Photography-101 – My Lessons Learned - 4
Shoot what is in your own neighborhood.
Your neighborhood is an exotic place to someone who does not live there!
I learned this very valuable lesson a few years ago when my main stock agency, Getty Images, asked for local content for their collection. They said they had enough imagery of all the popular tourist spots, and there was a demand for imagery from different out-of-the-way places around the world. After all, who better knows how to photograph a place than the people who live there?
I live close to the beach, so many of my shots included beach scenes, but I also photographed parks, architecture, food, nature and people – anything that gave a flavor of the place I call home. Each shoot I did focused on one particular aspect, and that is what I suggest you do.
You could focus on the architecture, the flowers, the trees, the people, the traffic, shadows, mailboxes, road signs etc. You can be as detailed as you like, or you could focus on an area - walk down one street or visit your local park and photograph what you see there.
Try to look through the eyes of someone visiting for the first time. What would they see, that you might overlook?
This morning, armed with only my iPhone 8, I took a walk in my local park, Bird Island Park, just two miles from my house.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Bird Island Park was the vision of some local residents who worked with St. Johns County to make a local park a reality in our community of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The County provided some funds for the park, but over the course of seven years the rest of the funds were raised through the generosity of local businesses and individuals. The park was completed in 2010. A stroll through the park is like taking a stroll through the different ecosystems of Northeast Florida, featuring local wildflowers and native trees.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
The entrance to the park features a gazebo where you can relax in the shade.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
The first thing you see when you enter the park is a maze.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A butterfly house provides shelter for butterflies from the rain, wind and cold.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A boardwalk with intermittent gazebos stretches around the lake.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
The local library is on the right.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
The weather vane on the library roof.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
The firehouse can be seen at the end of the boardwalk.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A couple of turtles can be seen swimming on the lake.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Bird Island, where the larger water birds nest and hang out.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Birds hanging out n a tree on Bird Island
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
No lake is complete in Florida without a fountain.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Canada Geese
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Cabbage palm trees line this pathway in the park. The cabbage palm is the State Tree of Florida.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A volunteer watering the plants.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A birdhouse offers a place for shelter and for nesting for small birds.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Interesting concrete animal shaped seats dot the park. This bench is in the shape of a turtle.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A turtle sculpture made by schoolchildren.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A collage of wildflowers found growing in the park today.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Local wildlife! This black racer did not move an inch while I photographed him. Normally they race off, hence the name!
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A place for the children to play.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
The only magnolia I saw today. It's too early for the blooms yet!
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
A small amphitheater area for storytelling and performances.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
And last, but not least - my favorite sculpture in the park.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved. Camera: iPhone8 Plus
Now it's your turn! Take a walk somewhere in your neighborhood and write a post about it. Paste the link in the comments below so that we can all enjoy a trip to your neighborhood! Also, use the tag #photography-101. (Remember the dash in the tag!) I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to share!
My list in this series, including links to the subject matter already covered.
Don't compare yourself with other photographers.
Love what you do.
Experiment with different styles of photography.
Your photographs tell more about you than about the scene.
Don't be an equipment snob.
Focus more at first on good composition than on technical skills.
Think of post-processing as the digital darkroom.
Shoot what is in your own neighborhood.
Flip the camera and take vertical shots.
Even great photographers are remembered for only 1 or two GREAT shots in a lifetime.
Avoid the SVS (Standard Vacation Shots) as much as possible.
Use cloudy and rainy days to your advantage.
Get up early.
Capture city shots just after sundown.
Travel light with camera gear.
Don't be afraid to include people in travel shots.
Photograph architecture with the full sun on the building front.
Experiment with all kinds of software.
Use on-camera flash on sunny days.
Take many photos of one thing that excites you, and edit.
Submit images with strong concepts to stock agencies.
Hi @dmcamera i have just completed my neighborhood blog posting the link for you and others to check out my neighborhood...welcome :)))
https://steemit.com/photography-101/@hangin/lumpini-park-in-bangkok-thailand-photography-101
Thanks for sharing! I hope everyone will check out the awesome park in your neighborhood. It was an adventure to read your post and see your great shots!!
Thank you so much am glad you enjoyed seeing my neighborhood are you going to be running this segment just on neighborhoods or you will change it from week to week i find this topic interesting to show people other parts of the world and thank you for your Upvote :))
You are welcome. This was just a single post based on the list of photography topics in my post. I may use this topic again and focus on something else. Glad you enjoyed it!
A pleasure i will keep a eye out for what you decide next ...cheers :))
Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos and great tips @photography-101. I loved the Butterfly house (I didn’t know they existed), turtle bench and turtle sculpture .
Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate it! And thanks for the kind comments too!
Beautifully captured! Very informative article. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I'll start mine =)
Upvoted!
Oh, please do! I would love to get a glimpse into the neighborhoods around the world.
This is a good initiative Diane, I have not taken a stroll lately and I so miss taking my DSLR (been kept in the box for over a year) .. We have a heritage tour this weekend, I guess I will be bringing it with me
Isn't that a coincidence i actually took a walk to my local park yesterday afternoon and will be writing up a story today but i really enjoyed looking at your walk through the park. I love walking through parks they just tell so many stories....great photos thanks for sharing :)
Upvoted and Resteemed !!
Wow, the iPhone is a really good phone to use for photography. I still prefer android but the pics all look good. 👍
Maybe I will go to the nearest place I just discovered a few days ago and take some pics on my phone too.
I should buy a micro sd card already. 😁
They are all very much downsized for Steemit too. The native shots are a very decent size, but when I can, I download them to my computer and resize them before uploading.
Yeah I should do this soon. I didn't realize I should downsize pics until a few hours ago. Ah bandwidth limit. Lol.
It’s not just that. Monitor viewing is at 72 DPI. Uploading full size images just gives away your full size work to anyone anywhere on the web!
Yeah that too. I downsize but if I do it at 72dpi sometimes the quality gets bad so I use 100dpi...
It would depend on the size of your image, not just the DPI. Screen resolution is 72DPI, but you need to have an image that is big enough to fill a good portion of the screen. If you have an image that is 72DPI, but only 2" x 3", anything bigger than that on the screen will be pixelated.
What camera are you using, and what software to make the downsizing? A full size image is the same size whether 72DPI , 100DPI or 300DP unless you choose "Resample" in Adobe Photoshop. Changing dimensions or DPI does not change the data in the image. I do mine at 72DPI and Resample the horizontal image at 25.5 x 17 inches! I make sure it is large enough to view on a large monitor if need be. Does that make sense?
The original image without any downsizing from my DSLR camera is far too huge for web use, (78"x52" at 72DPI, or 18.72 x12.48 at 300 DPI) but large enough to print huge canvas prints to hang on a wall! Even the images from my iPhone 8Plus are too big for web use at 56" x 42". I hope this helped and that I didn't confuse you. LOL!
I use my smartphone to take pics. And use Photoshop to edit images. I just do 100dpi then choose which size I want. Like if the width is 32" then i make it around 6" and then the height will follow. That's it. 😉
It's ok. Didn't confuse me at all because I do it all the time.
Best explanation for newbies though. Thanks!
Yes, a 6 inch wide image at 72DPI would be a problem for viewing well on Steemit. That would make it around 4.5 inches high, and at 72 DPI, you could not view it larger without a problem.
Steemit would upsize it and make it look bad. 6x4.5 at 100 DPI would show the actual size of around 6 x 8 at 72DPI, which is adequate for Steemit if you don't want to show a full screen version of it. So, you could resize it at roughly 8 x 6 at 72DPI and it would be exactly the same as you are doing by making it 6 x 4.5 at 100. If you do it in 72DPI , you know exactly what size image will be the optimum viewing size. I make most of mine larger, so that they can be clicked on to see the full size on screen. I didn't do that with these. I usually just do it when I'm showing a single photo.
Have a great weekend! :-)
Congratz, your post has been featured in The Daily Spotlights of 22 February 2018!
Another good tutorial with examples and a free tour :) I'll see what I can find around my neighborhood.