera vertical


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

I don't know why, but I'll do everything to avoid taking a vertical shot -- but I think it's good that I've been taking more of them recently.   It seems to allow me to emphasize size on a grand scale.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

I think I prefer a square format to a narrow vertical where the sides look so pinched and restrictive.   I fool with squareness every day over on the DailyDuo.

Gotta show you the Histogram for the shot above:

-- you'll see that my whites are just slightly blown out (((pasty and lacking detail))).
There's a lot of white bunched up against the right edge of the scale.   Also notice that the dark tones in the image aren't really pure black, as the low values don't reach all the way to the left edge of the scale.

I was using one stop of (((-))) Exposure Compensation, but I see I should have probably used two.   Actually, maybe what I should do is go buy a Polarizer filter -- just thinking aloud here...



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

But I did a bit better with this shot:

-- the whites are definitely not blown-out, and in fact I should probably have brightened them up just a bit -- notice how the tones don't reach all the way to the right side of the scale.   For brighter clouds I probably should have moved the right slider so the white-pointer is just touching the highest values.   And again, notice that there are no solid blacks in this image.


SPECIAL EDITION -- 200 VISITED A.P.A.D. YESTERDAY

That's right folks -- I had a "unique visit" hit-counter working yesterday and I was amazed that almost 200 "unique" visitors stopped by AphotoAday.   This is a far cry from not so long ago when I was only averaging about 20 (((or even less))) "unique" visitors each day, and I'm sitting here scratching my head and wondering who all these people are...   But a big HELLO to each and every one of you -- if you feel like it please leave a comment -- you don't have to leave me any praise, but I sure wold like to know who you are and where YOUR blog is.   Best regards, Don and Kitty


CLICK to visit my Daily-Duo
CLICK to visit KittyBLOG -- the daily doings of my cat.
CLICK for what I call my BIG site.


Your comments are invited and welcome.

3 comments:

Frances said...

Hello :>)

I can't remember how I found your site but now I am hooked.

I love the photos and the commentary.

It is an antidote for the world :>)

Rhett Redelings said...

I agree about the use of the vertical shot. I often use it, in conjunction with a wide angle lens, to emphasize great depth or hugeness. Both of which seem nicely articulated here.

Louise said...

I'm shocked you don't have a polarizer. But you probably don't need one. I don't have one, either, but everyone tells me I should get one.

I'm also shocked you don't have more comments from 200 visitors in a day. HOW CAN PEOPLE NOT SAY SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR WORK? You inspire me and make me want to be a better photographer. (Not that I do a lot about it, but it's on my bucket list largely due to the incredible things I see here.)

 
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