Using Someone Else's Vignettes

One thing I like about small cameras is that you can stick one in your purse and have it at all times! One spring day, I stopped by a little antique mall near where I live and took all these photos on my little Powershot. Some of them have been used in layouts and on cards.

I love window boxes. That is one thing I love about Charleston....they know how to do window boxes....they actually have people who do window boxes as their job for different businesses!

I took the photo above from the parking lot. It is the house where the owner of the antique shop lives. Once she opened it for her Holiday Open House and I was able to go inside. There is an arbor just to the right of this shot that is covered in wisteria!

A sense of design is important in card making, scrap booking and in photography. Analyze in your artwork how the eye travels. In the photo above, my eye begins with the little house and chair back, coming down the colorful wisteria and then is grounded by the white fencing in the foreground. That path forms almost a "Z" shape. It is a comfortable path for a comforting scene. If I want to evoke drama or action in a photo, I try to have more diagonal lines or add an element that is uncomfortable. The subject matter also adds to the overall feeling. A front porch in the spring time is a comforting subject.

They were having a Spring Reception at the shop and they had this hen and her babies in a glass case. I had so much fun photographing them. They had refreshments also and on the table was this bouquet that uses an antique postcard (another of my favorite things!). A beautiful quilt hung behind so I made sure I got that in the shot too.

Color is another thing that grabs your eye. In the photo of the hen, you go to the hen's face (which follows the thirds rule) as it has red on it. Then you hop to the chick on her back, the one whose head is sticking out under her trail and then if you look long enough, you will see the one hidden under her breast. It forms a letter "O", forming a complete circle.

Do I do all this analysis as I am taking the photo? Probably not, but I have done enough that it comes natural to me. That is where experience comes in. You see a shot...you know it looks good...and you take it. You can figure out later why it works. Joyce says that I can take good photos no matter what camera I am using.....it has more to do with composition than the price tag on the camera. (Not to say that I don't love a camera with a hefty price tag!)

A good exercise is to shoot a vignette from several angles...figure out which ones work and which don't and why....there is your assignment!