Short and sweet

1. Referencing my comments on the previous page, here is one instance where I didn’t run my eyes around the frame and missed the fact that I cut off the tips of two shoes. This is a traditional water seller in Morocco, and my guide, Ali, was having a discussion with him. I’m not happy with myself for this error. 2. Rarely do I include groups of tourists in my pictures. In fact, I do everything possible to exclude them. This is an exception. My exposure was 3.2 seconds to purposely blur the street car, but at the same time the long exposure blurred the people on the left into an acceptable abstraction.

3. Some photographers like to show parts of birds, like the wings, somewhat blurred because, they contend, it ‘implies motion’. I disagree. Motion is implied simply because the bird is airborne. Sharply defined wings (and body) of birds in my opinion makes the images much more compelling. 4. Midday lighting can be acceptable if the sun is front lighting or sidelighting the subject, as it is here with this Tennessee barn. What you don’t want is a midday sun behind the barn. Is this as good as sunrise or sunset? No, but it’s okay. Notice how the texture is rich and there aren’t too many dark shadows. §

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