Get Creative With The Same Subject

Sometimes as photographers we get into a rut and find we're shooting the same subject or the same scene over and over.  I have a waterfall not too far from where I live that I refer to as the "old standby" (I'll blog about the waterfall another time).  It's not a bad thing to have your own version of the "old standby", but as photographers we need to find creative ways to vary the resulting photos.  Here are a couple of examples of seagulls taken at the ocean.

 

The first photo was taken on a cloudy day.  The short depth of field, lack of sunshine, and wet sand, gives the impression of a cool setting.

 What I really like about this photo is that there's nothing distracting from the seagull.  The colors of the water, blurred in the background, really compliment the colors on the bird.  Also, since there's no sunshine, and nothing that can cause shadows, you get to see a lot of detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second photo was taken a different day at a different location, but it's still a seagull.

 This photo was taken at sunrise and I specifically wanted to keep from showing too much detail on the seagull, while still allowing anyone who sees the photo to know it is a bird.  With the sun coming up, the sand and water show some nice oranges and purples, which is a total contrast to the first photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just try to think of different ways to shoot the same subject.  You can go at a different time of day (as shown above), use a different depth of field, shoot from a different angle, etc...  I'm sure that you can come up with your own list and it might help get you out of a rut and get a little more creative.

 

Until next time.

 

Glen

4/11/10