Thrive Project: ISO and Rule of Thirds

Hello fellow photographers...and that's what you are if you love to take pictures:)  Are you ready for your next lesson?? This week we learned about ISO. It stands for something silly. Nothing you need to remember. I'm going to try and make this really simple. I think of it like a dimmer switch. If you are outside in bright sunshine keep the number low 100-400. According to my manual, if you are inside or if it's really overcast adjust the ISO to 400-1600. If you are shooting in the dark or at night increase the number to 1600-6400.


So just like a dimmer...if you need a little light keep the dial low and if it's really bad lighting up the number. The only way to know the exact number is to play with it. A big thing to remember with ISO is the higher the number the "grainier" the picture will be. You might see little grey fuzzy dots in your picture. It won't look as crisp and clear. So rule of thumb...use the lowest number you can to get the shot.

Taken at 7:00 am, very dark room... setting is 100 ISO.

This one shows the break down in the quality of the photo. See how grainy it looks?? It was taken in the dark at 7:00 at 6400 ISO.

Our teacher had us take TONS of pictures of one scene using our ISO dial, upping the increments and then taking a shot all the way up the dial. We did this at dusk or dawn, mid-day with a table lamp, and then in sunlight or full light.  I will spare you all those pictures.  I'm just sharing the 100 and 6400 settings for dawn and midday.   Hopefully this gives you a little idea of what ISO is.  Go visit my friend Suzanne if you need more clarification.  She has the gift of making it all make sense. 



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The other thing we learned about was the Rule of Thirds. This is your homework this week. There is an imaginary grid that you need to think about when you take pictures. The super cool thing I learned is that when you go to crop your photos your editing software has that grid for you...YAY!!! I use Picnik. It's free and very very simple to use. The grid popped up on the screen and I was able to easily crop the photo to fit the rule of thirds easily:) Here are some examples:

Before and after...see how much more interesting the image is off to the side a bit.

See how the flower lines up where the lines intersect.

It's broken into 3 interesting lines.

If you line up your focal point in one of those intersections it makes your shot more interesting and pleasing to the eye. It gives it some artistic expression...makes it tell more of a story etc... Anyway just try it. Instead of putting your object smack in the middle, move it off to the side a bit. It really does make the photograph better.


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Okay so now for the winners of this week's challenge. It was really hard for me to pick. I didn't count on so many good ones. Remember each week's semi-finalists will be put in the pot for the final week's prize. My two top favorite pictures will each win one of my cuffs:) YAY!

La Te Da Photography

I picked this one because I went to Seattle last year and stood in line at the fish counter waiting for just this shot. It's almost impossible! Anyway catching that fish in mid flight is an amazing endeavor and a perfect example of shutter speed. Love the drops of water caught in mid-air too...awesome.

The Colour 4

This was just cool. I meant to do something like this and never got around to it. Nothing like zooming past oncoming traffic while playing with your camera to get a fantastic shutter speed shot. That desperado deserves the win alone...ha!











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Okay so link up and have fun. Play around with the Rule of Thirds. And for those of you who had trouble figuring it out last week...put your blog's url in the url section so I can find YOU. If you don't have a blog use my blog's url and then put your email in the caption (or title section) so I know who you are. Please include my button, so other people can find the project.  I'm going to make the thumbnail bigger this week so we can see your pictures better. You have ALL week.  Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Have a blessed day.

Example images were found at google "rule of thirds".