Process of Elimination

*Warning* These are not my most impressive photos ever, but they are perfect for illustrating my points and since I learn and remember what I learn best by writing out what I am learning, you are stuck with them.

Ever since I took 30 photos of Sunflower with a plant for hair, I've known of the need for conciously eliminating distracting elements in my photos (though I didn't know of fancy names for it!)

Sure I blamed it on my brother-in-law's landscaping and I took similar poses 3 weeks later (really, I did!).  Now I can convert the photo to black and white and make you think that my baby just has some spectacularly spiky hair, but...

that doesn't fix the other problems.  Now two years later, I am actually "into" photography and with three kids, a ton of toys, and baskets of unfolded laundry, I am often scooting around and zooming in close to eliminate the ugly distractions.  Maybe that is why I LOVE close-ups!  But other times I am still finding myself with a sneaky basket or yellow slide in the background of an otherwise adorable picture.  That is why I am so thankful for Kat's willingness to freely share the different things that go into enhancing a photo or bring more interest to it's composition.  Each exploring the camera topic has been eye opening and I know will ultimately improve my photography.

Here is one example of what she taught us last week that I practiced at the beach on Saturday--actively thinking about what she had said.

The first shot:

A shot of my family playing in the sand, but look at all those extra people!  So I got a little closer and a little lower.

Good enough for a family snapshot which is the main purpose of my photos currently, but I thought lets get rid of just a little more.

Too bad Sunflower was trying to eliminate herself from the picture while I squatted down further.  Though I do love this photo (even if her arms are a little overexposed); it just is completely different now!

So since I did want the more cohesive group sand shot, even though Sunflower is still the only one really in focus, I took Kat's second advice for eliminating things~crop the photo~and I cropped the second photo.

I don't really see the point of cloning or healing out any part of this photo (though I might need to work on exposure some if I plan to print this :)), but I promise you I have to clone way too often because I don't think about my framing as carefully as I should.  Thank you, Kat, for the reminder!

So there you have it, one person's process of elimination and how that can change the whole look of a photo, for good or for bad!