A to Z Project

Your new assignment is to shoot objects (non-human or animal) whose name begins with each letter of the alphabet, ie. apple, ball, compost, etc. PLEASE make these pictures interesting, as you now have enough tools at your disposal to take more than eye level snapshots. Use depth of field, rule of thirds, ant/bird's eye, framing, and leading lines to create an interesting composition. Remember the the three checkpoints: Know what your subject is, Bring attention to your subject, Simplify. The examples on the left are cases in point (so to speak).

P is for Pencil. Photo #1 is from eye level shot at f/8. Everything on the desk is reasonably in focus, but what's the subject? Is there any way for a person to know that the pencil is the subject? Couldn't it just as easily be the desk, the calendar, the cardholder? Photo #2 is the same exact subject in the same exact place. Shot at f/1.8, the point of the pencil is in focus while the rest of the photo is blurred. Taken from almost desk level, the line of the pencil leads you in to the blurred line of the calendar, which keeps your eye moving. Since only the point of the pencil is in focus, your eye naturally gravitates to it.

Keep these ideas in mind for EACH of your 26 photos, as you now have the necessary tools to create interesting photographs.