Rancher Woman’s Photo Tips #1

I’m going to start a new series here today - maybe this will be the first post in a long-running series, or maybe it will be the only post in an ill-advised attempt to transfer the twisted thoughts in my brain to yours. We’ll just see what happens.

It seems that many of you visit this blog to check out the latest, greatest pictures of my animals, and for that I am flattered and humbled. I love my animals, and I love to take pictures of them; that other people want to look at them just makes my day.

I majored in photography in college, so pretty pictures should be the rule here, not the exception. After all, my parents and I paid good money for me to be able to capture Wynonna with a bathtub ring, or George listening to the sun set, or Smooch looking positively regal when she’s really just a goober.

People have told me, you have a photographer’s eye or you have a designer’s eye. Well, hello. I damned well better, given all this education and experience.

Good pictures are not about the camera. Just because you use the same camera that I might use doesn’t mean you’ll end up with the same result. So what ARE good pictures about?

Composition. The stuff that’s in the frame.

Here is the secret. Shhh...don’t tell anyone else. I went to college for four years to learn this trick. Find yourself an old 35mm slide and cut out the film. Walk around with this little frame. Put it close to your eye, then stretch out your arm and see what happens.

Turn the frame sideways.
Learn to see what the camera sees.

Start to look at your world through a lens, even if you don’t have one.
Try it. But be careful. I don't want to be responsible for anyone tripping and doing a face plant. Do it often enough and you will learn what makes a photo interesting...or not.

Next time we’ll talk about what to do if what you see in your little slide frame isn’t all that interesting.