Macrophotography – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

52 Frames: Week 31: Choose Color!

Look around and we’ll see something we take for granted – color. Our wonderful world is filled with it, so this week we’re asking you to Choose A Color. Make that color the theme and inspiration behind your image. Colors evoke moods and feelings – how you choose to compose and use them is what will guide the viewer through the image.

Choosing to focus on a single color in particular is both creative and good use of light, contrast and saturation is what can make or break an image. Pick a color and make it the dominant and outstanding and leave no doubt about which color you wanted to make the main point of your shot.

I am having huge problems with my computer, so much that I need to buy a new one, so these are old shots that I have here already used in my previous posts over the years. I am not able to access my computer files, or additional hard drives to add photos or load new ones from the camera disk. I am able to access the internet for now, so I am using these here this week.

Think landscapes of rolling green hills, or food shots of red chilli peppers or the all encompassing golden color at sunset – there’s a noticeable dominant color there and that’s what we’re looking for.

Composition: Compose your shot so there’s no doubt as to which color you’re trying to use. Think about any emotions or moods your photo can evoke and bring that to the forefront. You could use a lot of negative space to direct interest to your subject or go in full-tilt and fill the frame
Lighting: Lighting and shadows add depth to an image and can change an image dramatically. An underlit and underexposed image brings to mind a different mood than a bright, well-lit one.
White Balance: . Using and adjusting white balance while taking your photos will be valuable
Contrast: If there are multiple colors and shades in your image, ensure that there’s one that’s visibly up front and recognizable – it contrasts and stands out from the other shades and tone of the image.
Post-processing: Feel free to go nuts with post-processing and editing to render some cool color effects. But remember, less is more.

52 Frames: Week 30: Single Focal Point!

52 Frames, Still life

This time around, we want you to look closer at a Single Focal Point. This is not a technical challenge, it’s more compositional in nature – guide your viewer’s eye to a distinct part of your image. There are a number of ways that this can be done – depth of field can make it so a subject is in focus while almost everything else is blurred; or you could use negative space and a minimalist composition to draw in the viewer to one part of the image. Sometimes you can also use light as a frame to guide the viewer’s perspective to your subject – think spotlight and light shaping.

These photos I took from a car ferry while on my way to visit a small island of Högsåra were one of my ideas to this topic. Strong Focal Point: This is pretty much the crux of the challenge – but it matters the most: choose a strong focal point that’s easily identifiable as the main point of interest of your shot.

It’s all about tuning out the distractions and taking your viewer to the exact spot in your image you want their eyes to well… focus on. You might also want to consider getting some help from your editing software with vignettes, color pops and contrast to make your desired subject stand out. Even better, use a combination of these techniques and other skills to get this challenge sorted.

Depth Of Field: Use a shallow depth of field to isolate your subject. You might also want to consider getting some help from your editing software with vignettes, color pops and contrast to make your desired subject stand out. Even better, use a combination of these techniques and other skills to get this challenge sorted. That’s what I tried here with my strawberry shots.

**Leading Lines:** Think of using leading lines to guide the viewer to your intended point of interest.

Leading Lines to guide the viewer to your intended point of interest in mind I took these images of old buildings and this lush road. Consider using some sort of frames to bring in the watcher’s attention – a window, slats of a fence or some tree branches; shooting through something can also work to steer attention to your focal point.

**Color Contrast:** Contrasting colors help the eye to easily differentiate the subject from the background

I had this n mind when I took this image from an old mill window in Mathildedal, contrasting colors help the eye to easily differentiate the subject from the background.

52 Frames: Week 29: Common Object!

52 Frames, Still life

This week, we’re looking to shoot a Common Object. And isn’t that what photography is all about, really? Taking the mundane and shining a different light on it. Highlighting an object or scene that we normally pass by with no notice, and making it something special.

Think about all the common objects you can see around you right this moment – a bottle, socks, a pen, eggs, coffee mugs, perfume vapor, cell phone – the list of subjects you have this week are endless.

I once again left this to the last minute, being on holiday it is all about being lazy, or not if you are married to a man who needs something done every day. So this week we have re-arranged our sauna / guest room furniture, got rid of some stuff, bought some new to replace the old one. Re arranges the kitchen cabinets, put up new shelfs. We gave a away a car load of old furniture to be recycled to a flee market. A car load of stuff to the be recycle center. Busy with ordinary, common objects, but it never crossed my mind to take photos. Today, last day to give in the submission I took some photos of common objects.

I often wear costume jewelry, so common to me. I drink coffee, wine and my hubby enjoys whisky. These are some finds from the cottage. Also these old glasses I found whilst our cleaning spree.

Now the challenge is to simply make the ordinary look extra ordinary, or at least photographed well. You could try focusing on a particular detail or texture. Or perhaps show how you use it in your day-to-day life. Tell a story about how something mundane and ordinary can be a valuable part of your day.

what is life with a occasional glass of wine or a cup of coffee

TIPS:

Selection: Start at the very beginning – pick an object that speaks to you – whether it’s your car keys that you pick up everyday, or the chef’s knife you use to prep dinner.
Composition: Arrange things how you want them – the great thing about common objects is that you can arrange them as you see fit; you’re not restricted by an inability to pick things up and move them around.
Tones & Colors: The overall look and feel of the colors in an image evoke different senses and emotions – do pay attention to the composition of colors and overall tones in your image, in terms of being complementary or adding contrast.
Balance: This is all about the visual weight- obviously, larger objects that fill the frame are meant to hold the viewer’s attention the most. Certain items can add nuance and help balance a frame without taking away from the main subject.

52 Frames: Week 28: Silhouette -v2

52 Frames, People

Photography is drawing with light and this week’s Silhouette challenge firmly shows us that. A silhouette is about bringing together contrasts of a well-lit background against a dark subject, making the subject’s shape and outline as the main point of focus. A silhouette balances what the viewer sees alongside the darker toned facets of the subject that are intentionally kept hidden from the light.

Silhouettes are a great way to tell a story while leaving it up to the imagination of the viewer – there aren’t visible features to express emotion, so your viewer will fill in details depending on the context of the image – use this to direct your viewer’s line of thinking.

This is a lesson in exposure, composition and creativity all coming together. While silhouettes are outline.. Portraits, Still Life, Architecture and Nature typically make for good silhouette genres.

Silhouettes can often convey some kind of mystic story. By leaving the details in the dark, the story becomes compelling and the viewer is more engaged with the picture.

I was nearly ready to cheat, until my youngest grandson said he would let me take a photo of him. It was a rainy day and he sat by the window with a cuddly fox. Here was my opportunity to capture a silhouette

52 Frames: Week 28: Silhouette!!

52 Frames, Traveling Crete

This is a lesson in exposure, composition and creativity all coming together. While silhouettes are commonly shot in the day and at golden / blue hours, you can absolutely shoot silhouettes at night too. This will work best when the object being shot is recognizable through their well-defined shape and outline.. Portraits, Still Life, Architecture and Nature typically make for good silhouette genres.

Silhouettes can often convey some kind of mystic story. By leaving the details in the dark, the story becomes compelling and the viewer is more engaged with the picture.

I would have loved to use these shots I took at Crete as they would have suited this challenge perfectly, but no, still I think they are great examples of silhouette! But I will have to come up with something new for the challenge or I could cheat… no, I won’t do that.

TIPS:

Background Choice: Very often, we blur out the background and pay less attention to it. Here, pay a little extra attention to your choice of background. Make it contrast with the shape of your main subject.
Narrow Aperture: Shoot with a relatively narrow aperture of f/8 or higher to reduce the amount of light falling on your sensor, getting great Depth Of Field and also reducing chromatic aberrations especially if you’re shooting into the light.
Metering: We want to “trick” our camera into intentionally under-exposing the subject. So use spot metering or expose for the background.
Post-processing: Use software wisely – in post processing, it’s generally helpful to boost the contrast in your image, add more saturation, and increase the blacks slightly to improve a silhouette shot.

52 Frames: Week 27: Negative Space!!

52 Frames, Flowers

Less is more. This week’s Negative Space challenge is what those words are all about. Make your composition’s subject stand out by ensuring you eliminate clutter, distractions and sometimes even a background.

Many minimalistic photography images have a great deal of negative space to isolate the subject. There are tons of genres and ideas that would make for very compelling shots – architecture, landscapes, portraits, food photography, abstracts and so much more. Think about the story or emotion you’d like to convey to your viewer and compose your shot after taking some time to think about it.

We’re looking for clear, un-cluttered images where the space surrounding the main subject or idea enhances your shot by taking the viewer’s eye straight there. That little bit of extra space allows for breathing room and leaves no doubt as to what the main point of interest is.

There’s magic in negative space, when used wisely, so think, breathe, shoot…

TIPS:

Zoom with your feet: Move around to get the best composition for your photo.
Different shooting angles: Because everything else is simplified in your frame, you have more license to “break” the rules of typical composition, for example where your subject is placed in the frame, or where they are looking.
Find your background first: Go on a hunt for a red brick wall, or a blue garage door, then place your subject in front of it.
Balance: Use the negative space to balance out the main subject. Don’t go overboard with the negative space, making it hard for the viewer to understand and absorb the main focus point of your shot.
Shoot wide open: That dreamy, creamy bokeh is a great way to simplify your subject’s background, and keep the frame more minimalistic.

I would have loved to use some of the shots I took at Crete as they would have suited this challenge perfectly, but no, still I think they are great examples of negative space.

52 Frames: Week 26: Pattern!

Flowers

For many of us, seeing a Pattern comes quite naturally – after all, it’s just something being repeated in a pleasing way. That’s why so many of our creations use patterns – whether it’s the crimped crust of a pie or some beautiful inlay mosaic work on floor tiles – patterns and repetition of shapes stands out to us.

I had lots of ideas, but well I run out of time and took an easy way out, because patterns are everywhere, but to get an interesting shot of it, is an other thing altogether. I went with the fern this time as the shot of peaches and butterfly are not new and the challenge is to take a new photo every week. If I had had the energy I could have tried to capture similar shots again. Not this time 🙂

Let the patterns to tell a story and that’s where the creativity comes in. Look for geometric and sharp angular patterns if you want to compose something using a pattern of shapes. You could also seek out patterns with colors. This challenge can overlap with other sub-genres like Repetition or Textures. Other genres like Abstract Photography or Architecture are also great ideas to find patterns.

One final thought – Most, if not all, patterns have repetition. But not all repetition forms a pattern. Just think about that for a bit.

Extra Challenge: Found In Nature

Tips and Tutorials

TIPS:

Shooting Angle: Consider taking your shot at an unconventional angle – the human brain perceives patterns differently when shown in different perspectives.
Shape Patterns: Hunt for shapes and geometrical forms that draw the eye in. Use those to direct the viewer to where you want.
Color Patterns: In a world of color, look for collections and bunches of distinct colors that are recognizable.
Go Wide: A wider field of view may help get more subtle patterns to be more noticeable.
Make Your Own: Using a prism or reflective surfaces can make for some amazing portraits.
Break The Pattern: Try and create a contrasting point of interest by breaking the pattern and having an object of focus in the midst of your composition.

52 Frames: Week 25: What is it!

Still life

What the heck is that?

That is what, I have tried to figure out, how to shoot it. That is between my coughing fits, this flu or what ever it is very strong and persistent.

If that’s the reaction your photo gets, then that means you did it right! Did i succeed in anyways?

This week we are diving into the abstract, the macro, the hidden angle, the way the light touches an object, or even getting inside an object, and giving a different view of a familiar world in order to challenge our viewer into figuring just WHAT IT IS that we photographed!

You do not need to shoot macro or up close, you can mask certain details using light (or shadow) to show what you want and hide what you don’t!

Is it a whisk? A spoon? A grain of sand?

Fluffy hay

Flowers

Details from my weekend flower bouquet.

crabapple tree in bloom

Flowers

Known for their fragrant springtime blooms and jewel-like fruit, crabapple trees make beautiful additions to the landscape. These are from an old one that every years continues to give joy! There are tons of varieties to choose from, but here is one of the best ones for long-lasting, colorful flowers, fruit, and fall foliage when planted in a sunny spot.

Blossoms of apple tree

Flowers

In the shade of the old apple tree
When the love in your eyes I could see
When the voice that I heard, like the song of the bird
Seemed to whisper sweet music to me, I could hear the dull buzz of the bee
In the blossoms as you said to me
With a heart that is true, I’ll be waiting for you
In the shade of the old apple tree…

Apple tree blossoms

Flowers

I love trying to find good angles to take a photo, and light that brings the topic to its best. Sometimes I succeed sometimes not.

European Bird Cherry blossom

Flowers

I was walking taking photos of nature blooming – lost my spectacles luckily found them as I had to go through the same spots again. I was a bit frustrated, as I have lost two pair of sunglasses while taking photos. One in the rapids of Kumiankoski few years back, One in the Chapora River in India.

Well that had nothing to do with these photos.

Tiny forest finds

Flowers, Nature

Weekend came and went so quickly, Saturday as cool so I spent most of the day in side by the fireplace with a magazine or watching tv. I was so brave that I left my laptop home 🙂

Saturday was warmer, the most significant change was that we had less wind. I walked on our plot, looking for something to take photos of as the green nature is still keeping us waiting. But it can be found in the details. Here are my small finds.

Evergreen

Flowers

We are of to celebrate May 1st to our summer house. It is supposed to be sunny, but cold, well colder than usual at this time of the year. At least it won’t be raining. Wishing all a great weekend and the the beginning of May…

I love moss, it is so pretty, green and soft.

Lemon Slice #3

Photography, Still life

I promise this is my last post on lemons for now, other fruits need to be noticed too for they bright and uplifting colors. As you can see I can go slightly overboard when I try to capture just the right shot. Serious business these challenges 😀 LOL ( not! )

Lemon, yellow…I bought lemon, lime, sparkling water and set up my project.I took so, so many shots, way too many. Once again I faced a dilemma what to post. So I took macro or close ups mainly of slices of lemon , but you can see lime there too. This first one is my favorite.

Lemon Slice

Photography, Still life

If nothing else these are a splash of spring, summer in these photos; Nothing says ‘sunshine’ in the kitchen or on a menu like lemon. One of the quotes i saw about lemon was this, I did not aim for that: One of the negative side, some artists use the image of a cut lemon to insinuate that something is sour, faulty or otherwise amiss.

Countdown to 2021-21

Flowers, Photography

Today: Sunrise at 9:26- Sunset 15:16- Length of day 5:50 hours – time of dusk 0:58 minutes .Two minute less of daylight than yesterday. Today is winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. It is nothing to celebrate, but it marks the end this years voyage to darkness.

Now towards the next goal counting days until Christmas eve. Today I am meeting one of my friends for lunch. She kindly invited me to meet at out local restaurant for lunch and I was not going to say no, we both have been basically staying home all the time and neither on is having any symptoms. It is so sad where we are with this pandemic. I am in a nice situation regarding this illness, that no one I know has had it, sadly this is not the case with many people, but I am lucky that way. This bubble I am in is small, I have not met many people since March when this really hit us.

Today is also the day we are going to decorate the tree. I will have to take a snap of it, even though it will look the same as it has so many years previously as I have not brought any new decorations for years. Traditionally safe look. There is something to say about traditions, this one is OK 🙂

I am really trying to come up with something to photograph, I had no inspiration. Here is slightly frost covered plants from 2013.

I will be posting new and old photos somehow related to winter, Christmas and eventually anticipation of new year. My aim is to take one new photo a day, but not going to stress over it, if I don’t come up with anything.

Would you like to join us? Join in with this title and link it to my page.

Colorful “November” berries

Flowers, Photography

Which one?

Flowers, Nature

Moss in February light

Nature

I love the green moss and the back light of February coming from behind it.

December 22

Flowers, Nature, Photography

joulu2018-1 (3 of 5)

December 6th

Nature, Photography

joulu2018-1 (1 of 1)-2

Suomi- Finland 100 Years of Independence

Moss

Nature, Photography

20170916-5

MM-3-49 – Hydrangea

Photography

My entry to for this weeks Monochrome Madness is a photo from my back-yard .This wiltered flower of hydrangea was my pick for this week as I tooks photos for an other challange. It turned out so nicely into a black and white photograph. #monochromemadness #Leannecole

Details - Ritva Sillanmäki (5 of 8)