Closer Than We Think

It is not so far away, Christmas.

When taking shots of Christmas ornaments it is a good idea to try and get close. Sometimes the big wow-wee photos of trees in all their splendor work out well but often the ornaments are lost to the greater show.

Get close and make sure you have good lighting. Take the ornament off the tree to decrease clutter. Here, some of the light spots in the back (some sweet bokeh) and also the shadow in front, echo the shape of the ornament, pointing to it instead of taking away from it.

Whisper

This quiet hush of tulips softens my moment, maybe even my day.

When I brought this image into Lightroom, I decreased the saturation and softened the contrast to bring out the tulips' gentleness.

The natural light came in through the window at an oblique angle. Allowing the window to wash out with over-exposure completely removed the distraction of the outside, keeping the focus where it was intended. This also gave adequate exposure of the tulips in the foreground.

Sometimes over-exposing parts of the picture is an effective strategy in composition.