Photography basics, your best friend is,....

Your owner's manual! Read it, and don't just read it, read it with your camera out and DO push the buttons, switch the switches, knob the,...knobs (?) hmmmm that doesn't quite sound right.
Anyhow take out your camera, take out your manual, read and do. Only through reading your manual can you fully understand your camera and what it can and cannot do for you!
I'll bet you find that it can a lot more than you thought it could,...whatever you do, do not set your camera mode to the little green box, even if you just have a compact point and shoot, pocket camera, use the modes. I'll be going into what these modes actually do inside your camera in order for you gain a level of control of your images, only then can you begin to really create images based on what the meaning behind the image is!
If your camera offers aperture priority mode or shutter priority mode use these unless you are shooting in manual mode.
More on modes and what they do in our next post!

Using the Elements to Build Images Part III-Closing Statements

Ok so we've covered some of the ways that we can use some of the elements of design to build an image that better or more concisely communicates our "meaning" for any given image. I think at this point you get it, you get the idea that visual elements can be transferred to verbal meanings. this is the whole point of becoming aware of these elements. I'd like to go ahead now and skip ahead to some photography specific stuff.
 I recomend reading more about the elements of design and composition and you can find more information all over the intarwebz through a simple google search. I have listed a couple of good links here:
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/files/elements2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_elements_and_principles
Very good one, that actually relates to photography:
http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm
An now on to some photography talk,...YAY!
Hmmmm,...looks like you may have to highlight then copy/paste these addys into your a new tab or window's address bar,...

Using the Elements to Build Images Part II - Color

Ok in this post we'll be covering, you guessed it texture, color and tone or value. Woot-woot!
  Color is only important any time your image is not an actual black and white (duotones, quadtones, ambrotypes,cyanotypes etc. still count as color) and the colors in an image can do more than just show what color things are in real life. Colors have a direct connection to our psyche and this can be exemplified by some of the terminology that we use on a regular basis. I saw RED, he doesn't know any better he's GREEN, I'm feeling sort of BLUE, etc. This means that we can use colors very effectively to communicate certain feelings. Some of the most straightforward examples of this can be seen in paintings from Pablo Picasso's "Rose Period" and later his "Blue Period". This is really just a call to think about our psychological associations with colors, I'll list a few here.
Red: Hot, emergency, exciting (sports cars), sexy (blush make-up, lip stick) NOTE: this is the first color that the eye will go to unless white is present in the image.
Green: Envy, fresh, sickly, verdant, moist, natural
Blue: Sad, cold, dead, calm, wet, soft
Yellow: Bright, happy, gold, happy again...
Violet: Beauty, very calm, colorful, light and airy
I hope that from these few examples you get the idea that the use of color can have a huge impact on how our images are "taken" or understood by the viewer. Again notice how some of the words used to describe these colors are words that are more commonly used to describe human emotions. If you want please feel free to add to this list with other colors and the way that these colors "feel".

Using the Elements to Build Images Part I - Line & Shape

In our last post we talked about the elements of design and composition, so in this post I would like to expound just a bit on how we use these elements.
 We use the elements of design and composition, the way that a carpenter uses individual pieces of wood, each time we create an image. Our awareness of these elements

A Short Word on Composition and Design; Elements

In photography as in any other visual art form we use the medium to its best effect as a device for communication . Photography is almost always used as a recording device, but just as music is recorded and the recording itself does not in any way affect the meaning behind the song so should our "photographing" not hinder or block out our photographs.
Bored to death yet? Let's continue, mwuhahahaha...

We as photographers, use physical elements from the visual world that are presented to us, or that we create through the use of some visual medium, that reflect,  or otherwise represent these elements of visual design and principles of design and composition: [Each has its own inherent visual cue(s) that work for a very broad number of human beings as archetypical imagery, meaning that they hold much the same meaning from one person to the next].

Welcome Lens Pointers!

Hi everyone I figured I'd go ahead and start a blog, I mean everyone has a blog right? I think this will be a good place to put together articles, links, and just a bunch of good info, and maybe some creative ideas in regards to photography.

  I will try and maintain an emphasis