02 Oct 2006 07:02 AM

Breaking All The Rules - Photography by photographer1

There's something about being an Aquarius that seeing a title like that "Breaking All The Rules" just brings a twinge of excitement to my picture-taking brain.

If you are like me than you don't like to be pigeon-holed or tossed into a certain category of photographer or person , even.

You do not want to do what everyone else is doing. You do not want to take the same pictures that every other photographer is taking and you certainly do not want any of your work, in any area of your life, to be a simple carbon copy of anyone else's work.

So, how do you achieve this difference. How do you obtain this quality of the "wow" , now "wow" that's a great picture. That's a different picture!

Here are some guidelines --not rules - that you can use to achieve great results, different results and ways that you can make your portfolio different than the "average" photographer's portfolio:

1. Besides ordinary photography, use some form of photo software to alter and change and crop your pictures. Whether you use JASC, or Photoshop Elements or Paintbrush to edit and change your pictures, do this as a beginning to being different than your average amateur photographer.

2. CROP - Crop those pictures. You don't just take a picture, develop it and use it the way that you took it. Always crop it. Look at the picture closely and see what you can cut out of this picture. I'm sure that you can cut this picture in one or two different areas of the picture to get a better picture than the original. Once you get used to taking pictures you will learn to crop more precisely with the camera before you process your film But for now, use a cropping software or editing program to crop your pictures.

3. Clarity : Yes clarity is good; clarity is great, but sometimes, just sometimes, a certain subject or picture calls for a soft-focus or a hazy look. Sometimes you need to blur the picture , even purposely. Sometimes you might be showing speed or fog and need to adjust your picture accordingly. Just do what you need to be different.

4. Angles : Do the different angle. While everyone was focusing on the persons who were running at the NYC Marathon, I was focusing on their feet, their sneakers. I got some awesome pictures of feet and tennis shoes that day. I focused on trees. There was a tree filled with running jackets and t shirts and sweatshirts. As the runners ran by this tree, the runners were getting hot and they peeled their clothing off and flung these jackets into the trees. So , look somewhere else for your picture when you are at events or festivals. You will come away with very interesting pictures.

5. Framing : Steer clear of traditional framing. Use these things as frames:

Natural branches or pieces of bamboo

Homemade paper imbeded with flowers or flower petals (Make frames from this paper)

Wooden and plastic easels from the Rag Shop or from MIchaels' Craft Shop or from Hobby Lobby.

Children's frames - frames that they make in school . These frames are totally awesome and will show your pictures off beautifully.

Comic Book cardboards and plastic slip cases: These are sold in comic books stores but you can use them to "frame" 8 by 10 pictures or smaller pictures. You can purchase 100 cardboards for under ten dollars and a pack of plastic slip cases to cover that cardboard and keep your photographs clean --for under ten dollars.

These are perfect ways to frame children's photographs or children's own artwork or their own photography for their rooms. And using these products you can frame 100 works of art for under twenty dollars.

6. Easels and display pieces : You can buy cardboard easels, smaller ones at Pearl Paint store (they are online). And, you can even buy plastic easels from the same store, and 8 by 10 mounting boards. For a small pack of 8 by 10 mounting boards you can spend less than five dollars and get about three or five mounting boards.

7. Ask at your child's school if you can display some photographs in the hallways. Some schools will welcome you to do this. Choose a theme, for example, the Fourth of July display could be "Red, White & Blue " photographs and patriotic themes. The Halloween display could be of children in costumes or children in the Hlaloween school plays.

8. Think for yourself. Make your own photography rules and disregard all the other rules. Only follow the rules if they fit your lifestyle and your way of taking pictures.

Just be respectful, honest and courteous , and you will do just fine.

All rights reserved incuding internet, International and electronic rights. No copies without prior written permission.

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For good pictures see this website:

http://www.superbooks.org

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bluetree (2947) 02 Oct 2006 02:18 PM

Great tips, especially like the emphasis on cropping.

photographer1 (357) 02 Oct 2006 02:44 PM

Thanks for the compliment. I'd like to work here at familiies.com as a freelance writer. Any suggestions on how this can be accomplished. I have read the guidelines but haven't heard from any staff yet.

photographer1 (357) 03 Oct 2006 05:56 AM

Some of my tags are: photography, cropping, pictures, rules,

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