Reduction
DO NOT USE AN APP that drastically REDUCES THE SIZE AND RESOLUTION of your image! Process one photograph with the App being tried out, and then open it on a computer and check its size. Typical Smartphone camera resolution is over 2000 x 3000 pixels. If the result is something in the 100's (640 x 480, 720 x 480 or 853 x 480), that is way too small. Even 1920 x 1080 (the size of HD TV) is a bit too small.
Cropping/ Lazy Eye
DO NOT CROP YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS. You have to learn how to compose the photograph in the fame. You have to look carefully and get exactly what you want into the frame before you push the shutter release button. If you have the ability to crop your photographs later you will never learn this. What happens is that you will develop 'Lazy Eye'. This is where people shoot quickly without composing the shot, then go back to the studio and crop everything to get rid of the parts of the photo they do not like. This is something that should have happened when shooting! The best shot probably should have been shot from an inch over, and an inch down, and a second or two later. And you will have missed it with that quick-shot technique. Framing & Composing is the art of making a good photograph. Take responsibility for what you capture and display is as it is shot. It is a matter of photographic integrity. And it is my challenge to you.
Contact Sheet Syndrome
Take the time to shoot numerous shots of any single subject. Investigate it to the fullest. But then, ONLY PICK THE BEST SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH OF THAT SET to post on your blog page. It takes several shots of anything to actually get to the best shot. You have to adjust your shooting angle, your distance from the subject, get the light just right, and you have to get the timing right. Otherwise you are making snap-shots, and this is a class in ‘How to Make Good Photographs’, not how to make snap-shots. These are two completely different aesthetics.
If you display several shots of the same subject, you end up with ‘Contact Sheet Syndrome’. A contact sheet is what used to be made when we shot film. All the photos on a roll would be exposed onto a single sheet of photo paper so we could easily see the whole roll and select which shots were the best, and then, which shots would be enlarged. Now looking at photos on a Smartphone in your Camera Roll is the analogous activity. But what you don’t want to do is show people your working process, you want to show them the result of your efforts. And that is the single best shot of any subject.
Content Bleed
The other side of the coin from Contact Sheet Syndrome is Content Bleed. This is where you have several shots of related subject material that all fit together; visually, conceptually and emotionally. WHEN THESE PHOTOS ARE DISPLAYED TOGETHER, EACH ONE STARTS TO HAVE AN EFFECT ON HOW THE OTHERS ARE VIEWED. The content of one bleeds into the content of another, and changes or adds to its meaning and impact. In the end, all photographs should not be about the appearance of things but, rather, about your interest in these things. The photos are about you and your artistic vision. They should be subjective, not objective like Photojournalism.
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