Photo Discussion
Category: Friendly Praise Archive

Pond Reflection - Sunset

	Pond Reflection 3 - Sunset Pond at at my CA ranchette; 12-24mm zoom @ 12mm; f/16 @ 1/4 sec.; ISO 100; tripod w/cable release; no filter Kerry Drager

Beautiful explosive sky

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December 04, 2007

Notes on the photo...
Using a Wide-Angle and Getting Closer

A combination of a careful camera angle and a wide-angle lens combined to make this photo possible - in order to show the excellent reflection below and the colorful sky above. I sometimes use a lower camera angle (i.e., kneeling or maybe even lying down) when photographing wide-angle scenics, but not always. For this image, I found that an in-between approach was best ... I sat down on a bench that I had placed right at the edge of the shoreline of my pond. You can't beat a combination of comfort AND the right camera position! :-)
Interestingly, a good foreground is always the key to success with the wide-angle lens. Most of the negative wide-angle issues involve scenes with too much "empty" ground and/or too much blank sky, or from trying to photograph an entire building with a wide-angle (in which the distorted bending lines too often makes the building look like it's falling into itself).
Again, choosing a strong foreground and moving physically closer helps ensure an eye-catching composition, and also also takes advantage of the wide-angle perspective.
In fact, the wide-angle has often been called a "story-telling" lens, since it lets photographers "tell" a visual story with a combination of close foreground subject and distant background. Have fun going wide ... and getting closer!

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December 05, 2007

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January 09, 2008

I love the way the reflection is used as your strong foreground! Very creative! And the trees on the shoreline, being all silhouetted with no detail, avoid any distraction from the main business of the photo, i.e., the sky and its pond reflection. A good illustration of the advantages of a low horizon and NOT always having a symmetrical composition when a reflection is involved.

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January 09, 2008

Hi Nancy,
Great to hear from you! Thanks for taking the time to comment, and for the excellent "analysis" ... Thanks, too, for all of your contributions in our excellent class - we sure had a great group!!
Kerry

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January 09, 2008