CHRISTMAS DAY

IT'S CHRISTMAS - Here's hoping you have tons of Christmas presents under the tree. May God bless you and yours. Larry Elkins Elkinsphotos.com Fine Art Photography

CHIANG MAI ADVENTURE 2010

LARRY ELKINS PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS ALERT - I'll be leaving in late January 2010 for a 12 day photo expedition to Chiang Mai, Thailand, the old northern capital of Siam. Chiang Mai, a 700 year old walled and moated city lying near the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, is home to approximately 300 Buddhist temples. While in Chiang Mai, I will hopefully be posting a daily journal at this site. This will be my first trip to S. E. Asia. I am looking forward to this new adventure and am planning on taking a minimum of 10,000 photographs. Upon my return to Bisbee, I will begin preparing a major gallery show - ADVENTURE IN CHIANG MAI. I'll be posting additional details on this site in the coming weeks. Larry Elkins - elkinsphotos.com

SEASON'S GREETINGS

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS, A HAPPY HANUKKAH, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, SEASON'S GREETINGS AND WHATEVER ADDITIONAL GREETINGS ARE NECESSARY TO GUARANTEE POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. Seriously, I wish you and your loved ones my best. Larry Elkins - elkinsphotos.com

ELKINSPHOTOS - YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY SOURCE

STAY INFORMED. Check out my website www.elkinsphotos.com featuring multiple fine art photography galleries as well as other interesting and informative photography related features. Also, take a peek at our sister blog site history of photography-elkinsphotos. Larry Elkins - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

CHANNELING REMBRANDT

When shooting landscapes, try to think like a painter. Take the time to completely explore your surroundings. Decide what angle allows you to capture the aspects of the scene you would want to include in a painting while not including objects that distract from the scene. When we take in a scene, we normally don't see it as a camera would. We tend to filter out certain aspects of a scene. For instance, if there's a metal sign in view stating "NO DUMPING HERE", we might barely notice its intrusion into the scene. However, a painter would probably choose not to include the sign in a painting of the scene because on canvas or paper, it would prove quite distracting. The same applies to a photograph. One major difference between painting and photography is that the painter's primary challenge is to decide what to include. The challenge for the photographer is to decide what to leave out. However, the thought process is essentially the same. The artist, be he painter or photographer, must look at the scene in a different way than the average viewer. He (or she) must assess all aspects of the scene to a much fuller degree than the casual viewer. Then, utilizing the rules of composition, tonality, etc. common to both the painter and photographer, the shutterbug makes various choices. This then, constitutes the major difference between the snapahot and the well thought out artistic photograph. The casual viewer does not notice the tree seemingly growing out of the old man's head. The discerning photographer, on the other hand, notices the problem, then moves around himself, or re-arranges aspects of the scene to rid it of the distracting element. Larry Elkins - elkinsphotos.com

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL SNAPSHOTS

This self assignment works best with an SLR or other camera where the line of sight is through the camera lens. The goal is to make super close-up snapshots of relatives and friends Focus in so close that only portions of the subject's face is included in the frame. Don't expect the results to be great art. Chances are though that you will wind up with a few interesting shots. The real purpose of this exercise is to force you to view your surroundings in an entirely new light. Try it and see what happens. Larry Elkins - elkinsphotos.com

IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS

Here's a fun personal project that will help supercharge your creative side. The wide vistas of the American West provide an engaging photographic subject. However, the smallest of details can have at least as much, if not more, impact. Take the prickly pear cactus for instance. Tiny drops of dew on a cactus pad can reflect a world in miniature. Cactus needles, back lit by the sun, glisten like icicles. Try pointing your camera at a bee resting on an apple blossom or a slice of lemon lodged between cubes of ice in a glass of club soda. An unopened sunflower can provide a world of possibilities. Larry Elkins - elkinsphotos.com

VERTICAL FORMAT

PHOTO TIP - Because of the way most cameras are designed, it just seems natural to photograph in the horizontal mode. But don't forget that shooting in vertical format is also an option. It's a simple concept, yet one we often overlook. LARRY ELKINS - elkinsphotos.com