Blog Post

http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vg6&ns=1

     I really like this photograph that I found on the Nature Photographers Online Magazine. This photograph shows a good use of haze with fog in your pictures. The fog doesn't overtake the whole picture, it is just slightly their in the right corner. Even though the fog is subtle it still draws attention to your eye.
     I also really enjoy how the one large cloud that is in the sky that kind of becomes one of the major focus points. The lighting on the cloud really helps the picture and gives a good light and dark contrast. Also the cloud reflects great in the water, as the water is acting as a mirror. Giving us another good focus for our eye to catch.

Blog Post: Macro Photography

http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vg5&ns=1

     I found the Nature Photographers Online Magazine when I was searching the internet for nature photographs. I looked through quite a bit of the galleries, but my favorite gallery was the Macro and Close-up Gallery. I really enjoy photographs that follow the rule of larger is more attractive than smaller. I enjoy this style of shooting the best because of how much detail the subject of the picture has. This makes the subject look much more interesting rather than if the main subject was farther back in the picture and there was other smaller subjects stealing focus away in the picture as well.

     I especially like this photo that I found in the gallery because the subject demands your attention, drawing your eye straight to the main subject and to nothing else. If this leaf was taken at a farther distance and not using macro photography then you would have never been able to view the interesting details on the leaf. How one side of the leaf seems more speckled and the inner side of the curved leaf has more curved long lines.

Photos Following the Rules

Red is more attractive than yellow

Jagged lines are more attractive than curved lines

Light is more attractive than dark

8th Blog Post

Red is more attractive than yellow:
http://www.pixelatestudio.com/mlandsc/105.htm

Large draws more attention than small:
 http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/asian-elephant:elephas-maximus-photo-1346.html

difference draws more attention than conformity:
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/clown-anglerfish:antennarius-maculatus-photo-9760.html

diagonal lines are more attractive than vertical ones:http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/national-park-pindos/valia-calda:gr-photo-10976.html

jagged lines are more attractive than curved lines:
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/national-park-oiti/itis:gr-photo-11004.html

sharpness is more attractive than blur:
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/common-spotted-orchid-:dactylorhiza-fuchsii-subsp.-fuchsii-photo-12970.html

 

light is more attractive than dark:
http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0410/ab0410-1.html

7th Blog Post: Kenneth Gordon West Jr.

http://www.ioscapes.com/Galleries.html

     I am originally from the state of Iowa, and I absolutely love it there. I love every single thing about this place, especially the rolling hills of plains.When I was searching the internet for nature photographers of Iowa I came across a photographer named Kenneth Gordon West Jr. I really enjoyed the photographs he displayed on his website, especially the ones from his Summer and Fall galleries.
     There is one photo in the Fall gallery that I enjoy a lot. It may be boring to others when they view the picture, but I absolutely love it. There  is a small farm in the very background of the photo, but the main focus is on the hay bail that is in front of the rolling hills. The picture is filled by the light of the low sunset. There is back lighting from the sun which is creating a shadow around the main hay bail. I just love seeing these pictures because they remind me of back home right before I drive back into the town. I love how much of West's work has different lighting techniques, and most of the time his main focus of the photo is well lit.

Blog Post on Exposure

     I found the Chapter on exposure techniques to be extremely informative. Exposure is how the light reading meters come through your lenses to transmit the picture onto your camera. There is a lot of help from the histogram to check how accurate the picture turned out due to the immediate feedback you get with the camera. Exposure is mainly based off of the aperture and shutter speed, which you can control manually or if you set one then the camera will set the other.
     The histogram on your camera works right along side the aperture and shutter speed. You can check the exposure using your histogram to check if the whole scene was collected through your shot. If the picture is not suitable then you can simply just adjust the shutter speed and aperture to you receive the best exposure. I think that the histogram, along with the shutter speed and aperture will come in handy when I begin taking pictures in the field. Once I have experience I should be able to get the correct exposure for my photographs very quickly. Which will be very beneficial because if I keep having to change my aperture and shutter speed to get the correct exposure then I may lose my chance for the right time to shoot the picture.
     One section of the exposure chapter that seemed extra important to me was the metering section. I still need practice with the meters on my camera so I know how to adjust the settings to help the shot. For instance, if I was shooting a snowy scene I need to fix the light meters so that the snow doesn't turn up gray.  Some of the metering features just help you focus on certain regions of the photograph, which may actually come in handy for me when I have to shoot animals and I want to focus mainly on the head region.
     The aperture feature on the camera is basically there to capture depth of field, it can range from extremely small in size to extremely large in size. If you manually set the aperture then your camera is going to set the shutter speed accordingly for you. It's just the other way around if you set the shutter speed in stead of the aperture. The shutter speed mode will allow me to capture the pictures at various speeds. If I am looking for a very still, almost frozen image then I will need to turn the shutter speed up very high.   
     I am extremely excited, yet nervous to begin shooting in different light scenes. I believe that the sunset and sunrise photographs will be my favorite. I love the natural lighting the comes from the suns rays. I also think it will be a difficult task at trying to get a good contrast between the dark and light segments in a photo, but I am really excited to see the end results of my photographs using these light techniques and the rest of the techniques also mentioned in the chapter.

Fifth Blog Post

    http://comp.uark.edu/~jrwilson/index.html
     I have always had a strong love for the Ozarks in Missouri and Arkansas. My mother always went on family vacations there when she was younger, and always tells me great stories of the place. I would love to actually get to visit there someday, but in the mean time I found some amazing photos.
     These photos show many pictures that have to do with the Ozark landscape and different lighting techniques. We see ranges from light to dark pictures. The pictures can show you how very differently light can be captured. Natural light becomes the main focus along with the beautiful Ozark landscape.

Fourth Blog Post

     The Winter Photography chapter of the book was very interesting and helpful. It had quite a bit of interesting facts that I would of never thought of with the clothing. It is helpful to know that it is wiser to wear clothing with zippers to help regulate your body temperature. I think this chapter will come in handy when shooting in the winter time, with knowing how to properly protect yourself in the cold and your equipment, as well as how to shoot in certain conditions.

Third Blog: John Shaw

http://www.johnshawphoto.com/

     John Shaw started his career in nature photography quite a few years ago, back in the 1970's. Shaw travels all over the world, getting to shoot all sorts of scenery. The shots he captures range from wild animal photo's to sand pictures and everyday pictures that you may just witness out in the country. Some of my favorite photograph's from him are from when he traveled to Australia, Japan, and Kenya. My favorite photo  from his trip in  Kenya is this one where the wildebeest is crossing the Mara River. I like how he captured the animal's urgency to get across the river, and he got a large group of the wildebeest together showing how they travel.

   

    





     I also really enjoy his water and sky photographs. I love the way he is able to capture a sunrise perfectly, just the way you would view it from watching it from your front porch. In this photo we see cattails that are standing in water, with slight ripples in the water surrounding the many cattails. The background really ties the whole picture together, the sun rising with the fog slightly overshadowing it portrays a early morning, probably before most of us are even up.