Category: news

Eight Ways to Awesome Photos

JasonLeave a comment

One of the worst moments in photography is when you get things back on the computer from a shoot to see that dreaded blur!  If only you had been able to stabilize the camera more.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been confidant enough in my own abilities to think “I can hand hold that shot”.

Blurry Shot

The truth of the matter is, most of us can’t!  So, avoid the blur whenever possible When trying to capture images where light is low, a sense of movement is desired, or any other scenario where shutter speeds drop perilously low, getting that camera stable is critical!  Here are eight ways to make that happen:

1.  Use a Tripod – Shots taken with tripods are inherently more stable than their handheld counterparts.  Nothing stabilizes things like an inanimate object!

2.  Use a Monopod – With the tripod police out in force more and more, they are being allowed less and less in a number of areas.  If a tripod isn’t permitted, a monopod may be an alternative worth considering.

3.  Use Your Surroundings – Okay, so the tripod wasn’t allowed, the monopod you forgot, but there’s still a chance to catch that shot.  The answer lies in using your surroundings.  Brace the camera against a tree, a fencepost, a car, or whatever is available.  They key is to make your camera stationary.

4.  Bump the ISO – As much as I try to avoid increasing ISO, the newer cameras available do a great job of smoothing, and even then, software post production options are also pretty advanced at cleanup afterward.  So, if you have to, go ahead and bump the ISO settings to shoot fast and still retain exposure accuracy.

Fireworks

5. Hold that Camera – I know some shooters who claim to be able to hand hold as slow as 1/30th of a second, and one of their “secrets” is a secure grip on the camera.  Make sure you’re holding your camera right and not flapping your arms out beside you, all fingers around the edges (like a camera phone), and you can get better shots.

6.  Shoot between Breaths – Yup, you can shoot between breaths.  It’s key to remember not to hold your breath, but rather inhale slowly, exhale slowly, and that momentary gap between breaths is a moment when your body rhythms are not moving at all, heartbeat included!

7.  Slide that Finger – No, not that one!  Your shutter finger is what I am talking about.  So many people tend to jab the shutter, but that pushes the camera and can introduce movement.  Make it a slow slide with increasing pressure, almost as if the shutter release is an afterthought.

8.  Watch Your Feet – Standing with your feet together like a ballerina is never a good idea when shooting.  Your center of gravity rises, and you are unstable.  When you are unstable, so is your camera.  The same holds in the opposite extreme, so keep your feet about shoulder width apart when shooting.

Pacific Sunset

If you like these tips, keep in mind, there’s 90 more tips just like these in my eBook Combo Kit where you get both 49 Photo Tips, Volumes I and II, as shown at the top of the homepage.  On sale for a limited time, this combo kit is going for $10, so get it now while the savings are available!

There are, of course, other tools and methods to help make your photos better, but these 8 ways to add stability are just a primer to get you on the right track to making the most of your time behind the lens!  Know of any other ways to help stabilize a shot?  Anything I missed or that particularly speaks to you and your own techniques?  Sound off in the comments or via email!

In Loving Memory

JasonLeave a comment

It’s been five years since this originally posted, but shall live on forever. Republished annually:

5/4/2013 was a sad day…after 12 years together, our family dog Maggie had reached a point where her body is just not able to sustain her anymore. Over the last 9 months we have seen her deteriorate slowly. Her Lab face always seems to defy the pain she is in as she perks up whenever we come in the room, take her on a walk, or give her some “floor time” to play. Play times have gotten shorter, walks are probably more appropriately referred to as stumbles and flat out face plants, and her smiles when we enter the room have changed first to tail thumps, and more recently, just an ear perk.

I remember when I first got her – a dozen years ago. I was a single guy in St. Louis, and many family and friends suggested I get a dog for companionship. This bundle of energy snuggled into my arms from the litter almost immediately:

When I met Tracy, the two quickly connected – each becoming almost as attached as I am with our beloved dog now of a dozen years. It was Tracy that started affectionately referring to her as “Maggie-Moo”, or now the more common “Moo” which everyone seems to know her by…

Over the years, she grew, and enjoyed many many happy days. Some of my favorite moments include particular events. Here she is expressing her curiosity the year I got a 10-22mm lens, checking out the new gear in my bag:

Us humans can take a page from our dogs, because they always seem to be smiling, happy to just be there, and both giving and receiving companionship, even just enjoying something as simple as a warm sunny day:

Being the Lab that she is, Maggie also enjoyed every moment she could in water, swimming, chasing sticks, and of course, giving me a dousing whenever I needed one…

Maggie is such a good dog – and acutely aware of people and their emotions This dog never left my side when I was bedridden with pneumonia. When something is missing or unfamiliar, she is always on the alert, checking things out to make sure all is in order…

Not to say that she was always good – as sometimes Maggie would get into something either with our consent, or just from her own search and explore sessions…

Her signature mark is a “happy wiggle” where she would literally throw herself down on the floor, and wiggle around on her back. This was always a sign that we knew she was in a happy place…

One of our favorite shots of her is one where she is obliging us with a pose over Halloween, so I feel compelled to share it here as well – so prim and proper…

So, we made the painful decision to let her go with some dignity. It was SO HARD to make this decision. We cried and reconsidered countless times whether we were doing the right thing or not. With no human children, Maggie really is our only child, and letting her go even today is something we feel physically ill about. She just can’t handle another move though – there are literally weeks, possibly only days left, so we opted to let her go gracefully…

It’s an inevitable part of the circle of life, and while the logical part of me knows and understands this, the emotional side of me will never be the same person again. It hurts so bad to let her go, even though I know she is going to a better place. Thanks for the lifetime of memories “Moo”…we love you! You were larger than life itself!

Aspect Ratio adjustments explained

Jason5 Comments

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone to print pictures I’ve taken only to find that I had composed it in a way that a portion of the image was lost when printed because it had to be cropped out to fit on the paper.  Today I am going to share a technique in Photoshop that will help you get around that pesky limitation.

First a little background – the reason why we are losing part of the picture is because we are changing the aspect ratio.  What is aspect ratio?  Simply enough, it’s the relative size of the long side of the picture to the short side.  Aspect ratios are often referred to by their lowest common factor.  So, a 4×6 print uses a 3:2 aspect ratio.  (Aspect ratios usually are stated with the larger of the numbers coming first…)  An 8×10 has an aspect ratio of 5:4.  Want to print a 16×20?  Guess what – it’s got an aspect ratio of 5:4 too!  Here are some of the most common aspect ratios that you see in photography:

4:3 – Point and Shoot Cameras
3:2 – 35mm Film cameras and most APS-C sensor cameras (SLR’s)
1.81:1 – APS-H Mode (High Def)
3:1 – APS-P (Panoramic)

So, with an SLR camera, since your sensor approximates an aspect ratio of 3:2, getting an 8×10 print means you need to keep your subject matter in from the edges because when you crop to the new ratio, at least one of those edges (and a little of the other) will be lost from the crop.  So, having now explained  “why”, let’s now look at the “how” (as in how to fix it!) in the delayed tutorial for the week:

The Rule of Thirds in History

Jason3 Comments

We’ve been looking at the Rule of Thirds in photography for compositional approaches, and I commented on what seems to be a trend toward the former being more popular in portrait work and the latter being more popular in landscape type work.  The idea makes sense as portraits have subjects within the picture, while with landscapes the subject IS the picture (the entire scene).  Click here for the full blog post with examples.

Well, today, I am taking advantage of the open sourced nature of Wikipedia (all images link back to the Wikipedia pages they came from) for some well-known works of art that have survived the test of time to see how they measure up under the Rule of Thirds.  The results are kind of interesting:

The first is from Picasso, from his Cubism work, titled Three Musicians…

Van Gogh

A super-imposed Rule of Thirds grid is rather telling.  While this construct is somewhat different, because of the style of Cubism, I found it interesting to see the lines that he painted also fell into roughly the same places as those of the Rule of Thirds.  And the hot point in the upper left is kind of close to the “face” of one of the musicians.  Does the rule of Thirds apply here?  Given the linear composition, my vote is Yes – what’s yours?

Next up, is Van Gogh, with a painting titled “Street Scene in the Montmartre”:

Vaon Gogh

Here, hot points are very much at play, with the people walking down the street, coming in at the lower left hot point, and the red splash of color on the windmill is very close to the upper right point.  The fence line also roughly follows the lower third so elements of both compositional styles are present here.  Does the Rule of Thirds apply here?  I’d say yes!  Do you agree?

Lastly, let’s take a look at one of the more abstract artists in history:  Monet, and one of my favorite works of his, “Impression, Sunrise”…

Picture 2

The sun – pretty close to the upper right hot spot, and teh reflection in the impressionist waters, almost as in line with the right third line.  The boater shadow, being an opposing color, stands out anyway, but it also helps the composition that the lower third intersects it to a degree.  Remember, art is not an exact science, and creativity wouldn’t have variation if subjects were always right on the hotspot.  Equally, it wouldn’t spark or inspire us to always place things on the thirds lines. These are guides, meant to help you compose in aesthetically pleasing and appealing ways.  Does the Rule of Thirds apply here?  Without a doubt, is my answer!  Am I wrong?  What’s your take?

These are but three single instances of works of art that have survived the test of time.  There is so much history to art and its creative appeal, but I would venture to guess that much of it has some elemetns of composition in common throughout the ages.  Yet, there will always be exceptions.  That is the challenge for today – do you know any famous works of art historically that break the rules?   What makes them work and why?  Share your comments here in the blog.

A few other tidbits to share today outside of the main focal point (get it? 🙂 ):

  • Three more days to the Worldwide Photowalk, hosted by Scott Kelby and with tons of sponsors and prizes.  Have you registered?  Some cities still have openings so check cities near you – there’s still time to register!  (It’s free!)
  • A fellow NAPP member had started a community forum thread asking about the graphics tablet pen as a useful tool, and Dave Cross stopped in to share that he made a blog post scheduled for yesterday.  I made a mental note to stop over and read it – great thoughts, and definitely worth the 30 seconds (I read his blog daily anyway)!
  • Last, but not least, I got an email recently about this new site where photographers of any background can upload images of their lighting setups or other creative perspectives and setups with light to share with the community at large.  It’s a great outlet and you can get some pretty incredible inspiration from it…the name is Light Test and coincidentally, so is the web address.  Check them out here.

As a final note today, as I always like to share sources of creativity, I’d like to give some special thanks to Elizabeth Gast (a.k.a. Firgs), of  Design by Firgs.   She has been instrumental in helping me think outside my own box of creative limits, and in working hard to improve both the quality of work and how I present that work.  Today, she featured me on her site as a “Hot Site!”.  While I am always going to take the self-deprecating approach, here I must simply and humbly say thanks to her.  Not only for the mention on her site today, but also for her instrumental help in helping me improve my own web presence with regard to branding and design styles (see my Twitter background for an example).

That’s enough for one day, doncha think?  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

Grab the Feed

Hardware Review: Sigma 18-250

Jason15 Comments

The subject of today’s post:  The Sigma 18-250mm lens review!  You read that right – Sigma has a lens that covers the range of 18-250.  This allows you to go from relatively wide angle shots at the 18mm end to zooming pretty far in at 250mm on the opposite end.  But, is the quality really there?

I took the lens through its paces over the weekend and here’s what I found out about the Sigma 18-250!  In the interests of full disclosure, I should also note that this was actually requested by myself for review, and that I am not being compensated in any manner by the good folks at Sigma.  So, this is, in fact, a loaner and I am required to send it back no later than June 26th.  Since I will be busy next weekend, decided I should get the review shots done with this weekend so the lenses can be shipped back on schedule.

sigma18_250

Pros:

  • Weight – this has a nice solid feel to it.  With I think a total of 13 elements in here, it’s no surprise that it doesn’t feel the slightest bit flimsy.  The weight adds a certain durability, but I still took things carefully as this is only on loan from Sigma for the purposes of this review.   Compared to the 70-200, it certainly felt heavier, but I am not sure what the comparative weights are.  All in all though, I think the weight is a good thing.
  • Noise – Excellent!  My prior experience with Sigma is my own 70mm Macro, which does not have the HSM (hypersonic motor).  That thing is NOY-ZEE!  This, on the other hand, rivals the USM operation of Canon lenses.  Compared to the 70-200L glass I own, the two are pretty close to each other in terms of silence in operation.  The test I did for this was switch focus to manual, then take the lens all the way out to the opposite end of its last focus point.  I then switched it back on to AF and listened for the motor operation.  Sure, I could hear it when listening, but man was it quiet!
  • Range –  This is without a doubt, my most favorite element (bad pun) of this lens.  The fact that I could go from wide angle work to close up work with such ease makes this an ideal lens for things like photo walks (which are becoming more and more popular), or for just a go-to lens on a regular basis without having to switch out.
  • OS – Optical Stabilization – the equivalent of IS on Canon lenses.  While I don’t own a Canon IS lens for direct comparison, I will say that it went a full stop faster than my 70-200mm CanonL f4.0 did at the same focal length/light.  In a day and age where fast glass is becoming pretty much the standard, I would say this meets the mark.
  • Size – This lens is remarkable compact – standing at almost half the height of my 70-200 comparison lens.  Think about that – a wider range of zoom and half the length.  I can store this vertically in my bag, saving precious cargo space for other accessories and accouterments.  Alongside would be the 70mm Macro, the 10-22mm, lensbaby, flash and other such items.  Very tempting for that reason alone.
  • Feel – The signature brushed metal feel of Sigma lenses is present here and it just exudes “cool” and “professional”.  No bells or whistles, no fancy L rings or anything, just brushed smoothness.  Gotta love it!
  • Image Quality – The bugaboo, the real deal, the end result – the pictures!  So how does it stack up?  Pretty well actually, but rather than wax on, I’ll just share some images I took for you to judge the IQ – just remember to distinguish IQ from compositional quality!  🙂  Here’s the results…

A little zoomed in at 50mm

A first glance of the Sigma at 18mm

Full zoom at 250mm

The Sigma at 18mm

The Sigma at full zoom (250mm)

Sigma detail and sharpness

Another detail shot

Cons:

  • Weight – Yes, I am listing weight as both a pro and a con – the weight did get to me after a while of shooting on the 40D.  While it’s durability is not in question at all, the heaviness can get on your wrist and forearm.  I should put this qualifier out that I am still recouperating a tender arm from our move last July, which I am for the most part over, but it still flares up with extended use.  So, things like shooting for a day can wear on me. Lighter is always better, but if I had to choose between durability and lightness, the former would win every time.  Take what you wish from this con then…’nuff said.
  • Cost – It retails at B&H for $529, which is always a big price tag to swallow no matter what you are buying.  Then again, when you look at a comparable lens from Canon that has the OS/IS built-in, the Canon counterpart goes for almost twice that at $1025 (and you still don’t get the same range of focus).  While it may be a lot to pay on first glance, you really are getting quite a bit of bang for your buck.

Truth be told, I couldn’t find much else to nit on.  I also liked the fact that they made this lens so you can put the lens hood on while also leaving the cap able to attach.  Don’t ask me why, but I like that…  Believe it or not, the lens also performed fairly well with portrait work too.  I did a few test shots with yours truly as the subject and even got one I liked!   So, would I recommend this lens?  Absolutely!  To see a complete gallery of photos I took this weekend, including the portrait ones, and even a few of the moon last night with a TC attached), follow this link:

Sigma 18-250 Gallery of Images

Well, that should be enough content for the day (I know, my reviews are long-winded), so get out and shoot (with a Sigma if you like! 🙂 ), and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.  Happy Shooting!  Don’t forget – would love to hear reader thoughts and ideas for product reviews – let me know in the comments or via email!

Grab the feed

What’s Your Online Presence

JasonLeave a comment

Your online presence is your website.  This is the first glimpse people get into you from the internet. So, when people look at your website – they are not just judging your work, they are forming an opinion of you.  Do you want to give people a good impression or a mediocre one?  Avoid the former by making sure that only your best work is showcased on your website!  Remember, the world is shrinking, and your website has become an extension of your resume.  Only publish what you really want people to see, and make sure that is the absolute best of any material.  Whether it’s a personal website, a professional website, or even a photo blog *(ahem*), you want to ensure that the content you present is only the best. Otherwise, your online presence can suffer.

When evaluating what to include in your online presence, consider the difference between the target audience and your actual audience.  Sometimes people not in your target audience (who you write, publish, advertise, and market to) will view your website.  I’ve had potential employers in the past ask for samples of my work with photography, web design, and other material. This, in spite of the fact that I mentioned my photography, web design and other content as a hobby or avocation.

Nevertheless, some of my best examples of this work are on this blog.  Does that mean that this website a part of my resume?  Perhaps not directly, but employers have seen it!  To that end, you want to make sure that anything you do online is something you would be okay with your employer (or even a potential employer) seeing.  Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites are being monitored more than ever by corporate entities. What you say and do there can also have an impact on your employability. Keep that in mind regarding your online presence.

Take pride in your work and yourself, and most importantly, make sure you are only publishing work that showcases the best of what you can do! Your online presence and the perception others have of you is all that’s at stake here.

Shooting for fun or money

JasonLeave a comment

For this first of two holiday weeks for the year, the blog will be turning to more of an esoteric theme. Tips, tricks, tutorials, and the like are all fine and dandy, but this week I’d like to pose a question fo whether we are shooting for fun or money!

While clearly we all start in the craft because we love it as a form of expression. We are captivated by capturing the moment, painting a scene with light and color. if we learn the craft well enough, and our eye gets discerning enough, others may ask us to take pictures for them! Or even better, ask if they can have a copy of something we’ve already done. Praise is a wonderful ego boost and source of flattery, and while we all may mask it with self-deprecating remarks, humor, or coyness – no one likes the compliment better than someone who wants to pay them for their work!

“Getting paid to do something you love” is an oft-quoted sentiment, as is the idea that “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. But, truth be told, if you make your living in photography, there is going to be a certain amount of pressure to perform – or produce results. And the minute to take something you love and try to earn a living at it – the pressures of running the business side will reduce the passion you have for the subject. It’s the nature of the beast. You have to eat. You have to have shelter. If you can’t afford those two necessities, how much will you really “love” working as a professional photograper?

The shot today is a perfect example…I absolutely love this shot:

Adirondack Weeds
Adirondack Weeds

From a critique perspective, this is a horrible shot. The angle is all wonky, the horizon isn’t straight, there is really no subject, and I probably butchered the saturation in post production. But, for me…when I was canoeing with my family this last summer, we were cooling off in Raquette Lake, and I was sipping a lukewarm beer. My brother and brother-in-law were to my left and right…the nephews were out galavanting around being pirates or whatever young kids pretend on trips like this. We were cut off from the world (well, not really, but as close as one can get since there was no cell reception, and only a 9-5 Park Ranger available to sell you firewood at $5 a bundle)., and this shot reminds me of that day. I loved that day, and for that reason, I love this shot!

This shot will never sell though – for no one else except those on this trip, this shot is meaningless until now. I cannot make anything off of this picture. Yet I feature it today on the blog because I took this shot for fun…

The comparison shot I am about to show you actually sold for me on iStock. Now granted, it’s not like I’ve made a ton of money off of it (it only sold once or twice), but it actually sold!

I was on a photo walk, scouting out areas for the South Carolina Photography Guild (now defunct), and the shadow of the guy on the crane, along with the wet bricks from where he was repairing and cleaning the masonry work just stuck out for a reason. I took it from a few angles and this one was the best of the 3 or 4. In the end, it was kind of a boring shot, but it was pretty tack sharp, and when I opened my first iStock account ages ago, figured it’d be a good sample to submit to show I had enough of a grip to consider stock work. The image was approved, along with 4 or 5 others, and my istock account was opened. Within a few days, there was a sale on this shot. Do I like it? Not really. It’s probably on some construction workers website, or someone wanted it for a church bulletin, or a school project or other long-since completed project. It doesn’t really inspire me though.

Which image brought me more satisfaction? Which one brought you more? Would you pay huge amounts of money for either shot? Probably not. I wouldn’t either. Thus, this is the dilemma we face.

It’s no secret that most photographers don’t make huge amounts of money. Yet, somehow the ability to say that “I am a professional photographer” is something said often with a sense of pride. Is it because you know the crap out of pixels, shutters, and apertures? Or is it because you made 50.1% of your revenue from photography last year? Or is it because you love to hear the sound of the click? Last but not least, could it be the excitement at seeing something you made come out beautifully on either a printed tangible piece of paper or in a web page…saying “this is my artistic vision that I want to share with you”. Why do you take pictures? What motivates you?

Monopods can Make Music

JasonLeave a comment

So often, photos that inspire you are ones taken from new angles, or from angles that you can’t normally get to, or think to get to.  Monopods are great tools in this regard…you can extend a monopod up over your head for more of an aerial perspective, or even turn it upside down to get an angle that might be otherwise pretty awkward or uncomfortable to get into just to get a unique shot.  I love my monopod!

While the good money will always add features and functions that don’t exist on lower end models, I do think that even the most basic of monopods can be useful – to the degree that even going with a Wal-mart brand or generic named vendor can be a sound investment.  If you are talking about just getting to a place you can’t get to on your own (or even with a tripod), the difference between aluminum and carbon fiber on a monopod doesn’t have as much impact here in my opinion.

Now if you are going for the stability factor, yes, a sturdier monopod would likely yield better results, but how much better do you expect from a single-legged support mechanism?  Seriously – even with your own two feet, you can get pretty steady with your shots if you use a good holding technique, tucking your arms in, leaning on a wall or tree, and going between breaths (or shooting between heartbeats as my former Drill Sergeant said in the Army.)  How is one foot going to get you more stability than two feet?  On it’s own, not much, so I don’t sweat much over the vendor here…

Check out these low angle shots I got with just a Wal-mart tripod and some creative thinking:

 

The Denver Art Museum, shot near midnight.  The camera again, was upside down (I rotated it in post), and I held the foot of the monopod to get this low view.  EXIF Data:  ISO 100 33mm f/8 8 second exposure (it’s a tad blurry when you zoom in…)

This serene harbor was shot with the monopod, and the camera braced up against a tack shop.  EXIF data:  ISO 100 18mm f/11 5 second exposure

I shot this waterfall with the camera upside down and me holding the foot of my monopod while the camera was as close as I felt comfortable putting it close to the base of the waterfall.  EXIF Data:  ISO 100 21mm f/11 2.5 second exposure

This shot was taken with my monopod and the camera braced against a streetlight.  EXIF Data:  ISO 800 22mm f/22 4 second exposure

Wordy Wednesday #028: Dewy Details

JasonLeave a comment

Wordy Wednesday #028: Dewy Details

#1 – What rule of composition did I use and why?

For this particular photo, I’m not sure there is a Rule of Composition that applies.  The Rule of Thirds, Golden K, Circle, etc. and the rest are clearly not present.  It’s just a random pattern of dewdrops, and in remembering when I took this, the random nature is what I wanted to capture, so the rules went out the window

#2 – Are any rules of composition broken?

Yes – all over the place!  As mentioned in point #1, there is no rule to this, it’s all random, and that randomness was the goal, so I had to throw all the rules out the window in order to accomplish the objective.  Does it work for you?

#3 – What camera/lens combo did I use?

For this shot, I was on my trusty Canon 40D, and the lens mount was the Sigma 70mm Macro.  This particular lens is very sharp, and ideally suited to macro photography, which was my objective when I first went out.  The dewdrops of the flora and fauna in the area were on my mind, but as I returned home, this particular scene drew me, both because of the randomness, and as a “teachable moment” that your own vision can change or the theme of a shoot can change if you keep your mind open.

#4 – What lighting did I use?

Here, there were no lights…it was au naturale:  S=1/125th, f11, focal length = 70mm, and an ISO of 400

#5 – How did I process it?

Minimal processing on this one.  The neutral tones, and just the idea of how raindrops can be amazing no matter where they exist (this was on the hood of a highly polished car) as the goal, and I liked it.  All I did was sharpen and remove a little noise (+60, +50).

Hopefully this will help those of you who are interested in learning what I see with my eye and why I capture certain images.  If you have more questions, or thoughts on improvement, feel free to share those in the comments!

Can You Shoot Thirteen Views

Jason1 Comment

I was reading a book recently called “Beyond the Obvious” by Phil McKinney (great book by the way) that challenges people to think about concepts and questions, and then encourages people to look beyond the knee-jerk reactions and responses.  This same mentality exists in the world of photography.  We see a scene, a portrait, or something that catches our eye and our instinct is to capture that “something”.

McKinney illustrates his point in asking the reader to answer the question:

“What is half of 13?”

He then goes on to show that there are many responses to this. The canned answer is always 6.5, and that’s what came to my mind too.  But in going “beyond the obvious”, he shows that if you think about it from the perspective of say, a deck of cards, and 13 cards in a suit.  Since the ten, jack, queen and king all are values of 10, then really, half of thirteen in that scenario is 5.5, not 6.5.  You could also say that half of thirteen is really “thir” with “teen” being the second half!  By illustrating that you can divide either numerically or semantically, entirely different perspectives, thoughts, and answers can be right at the same time!  Once I got on the mental plane of looking at things differently, my own result was that half of 13 could also be 1 or 3 – applying the semantic concept to the number…

That is such a great concept, and one I’ve always tried to help people understand here in many different ways.  The “half of thirteen” way is probably one one the most succinct I’ve ever seen though.  Let’s take that concept now and apply it to photography.  Go get your camera!  Right now…seriously!  Go get your camera, and pick some random object in your room, office, or where ever you happen do be.  I don’t care if it’s your SLR, P&S, or camera phone.

Now what?  Take 13 pictures of that object.  Make each one different!  Change the angle, change the light, change the object itself.  It doesn’t matter what you do, just do 13 different things.  I can guarantee you that at least one of those photos will be something new, unique, and even compelling.  Now, take the most compelling one, and post it here.  To get you started on the right mentality, if you’re not already, here’s my own set of thirteen:

The shots above come from the “Wreck of the Peter Iredale” – on the coast of Astoria, Oregon.  Now, granted, the setting sun, and the unique nature of the composition made my 13 shots a little easier, but there’s now reason you can’t do the same.  Take a speaker and shoot it from as many angles as you can.  Run out of angles?  Try a different tack and change the lighting!  What happens if you pop an on-camera flash?  Try throwing your hand up to act as a barn door of sorts.  There’s no end to potential…it just takes thinking outside the box!