Take Different Types of Photographs

When I started in to photography again after retiring, my typical picture was simply a snapshot of what I was seeing.  I've expanded that a lot with my tripod, slower waterfall shots, and close-ups.  But over the past year I've pushed myself in new directions just to take different sorts of photos, and this has really expanded what I look for in a good photograph.  One way to do this for me is through participating in  blog memes.

The meme 'Good Fences' is one of the most popular, so I find myself photographing fences while I tour the rural landscape here.  This one also suits 'The  Barn Collective', and it was the barns that I was driving around to photograph; the fence I just came upon.

And it's not a big step from barns to other buildings, like this old schoolhouse, now a private residence.  Now I'm getting interested in local historic buildings, a whole new direction for my photography.  And I've also learned a lot about sunlight, shadows, and the time of day for photos.

Thanks to the 'Skywatch Friday' meme, I now pay a lot more attention to the skies overhead, either for their own sake, or as part of a picture of something else.  And seeking shadows, with which to link to the 'Shadow Shot Sunday' meme has taught me about watching for the direction of the sun, as well as the time of day.

Memes are simply fun too, but for me, participating in them has expanded how I think about photography, especially about keeping an eye on the sun and time of day for what you wish to photograph.

The same point can be made about travel photography.  There you may not have a choice about light conditions or sunshine, but you can still enrich your holiday photos by looking for different types of photos.  This would be my typical shot of a vineyard in central Italy.  I was there, so I can relate to it, but it doesn't actually jump out at me as enough to tell the story of a vineyard.

A close-up of some grapes tells a lot more.  In fact, if you had to rely on one shot, I think this expresses it better than the first.  Together they do begin to tell the story.

But what visit to a vineyard would be complete without a picture of the wine itself?  Not my typical sort of photo, but it helps tell the story of this little bit of our trip.

Another travel suggestion I've heard and just started to try is to take pictures of something easily recognizable, like this sign at Hidcote Garden in the Cotswolds, simply to identify it.  On our holiday last year I think we stopped at 17 different gardens.  It's really handy to scan through and know when each new garden's photos start and end; they have a lot of similarities.  And they can serve as good titles for slideshows.

So I've expanded my thinking about what sorts of photos to take, and what to look for when out chasing photos, a lot, by trying to take different sorts of photos from my usual scenic snapshots.  Now I watch the weather, the sun and sky, and the time of day like a hawk when planning photos!