Tools to improve your pictures: Colour, composition, subject placement, depth of field

I would never have noticed this picture if it hadn't been for my 33-month-old granddaughter messing about with my hens and chicks. When I got down to her level, in order to get her away from my plants, I saw the view that had drawn her there.

The tall stalk is the first sign of a flower forming. The pink top is clearly the centre of interest of my picture. I carefully positioned the pointy, pink tip in front of darker, brown gap in the solid mat of hens and chicks. This hid the gap and took advantage of the contrast, making the pink tip "pop" free of the image. Try to actively position the subject of your pictures. To accomplish this, shift the camera position. Always note how the foreground relates to the background. This is important. Remember, you have a lot of control --- use it!

Using the rule of thirds, the pink tip is approximately placed at one of the intersection points. This is an example of classic placement of a centre of interest. It's a classic approach because it works.

Another trick used to attract the eye while making the subject jump out from the image is the use of a shallow depth field. The foliage in the background is gently out-of-focus. Personally, I often find it distracting when backgrounds are too far out-of-focus. I don't want to obscure what is present in the background, I just want to divert attention from the background to the foreground.

Of course, colour and tone are also used here to attract the eye. The bright pink is a natural for attracting the eye, especially when placed on a green background of just about the opposite shade on the colour wheel. The bright highlights on the edges of the developing blossom also work to attract and hold the viewer's attention.

Lastly, keeping the subject, the pink-tipped stalk, large in the image underlines the subject's importance. When composing a picture, always consider image size in the final image. Getting close to the subject, as I did, makes the subject relatively large compared to the other stuff in your image. The subject doesn't always have to be the biggest thing in your pictures. Just keep in mind that, to a great extent, you control the size of your subject through the choice of lens (wide angle or telephoto) and the shooting distance you choose when positioning the subject in front of your lens.

This is a simple picture but I like it. It captures the beauty of a spreading patch of hens and chicks --- a beauty that goes unnoticed all too often. Now, grab your camera and head out to the garden; I am.

Be brave and save the long lens for lions

Bugs are surprising, especially in photos. Their wings are so delicate, their bodies prickly with stiff, sometimes colourful, hairs. They are just generally creatures from another place --- from a world too small to see.

When I got interested in photography taking good pictures of bugs was difficult, and it was expensive. Today all that has changed. Most point and shoot cameras have macro settings, often the icon for close-up photography is a flower, and many cameras will shift into their macro setting automatically. What could be easier?

What is left for the photographer? Answer: getting close. Try and capture a big image, one that reveals details generally hidden by the bug's small size. Bees and wasps are good subjects if you are careful and don't get them agitated. They themselves are very colourful right off the bat and then you have the colourful flowers on which they feed. Perfect.

Turning a weakness into a strength

My wife is not fond of hostas. Just a bunch of green leaves, she says. I, on the other hand, love 'em. I see colour, mostly green I grant you, but many have wonderful splashes of yellow and others sport dashes of creamy white.

I love the way the expand quickly in the spring, claiming the entire area of the garden they occupy as their own. The leaves swirl and overlap and, to me, they are as beautiful as a large, colourful flower.

When the hosta flowers appear in late summer, small purple flowers on long stems, their look is overshadowed by the plant's leaves. Still, the flowers are a nice addition to the dramatic, hosta presentation.

Capturing what I see when I look at a hosta means getting in close. It means keeping all in crisp focus. It means finding and capturing the mad swirls and twisting splashes of colour.

And this is a job than can be handled with aplomb by almost any point-and-shoot. I used my Canon S90 but I can't think of a PAS camera that wouldn't rally to this challenge. It is not just the aperture, the f/stop, that governs depth of field, deep focus in an image, it is the size of the sensor.

35mm cameras had more depth of field than their large two and a quarter brethren. Today's digital PAS cameras have even more depth of field than their 35mm counterparts. So much depth of field poses its own set of problems but here it is a solution and not a curse.

Hey kid, time for lesson No. 2

Fiona has a hard time using my little camera. She gets her fingers in front of the lens, or worse she gets those smudgy fingers right on the glass. Holding the camera steady is a whole other problem.

I have a problem, too: Patience. I tend to run a little low on the stuff when she's got my Canon S90 --- a camera she has taken to calling her camera.

Seeing a purple flower, she wanted to use "her" camera. I had to remind her to keep her fingers off the lens. I had to tell he not to get too close. The camera can't focus when you get in too tight. To which she asked, "What's focus?"

She took picture after disappointing picture. I kept encouraging her. She could see she had missed the shot from viewing the image on the back of the camera. But I could see the back of the camera as she c composed her shot. I could tell her to raise the camera or lower it. I admit to helping her crop the final picture of the flower that she so desperately wanted to capture photographically.

Thanks to bright sunlight, usually the bane of photography, she had lots of depth of field and a quick shutter speed to stop the camera wobble. She doesn't have the steadiest of grips.

It was tough, on both of us, but I think it was worth it. The little girl got her shot of the purple flower.

Now, if you've got some little ones in your life, give some thought to letting them use your camera. It is not a toy. This is not just play. But, this is fun. Stay close, don't let them abuse the camera --- on purpose or by accident -- work with them so they can share their view of the world with others.

Good luck!

Lesson No. 1, kid.

Get your fingers off the lens, kid.

Years ago I wrote a photography column for The London Free Press. One column encouraged readers to let their children use the family camera. Watch them carefully, I said, don't let them drop the thing. To prove that kids could be trusted, I borrowed a friend's five-year-old and headed off to a local park.

After breakfast can I take some pictures.

The little one did quite well. In fact, for years I used her picture of a number of swimming water birds to shame grad students at Western into applying themselves at photography.

My granddaughter is almost 32-months-old and I'm thinking it is time to hand her the camera. She agrees. We go for walks and she sees stuff that interests her. Pointing this stuff out, she tells me, "Get out the camera. That makes a picture!"

Rather than take orders from a toddler, I'm giving her the camera. Heck, she is always saying, "I want to do it myself." I've decided, "O.K. kid, do it yourself."

I say, you're never too young to learn to keep your fingers off the camera lens. That'll be lesson number one.

Be Prepared

The fast f/2.0 lens of my Canon SD90 comes through again.

Little Eloise has wonderful skin: Blemish free and a healthy, rosy hue.

Sitting in her car seat with her purple Teddy bear Violet, the lighting in our hallway entrance was perfect. It was soft but directional and clean. The colour temperature could not have been better. All that was needed was a catch light in her eyes.

I took a few shots in case she never did look up. I didn't want to come away with no picture at all. But, I was in luck, she glanced upwards and "Snap!" I had the picture.

Learn to watch the light illuminating your subject; Anticipate future action. Photographers are wise to apply the motto of the Boy Scouts: "Be prepared."

For want of a battery the photos were lost

All images shot with my Canon PowerShot SD90.

 Today I went with a friend to the Butterfly Conservatory in Cambridge. The place has something on the order of 2000 butterflies and moths flitting about the exhibition hall. There are lots of picture opportunities.

With today's point and shoots, with their relatively fast lenses, both close-up and telephoto capabilities, taking pictures should be, forgive me, a snap. Unfortunately, my friend packed it in early. His battery died and he had not brought along his spare.

I know he has one. When he got his little point and shoot, I insisted he buy a spare battery and I encouraged him to carry it with him whenever he was out taking pictures.

Many folk think erroneously that taking pictures is hard. It isn't. Not anymore. Just being there is often enough, as long as you are there with a working camera. This means having at least two batteries: a fresh one in the camera and another in your pocket. For most of us, this will get us through a day's shooting.

And don't forget the card. I like my SD cards with lots of capacity --- 8 GB is my smallest card. I don't want my shooting grinding to halt because my SD card is full. For a bit more about the day and another image from the shoot, please check out London Daily Photo.