Evening star., 1937-08-21
THERE'S A TRICK TO TAKING SNAPSHOTS
Expert Photographers Say
Look Before Squeezing
Bulb, Shoot Buildings From
Angles and Hold Cameras
Very Still.
By Helen Elliott.

By Helen Elliott.
ISX you amateurs" says one IA
" nous Washington pho-
tographer, are a pure in
u spiration. Because you are
so unorthodox in your approach, 1 get
many ideas from you. You have given
me great deal"
But you're lucky, too, Washington
amateurs. Lucky, geographically. No
other city in the United States can
compare with Washington in wealth
of material for the amateur pho
tographer, according to one local
snapShooter, who wanders over Europe
and this country with camera under
his arm, just for fun.
Washington abounds in celebrities,
as one source of material and you
Will find people here, both famous and
ordinary. extraordinarily willing TO CO.
operate with you as an amateur. II,
for example. you want to catch Sen
ator Black or Bone coming down the
Capitol steps eating an apple. or the
Chief Justice taking his early morning
stroll, nothing but your own lack of
courage will keep them from gladly
stopping you. On the other hand, if
there is a certain angle to picture
you want that you can shoot only
from the height of truck top, 8 out
Of 10 truck drivers will stop and en-
Enthusiastically help you, if you hail
them. One Connecticut avenue pho
tographer did this very thing over in
Baltimore last week, where he wanted
picture of monument. He reports
much courtesy and great amusement
on the part of the truck driver
Wherever there are crowds. there is
something going on. and that will be
good place to take pictures. You
have to keep your eyes open always,
for when you least expect it. there
is the unusual picture before you.
Shoot the ordinary thing in an un-
usual way. You don't have to
photograph lightning striking the
Washington Monument to get good
picture Take basket of eggs, a cloud
formation, An automobile getting into
jam. Think of the man who made
fortune with his picture Of roller
bearing rolling! One amateur l know
prizes most highly two pictures, one
of four W. P. A. workers sleeping in
the sun. the other of shoe-shine boy
shining shoes.
TODAY people are probably even
more Photographic minded than
they are air minded. 1t is = good
thing, because it leads the amateur
to a knowledge OF light effects that
would do credit to a movie art direc-
tor; it trains the mind to study OF
composition as an artist would study
it. In short, amateur photography
educstes the mind to study the. beau
tiful. Beauty spots in Washington
that suggest snapshots include the
parks on sunlight days after a rain,
shadow studies in Rock Creek Park
(you must have q road or path to
catch the shadows, you know, under
meath views of the arches on the Cap
ital's many beautiful bridges, the Mall
with an eye for angles and the Poto-
mac any time from 4 o'clock until sun
down, shooting directly into the sun.
Don't be too anxious to squeeze the
bulb. Walk all around a thing and
look at it from all angles, deciding on
the best one, before you snap the pic
ture. That brings up to the question
of composition or What is picture?"
1t is that which will be pleasing to the
eye, rather than a mere record. 1t Is
pyramid Of interest, an effect that is
restful and satisfying. In taking
picture of the Potomac, for example,
you might get just a white streak
through your Aim, or you might get
In your foreground weeping willow,
a bench and part Of the terrace going
down to the river. The principle when
making pictures out of doors Is to avoid
perfectly horizontal horizons. Break
up the straight line, whether by trees
or other objects. II, in grouping three
people for a picture, you have two
standing behind and one sitting down
in front between them, there is no
pyramid Of interest for the eye to fol-
lw and you get a rather comic effect.
On the other hand, If you stand one up
behind and sit two in front there you
have = pyramid effect pleasing to the
eye.
IF YOU are interested In getting more
dramatic effects in your photo
graphs. here are 4 few suggestions
culled from the city's foremost artists
in the craft. A unique effect is OBJ
tanned by placing the camera on the
ground and fitting it upward. In tax
ing a picture Of = horse at the race
track in this manner, you secure the
effect Of = horse far In the distance
flying through space. Filters are very
helpful. A red filter, for instance, gives
= black sky and very light clouds. And
maybe 1t has never occurred to you
to take . picture OF part of q subject,
instead Of the whole thing. An illus
tration Of this Is in the Archives Build
ing. Have you ever noticed the four
eagles on top Of the building3 They
are about IS to 20 feet high apd with
the Capitol In the backroukd lend