Articles by Tedric Garrison17 articles

The root word of repetition is “repeat”. When you repeat a certain size, or shape or color you add strength to the overall image. Repetition is a basic concept in the world of art. If you want to make a statement, you repeat certain elements again and again. If you repeat something once or twice it becomes more interesting. If you repeat something many times it becomes a pattern and takes on a life of its own. Patterns give us order in an otherwise chaotic world.

At one point or another; all of us have probably heard something to the effect that using a tripod is the best way of getting clear sharp photos. While this may be true, many of us get intimidated by the idea of dragging a 10 pound accessory along with us. This is especially true if you are talking about nature photography and you may be hiking 3 to 5 miles to get to the destination you want to take photos at.

It is human nature when taking a photo of someone’s face to look them in the eye. Most built in flashes are only about 1 inch or so above the viewfinder that you look into; so if you are looking them in the eye AND they are looking you in the eye it stands to reason the flash is only about 1 inch above their eye level (even if it is further away). What causes red eye is simple enough; the light from your flash is reflecting off the back of your subject’s eye.

In the Zone System developed by Ansel Adams there are 10 zones or shades from pure white to pure black. If you take a close look at most exposure compensation settings; regardless if your camera is digital or 35mm, most of them only give you a plus or minus range of two f-stops. If the original setting that your camera uses (18% gray) is zone 5 and you can only expose at plus or minus two stops, that only gives you a visual range of five f-stops.

There are four main types of weather, that often discourage photographers from even attempting what might be some of their greatest work. These four obstacles would be: a) extreme cold, b) extreme heat, c) extreme moisture and d) extreme wind. While each of these has probably at one time or another discouraged even the best of us from going out to shoot, they also present unique photo opportunities simply because so few of us want to take the effort.

Horizontal lines represent rest or relaxation. Vertical lines often give a mental image of strength. Diagonal lines tend to give a feeling of movement. Curved lines are loose and flexible (usually considered sexier.) Jagged lines suggest energy or conflict.

“Expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights,” was the phrase that many photographers used to explain what they were doing when they used the Zone System.

Depth of Field (DOF for short), is usually associated with the aperture which is often used interchangeably with the word f-stop. The Aperture controls the amount of light that passes through the lens and onto the film; or in the digital world, onto the sensor inside the camera.

What is balance? Does it mean all things have to be equal? Well, yes and no. There are basically two types of balance. Formal balance is the balancing on opposite sides of a given point, either by one or more elements that are identical or very similar.

Have you ever seen a photographer outside in the middle of the day, using a flash? Did you ever wonder why he or she was doing that?