I’m not a photographer, but when I started this blog, I decided that I wanted the pics to be as “me” as the words.  So they are.  To encourage more of my fellow bloggers to take advantage of the digital cameras and smartphones in their lives, I thought I’d share a few tricks I learned back in art class.  This is beginner stuff, meant for non-professionals like me.

Pumpkin vine on my back porch.

Today, we are going to talk about contrast. Contrast creates interest in a visual image, and there are a couple easy ways to achieve it. In the above, I got a picture that I love simply from taking a shot of a pumpkin vine growing on my back porch. You don’t have to go far afield to get good nature shots. Mama nature has done all the work for you, even in your own backyard. In the above picture, you can see that I’ve achieved contrast with color. The bright blossom stands out nicely against the dark leaves of the plant and wood of my staircase. As we learned in part one, the pic has been cropped to make the subject stand out more, and the bloom is a little off center.

Orange Moose, Black River Falls, Wisconsin

What better way to get color contrast than a giant, orange moose?

Hailstorm

Or show off the giant hail that dented my car than on a bright red towel? Note the quarter in the pic, that was some big hail!

There’s another good way to get some contrast in your pictures, and that’s by taking advantage of light and shadow. Strong light, and the lovely angled light you get when the sun at a 45ish degree angle, creates it’s own contrast.

Sun on a vine

I love this picture, even though it’s just a vine on an old rusted fence. The play of the light on the leaves makes me happy.

Old Louisville Squirrel

It’s just a squirrel in a tree, but the sun shining on his back makes him look so cosy.

Hotel at French Lick, Indiana

The porch is shady, but outside the sun beckons.

When you are playing around with your camera, notice and take advantage of contrast. Whether it’s the sun creating interesting shadows, or the faded leaf on a mossy rock, it adds interest to your photos.