Fortunately, the spotlight was on the presentation.  I turned off the flash, found the ISO settings – those control the light sensitivity of the digital flash card –  and set it for a high sensitivity level,  pushed my telephoto out to the maximum to get the reading and frame the shot, and went for it.

The light sensitivity reading was high enough to cause the camera to set a fast shutter speed.  That froze the action.  There was enough light on the people surrounding the presentation to give a good sense of what was going on.  The internal light meter in the camera read the light on the demonstration, so that stood out.

In order to do this, you need to find three topics in your camera manual and learn how to use them:  the icon settings – chosing one that will give you a fast shutter speed, such as sports or portrait, the telephoto controls, and the ISO controls in the menu options.  Those three options will allow you to take control of your camera.

Carnival Masks in Store Window, Venice

We were walking through the canal streets of Venice one evening when I spotted this store window and came to a screeching halt. I had to have this shot of the Carnival Masks.

During the day, they were white with red and black paint – nice, but not dramatic. The gold color came from the lights in the store window at night and brought them to life. The interfering reflections were everywhere – from the interior lights, from the opposing store window just a few feet away, and from our reflections standing in front of the store. I had to get at an angle to the window and above the reflections so I could shoot down. I also had to be sure the camera was reading the light on the masks and not the reflections or background. I looked around.

We had just come over a small bridge, so I went back to it and stood part way up. I was almost parallel to the window, so I stepped out about 6 inches so the lens was at a slight angle. I was high enough to shoot down slightly. I used the telephoto to frame down and made sure the little meter square in the viewfinder was pointing at one of the masks. I held my breath and braced my elbows in my waist so the camera wouldn’t move. It worked.

Chateau at Vaux le Vicomte

My husband, Dale, and I had taken the train from Paris to Vaux le Vicomte for the day. Fortunately, our drizzly Paris day turned to gorgeous sunshine as we arrived at this first-built of the royal palaces from the era of Louis XIV, the predecessor-palace to Versailles. We had spent the day touring the buildings and walking through the first of the European formal gardens built by the original landscape architect, Le Notre, all restored after decades of decay. I had been trying all day to get a good, dynamic shot of the palace and its gardens, to no avail. They weren’t bad, but most were flat, didn’t show off the palace or gardens, or lacked a dynamic quality. As we were walking toward the Visitor’s Entrance, I was watching the scenes unfold. We turned a corner and I spotted this scene, full of angles and light, and shot. I knew I had my memory.

How did I know? Angles created the dynamic action and action is one of the four elements of a Wow! photograph. The other three – color, light and pattern – were inherent in this subject and the weather that day. I stood where the placement of the gardens and the building in the frame of the photograph set the lines so the gardens and the palace are at an angle to each other. The clouds cooperated – they were also at an angle to the building. I tilted the camera up slightly to include the sky. The end-points of the planting areas also created angles leading to the building. I used the zoom lens to frame down tightly on the patters. The building is slightly off center, allowing the lines from the trees and garden on the right of the frame to lead the eye in from that side.

And so you have it! If you are having trouble getting your photograph to come alive, look for the angles!