Picture This

Our Picture This! assignment this month covered one of the metering patterns, spot metering. Spot is a great choice when you want to saturate a distinct color, or when you want to get the bright white highlight right, with compensation. Readers sent in a variety of images, some with color in mind, others when they wanted to open up shadow details that would become too dark using evaluative...

Our Picture This! assignment this month was “Water Flow,” and we probably received as many, if not more, entries than any number we’ve had for any topic thus far. This makes it clear that all of us are entranced by the magic of water as it moves and changes, and that we know that the magic of photography is a perfect way to capture our fascination with it. The general technique...

Our Picture This! assignment for this month was “Hey, Look at the Sky!” Readers sent in brilliant images from all around the world of sunset and dawn, of threatening storm clouds, and of fascinating configurations of clouds. In most cases the images included the ground as the anchor on which the sky was tied, and the interaction of reflections and color cast added to the amazing...

Our Picture This! assignment this month was Macro World, and readers responded with a dazzling host of images that revealed a colorful, delightful, and often surprising look at a world most folks do not take the time to observe. Photography is a reminder of the moments we often pass by in the rush of daily events, and nowhere is that more evident than when viewing these looks at a close-up world.

Our Picture This! assignment this month was “Backlight,” and readers responded with images that spoke of the wonders of light in this, perhaps the most challenging but many times the most rewarding, lighting condition. Many of the images brought back the words of the filmmaker Werner Herzog, who I will paraphrase here, when he said that images are our way of bearing witness to the...

Our Picture This! assignment this month was “Interiors.” We asked readers to submit images that show the unique ways in which we arrange the space between four walls. The response brought all sorts of images, ranging from the grandiose to the humble, from a painter’s studio to the grand churches and temples of the world. What is perhaps most interesting about these shots is the...

Photographers have a keen eye, and part of that is noticing moments when people, places, and things converge in extraordinary fashion. Our Picture This! assignment this month asked readers to submit images that caught those “comings together” that held those odd coincidences in a single image. Readers used long lenses to compress space and bring disparate subjects closer, and wide...