J is for JUXTAPOSITION

Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. By placing contrasting elements side by side, you add interest to your photographs. You can use small and large, light and shadow, happy and sad, smooth and rough, old and new, horizontal and vertical, dogs and cats, etc.

However, that’s not all you can do in photographs. By using opposing colours of the colour wheel (i.e. using warm and cool colours in contrast), you add a touch of tension to the photo. Also, by using slower shutter speeds along with still objects, you can show moving objects compared to stationary object.

You can also show contrast between sharp focus and out of focus elements by using a wider aperture to blur the background and foreground. All of these methods will add interest and help define the idea behind the photograph.

I went through my photos to see if I had included any juxtaposition in them, considering I had no idea what that was at the time. Remember, I’m still learning just like lots of you. With the following photos, see if you can figure out just how juxtaposition is incorporated.

In this shot, the iconic Vancouver Hotel (opened in 1939) is reflected in the ultra-modern high-rise.

Here we have water, city, and mountains

Here we have two elements: contrast of tall grasses compared to a tall man and the contrast of blue (cool colour) and orange (warm colour).

Here is a bright contrast between green and blue plus a diagonal line within a rectangular frame.

Finally, in this shot I focused on the center of the bud and let the background become blurred.

And in closing, I must thank the jaunty Mrs. Nesbitt for the creation of ABC Wednesday. She and her jolly jewel of a team jump over to everyone's site to, at times, joke around while giving jovial and jazzy comments. Some of us are joyful, others are jaunty or jubilant. But we are never never jealous or judgmental of anyone's post! Here we might jest, but we always encourage one and all to join in the fun.

I is for IMAGES

Immense thanks to Denise Nesbitt for creating this incredibly creative site! All contributors post such interesting, inspirational, and impressive photos and writings and those of us who visit are inspired by your informative and illustrious offerings.

There are 3 IMAGE formats relevant to digital photography. I will try to illuminate them for as clearly as possible.

JPEG stands for "Joint Photographic Expert Group" and has become the standard format for storing photographic images in digital cameras and for displaying them on internet web pages. They are smaller than TIFF formats and as a result they lose some image data. However, “JPEG files achieve a smaller file size by compressing the image in a way that retains detail which matters most, while discarding details deemed to be less visually impactful.” (from http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/imagetypes.htm)

TIFF stands for "Tagged Image File Format" and is used mostly in the printing and publishing industry. They are significantly larger than JPEG images and can be compressed or uncompressed making sure the image retains all of the image information. This type of file is excellent for intermediate files that you may want to edit later. Many digital cameras have the capability of saving images in either TIFF or in JPEG, but TIFF images take up excessive space. Therefore, it is recommended that one use RAW format because they are significantly smaller while still retaining more information about your image.

The RAW file format is digital photography’s equal to the negative in film photography. It contains untouched, "raw" pixel information from the digital camera’s sensor, containing one red, green, or blue value at each pixel spot. Digital cameras normally "develop" this RAW file by converting it into a full color JPEG or TIFF file, and then store this file in the memory card. Because digital cameras have to make many decisions when developing a RAW file, this format offers more control over how the final JPEG or TIFF image is produced. If you’re interested in the steps a RAW file takes to change an image into a TIFF or JPEG file, see http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/RAW-file-format.htm.

In conclusion, I thought I’d show you some of my favourite images from over the past little while, all using a JPEG file format. These photos gave me hope that Spring cannot be far away. Come with me for a little tour of my neighbourhood, culminating in an awesome shot of a reflection of the iconic Vancouver Hotel in a new skyscraper in downtown Vancouver. I'll be using that same photo next week for another reason, so keep it in mind. Be sure to turn up your sound to hear the accompanying music.

Customize your own greeting card

H is for HUE and the HOT SHOE

My title this week sounds a bit like a crazy Welshman with fantasies of doing naughty things with a stiletto. I know, you thought maybe I'd transgressed a bit and there'd be a little titillation, but no. I intend to discuss "Hue" and the "Hot Shoe" and how they fit into my theme of photography. Sorry if I disappoint.

Hue refers to the properties of colour and although there are many mathematical considerations in its computation, I will avoid that part like the plague. You can change the hue in a photo by using any photo software like Photoshop Elements. By playing around with the hue or saturation tool, you can end up with a photo that looks completely unreal. This is fine if you're trying for a surrealistic look, but be careful not to overdo. The purpose of this tool is to alter the vibrancy of colours by either enhancing dull or bright colours. Here are a couple of examples using the same scene taken in a Sicilian olive grove.

First, we have the photo in what I call a "natural" hue.

Second, the photo has been changed to add a yellow hue.

Third, the photo has added a pink hue.

Fourth, the photo has a purple hue.

Finally, the photo has a normal hue with a 50% saturation level.

So you can see that playing with the Hue (and saturation levels) can create a totally different look, depending on what you want to demonstrate. The following shows an example of what I did to the photo of a bow thruster (on a boat) by distorting it with a "wave" element and then saturating it to the maximum level. A boring steel-coloured circle turns into "op art." What do you "see" in the abstract?


Does anyone know what a Hot Shoe is in relation to photography? Contrary to its image as something sexy, it is the spot on the top of a camera where you can mount a flash unit. It is shaped like an inverted, squared-off U of metal. The matching adapter on the bottom of the flash unit slides in from the back of the camera and is sometimes secured by a clamping screw on the flash. In the center of the "U" is a metal contact point. This is used for standard, brand-independent flash synchronization. Normally the metal of the shoe and the metal of the contact are electrically isolated from each other. To fire the flash, these two pieces are shorted together. The flash unit sets up a circuit between shoe and contact—when it is completed by the camera, the flash fires. (from Wikipedia) See below.

So I guess there is an element of mating with the hot shoe, but not a very exciting one.

Hallelujah to Mrs. Nesbitt, who in my mind should wear a halo for all her heroic efforts keeping ABC Wednesday going for 10 rounds! She has hands-down won my admiration for such a creative, intelligent and heartfelt meme. Her happy, hectic and hilarious (yet humble) handful of helpers will visit each contributor to hand out kudos for their posts. No one is hostile, hypocritical, or hateful here. We're all here for fun and to meet people from all over the world. So join in and have some happy times!

G is for GRAYSCALE

Grayscale is a photo that is made up of varying tones of black and white. Grayscale is basically black and white photos. These images are also monochromatic, which means there is only one (mono) colour (chrome) in the image. Most people have some sort of computer imaging software and will tweak their photos by fixing the contrast, colour levels, hue, tint, saturation, and will also tweak the dark and light shadows. In contrast, you can also put colour into original old black and white photos with these software products. Click to enlarge all photos.

Some of you may have previously seen the following photo on my blog. However, see what you think of the photo when I transform it into grayscale. What are your thoughts?










I think that the simple act of turning the photo into black and white, or grayscale, makes the photo look more like it was taken in the 40s or 50s instead of in 2006. Also, you notice the shadows and the men instead of being distracted by the colours they're wearing.

Here are a few more photos that I converted into grayscale:

What did you notice about my choice of photos to convert to grayscale? If you thought "all the photos are of historic places or things," you would be correct. The old shipbuilding warehouse in the village of Steveston, the railway station and tracks in Fort Langley, the old 1940s luggage, the World War 2 cannon in England, and the historic church all look even better in grayscale. Not everything works in grayscale, although you might have noticed that lots of young couples are getting engagement or wedding photos done in grayscale.

Here's one more photo to consider. The first has the shadows lightened to the maximum, the second has the shadows darkened to the maximum, and the final photo is my preference with a midtone contrast. It's all in how you prefer your photos.
This week, I encourage you all the experiment with your photo software! Try converting some of your photos to grayscale and see what you think about it.

Thanks as usual go to Mrs. Nesbitt for her gargantuan effort to keep ABC Wednesday alive and growing! Her gallant gang of gorgeous and good-natured teammates will visit all participants and let them know how much we appreciate their contributions. Some of us are goofy, some are gushy, some are grouchy but we are all gleefully generous in our glowing praises! You will all receive a gloriously great grade just for joining in!

F is for F-STOP and FILES

First of all, I want to thank everyone for stopping by last week to comment on my post, especially those who really liked the photo of the reflected boat sheds (a lot of blue). I had entered that photo on Red Bubble, and it was featured in the Beautiful BC Group on Friday. So thanks again!

One of the most difficult things for me to understand so far in my study of photography is the F-Stop. I think it's because I don't have an SLR camera, but rather a high-level digital. I only get to practise changing the aperture settings to a certain extent, so it's still a bit of a mysterious part of photography. I will try to explain it so you and I both will get it, though. This is all thanks to many websites I've checked out so here goes.

First, we have to understand what "aperture" means. It is the opening formed by a system of metal leaves in the lens that open up and close down to control the volume of light passing through the lens. It is the lens's equivalent of the iris of our eye. (from here) Keeping this in mind, the F-Stop is the number given to indicate how much light is allowed through the lens. Simply put, the higher the number equals less light allowed in and the lower the number equals more light allowed in. A photo taken at F-2 will be brighter than a photo taken at F-16. Here are a couple of examples of photos I took of a rose at different F-stops. The one on the left was set at -2.0 and the one on the right was set at +2.0. Neither is right for the photo, but from practise, I found the proper setting.











Something that my photography tutor suggested is that when you upload your photos, always save the original in a special File. Then when you crop, resize, adjust contrast and levels, etc. save it again in a different File. That way, if you want to try different things like colour, saturation, cropping and sizing at another time, you'll always have the original to work from. I have to admit that I don't always do this except for photos that I consider to be first rate. My cameras seem to take photos in 72 or 96 dpi, too, so I always change it to 300 dpi. Here is an example of an original photo that I cropped and increased to 300 dpi. It was taken in Italy in 2006.













Special thanks go to the Fabulous Denise Nesbitt for creating ABC Wednesdays. She and her formidable team of faithful, fashionable and far-flung cyber family help her out by visiting all the contributors to make comments and let them know how much we appreciate their posts. Please join in as it's so much FUN!

E is for EXPOSURE and EXTREMES

Exposure in photography means the amount of light falling on the image during the process of taking a photograph. This can be very complicated when trying to educate oneself, as I am, especially when I don't have an SLR camera, but rather a high-level digital. Simply put, it refers to the length of time the shutter is open. Low light requires a longer shutter cycle while strong light requires a shorter shutter cycle. With SLR cameras, the photographer adjusts the exposure manually, whereas with the type of camera I have, the exposure is calculated automatically. To read more detailed information about exposure, click here or here for a video explanation.

Don't forget to click on the photos to see them in a larger format.

The following are examples of (1) low light exposure (photo courtesy of L Evans copyright) and (2) bright light exposure (my photo).


An extreme in photography is anything that surpasses the standard or is rare. For example, not rather high, but extremely high. Not a little cold, but excessively cold. Not some emotion but exhilarating emotion. Not some details, but excessive and sharp details. Extremes bring drama or visual impact and are related to what are called oddities. These oddities will become weird or bizarre when taken to the extreme. Also, an extreme does not need to be an oddity. For example, a fire is hot as we all know, but its excessively high temperature can be called an extreme.

This photo is considered to be extreme because of the contrast between the dark foreground shape and the brilliant fire-like sunset. The following one is extreme because of its contrast - it is not really black and white but appears to be. (Photos courtesy of L Evans copyright)

The following two photos of my own are "extreme" because the first one is not a little blue, but extra-brilliant blue. And the next one is extremely high.

Extremely excessive thanks to our extraordinary hostess Denise Nesbitt for designing this exciting ABC Wednesday. Her enthusiastic ensemble of assistants will drop by all the participants' contributions to give expansive comments on your posts. Please join in the fun if you haven't yet by simply clicking here.