Composition: What is it?

I should say, what is composition to me?  In photography the three most important things for a good image are light, location and subject.  Does equipment matter?  Yes, to some degree.  Does post processing with something like Adobe Lightroom matter?  Again, yes, however software cannot fix a bad photo.  So what is it about photography that separates the "pros" from the "amateurs"?  Today, almost anyone with a point and shoot can take a good or even great photo.

The answer is composition.  This is an area that I have struggled with in photography and something that I have been working hard to improve on.  It is what distinguishes a typical tourist snapshot from a great photograph.

In this example from my recent trip to St. Thomas, USVI, I happened upon some very interesting rocks at a beach.  Well I know that my equipment is up to the task, my Nikon D700, my Nikon 24-70 lens and my Singh-Ray LB color combo polarizer.  I set up my shot, check the light, frame it, focus and I have a photo of some rocks, cool looking volcanic rocks at that.

Volcanic rocks

Ok, the light looks good, nice water in the background . . . ok I am done.  A nice tourist snapshot for the album.  Really?  Is that what I am trying to get out of photography?  In the past I would have been happy. In this case I kept looking.  There was some reason why I stopped to look at these rocks.

In composing a photograph, a photographer needs to ask themselves "what do I see and why do I want to photograph it"?  In this case there was something about these rocks that attracted me, the color, the shape . . .

The Praying Hands

As I looked around, I happened to notice some shapes, fingers, hands. Tightening the frame, focusing on a new subject, simplifying the subject and recomposing I captured one of my favorite shots from my trip.  I call this "The Praying Hands".  It is available on my website for sale at Brian Shannon Photography

I need to take more time to see what is around me and use my camera to capture it.  Composition to me is simply, taking a picture of what captures my interest.  This is often easier said than done but I am working on it.  If this topic is of interest to you, here are some books that have helped me with composition:

The Tao of Photography

Contemporary Landscape Photography: Professional Techniques for Capturing Spectacular Settings

Thanks for reading and until next time, keep shooting

Skim Slam 2011

I had a chance to shoot Skim Slam 2011 at the Marriott Morningstar beach while I was on vacation recently. Loads of fun to watch and I imagine it was alot of fun for the skimboarders.  I am not normally a sports photographer but this was a chance to enjoy the beach and do photography at the same time!

Skim Slam 2011

This is obviously alot harder than it looks but at least you have the sun and the water to make it even more fun.  It was great to see all the kids competing and all the local support that the guys from Skimcaribbean have in the local community.

I hope to have more opportunities to shoot this kind of event.  I need to expand my comfort zone in photography beyond the landscape, travel and architecture that I normally do.

Skim Slam 2011

The equipment that I used for this shoot was my Nikon D700, my Nikkor 24-70 lens and my Singh-Ray LB Color Combo polarizer.  This setup has become my workhorse combo for 90% of what I like to shoot.

If you would like to purchase prints from the event, visit

Brian Shannon Photography Skim Slam 2011

Thanks to Ray, Charlie & Josh and if you are in St. Thomas visit:

Skim Caribbean for Skim board camps and instruction

http://www.skimcaribbean.com/

For Skim boarding news visit:

http://skimcaribbean.blogspot.com/

If you are looking for a sailing charter visit:

Simplicity Charters

http://www.simplicitycharters.com/

Until next time, keep shooting!

http://500px.com/brianshannonphotography/blog
 

All good things . . .

 . . . must come to an end.

Our last full day in St. Thomas, I find myself relaxed and a little sad.  We have had a great time yet again, I have lots of images to go over when I return home.  I should have several for my website http://www.brianshannonphotogaphy.com/ once I have processed them in Adobe Lightroom.

Here is an early morning sunrise, not quite the dramatic one I captured several years ago but still very nice and serene feeling

St. Thomas sunrise

It has been a great two weeks of shooting, all of my equipment has done its job and I needed everything I brought.  Here is another early morning shot overloooking the city of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Charlotte Amalie

Thanks for following along and when on vacation enjoy shooting!

Weekend Photo Shoot -- The Virgin Islands

Well the vacation moves along, slowly at least.  We spent the weekend trying some new things in the Virgin Islands.  On Saturday we took a fast ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola, BVI.  Lots of fun skimming the waves and the trip takes less than 50 minutes.  Get yourself a passport stamp and head into another country.

First stop is the iconic BVI store, Pusser's.  Pusser's outpost and bar, along with Pusser's rum are well known across the Caribbean.

Pusser's Outpost

Quaint bar and shop, filled with nautical themed items and memorabilia.  Looks like a fun place to just hang out.  Tshirts, nautical clothing, rum, mugs, shot glasses . . . really gets you in the island mood.

Pusser's Pub

Road Town was very small and many shops were closed.  We were hoping for more to see and do but the time for our return trip was at hand so we came back home to St. Thomas.  One day we will revisit here and look for more things to see and do.

On Sunday we visited another new beach, Lindquist beach.  Beautiful water that was emerald green even though the day was mixed clouds, a little rain and some sun.  The Magens Bay authority now owns this beach and hopefully one day it will be like Magens, with facilities, parking and chair rentals.
Until then, you rough it on the sand, which is well worth it.

Lindquist Beach

Hope you had a great weekend, thanks for reading and keep on shooting!

How many beaches are there?

Well I began to wonder that myself as I checked off the beaches that we have been to on St. Thomas.  This however is one of our favorites if not at the top of the list.  Magens Bay beach is long, calm and beautiful.  A perfect place to hang out for a few hours or an entire day.

I wandered the park looking for a few good shots, here is an empty picnic table by the sea.  Lots of room to spread out and relax.

Table for two

The beach front, over a mile long gives some incredible wide view shots, as seen here.  My Nikon D700 and the Nikkor 24-70 lens, fitted with a Singh-Ray LB Color Combo polarizer really captured the clouds over the bright emerald green water.

Magens Bay beach

Well it was alot tougher shooting that it looks, the temps were in the low 90's with bright sun.  Sorry but someone has to do it!  Final count, we have been to seven different beaches on St. Thomas.  More to see and more to do, keep shooting!

Sunsets and relaxation

Our first really nice sunset of the trip was on Thursday evening.  What started out as a bland and hazy overcast, suddenly turned into a wonderful creamy orange sky.  I grabbed my Sigma DP2s knowing that the Foveon sensor would deliver the super color that I was seeing.

Orange sunset in St. Thomas

Hopefully this wont be the last nice sunset and I need to get up and moving some morning to go after some sunrise photos.  I also want to work on some new compositions in some familiar places.  We are going to visit Magens Bay today, this will give me chance to shoot some new images with my Nikon D700.

Until next time, keep shooting!

It's 87 degrees

And we love it.  What is 87 degrees?  Well a short time ago that was the water temperature at Sapphire Beach, St. Thomas, USVI.  What beautiful water and view across the water to St. John.

Sapphire Beach, St. Thomas, USVI

As far as this shot goes, I loved the way the tree frames the water with its gentle curves.  The water turns from a brownish green over top the grass beds to the beautiful emerald green and then the deep blue.

Sunny, hazy and hot so the water felt great.  Very nice beach, Sapphire, we had not been there before.  So far all my equipment is working great, the D700 is fantastic and the small point and shoot cameras are all working wonderfully.  Both my Think Tank bags are also doing their job

Until our next new beach, keep shooting

Join us on St. John, USVI

What a fantastic day on St. John, USVI.  The water was perfect and the island as calm as always.  We really enjoy our time spent on St. John as it is so peaceful.  A brief rain shower as we walked down the jungle path to the little bridge that beckons you to shangri-la

Just a little further . . .



The Nikon D700 is performing flawlessly, I could not ask for anything more except better skills.  I hope to have some new shots fo my website, www.brianshannonphotography.com in the next two weeks.

Until next time, keep shooting

Paradise found, two weeks in St. Thomas

I have been away from my blog for too long and now that I have a well deserved vacation, my family and I are back in the Virgin Islands.  Our two weeks here will refresh us and I hope will give me the chance to produce some great images once again.  St. Thomas is one of our favorite places to vacation and is a real treat to shoot with a camera.

So far the weather is beautiful, here is an early morning shot of the view from our balcony.



Water view from the Marriott

 Going to start our day with some shopping and hit the beach in the afternoon.  I will be updating this blog and adding images and new entries over the next two weeks so stay tuned.

At Morning Star beach in the afternoon, I had a chance to see and shoot the Skim Caribbean 2011 competition called Skim Slam, it was lots of fun.  Visit http://skimcaribbean.com/ for more details, here is a shot of the competition.  For more shots of the competition visit:  Skim Slam 2011

Skim board competition at Morning Star beach sponsored by http://skimcaribbean.com/

Lots of fun and a great day on the beach, now where did I put the rum . . .