Photo Assignment #2: Getting Closer

Hopefully I'll get around to posting something to these assignments soon. In the meantime, I wanted to mention something. Several times now I've given the book "How To Photograph Your Baby" by Nick Kelsh to friends when they've had a first baby. It's a brief consumer-grade book designed to be quickly read and digested by new parents who are sleep-deprived and lucky to find time to read anything. Nick Kelsh is famous for his "naked baby" pictures, but the advice is easy, common sense stuff designed for consumers with point & shoots. The key elements of his advice are:
1. turn off the flash. Use high speed film (yep :)
2. shoot a LOT. Difference between pro photos and amateur is that pro shoots 36 throws away 35 and the remaining shot is much better than the 1 the amateur shot.
3. GET CLOSE !!! Experiment to find out minimum focus distance at wide angle and tele settings, remember those and then GET CLOSE. Lots of examples of snapshots of kids playing in a room full of clutter, then counterexamples of faces.

dilettante: well, this assignment turned out very hard with the fear factor (pun intended) so i decided to ease the things.. may be i should edit the rules to reflect this..

recently watched that movie 2 times (actually 2,5 times:P)
its pure hilarious comedy!

i even memorised this! > pie jesu domine, dona eis requiem.

Probably a soft entry, but I really was scared.... try taking a photo of a grabby 18 month old girl with hands and face covered in pasta with bolognese sauce! Happily, I was able to get this shot just before she reached for my glass with some scary looking hands (she doesn't like to use cutlery!)


30mm, f5, 1/125, ISO400

Here's my entry. I 'got closer' to a letter box that's built into a wall to get a detail of it, rather than capture the whole thing. In terms of overcoming fear or embarrassment, I did a) feel a bit silly taking a picture of a letter box, and b) have to explain to the woman in whose wall it is that no, I wasn't gathering evidence that she was failing to keep the letter box free of ivy :-)

Taken with a Minolta 28/2.8



I'm not sure that this qualifies but I'm struggling with this assignment because I usually get close to my favourite subjects anyway - I like taking macros and close shots mostly. I also occasionally take pictures of the moon, but I didn't think getting closer to that by climbing on a stepladder would make much difference :-)

Dodgy, Rosie, dodgy!

I think the judges may have to have a stern word. LOL

You and my daughter both. She really freaks.

I don't think we have a bravery award at Dyxum. LOL.

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