Tag Archives: photography tips

Santorini Window Shutters

The photographs shown both this week and last are not a part of some vast collection that accumulated over many years.  They are, in fact, examples shot during just one 54-day period, on a cruise that took Ursula and me across the Atlantic Ocean twice and throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Azores Window

Oh, rest assured that I have from that expedition a fair share of more-or-less boring and uninspired landscape shots taken in typically boring landscape orientation.  The problem is that those are the expected shots — the scrapbook photos you use to bore your friends out of their skulls.

Tropical Victorian — Azores

If you’re going to take those type shots, at least intersperse them with the occasional unexpected gem that focuses on but one detail bobbing around in a sea of familiarity.

Doing Laundry in Batumi

Doing so with give your scrapbook-viewing friends not only a sense of the sights, but also the flavor and color of a destination.

Colorful Santorini

Otherwise you run the risk of having people skip your dinner invitations for fear of having to sit through another typical vacation rendering in which their eyes glaze over and their minds start wandering to more exciting and fun pursuits, such as an upcoming root canal procedure.

Lisbon Roof Tiles

There is not set rule of thumb as to how many panoramic landscapes you can get away with before hitting the boredom wall, but you should have at least one or two frame-worthy offerings on each and every page of that scrapbook, I would think.

Traditional Enclosed Wooden Balconies of Malta

Fun Photo Friday will conclude with another half-dozen of my favorite architectural detail shots from this voyage.  Meanwhile, enjoy today’s slideshow (click on an image to bring up the show for viewing):

Ibiza Balcony

Lisbon Arched Doorway

Sinop, Turkey

Cadiz Doorway

Maltese Details in Brass

Azores Door and Window

Lisbon Rooftops

This week continues our theme from the last — creative composition during travel photography.

Lisbon Door

Remember while traveling to use your imagination when looking for a stand-out photographic subject.  Picture in your mind how focusing on that small detail rather than, say, an entire building will look to the viewer.  And don’t be afraid of the derelict.  Even a run-down wreck can pique interest in the viewer.

Batumi, Georgia on the Black Sea

Don’t forget standard “rules” of photography, however, such as The Rule of Thirds.:

Meteora Masterpiece

Or the use of negative space to enhance a subject:

Lisbon Balcony

Then again, sometimes such rules should be disregarded:

Rome Balcony

Today’s cameras do a lot of the work that used to fall on the photographer, such as determining exposure values and controlling depth-of-field.  Some cameras even assist with composition in that they display a Rule of Thirds grid pattern for aligning subjects.  In the end, however, no amount of automation will ever replace the photographer’s role in choosing what to shoot and how to ultimately compose the subject.  If you don’t do your part, no amount of in-camera processing is going to salvage a badly-composed shot.

Today’s photo gallery (click on an image to bring up the slideshow):

Santorini Façade

Azores Windows

Malta Balcony

Alhambra Windos

Blue Door in the Azores

Cadiz Flowers