Chris Marquardt

Today's photo segment is all about direction in Photography. Showing direction from your subject, can create some tension in how a photo makes you feel. It can add to a story. And sometimes, one direction can feel better than another. Lesser space in one direction can create tension, like the subject is about to impact the edge, while the space behind it can relax how the viewer feels. 

A photographer can also imply direction by how they have the subject look to the side, even if the eyes are locked onto the camera itself.

Here's a gallery for today's segment.

Chris joins Leo to talk about the properties of light in photography. Color is a property of light that expresses the mood of the light. Blue is cold, red is hot. Color can strengthen a mood. Sunsets can look warmer, even in colder light, which gets subdued as the sun slips to the horizon. 

Direction. Light direction changes as the sun moves. It can also set the mood through shadow.

Soft vs. Hard. Hard shadows can also review what the size of the light source is. It's called a point light source. 

This week, Chris wants to talk about Transparency in photography. 

Water is a good example. Water is transparent, but the deeper it gets, the blacker because the light fails to reach deeper. Reflection can also affect water due to how shallow the angle is.

Ice is frozen water and it can be transparent. But the thicker it is, the darker because no reflections come from the bottom. 

If you want to see deeper, eliminate reflections with a polarizer. It'll also make your colors bolder. 

This month's assignment is QUIET. Here are some photos that stood out for Chris ....

https://flic.kr/p/2jyWUs8

https://flic.kr/p/2jwbyyS

https://flic.kr/p/2jxdQwT

There's also a bonus photo Chris liked - 

BONUS: 

https://flic.kr/p/2jwpa79

All photos:

Chris Marquardt is back and this week's new photographic concept is Balance. Balance is the perceived visual weight in the frame. If a photo is balanced, it will bring the image stability and harmony. It's the cousin of symmetry. A photo can be balanced, but not symmetrical. But a symmetrical photo is balanced. You can also add weight to an image with contrast, or where you place the subject in the image. 

Here are photos to go along with the concept of balance:

http://tfttf.com/balance

Chris joins Leo to talk about five exercises you can do to train your eye and become a better photographer. 

1. Only take pictures of or from the ground for one entire day.

2. Take more photos. Every time you take a picture of something, take ten. From various angles and distances. Do this for an entire day.  Photographers call this "working the scene."

3. Only shoot black and white for an entire day. Set your camera to black and white, or use B&W filters built into the camera, especially smartphones.

Chris is going to be teaching at the annual Out of Chicago In Depth Photography conference next week. And this year, it's all virtual, so anyone can attend. Cost is $400 and there are over 30 sessions, with two instructors tag-teaming each session. Use the promo code "CHRIS" for $50 off.

PAPER assignment review time.

Review photos:

https://flic.kr/p/2jtrnur

https://flic.kr/p/2jnBvdy

https://flic.kr/p/2jr7Znr

All photos:

Today, Chris joins Leo to talk about colors in photography. Color can be an attention grabber, set a mode, or guide your eye and tell a story. Chris also says that hue, saturation and luminosity (or how bright it is) are the key elements of color. Color can be subdued, bright, or even pale or bold. Colors can be competing or complementary depending on what the photographer is trying to convey.  What is the dominant color? How does the color, or absence of it, lead the eye? Do they contrast? 

Chris joins Leo to talk about how we often tend to work in patterns or groups. We organize and group things to make them make sense. So why not use that same idea in photography? Try and spot the pattern in an image. One way to group things together is by similarity. Another is connections. How do subjects in an image connect visually? How do they contrast? How are they in proximity? How are they aligned? Groupings can tell a story. 

Chris has examples at tfttf.com/groupings