About Me

My photo
El Paso, Texas, United States
I photograph what inspires me. This could be just about anything as I am a person of many interests and look for the beauty in everything that I see and one of the first thoughts is how I can photograph a subect to portray it how I see it. This could be rendered as HDR, traditional portrait, or even using photoshop techniques.

April 24, 2011

Tip - Applying the Rule of Thirds

One of the most fundamental aspects of photography is composition.  When talking about compostion, there are many elements of design that make up this as a whole.  You have line, form, shape, color, pattern, rhythm, etc.  Of all of these different elements, the most fundamental is the "Rule of Thirds."

I give a base diagram for the rule of thirds below, but essentially this fundamental element of design plays on the visual aspect of the photograph.  As a viewer looks at a photo, the natural tendency for the eye is to look at certain points of the image first.  Asking anyone on the street, they would probably tell you that the first place to look is at the center, but they would be wrong.


Using the rule of thirds, you would basically split the horizontal and vertical portions of the frame into thirds, as shown above.  There are four (4) points on the diagram that intersect (vertical and horizontal lines cross); the upper left, the upper right, the lower left, and the lower right.  These are the points that a viewer's eye naturally is drawn to when first looking at a photograph.  These are the main points to concentrate on, but typically anywhere along the lines either vertically or horizontally that the primary focus of your photograph should be placed.  There are exceptions to this rule, but let's stick to the basics for now.  If you are taking a portrait of someone, you would want to place him/her along the dividing lines of the frame.  This will create a more visual pleasing photo to look at.

As I have said before, this is probably one of the most fundamental rules of photography.  With that being said, it is also the most unused element of design.  I would recommend a training program of sorts for the amateur photographers out there.  Go out and take a lot of photographs, it doesn't matter what it is, just take them.  First concentrate on what is your primary subject of focus and then apply the rule of thirds.  This fundamental can only be instilled if it is practice, much like driving a car, the more you drove a vehicle the more comfortable and confident you drove.  The same is for applying this rule.  Practice, practice, practice.  I cannot say this enough.

April 18, 2011

A Day at the Tigua Cultural Center


During a recent trip to the Tigua Cultural Center of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso,  I took this photo of one of the dance performances.  The Tigua Native Americans currently celebrate over 300 years of tribal history in the local area.  Below I have posted the address, phone number, and times of these social dance performances if anyone is interested in seeing.

Tigua Indian Cultural Center
305 Ya Ya Lane
El Paso, TX 79907
915-859-7700

Dance Performances:  Saturday and Sunday only - one at 11:30 a.m. and one at 1:30 p.m.

April 3, 2011

Monster Jam


These photos were actually taken during the Monster Jam event in El Paso in early March.  I have been going through about 8 gigabytes worth of photos and looking for the best ones.  This first photo is of Grave Digger jumping a pile of crushed vehicles.


This photo of the vehicle of  Iron Man jumping was one of the first of many photos that were taken.  This was one of the first few photos that I actually was able to get the camera settings just right in order to capture the subject moving focused properly while keeping the background just slightly out of focus.  This is a technique called panning and takes a good amount of practice in order to get right.


This photo is of Grave Digger the Legend.  This is also a slight use of the technique called panning but with the primary subject coming moving toward the camera slightly.  This is one of the most successful photos in respect to composition and other elements of design.


El Toro Loco is among the favorites of the El Paso people.  I would have to agree partly with the exception of Grave Digger.  Until next time.