1000 Mile Challenge – Another windy day…

Sunday’s ride took me out Rte 161 towards Urbana.   Newly paved roads and a tail wind made the first 20 miles a breeze (no pun intended).   However, at the junction of Rte 4, I took the turn towards Marysville and the real work began.    Eleven miles into a 15mph headwind with a slight uphill grade.  Did I tell you I really don’t like wind???   Unfortunately that would be the story for much of the remainder of the ride as the wind would somehow find a way to tunnel right into my face.   Grueling as I rode East on Watkins road from Marysville to Rte 42. 

As I grew increasingly more tired, I envied the cattle that were sunning in the field.   The funny thing is I think they were as intrigued with me as I was with them, or perhaps they were thinking that I was bringing their afternoon meal.  Yes, I was definitely hungry too.

Once I hit Rte 42,  I made the decision to turn around and head West on Watkins.   Yes back to Marysville.   Why?  Well first of all I needed a way to get more miles, and perhaps most importantly, by Heading West I could escape the wind for a good portion of the return trip.   The less windy route allowed me to enjoy some of the Fall scenery as the farmers cultivated their fields.

After a 65 mile day I returned home to eat and rest.   Not hitting the mileage goal that I had hoped to, my wife and I headed out in the evening for 20 more.   My legs were screaming the whole way.   Misty could tell I was struggling with the wind and took over the lead, allowing me to draft and save some energy.   She picked up the pace and did a great job setting the pace.   It was nice to go fast again.  Thanks for pulling me along, babe!

1000 Mile Challenge – That wind was a Bitch!!!

  Ok, so I had big ambitions to get up early on Friday and ride but I just couldn’t stomach the 3:45a wake up call and after a day of meetings and 8 hrs in the car I was too tired to do a Friday ride.    So that means another 40 miles to make up over the next 4 days.    Saturday, however, I slept in until 7:30a and hit the road at 8:05a.   It was a beautiful Fall morning with the moon still visible in the Western sky.   My goal today was to ride 70 miles before my sons cross country meet in Lancaster.     Today’s route was to Prospect and beyond.   Prospect is 26 miles north of my house.   This is a favorite location for biker as the ride is very scenic and there is a little grocery store (Dexters) that makes a great place to stop for some refreshments.    This first leg of my trip was pretty smooth as the route was recently paved.   After a brief stop for and iced tea and a Snickers, I crossed back over the Cecil B. Ohler bridge and continued North to Green Camp.    Some clouds had rolled in and the wind picked up a bit making my already tired legs that much weaker.   But I ducked my head and continued to cut through the gusts.   The good news about a head wind is that you get to turn around at some point and it becomes a tail wind, so thank goodness the return ride was a bit easier.

I’m closing in on my goal with less than 200 miles to complete before 6:00pm on Wednesday.    I hope to put in another 70+ tomorrow.    The plan is to start with around 30 in the morning (I get to ride with my wife) then Misty and I will go to our favorite breakfast spot, Hellas.    After a little more rest, I’ll hop back on the saddle and see what more I can put in.    Hopefully the wind will subside a bit.

All for now!

1000 Mile Challenge – A day from Hell???

Last night I hit the bed at 11:30a  after a 32 mile ride, only to rise for a morning 21 mile ride with my wife at 4:45a.     After a rather long day at work I hit the road again tonight at  6:45p for another 22 miles.    Needless to say I’m a bit tired.   The real challenge is that I need to get a 20miler in tomorrow morning before I leave for Louisville for a day trip.   That means the alarm goes off at 3:45a.

So you ask, “why go through all this hassle?”   Well I must admit I did have a moment of doubt this morning when I found myself about 5 feet away from a head-on collision with a car who for some reason decided to make a left turn into my path at a well lit intersection.  In an effort to miss me he swerved and almost hit Misty.   My guess, some young kid, up too early, just not paying attention to the road.   At any rate, Misty let him know how we felt.

Tonight’s ride was much less eventful.   As the sun set the temp dropped into the mid 80’s.   That’s pretty nice in my book.     I did my typical 22miler from my house out to route 42 and back.  

So once again, “why go through all this hassle?”    For me the scenery has a lot to do with it.   I can ride the same route day after day and I’ll always see something new.   Yesterday it was a snapping turtle (about 18” in diameter") crossing the road.   I stopped to try to give it a hand but after nearly getting my hand bit off I decided he would do fine on his own.

Tonight was a real gem as a Harvest Moon followed me as I headed West on Harriott road.   I had to stop and get this picture.   Too bad I only had my camera phone.

  One thing I’ve become accustomed to during this challenge is riding in the dark.   In fact about 70% of my riding time has been at night.    So the scenery that I see looks a lot like this.    

In reality, this picture doesn’t do the actual beauty of the night any justice.  City lights in the distance; rock quarries in full production in the middle of the night; moonlit roads in the middle of the country; a thunder storm in the distance, and my favorite, the pitch black as I escape the city.    There something to be said for the feeling of smallness and perhaps insignificance, when you’re alone in what seems like ‘the middle of nowhere’.    I, like many of you strive to be significant in this world.   Riding hard is one way that I achieve this.  

Six days remaining, 735 miles ridden, 40707 kcal burned.   I’ve got a lot of riding to do this weekend.    See you tomorrow!

1000 Mile Challenge – The final week!

If you’re one of my Facebook friends, I’m sure you’ve been hounded during the past month by the daily (and sometimes twice a day) messages like this one:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jerry Kuamoo Was out cycling 31.17 miles with Endomondo. You can see it here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/vtYnL7rFzBI  Cycling Workout    Calories: 1965 kcal     Distance: 31.17 miles

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If these messages have annoyed you, please accept my apology.  My intent was never to annoy or upset anyone, or even to brag about the miles that I’m logging.   In reality, Endomondo is not my Peruvian masseuse as my buddy Bill thinks, nor is it the name of the pool boy that my wife has hired to keep her company while I’m on the road.   Endomondo is simply a web-based application that I use to track my cycling workouts.

On August 30th I created a challenge on Endomondo to cycle 1000 miles in 31 days.  It’s a steep goal for someone who works full-time and is typically pretty active in my personal life.   But since I rediscovered cycling, I felt compelled to do something that most riders have not achieved.   I’m not sure if my motivation is the love of cycling or simply a “bucket list” thing.   Perhaps a bit of both.  Either way, I’ve made the commitment and as those who know me well understand, I hate to fail.

It’s 10:30pm on Wednesday, September 22nd and I’ve just returned from a 31 mile.    Endomondo tells me that with 7 days remaining I have ridden 692.68 miles.   That leave just over 300 miles to go.

Tomorrow’s wake-up call is at 4:45a, the time when my wife and I typically ride during the week.  We have mapped out a route that is pretty well lit.  Of course our bikes are lit up as well for added safety.  Off to bed now for a short nights rest.   More tomorrow.

Good Ride, Good People, Great Cause

Recently I had the opportunity to participate in the 1st annual Tour de H20 bicycle ride.

After being inspired to get back to bicycling, thanks to my man DJ who teaches a spinning class at the local health club, this was my first attempt at an organized ride in about 30 years.   So why Tour de H20?   We’ll I’ll be honest; As I looked for local rides I came across this one.   It was a reasonable distance (52 miles) for a first ride and the base fundraising commitment was within what I felt was achievable.   However, as I peeled back the covers on this fundraiser, the more intrigued I became.    With sponsors like Whole Foods and Global Partners for Development, I found this to be a true grass roots effort to help those in need.

Tour de H20 is the brainchild of Steven and Keely.   Both avid riders (although Keely is grounded for awhile – Congrats on the upcoming July baby) they decided to expand their giving ways by organizing a ride to raise money to build fresh water wells in the dry lands of Kenya.   Building wells and helping underprivileged people seems to have become a passion with this unselfish couple.  Check out their bio at  http://tourdeh2o.org/AboutUs.aspx for more details.

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For a first year event, I found TourdeH20 to be very well organized.  Apparently Steven and Keely really did their homework.  Food and snacks provided by Whole Foods, SAG services provided by BikeSource, plenty of volunteers, and well marked routes. (Okay, I missed one of the markers and went 1/2 mi out of way – shouldn’t I get extra credit?)  

The route consisted of two 27 mile courses that traversed the countryside near Galloway, Ohio.   Although the weather forecast called for rain, it turned out to be a great day for riding as it was a little overcast and the winds were moderate.

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The ride was fun and the old legs, butt, etc. held out pretty well as I maintained an overall average of 16.3 mph.  But the real victory was in the good that will result from the generous contributions from friends and families.   The end result was that the fund-raising goal was exceeded and it is exciting to learn that at least two water wells with hand pumps will be constructed in partnership with the Kakelo Community.

According to Steven, “These wells will be constructed this year! Women and children from this community normally spend hours each day fetching water from distant sources.  The Kakelo Community members will be so happy when they learn that their long-desired dreams for nearby, fresh, clean water will finally come to fruition.  With this project, the women will be able to use their newfound time much more productively, villagers won’t be debilitated by water born diseases, and children ’s attendance at school will increase thanks to improved health. “    

The ride was a great fun but the big satisfaction came from knowing that those contributing to the ride have helped to generate a bright new future for these people in need. 

Specifically I’d like to thank the following people who supported me in my fundraising efforts: (for privacy purposes I’ll keep it on a first name basis)

Mitch, Pat, Tom, Nancy, Jonelle, Shawn, Jeff, Belinda, Karen, Mike, Rachel, Geoff, Christine, Lysandre, Bill, Tom, Bil, Evonne, Randy, Lynn & Myron.

Throughout the year I’ll keep everyone posted as to the progress made on the wells.  I’ll also keep riding as I train for Pelatonia in August and I’ll definitely be back for next years Tour de H20.

See you next time!

 

Race for the Cure 2010

This Saturday my wife and I were once again privileged to participate in The Komen Race for the Cure.   A record crowd of over 50,000 runners and walkers were blessed by beautiful weather.  As always the crowd was excited and dressed for the occasion. 

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  As the volunteers prepared the post race drinks and snacks for the participants.   We were sipping our morning coffee as we watched the the crowd congregate.  

 

 

 

 

 

This years route was slightly different that last year and really showed off the size of the crowd.   It was an impressive site.   Yet

even with the massive amount of support for this cause, there was no escaping the fact that with every positive story of celebrating another year of survival, there were many more stories of loved ones lost.  Perhaps

toughest visual for me was a small boy, maybe 9, who wore a shirt which read “In Memory of Mommy”.      I have thought of this boy often as I am no stranger to the death of a parent at a young age.    Let the images like these be our motivation to always give back to our family, friends and community.  

Outdoor Sports - Get In Focus!

Okay, so you're out watching your kid play an outdoor sport, say lacrosse, and you are all excited to catch the action with your camera. Then in a flash your kid (#33 in this case) enters the action. You point your camera, autofocus kicks in and you shoot.



Now thanks to digital technology you look at the camera viewer to make sure you captured the shot. Got it! Later that evening you go home and download the picture onto your computer. Ahhh, there it is, the once in a lifetime shot of your son defending, arguably, the best offenseman in the state (okay I made that one up). Next you zoom in to take a closer look (that's your queue to click on the picture) and d#%@*^&, it's blurry.

This is an all to common scenario that often just can't be avoided. What you really want is to be able to follow the action all across the field and at the same time keep your subject in focus. To be honest this is not a trivial task and can be challenging even for the 'pros'.

In my experience, one of the biggest assets of a camera can also be one of the biggest pitfals. What is it? Auto-modes.

Here's the situation; when shooting sports you want the maximum light to achieve a reasonable shutter speed (around 1/500th sec for most sports with human participants). You would also like to have a reasonable aperture setting (I like f8 or greater) so that you attain a nice depth of field. Auto-modes, although pretty effective about 70% of the time, often make inaccurate assumptions when shooting moving objects, especially in situation where lighting is inconsistant.

So here's four tricks I've learned that might help:

1) Go Manual - I use the manual setting so that I can control both shutter speed and aperture. General rules of thumb for sports, shutter speed > 1/200th - Aperture >6.5.

2) Use Continuous Focus - if you've got it, use it (for sports). This will help your camera stay in focus as the subject is in motion.

3) Use Auto ISO - as dusk approaches or if shadows are a problem, Auto ISO will allow you to maintain your preset shutter speed and aperture by simulating the use of a faster speed film (in the 35mm days). Caution - when using this feature there is a point where your picture will degrade and become grainy. Find that point on your camera (around 800 for me) and manually re-adjust your shutter speed or aperture to keep below that point of degradation.

4) Use a tripod or monopod. This is especially important with zoom lenses as it is harder to hold the longer zooms steady.

As a bonus tip, use your continuous shooting mode liberally. Believe me, the pros don't rely on a single shot to capture the action. I shoot around 150 shots in a 1 hour game. The good news is by using these techniques over 95% of my shots are keepers.

Think about these tips at your next sporting event. Let me know about your success or failures. Also, if you have a tip you like to share, make a comment.

Until next time - keep shooting


PS On May 22nd I'll be riding in the Tour de H2O. A bicycle ride to support the effort to provide clean water to impoverished areas of the world. Check my Facebook page for more details and help if you can! Thanks!

Out of Hybernation

After a long cold winter it's finally starting to feel like spring, and for me it's time to start shooting sports. Right now it's 8th grade lacrosse which is an interesting game with lots of action and lots of good shots.

This is my son Caleb in the green #33.

For those of you not familiar with lacrosse, he plays a position called 'long-pole defense', or pole for short.

His experience in hockey has helped him progress very well in lacrosse, not to mention he plays a physical game which is another transfer from hockey.

Shooting lacrosse in Ohio is always interesting because of the changing conditions throughout the season, not to mention throughout the game itself. During a single game you may see bright sun at low angles, overcast, rain and yes even snow. As a photographer I've learned to dress for the conditions (maybe even overdress).

Aside from the weather, another challenge is that the games start at 6:00p and end around 8:00p. Well with spring in Ohio, it starts getting dark around 7:30p. So good shot are harder to compose as the evening grows later.

Over the course of the next few weeks I'll discuss in more detail some of the challenges of shooting outdoor sports in the East. I'll share with you some good shots as well as some bad ones. But most of all I'll share with you some of the techniques that I use to capture the action, without having to take a second mortgage on your home or sell your hierlooms.

Capturing the action under the best of conditions takes patience and persistance. If you're a perfectionist at heart, you may be in for a lot of frustration as you try to overthink the shot. But if you just become one with the "photographic zen" (see earlier posts) you'll soon begin to anticipate the action before it happens.

Communicating the action to your audience is how you get those attention getting shots. Because even though I'm all for that still shot of the player on the sidelines, it's the action shot that the players, families and friends really want to see. The shot that says "yeah I did good" or "that's my kid"; that's what brings the smile to the audience.

Well it's gettig late here so I'll leave you for tonight with a simple hint on shooting action shots.

HINT: If you study your subjects before you begin shooting, you'll be more equipped to anticipate where the action will be.

See you soon and keep shooting!

DFL Colts Championship Football Team

On October 25th, 2009, the Dublin Football League, Colts, won the Fifth Grade Championship. It was a convincing win by a very talented and disciplined football team. Here's a sample of the full video that is available to the players and families @ http://jkuamoophotography.com. Enjoy the show!

What is it??? – Fun photo ideas

 

   Are there times when you have trouble coming up with creative ideas for your photos?  Are you getting bored with taking the same landscapes or stills?  If so, check out this shot.    What do you think it is?   Perhaps a field of neon dandelions?    Maybe it’s the Northern Lights.   I guess it could just be an accidental shutter release (yeah we’ve all done that).

 

Now let’s rotate the picture by 90 degrees CW.    Does it look more familiar now?   Well if you guessed that it’s the dashboard on a car, you’re right.   But wait, it’s not in focus so it’s not a very good shot.   Well, that’s the fun.   Try using timed exposures in low light situations and see what you come up with.    This picture was shot with a 10 second shutter speed @ F8.     Slow enough to capture the low light of the dash while not fast enough to freeze the image.  

The following series of shots were taken in a moving vehicle while traveling down a local freeway.   As you view the shots, take note of the different colors and curves as the road twists and turns and the camera vibrates from the bumps on the road.    Fun  stuff?   Give it a try, you just might like your results.   And don’t worry about whether the results are correct because it’s art, and there are no right or wrong shots.  But please don’t try this while driving.    I want you around to read my next post. 

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So what do you think is it art, crap or just plain fun?   Often it’s a fine line between the two.   Let me know some of your fun photo ideas that get your creative juices going.

See you next time!

Kuamoo + Oldaker Wedding

It’s early in the morning on the 6th of September and the sun is just beginning to peak over the clouds that blanket the Gulf. But over Houston, the skies are clearing in what is shaping up to be the perfect day for a very special event. On this day two young hearts will become one. Two families will be joined by the bond created when their children are joined in matrimony.

The day before the ceremony the celebration had already begun. The dogs were anticipating that something big was about to happen. Andy and his dad, Kevin, spent some quality time sipping some home brew while watching The Buckeyes/Navy football game.

In the mean time Lani’s family was flying in from Ohio to join the festivities. Okay, so they didn’t fly in on F-15s, but these fighters took off from Port Columbus Airport on their way to a fly-by engagement at the Buckeye football game.

Soon after Lani’s family arrived at the apartment, it was off to a Japanese Steak House for a wonderful pre-wedding dinner. The meal was hot, but come wedding day the bride and groom were hotter!!!

Today is no doubt a very special day for all, but for daddy, yes that’s me, I played the dual role as father of the bride and photographer. The dual role, although somewhat complicated at times, is gladly accepted since today I give my princess away to Andy’s loving care.

It’s a grand day full of family friends and even a duck or two.

So check out Lani and Andy’s photo album of their special day and give them some love as you view the festivities. Enjoy!

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SIMPLE Photography Chapter 2 - Photographic Zen

In our last chapter we discussed the concept of thinking SIMPLE when approaching a photo opportunity. Your homework was to make the acronym SIMPLE part of your photographic mantra each time you take a photograph. Have you done that? Has it helped?

This week let’s take the SIMPLE concept a step further and discuss how two camera setting interrelate and potentially influence your SIMPLE photograph. To me, the interrelation of camera settings is a kind of Photographic Zen.

To begin this discussion let’s set some primary goals and make one key assumption:

Goal #1 – We want our photograph to have optimum uniform clarity

Goal #2 - We want our photograph to have average lighting and color quality (no extremes – high/low key, etc.)

Assumption – Your camera allows you to manually set aperture and shutter speed

Now, assuming that our lens is clean and we are able to get our subject in focus, there are two primary camera features that can help us attain our goals; they are:

Shutter speed – typically measured in some fraction of a second

Aperture (f-stop) – The size of the shutter opening.  The smaller the number the larger the opening.  

So how do these features provide picture clarity?

- Shutter speed can freeze the actions of a moving subject

This picture was shot at a shutter speed of 1/500s which freezes the motion of  the running dogs.

 

 

Aperture adjusts the depth-of-field or focal length of the camera

This picture was shot at an aperture setting of F9 in order to achieve a greater depth-of-field.   This setting keeps the not only the silo in focus but also the sky  and clouds above it.

Also note that both features also effect the amount of light that hits  camera sensor

So here’s the Zen:

• As the shutter speed increases, picture motion is stabilized but the light hitting the camera sensor is reduced, darkening the picture
• As the Aperture setting decreases (lower f-stop #), your picture will become brighter, yet the chance of uniform clarity in your picture decreases.   In other words depth-of-field, or the range in which subjects will be in focus decreases.

This picture illustrates a shallow Depth-of-Field.   The primary subject is in focus, but the rest of the picture is blurred.   The shot was taken at 1/500s @ F4.5

 

Confused?      Here’s a few practical scenarios:

1) You’re shooting an event and your on camera meter says you need more light. Currently your camera is set to 1/500s @ F8. In order to brighten your picture your first thought is to lower your aperture setting, say from F8 to F4. Doing this gives you the light you need but now your picture clarity does not appear uniform.

2) You’re shooting an event and your on camera meter says you need more light. Currently your camera is set to 1/125s @ F11. In order to brighten your picture your first thought is to slow the shutter speed, say from 1/125s to 1/60s. Doing this gives you the light you need but now your picture is showing some motion blur.

3) You’re shooting an event on a brightly lit day. You set your aperture to F4 to allow maximum light so that you can attain a really fast shutter speed, say 1/1000s^, because you really want to stop the action. But you are dissatisfied with the picture because the clarity is just not uniform.

These are three common scenarios with three common solutions. Technically the solutions chosen were correct as they did address the challenges of Motion and Lighting. However the resulting photos did not reflect our Intent, nor did it address all of the challenges of the Subject.      Getting the picture – SIMPLE?

So could we have done better?   Could we have addressed Motion and Lighting while also addressing Intent and Subject?    Realistically you will not always be able to satisfy all of the SIMPLE concepts in every picture, however in the scenarios described above here are some options that will improve overall picture clarity:

Scenario #1 - Rather than lowering the aperture setting which in turn reduces the focal range or Depth-of-Field, slow the shutter speed to approx. 1/400th.   At this setting you can still stop most of the action in a sporting event, increase the brightness of your picture, while maintaining a reasonable depth-of-field at F8.  

Scenario #2 - Rather than lowering your shutter speed, which increases the likelihood of motion blur, try lowering your aperture, perhaps F8. By doing this you maintain a reasonable depth-of-field, increase the brightness of your photo and prevent motion blur.  This is ideal where moderate movement (i.e. walking) is a factor.

Scenario #3 –  In bright lighting, rather than reducing the aperture consider reducing the shutter speed.  For instance, a setting of 1/800s @ F8 will maintain picture brightness, provide a reasonable Depth-of-Field, while providing a fast enough shutter speed to handle most any sporting event.

Summary

When composing a photograph, remember that there is a yen and yang balance to the Photographic Zen.   Making a camera adjustment with one feature (i.e. shutter speed or aperture) may address an obvious issue but may have an adverse effect on another of the SIMPLE principals.   If you are aware of this prior to setting up your shot, you’ll make more educated decisions that give you a much better chance of getting the shot you Intend.

In my next post I’ll share with you some of the basic rules of thumb that I use in various scenarios.   Until then keep thinking SIMPLE and find your Photographic Zen.   Happy Shooting!

 

Got questions?  Have a topic that you’d like for me to discuss?  Your Comments are welcome here or on my FaceBook page at: http://facebook.com/jkuamoophotography .   Also feel free to start a new or join an existing discussion on the FaceBook discussion board.

Simple Photography - Chapter 1 - Keep it SIMPLE

Today I start a series of posts that I call “Simple Photography”. My goal, over the course of the upcoming chapters, is to provide you with some golden nuggets that will increase your likelihood of capturing the shot you want.

There are so many things to discuss, as art can take on an infinite number of forms, and to simply say, “take your pictures like this” really doesn’t work. Why, because setting, subjects, processing, equipment and purpose can be unique to each picture. Therefore, in this first segment rather than discuss the technical aspects of photography or overwhelm you with a course on optics, I think it’s more important to discuss the basics of a photo opportunity. Yes, that’s right, the photo opportunity, not the photo itself. The reason to focus on the opportunity and not the photo is that like with most processes, shooting a photo is 80% preparation and 20% action.

So let’s begin by planting a seed. I believe that with every photo opportunity there are 6 key factors to consider. They are as follows:

Subject: Is your subject easy to portray or are their challenges? (bodily features, obstruction, noise).

I found this fellow at a sea park in Hawaii. He was was a great subject who didn't mind posing for this shot. The challenge was handling the surrounding glare and finding the right moment where the other sea lions in the pen wouldn't distract from the picture. This photo was shot with an old Sony Mavica, one of the original digital cameras which took pictures at less that 1 megapixal.

Intent: What is the intent or desired message that you want your photo to express? (joy, sadness, solitude, violence, power, etc.).

Yeah that me throwing a punch at Marty McSorley (rememeber him from the NHL). Here I'm trying to portray that I'm in control and ready to give Marty a knuckle sandwich. Luckily he wasn't buying it!

Motion: Is motion a feature of the photo or is it a hindrance; Is it passive or active?

In this shot expression of motion was important. Use of angles help capture the motion as the subject (our son Caleb) falls off the wake. Arm position and facial expression are also factors that illustrate the stresses that Caleb is under.

Post-Processing: If the photo is not ideal, what can you do in post processing to make it so or if the photo is good, can you make it even better.

Use of cropping cut out the unsightly buildings that were in the foreground. Adding a sepia tone adds to the mystery of the picture.

Lighting: Is the lighting at the desired level and contrast? Does the existing light cause undesirable glare, shadows or subject features (baggy eyes, double chins, discoloration).

Shooting sea life can cause extreme challenges due to subdued lighting and bending. If you are shooting through glass you must also be careful when using a flash as you don't want the reflection of the flash to ruin your shot.

Environment: Is this a controlled shot, a candid or just happenstance? Do you need to think ahead or do you have the luxury of taking your time and concentrating on the fine details of your photo?

Taking shots of our Wheaton Terrier, Teagan is never easy as she is a very active dog. Here as she blasts through the deep snow, I only had seconds to react. Luckily I knew this would be the case before I attempted the shot.

Okay, it’s time for your first pop-quiz. Can you guess what I call this approach to taking pictures? If you guessed SIMPLE, you may not be smarter than a 5th grader, but you are on the road to taking better photos.

So let’s just keep it SIMPLE for this chapter and send you off with a little homework. Until the next chapter, each time you get ready to take a picture, ask yourself if your photo opportunity is SIMPLE.

Next time we’ll discuss how the 6 components of the SIMPLE approach interrelate, then we’ll start putting this approach to the test. Until then, happy shooting!