This image was originally posted in a Flickr group called Bench Monday (by the way, Bench Monday is just an example of the fun, quirky things that you can find on Flickr). What struck me about this image is how all the colors go together so well. I love how, despite that fact that the image is in full color, it has a similar simple quality to that of a black and white image. This is because it has color harmony. The color palette is simple, coordinated and harmonious. It's easy on the eye.

I also love how playful the image is. All too often we rely on something happening to create a subject for us. When you create something just for experiment's sake, though, it can be such a great learning experience.

I have written before about composition and how simple compositions help the viewer out and make the image clear. Color can do this too. It can help define your main subject, lead your eye around an image, highlight a particular part of an image and so much more. A simple way to play with color is to use a particular color throughout an image. You can play off the color of a person's eyes or their clothing.

So, the next time you pick up your camera, keep an eye out for interesting color compositions, simple color schemes and harmonious colors. Better yet, grab your camera and go create something just for fun like Haley did! One of the best ways to learn about photography is to experiment and practice.

I have started two new groups on Flickr. One is The Monday Lesson Pool and the other is the Favorite Shot Friday Pool. Please come join the fun and add some images into our pools. I'd really love to see what you are experimenting with! You can also leave links to your images in the comments section below. We're perched on the edge of our seats waiting for you to join in...Come on, don't be shy!

Many thanks to Haley for sharing her image with us today!

Today I am going to show you a couple of simple tips. This past weekend we went out to the Houston Arboretum with the kids and some friends. As I was photographing, I could hear my own lessons and see some of them at play. We were at the arboretum right at midday, which is generally not the best time to photograph outdoors because the sun is high and bright. In the arboretum this meant a lot of dappled shade everywhere. Dappled shade can be a real nuisance because it creates a bunch of distracting blotches. In this scenario, you have to be crafty about the way you get your shot and try and guide your subject into a larger patch of shade, like this. It can be as simple as turning someone's head or just scooting them over a little bit.

One of the lessons I have put a lot of focus on is getting close. You can go back and see posts about getting closer here and here and here. In this next series of images I started wide and got closer and closer as I kept shooting. The first image shows the whole scene. The kids get lost in the image. I always talk about how your image should tell a story and this image is telling a story about how the ropes are tied up and what the bridge thing is and does. It's not so much about the kids.

I got a little closer for this next one but there are still a lot of distracting background elements, shadows, etc. I'm also far enough away where we can't really capture a great expression.

Now, as we get even closer it starts to get a lot better! You can see the faces and the background softens up and goes out of focus a little better. By the way, on that note, I did step BACK and zoom IN, which helps the background be less in focus. I was also using a wide open (or low number f-stop).

and even closer...

The last thing I was going to share with you today was a little trick that you can use when trying to include sun flare in your images. Purposely shooting towards the sun can look very cool. You can shoot it in such a way that you get a soft edged sun flare or a defined edge with "rays" and even nice round sun spots. It's just a simple matter of which f-stop you use. Here's an  example:

For the above shots, I just the aperture priority mode on my camera and selected a low number f-stop for the first one and a high number for the second one.

That'a ll for this Monday! As always, I would LOVE to see what you come up with as your work on your own shots. You can include links to your Flickr stream, blog posts or images in the comments section below. It would also make me very happy if you submitted some of your images into the Monday Lesson Flickr Pool.

Last week I talked about how to create a silhouette in an image. I hope some of you were able to start experimenting. Today I am going to share some very cool silhouettes with you as inspiration for your efforts.

The first one comes from Erika Ray. I saw this image in her Flickr stream and just loved it. I think it perfectly captures that feeling of being stuck inside on a rainy day (or sick day or any other day that you are stuck inside). Erika said that she shot this quickly and, therefore, the way in which it was metered and shot didn't allow for a complete silhouette. This image is not a complete silhouette because you see some detail in the little boy's shirt, etc. You also see a little bit of detail of the outside, which I really like for this particular shot. 

This amazing shot also caught my eye on Flickr. I found this on Caroline's Flickr stream and she also agreed to let me share it with you.

I love the drama of this image. The figure looks so much like a mermaid, doesn't she (or he)? The colors of the sunset are just so striking and the clouds have a beautiful shape.

Both of these scenarios make for fairly simple silhouettes. In both cases, you have a very bright background behind the subject and a darker foreground. To test this out, you don't need to have a lovely mermaid model or a sweet babe at the window. Just to get a feel for it, you can use a tree in front of a sunset or something as simple as a chair in front of the window. As you experiment, practice with the various metering modes on your DSLR and see how they affect the final image.

Your feedback, questions and comments keep me excited about these lessons so please share your thoughts, links, images and questions. You can include links to your images, flickr streams, blogs, etc. in the comments section below. You can also join us online and submit images to The Monday Lesson Flickr Pool. Thanks for sharing!

For those of you interested in taking a more in depth class at my studio, check out the upcoming beginner DSLR evening series, the intermediate class and our upcoming Downtown photo safari! Hope to see you guys there!

Silhouettes are striking and dramatic.  They are also fairly easy to create if you have the right conditions.  A good first try would be around dusk like the image below or by a window.  To make it simple for your first try, look for a situation where the sky behind the subject is brighter than the foreground. The background and foreground need to have dramatically different light values for you to easily create a silhouette. If you have this kind of difference in the foreground and the background, you will not need to do much more than point to the camera at the scene and click.



In a scene is like the one below, you may need to use your camera's built in spot meter. If you have never used the spot meter, the first step would be to pull out the scary manual and look up metering or metering modes in the index or table of contents. What the spot meter does is choose an exposure for you based on a single spot in the frame (the center) and not multiple points like your default meter will do. If you can point the spot at the background (which should be brighter than your subject) it will keep your subject dark thus creating a silhouette.


 

This image is not a full silhouette but it could have been depending on how my camera controls were set. If I had wanted him to be darker and the background to be even darker, I would have had to let less light into the camera by speeding up my shutter or opening up my aperture.

If the cameras auto settings are getting you close but not exactly where you want to be, you can always take the exposure that your meter gives you in the auto mode and switch to the manual mode and then adjust from there. Just move your f-stop or shutter speed up or down and experiment until you get it just right. The joy of digital is that you can shoot to your heart's content and just delete the ones that you don't like.

Some other tips for getting a good silhouette:
1. Choose something dramatic with a recognizable outline and shape for your silhouetted subject.
2. If your camera keeps trying to pop up the flash because of the low light in the scene, just turn it off. You may need to check with your manual to find how to turn off the flash.
3. Learn about the metering modes on your camera.
4. Bracket your exposure. This means shooting exposures on either side of the one that your camera gives you. In other words, if it gives you an exposure of (just an example) f8 at a shutter speed of 1/125, try adjusting the f-stop or shutter speed (choose one- not both) by one stop higher and one stop lower than the original exposure. You will end up with three images this way.

So, go play with your controls and see what you can come up with!  Remember to post  links to your examples in the comments below or on the Monday lesson Flickr Group.

I'd love to hear some ideas, suggestions, questions...what do you guys want to learn next?