When I was twelve, I entered my first photography contest. Because the theme was nature, I had aspirations of submitting an awesome close-up shot of a squirrel nibbling at his hoard of nuts. You know, a picture worthy of National Geographic. Unfortunately, said squirrel didn’t have the same aspiration.
Out of frustration, I lay on my back, looked up at the sky, and took a picture. That photo landed me an honorable mention in the contest. So what was the award winning shot? A wintered tree, with Spanish moss dangling from it, set against the deep blue sky. Simple but really cool.
It’s so easy to get locked into seeing things from one perspective (true with both writing and photography). But look at the world of possibilities you can discover when you try to look at things differently.
The above shoot is a simple picture of a tree. Nothing wrong with that, right?
For this photo, I lay on the ground and looked up, then moved the camera around until the star bust showed up in the LCD screen. It’s the position of the opening in the leaves in relation to the sun the forms the cool effect. Also, if you can, adjust the aperture (AV) to the largest number. Don’t worry if you can’t do that. You might still be able to get the same effect.
In this shot, I slowed the shutter speed (TV) so that the camera captured the movement of the wind through the tree. You want to make sure it isn’t too bright outside, or else your picture will be overexposed. There’s only so much a point & shoot camera can compensate for. SLR cameras (like what a professional uses) are better able to handle the brighter lighting.
So, there you go. Take risks and you’ll discover all kinds of amazing things you might have otherwise missed. And I’m referring to both your photography and your writing.