Life Lesson from Photography School
Contributing Photographer: Carla Ackermann
So glad you can join me as we explore some basic
photography concepts in this series “Life Lessons from Photography School.”
This wonʼt be a time where we learn a whole lot of technical
stuff; there are hundreds of websites to do that! We are simply going to explore a few
little changes that can be made to improve your photos. More importantly, we will see
how these same concepts can help you improve your life. That is the focus! Letʼs see
what we can learn from photography school….. (stop by and check out the other insightful tips)
Lesson 1- A Few Changes Can Lead to Great Photos
Lesson 2- DIY Reflector and Boucing Light
Lesson 3- Waiting for that Great Shot
Lesson 4- Shooting from Different angles
Lesson 5-Working the Blur Technique and Leaning on it
Lesson 6- Clear the Clutter
Lesson 7- Check Your Settings
Lesson 8- Night Shots
Change Your Focus
One of the current photographic trends involves photos taken with a wide open aperture
(the lower the number of your aperture setting, the “wider” it is). An open aperture
produces blur or bokeh in the background (and often the foreground) which makes the
part of the image that is in focus pop.
The effect can be striking. Set your aperture low/wide (refer to your camera manual for setting aperture),
focus on the most important object, and shoot your picture.
An open aperture can also visually eliminate objects from the frame by throwing things
so out of focus that they donʼt capture our attention. In the following photos, the objects,
flowers, are the same, but the photos are very different. By changing the
object that you focus on, you have completely changed the picture.
What we focus on in life is much the same. How often do we focus on the weeds or the
dry, dead things instead of the beautiful flowers? Do we look at all the things that are
going wrong in our lives or do we see the blessings that God is giving us?
Every life picture has both negative and positive. By simply adjusting what we focus on,
the picture of our lives changes dramatically. Focus on the Beautiful instead of the Ugly.
See the Good that God has given us. It is what we set our minds on, what we choose
to focus on that really matters and colors our days, our lives. It is a choice we make in
life – just like in photography. By changing what we focus on, the picture of our lives
changes too.
Change your focus – sometimes that is all we need to make our lives a beautiful picture.