JANUARY DPI MONTHLY COMPETITION

The subject of people in pictures came up again this month. Whether to include them or not. I guess if you are a portrait or wedding photographer, then it is a no brainer. After all who wants a picture of an empty chair? "Who is that?"

"It's Uncle Jim". "

"That's a good photo of him, always missing when you want him"

As Wedding photographer, people are only going to buy a certain number of pictures of the flowers and the church.

Once you have decided that a person in you picture and where to stand them, take another without them. When the judge comments that they didn't think the person should have been in the shot, next time enter the one without them, and hear the judge say, could have done with someone in the frame.

So you have got someone in the picture, now do they look/walk away from you into the scene or towards you? I always thought they should be looking into the picture so that your eye follows them into the picture. Apparently that's not the fashion any more. People have got to be walking/looking towards the photographer. This makes sense if you are a portrait or wedding photographer again you will only sell so many photographs of the Bride & Groom looking at the Vicar. 

Now that you have got the people facing you, we don't want them to be smiling at the camera, again no good if you are a wedding photographer, the natural thing at a wedding is to be happy and smiling well, o/k the father of the bride may may not be looking to happy, thinking I've got to pay for this lot.

So next time you are in some exotic place and the local children come running towards you smiling, it's not the image that you want, so take their picture and then refuse to pay them, then as their expression turns to disbelief and anger, take another photo, then either pay them or turn and run.

We did have a few pictures of animals, again there was some discussion as to where the animal should be in the frame and how that affects how you look at the animal.

My favourite picture of the night was the jousting shot. These events are held all over the country, someone said Ohhh Hampton Court, well I guess if you were kicked there with your armour on, your's would be too.

Does my bum look big in this (picture)