You don't take a photograph, you make it. --Ansel Adams . . Owning a camera doesn't make you a photographer. --Photography Proverb

Monday, September 21, 2009

First Meeting Recap

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Thanks to everyone who attended the first meeting of the Brown Dirt Photogs! And thank you for enduring my craziness that day...I was still amped from photographing a birth the night before. Don't worry, I'm not always that intense. ;o)

In summary, we discussed Ansel Adams' Zone System and how the histogram can help us achieve better exposures and use all desired "zones" for making more effective photographs. Homework was assigned: look up and study the Zone System (wikipedia has a pretty good write up on it). Look at some of Ansel Adams's photographs with a new understanding of his methods.
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We planned a fieldtrip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for October 10th. Time TBA. A field trip to Oak Creek Canyon was discussed and I actually went to the specific trail we plan to visit to scope it out this past Saturday and YOU WILL LOVE IT! It's going to be great!
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Here's a photo I made of some worm trails in wood in Oak Creek Canyon on Saturday. Thinking "Zone System," notice that I have the complete range of tones from black to white and every shade of gray in between. Sometimes you may want the complete range of tones, other times you may want to stay toward the less contrasty end of the zones to achieve a particular mood. The goal is to think about it before you shoot the image and then make it happen.



"Worm Trails" copyright sandi miller, Miller&Miller Photography

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

First Meeting Agenda

A couple people have asked what we'll be doing at the first meeting, so here it be.


I want to talk about Ansel Adams and his work (and one of his quotes...the one at the top of the page, actually). Many of his most famous photographs are of nature, but are they really "natural?" (Hint: NO!) We will briefly go over his Zone System and how it still applies today and can help us all make better pictures (and how the histogram helps with that).
Drama. It's all about the drama, baby!
So, until the 12th (for those of you who plan to attend), here's a photo I made last Saturday, applying the Zone System.
see you soon!
sandi