Take Better Photos now!

I was on my way to dinner with a fabulous couple(the destination wedding couple) when I saw the moon rising over the valley in Yosemite. I pulled the car over and used the roof as a support since the exposure was very low considering the lack of light. I set my f stop at f/8 since I wanted to keep the ridge as sharp(or in focus)as possible and obviously the moon, too. So let’s get to the composition. I chose to place the ridge at the bottom of the frame to anchor the sky and to make the moon stand out more against the muted sky. The moon was placed in the lower area of convergence to give it room to rise up. I love that the trees on the ridge look like people mesmerized by the moon. The feel of the scene was very primal. I could imagine this scene being repeated over thousands of years without a human eye every seeing it. It was special for me to see it and to capture it. Enjoy!

One last shot of Paris(photographers never tell the truth). I approached the Eiffel Tower from across the Sienne at sunset. It is everything you have ever read or been told of. It dominates the skyline for miles around. Up close, it soars above the river Sienne. A breath-taking site that has to be seen.

For the past 20 years tilting the horizon has become a “cool” trick to insert to make images look edgy or hip. I think it can be a great tool that can be utilized when a photographer needs to add more information to the frame and/or to place part of the subject into a better portion of the frame to improve the composition. Here the top of the tower would have fallen outside any of the normal areas of convergence. So, I tilted the camera horizon to place it(the top) into the upper area of convergence(the intersection of the right vertical third and the upper horizontal third)to make this interesting and hopefully memorable night shot of the Eiffel Tower. Again, Bonjour!