By Ian Hollidae, 2024/12/03

This was a photo opportunity that arrived fast and left even faster. It's the front edge of a late afternoon storm. At first, all I could think about was getting home before it hit. But as I was measuring how to beat the storm, this shot appeared directly overhead and thought it was too good to pass up.

In order to capture the shot, I knew I didn't have time to line things up perfectly. So I decided to try and frame the shot with as wide a framing as needed. I would simply crop what I wanted in editing.

On an iPhone, zooming is digital. If you're a (relative) beginner like me, you'll come to realize that it's useless. But one thing I've learned is if you enlarge the ratio setting, you can get a little more coverage of the shot you're trying to take. In this case, I took shots in a ratio setting of 4:3 (default on my iPhone) and 16:9. Both ratios gave me the shot I wanted.

Fortunately, I was able to get off a number of shots because two minutes later the entire sky was covered.

Photo Only

This post is a continuation of the Beginners Photography Project.

By Ian Hollidae, 2024/11/01

This was one of those photos that made me think about how to push the limits of an iPhone and how I would translate what I've learned when I eventually switch to a "real" camera.

Originally, I wanted a picture of just the building with clear sky in the background. But positioning and repositioning didn't provide anything of interest so I decided to experiment with compositional balance. At first, I included the moon but eventually I added the contrail as well. The photo stopped being about the building and became more about what we can see over our heads.

In the end, I decided I liked the shot. Sometimes setting aside standard/rigid photographic rules can produce something you're happy with.

Photo Only

This post is a continuation of the Beginners Photography Project.

By Ian Hollidae, 2024/10/10