Hi again. Today we have Travel photography tips. Round two.

Here is our first example of using scale to give context to your photos. Specifically, your travel photos and using the relative size of something to visually compare or enhance a primary or secondary subject. What?

Let’s look at our first image. This is one of the giant Sequoias in California and my daughter.

I wanted to show how huge this tree was so I asked her to just stand next to the trunk, she’s even holding my second camera. I used a wide angle lens to show as much of the tree as possible and contrast the size of my daughter and the tree.

Get it?

In the next example, Half Dome is spectacular and huge thunder clouds that rolled in in the afternoon. I decided to zoom out and show the hugeness of the clouds compared the size of Half Dome. Now Half Dome is a very large piece of granite, you can image how big the cloud in this image is.

I zoomed out as far as I could and placed Half Dome in the lower right area of convergence.

The result is an image that shows the immenseness of the cloud and the beauty that is Yosemite in a slightly different perspective.

My final photo for today is also at Yosemite. Bridal Falls is the waterfall in the famous Ansel Adams photograph of the Yosemite Valley. It is an incredibly tall waterfall.

My son climbed to the bottom of the falls and is so far away that you can barely see him. If you can’t find him he’s in the lower right area of convergence.

It’s a great example of contrasting subject size to show how large the falls are.

Let’s recap: In taking images for Travel photography tips you can use a technique for contrasting subject size. So, consider putting this tip in your bag of tricks. Enjoy.

Digital photography tip on lighting and our angle or point of view.

This entry talks about light and how often we don’t really recognize it and how our angle or point of view makes all the difference.

In the first image we have a typical crib in a nursery. There’s a window that is on the left side with non-direct light coming into the room.

In the second photo we have our baby. Most people are happy with this type of an image. We can see the baby in the photo and that is about all. The angle is from a normal adults view, high above and looking down on the baby.

But in our last image, we have an image that will last.

Why?

Because it combines composition (I’ve placed the baby’s face in the upper area of convergence), great lighting (the window provides  soft even lighting) and a nice moment as the baby smiles.

My angle or point of view helps to draw the viewer into the image by shooting through the slats of the crib to bring some visual complexity into the photo, too.

Instead of a boring image of a baby lying in their crib, we have a memorable photo of a really cute baby seen from their point of view of the world. The slats do give more complexity to the photo, too.

To review:

Window light where the light is not directly shining on the subject is normally very soft and beautiful.

The angle/point of view of our photo is highly important to give a different perspective to your photographs.

Hope you enjoyed another digital photography tip!

Have a great day.