Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Wordy Wednesday: "Mr. DeMille, I am ready for my close-up"

I have always loved to take pictures. And not just ordinary pictures. But pictures that have an artistic bent to them. Even when I just had a Kodak 110 camera. Which is kind of amusing considering I finally have the big girl camera. But have absolutley no idea as to how to use it.
Most of the time I just leave it on automatic. And sometimes I like to play with the settings. The aperture. And manual focus. And if it turns out well. It's clearly a fluke.
When I take pictures, what I really like to do is to get close. I mean really close. With everything. Including people. I know ya'll have laughed at my no hips rules. But. I just think that pictures are clearer. Crisper. More detailed. And just better. When they are close up.
(and special thanks to Lizzy's daughters for holding the leaf so still so that I could take a picture!)


This is the opposite of the way my grandfather would take pictures. I remember when I lived in Florida. He and my grandmother had come for a visit. And we were saying our good-byes. Before they left, my grandfather wanted to get a picture of the whole family. So we treked out side. Stood in front of the door to our house. While my grandfather walked ACROSS the street. So he could not only capture our whole family. But our whole house. Maybe even a smidge of the house next to us.

So...what about you? Do you prefer the little details or the big picture? What kinds of pictures do you like to take? How long have you been taking pictures? Do you remember your first camera? Have you entered THE contest yet?

post signature

Theme song: Train - Drops of Jupiter. Because I love this song. And songs. Like art. And photography...are all in the interpretation and the impression that is left on you.

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those are pretty! I keep meaning to try real macro shots, but I never quite get around to it. Those little beads of water intimidate me somehow.

Swirl Girl said...

Gorgeous shots - I love taking pictures .

I was taught to #1 don't forget to put film in the camera and #2 take meaningful pictures with people in the shot somehow. 'Cuz your on vacation, and you've seen one museum or another... and after a while - they all start to look the same. (the museums not the people,I mean)

Dacia's School said...

That is so cool. I love nature pics

MsTypo said...

Great pics! :) I love taking photos of just about anything. Since teh advent of digital cameras, though, i feel more free to let my photography go wild. Being able to delete bad photos and not having to pay an arm and a leg for developping is the best part of digital cameras! :)

Firefly Mom said...

I'm like Cairo Typ0 - since getting a digital camera, I take SOOO many more pictures!

I'm also like you, in that I like to be close enough to actually capture the people's expressions. My hubby has to constantly be coaxed to move closer when he has the camera because we end up with a little bitty person and a whole lot of surrounding nothingness. Or clutter, if the pix was taken in the house ;)

Ruskin said...

Somethings just seem to be asking me to take a photo. At home, most of the photos are deleted. I love digital cameras!
I love to focus on the detail in my paintings though, because I really get a buzz out of looking close up at paintings and not being disappointed. I love Millais's paintings for this reason. Your beautiful raindrop leave wouldn't look out of place in 'Autumn Leaves' by Millais.

Lizzie said...

Those are very nice macro shots!
I share your passion and after many years finally have my dream camera. How I love to play with it!

larkswing said...

Love those shots!

I ususlly start with the big picture and then notice the details that I was missing to begin with!

Unknown said...

I love all kinds of pictures... everything is important (the big and the little). There is a whole world inside each one of those water drops.

Lauren W said...

I'm with you. I'm all about the close-ups.
And I'm loving those leaves. I have a thing for water droplets :)

judahmo said...

I love close-ups! I am fascinated by the details in pictures like these.
Shannon

Denea said...

I love taking pictures, especially of nature. People aren't that great to photograph in my opinion because they start giving me weird looks when I start searching for the shot I want. A flower, on the other hand, won't complain if I zoom in too much. I guess you could say I like to control my media. ;) My current camera is a Nikon that my granddad bought me several years ago. It takes some amazing pictures.

Twisted Fencepost said...

I like to take all kinds of pictures. Close up and far away, just depending on the subject. My favorite is nature.
And my first camera was a 110, too.

laughinglioness.lisa@gmail.com said...

I love seeing the view that wasn't considered. This is awesome!

Unknown said...

#1 - I can't wait to show those to the girls - could you send me those?

#2 - I LOVE close ups... the detail... you see things you just don't see all the time.

#3 - I had one of those flat, rectangular kodaks that took the goofy roll of film...

#4 - I love those pictures... I love that my girls saw the beauty in them....

Aleta said...

I love the third shot. I love detail. It looks like you could turn it into a painting and just stare at it for hours. It's cool how the drops magnify the leaf veins!

For me, I got my first camera when Polaroids were new. I took pictures of everything and anything. I'm still a shutter bug. It runs in the family.

Brandy said...

I prefer closeup shots and a lot of times I will take the time to crop pictures. That way the focus is not on the background.

S however has a really bad habit of taking pictures where all you see is the background because he doesn't focus or zoom.

Who knew a wet leaf could be so beautiful...great shots!

sassy stephanie said...

I'm a closer upper too. It helps see details of things we often take for granted. Just look how beautiful that leaf is.

Angela said...

Absolutely beautiful pictures!

Anonymous said...

My DS14 loves pics like this. Those are really good!

Jo-Jo said...

I love taking pitures and since I have a 1 year old and a 2 year old, it is normally the big picture I take. I don't normally have time for the small details. Thank you for giving me the thought that I need to take time and enjoy the smallest of details!

Anonymous said...

I love closeups, I also love taking pictures of kids on the ground looking up and from behind, walking away... It's an obsession. Or looking over a park bench - lmao for proof of that take a look at my WW this week, I just realized I think I have all of those in this bunch. ::snickers::

Those pictures are beautiful, love the water droplets :)

Oh and my first camera was one of those cheap rectangular cameras - from Disney World I think, it had Mickey Mouse on the corner.

Anonymous said...

Great shots! I wish I had an eye like that.

Rhea said...

Woohoo, those are great photo!! Impressive, Kat!!

I prefer close ups as well, unless I'm documenting an experience, then I might take a few wide, far back photos to get perspective.

Rhea said...

BTW, look who's back on top of the list. yeah, baby!

Skeller said...

So beautiful, Kat!!

Nissa said...

You really are a natural, Kat. Beautiful leaf pics. I love the up close details (except on myself; I don't like to see my imperfections on film!) Dewy pictures are among my favorites!

You know I don't take pictures. Not good ones, anyway!

debi9kids said...

Fantastic photos! I love them closer like that too. Just beautiful :)

KimmyJ said...

Great shots! I wish I were a good photog. I got a laugh imagining your GF trapsing across the stree for the family photo!

Kathi Roach said...

You are talented girl!!! Those are great pictures. I love close ups too...there is so much to be said in the details. The only exception is that I cannot stand a close up picture of myself! :)

My first camera was a Vivatar pocket camera from my Grandma...loved that thing. I was maybe in 3rd or 4th grade when she gave it to me. It was an awesome Christmas gift.

Anonymous said...

Very cool

MARGARETE said...

Beautiful...I like to get closeups.

The Joye of Teaching said...

Great pics- wish I was arty! I jut love getting pics of people :)

Elena said...

Those are gorgeous shots! I'm trying to get more brave about new angles and close ups. I love them, but I love big pictures too. I love to look at all the old "big" pictures from when I was a baby and see how much has changed. There's one in particular where a bottle of Johnson's baby lotion is on the counter in the background and it's so fun to see the old packaging. I had a fun little kodak for my first camera. So fun.

Carrie said...

I love all different kinds! Back when I first started scrapbooking, I used to crop the heck out of my pictures, not realizing how much I was losing by cutting everything out!

The close-up ones capture the intricacies of the subject, the middle ones show context, and the large ones show perspective.

With the leaf, close up on the beads of water, middle of a hand holding the wet leaf, large of Lizzy's daughters holding the leaf trying to remain completely still, perhaps with a cup of water?

All equally intriguing and beautiful, wouldn't you say?

Susie said...

Great pictures!! I am soooo jealous because I desperately need a new camera!!

I like taking pictures of food so I would have to say I like details more than the big picture. I have been taking these pictures since I started my blog. My first camera had flash bulbs on top:-)You know...the kind you had to remove after 4 pictures:-)

Jen said...

kat, I really love those pictures. I would totally make them black and white and hang them up in my house. I love doing stuff like that. Nice work.

Britt said...

I'm all about the details .. except when the details happen to be beads of sweat on my forehead, gaping pores, or blackheads on my nose.

It's right about then I wished I had a guy like your Grandpa around.

Great picture, by the way .. So pretty! And kudos to the girls for having such steady hands!

Lula! said...

Sigh...

You are better than me at everything. And I'm not bitter. I'm happy for you. Really.

Melissa said...

These are gorgeous! I too have a camera that has potential I haven't reached with it yet... and close ups are my thing.

Mama Dawg said...

I LOVE to take pictures! It's my favorite thing to do. I like 'em close up. Real close up.

namaste said...

I love close up pics as well. I recently got my dream camera, the canon rebel xsi. I am in everyones face now and zoomed as close as possible. I LOVE IT! Great pics!