This week’s challenge from 52Frames.com is Rule of Thirds.  The Rule of Thirds is typically one of the first rules you learn in photography and one of the best known.  Picture a tic tac toe board across your photo dividing the frame into nine equal parts, then you place your subject on one of the intersections of lines.  Our eyes naturally

land on these points and they are considered the sweet spots.  When I read about this challenge I was thinking of a lone tree in a field, possibly on a horizon line and went for a drive a few miles from my house and here is what I shot.

Lone Tree

I shot this on my Sony a6000 with 35mm f/1.8 lens.  This was shot at 1/1250 shutter speed, f/1.8 aperture, and ISO of 100.  I edited this in Lightroom and placed the tree at the top left intersection or third of the photo.  I made some adjustments in the lighting and adjusted the color since this was shot RAW.  I also decided to play around in Luminar 4 by Skylum and do some sky replacements since the clouds were kind of boring.

Although I liked both of the sky replacements I went with the original for my post to 52Frames.  Next week’s challenge is Intentional Color Palette.  This will focus on intentional use of color.

I had an idea to get a photo looking down from the tower at Willamette Valley Vineyards, but after climbing the tower and taking some shots of the vineyard I looked down the spiral staircase and decided to take a shot looking down. I ended up liking this one better the rest of the shots I took that day. I titled this one, “Winding Down at the Winery.”  At the bottom of this staircase a bottle of Cabernet Franc was waiting for me!

I shot this with my Sony a6000 with a Funleader 18mm f8 lens.  Here are a couple of other shots from the tower and what I was thinking of when I climbed the staircase.

And I finished the day with some fries and a bottle of one of my favorite wines!

Next weeks challenge is Rule of Thirds.

I enlisted the help of my son for this week’s fill the frame challenge. I had the idea of using a little flash and killing the background. This was taken inside our house around 10 am. I used longer lens with an f6.7 aperture. One light camera right with two Maggrid modifiers.

I used the Fujifilm XT1 with a 50-230 lens.  This photo was taken at f6.7, iso 200, and a shutter speed of 1/180.   You can find the challenges at https://52frames.com am also posting these photos on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/chrisbagger/  

Next weeks challenge is Shot From Above. The challenge is to look at the world from a higher vantage point, and shoot the world below. This type of photography is often referred to as 'bird's eye view' photography.

This week challenge from 52Frames was Wabi Sabi.  Wabi Sabi is a Japanese concept and a wonderful celebration of things (and people) that might have lost their original beauty, might even be viewed as imperfect, yet are still beautiful and meaningful.  I drive by this old farmhouse occasionally and thought of it when this challenge came up.  Although it is rundown and no longer occupied it makes you wonder about the people that lived here, how life was, and the children that were raised here.  

I used the Fujifilm XT1 with a 35mm f2 lens.  This photo was taken at f3.6, iso 200, and a shutter speed of 1/500.   You can find the challenges at https://52frames.com am also posting these photos on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/chrisbagger/  

The challenge for week 4 is Fill the Frame.  Making your subject the main thing in the photo and removing other distractions.

The challenge for week two on 52Frames was leading lines, something that leads the viewers eyes through the frame.  I was out driving around and spotted an irrigation line with some high contrast clouds in the background that I thought would look cool in black and white.  I had my Fuji XT1 with the 35mm f2 lens on and I shot this photo at 1/2,000 shutter speed, f/4 aperture, and an ISO of 200.

Water Lines in the Winter photo:

Next weeks challenge is Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese concept that more or less translates into the art of finding beauty in imperfection.