Intro by Skip Cohen
I found this post in Bob Coates’ archives and love a few different points it helps me make.
- Over the years he’s developed a great relationship with a fairly big group of people who simply love photography. With this post, he’s sharing some photographic tips directed towards the general public through his column in one of the local publications. Look for ways you can position your expertise as a photographer in your community.
- Giving back to the community is a big part of Bob’s life in Sedona. I love the fact that he quietly snuck in his support for Meal on Wheels. By doing this, he’s helping to plant the seed with his readers about supporting a significant non-profit in the area. No matter where you live there’s an opportunity to help a charitable cause, and by bringing the organization into your blog you help raise awareness.
- Bob’s a Panasonic Luminary and regularly features one of their cameras in his blog posts. Many of you have an opportunity to show support for the companies whose products and services you use, with or without a formal sponsorship relationship.
- Last on the list, as he did with a recent post, Bob is constantly fine-tuning his skill set and always willing to share his expertise. You’ve got to regularly experiment to build a stronger skill set.
At a time when so many of you are looking for ideas on content for your blog, there are four different directions you should consider. Too often photographers share an image from a recent shoot without any supportive text. Just showing images is for your galleries, but if you’re going to maintain your blog then give your readers exciting content!
By Bob Coates
Sedona has had a very wet (for us) spring and the result has been lots of flowers flourishing, in the wild and in the gardens. As you may remember I write a column for the local monthly paper, The Villager, to help keep my name out there. It’s called Photographer’s Corner and I offer tips on making better images. Usually, the tips are pretty simple from a pro’s point of view but they are appreciated by the general public.
It was nice while on my Meals on Wheels route to have the Lumix FZ 1000 on hand to grab some flower photos as I saw them. Being able to zoom to 400mm made it possible to shoot from the car through an open window during the rain. (make sure you turn the car off to cut down the vibration) Here’s one of an Iris standing tall on an overcast day which gave good detail.
Straight capture for the article illustrating the concept of ‘Filling the Frame’. Camera settings 1/320 sec F4.0 ISO 160
Once I had the image on the computer I had to play just to see what I could see…
Here’s another version. Always try something new when I have time.
The images were created blending a photo of a wall of small leaves and a photo of some dead leaves raked into a pile. Textures can come from a myriad of places and subjects. Thought I’d keep these textures organic in keeping with the flower.
