This little one is graduating baby planner and boy oh boy I am going to miss not seeing her every 4 months.  She has been a joy to photograph from the very first time I met her at 10 days old.  I just adore her and her mommy and daddy!  I thought it would be fun to revisit some newborn shots.  Look how tiny she was!

And look at her now!!!!

See what I mean about the colors?  Beautiful!

She is seriously one of the happiest babies around.  Or should I say toddlers? She makes
my job VERY easy.

Thank you for a wonderful year E!

And Miss A was simply adorable.  She still had a very newborn look to her which I loved.  That stage goes by way too fast in my opinion.  When she was awake she was happy and when she was asleep she let us move her all around.  She was the perfect little six week old model.    See for yourself….

Thank you T family for choosing me to be this special little girl’s photographer.  I enjoyed every moment.

I love this look… he gave it to me when he was unsure or
thinking about something.  So cute.

  After looking at literally thousands of photographs, some good and some not, I have learned what I like.  I have determined what “style” of photography I am drawn to.  And then, after much practice, trial and error and hard work I have slowly translated that style into my own.  I have inspiration everywhere– whether it is another photographer I admire, a beautiful child with amazing eyes, and old fence, a beautiful barn, a newborn’s fresh womb- like form, or a teenager embarking on adulthood.  They all inspire me.  As clients, I often wonder what inspires you to choose a photographer.  Is it the emotion that you see in the images, the colors, the soulful eyes or the overall style of a certain photographer?  This thought inspired a new series for the blog:  a simple way to educate people on what makes good photograph, a way to teach clients to verbalize why an image speaks to them.  A way to educate clients so that will understand what makes a good photograph.

So my first new series my blog will be “What makes an image work”

This series will be evolving and I would love to get my readers involved.  Any suggestions you have for topics please let me know.  I plan on posting a new post to the series once a month or so.

I will start with the basics of composition here today.  Composition has many rules and guidelines.  As you often hear rules are made to be broken and that is certainly true in photographs.  There are times when I throw all rules out and go with my gut or the emotion I see.  There are many facets to composition.  Today I will start with a very important one and one that can drastically change the impact of a photograph.

The Rule of Thirds

I often get the question “why is her head cut off?” or “can you center my child in the photograph?”   The rule of thirds is the answer to that.

Definition- The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

So basically that means that important parts of the image should be placed in the four spaces where the lines intersect.   Disclaimer:  My image may not be exactly equal parts but you get the idea.

So here is example one… below you can see how the sleepy eye falls right where the two lines cross in the upper right.

Here is the same image with no lines on top and center crop on bottom.

So it is simple to see that while the bottom uncropped version is nice, the cropped version draws you in much more and makes for a much more appealing image overall.  The focus is not on the overall head, although it is a cute head, it is on the fact that he is in a deep slumber with a very sweet, content face, adorable nose and cute mouth.  Overall, cropping this way makes a more appealing image.

Example #2

In this example I placed the subject and the tire swing in the bottom right section of the image.  One reason for this is to emphasize the sun flare from the top.

Same image no lines on the left and center crop on the right.

Again, while the center crop image is still nice the emphasis on her face is being drawn out of the image by her feet here.  And her feet are not an
important part of the image.  Also the center crop takes away from the sun flare in the top of the image.

Example #3

Same image with no lines on the left and center cropping on the right.

While both images above are quite flattering of this beautiful girl you can see how the image on the left draws you in to her eyes.
It puts your focus on them and by losing the top of the head it actually makes her whole head look more in proportion.

Example #4

Below same image.

And here is an alternative crop to the one above.

The horizontal crop really gives interest to this image.  The lines provide by the stairs are able to be a part o
f the image and not just the background.  The alternative crop doesn’t capture you and draw you in,
you eye has no where to go.  It simply sees her and stops.  With the dead space created by the
horizontal crop your eye is able to journey across the image creating a much more pleasing experience.

Example #5

Same image with no lines.

I wanted to show you also how the rule of thirds can apply to two subjects.
Here again, the emphasis is put on the faces and eyes of the mom and baby.
Your eye also has the visual experience of the whole baby encased
safely in mom’s arms which creates emotion and connection.

So hopefully now you understand a bit more about the Rule of Thirds.  It can make a very dramatic difference on overall impact of an image.  It is definitely something that sets apart a good picture and a great one.   Here are some other tips to remember…

• Composition rules like the Rule of Third can be accomplished after the image is taken in editing software such as Photoshop.   However, I follow the rule get it as close as you can in camera.  So many of my shots are taken by choosing focus points that help create a properly composed image straight out of camera.
• Breaking the rules can be fun too.
• It is not a hard and fast rule like I have shown here.   An experienced photographer will know when to push the rules to make an image have even more impact.
• Believe it or not, having the entire head in the shot is not that important.  After all, it is the eyes that are the window to the soul.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of the series “What makes a good image.”  Like I said, please feel free to leave me a comment below on any other topics you would like to see.  And please keep in mind this series is not teach other photographers how to be professionals.  It is intended to educate clients on how to choose a photographer that is a good fit for them.  And, as with anything education helps you make informed decisions.

Thanks for tuning in.