To all the ships at Sea,

You know, I always talk about backlight, and backlight squared. I also try to remind you if a photograph is worth taking, then three or four more are worth taking also. In photo one. Santa is backlit and we have lens flare. Note, this is not the fault of the lens. It’s the photographer’s fault. Photo two, we start to make a correction. Color, sharpness, and contrast increase, but the composition leaves a little bit to be desired. The last photo is a reasonably good environmental portrait of Santa Claus. Backlight is one of your best friends.

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A good rule of thumb is to always get what we call an insurance photograph first. A simple, straight-forward, clean, sharp, and well composed photograph. I sometimes call this cliche number 44. We make one and then we play. Photo 2, is a horizontal insurance shot. It’s tighter and has no foreground. When you think you’re tight, get tighter! You have a delete button to be used afterwards but when you’re making photographs, more is better. When you’re showing photographs, less is better! By more, what I mean when you have good reason for it. Delete maybe one, two, or three and you have one good keeper. Next week, I will visit the Central Park bridge with a different technique. Have a Great New Year!