Photo by Andy100

This week I’m going to start a series of short posts here at Digital Photography School that are all about Breaking Photographic Rules.

Since starting this blog I’ve written about many rules of photography – but in almost every ‘rule post’ I’ve included some sort of disclaimer indicating that breaking the rule can lead to great results.

So over the next couple of weeks I want to look at 10 or so photography rules that are worth knowing – but which can also be fun and effective to break.

While you probably won’t want to break these rules in every photograph that you take – breaking them can bring about some fairly spectacular results.

Stay tuned for the first rule of photography to try breaking shortly (and feel free to nominate

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Another week, another weekend update from the Digital Photography School Forums.

Assignments

This week we finished the transportation assignment and let me say, what a response! We had so many modes of transportation shown that we couldn’t even list them all, but we had everything from feet to bikes, planes to trains, and everything in between. So it was a very difficult choice this week picking out the winners for the competition. Our winner was Sybren for his bicycle picture which not only was a great shot, but also took talent taking the shot while riding his bike. Our honourable mentions go to André di Lucca for his train in motion, and Susan for her clever take on the transport idea .

We also announced the newest assignment this week: Time. If you have a shot that depicts the passage of time, come post it in the assignment. If you want to be part of the mini-contest, the picture needs to have been taken between 26 July 2007 and 9 August 2007, and you need to include Assignment:Time in your post. Only one image will be accepted per member for the contest, so make sure you pick your best.

Next week’s assignment will be Red, so if you see something red, stop and shoot it.

Weekly Poll

This week we asked people over at the forums to choose between taking pictures at night or during the day. This poll had our most votes yet! So keep voting and telling us why you’ve made your choice. The winner this week was day time photography.

One of the nighthawks, Pernod, said “In the dark, eyes see only in black and white… but with enough patience the colours you can get are nothing short of breathtaking.”

Of course, daylight photography still won out. Jargon said “I prefer to see a lot of colors. And I enjoy looking at the blue sky with some clouds. I also like the options made available by having bright light, such the option to freeze the action or to have motion blur.”

This week, come and tell us why you like to take pictures or make pictures (read the thread for the difference).

Here’s a quick Video with 10 Travel Photography Tips. Most of them are just good basic tips for all types of photography – but for beginners they’ll be helpful. I’ve also included some of my own written Travel Photography Tips below the video:

More Travel Photography Tips from Digital Photography School

• Travel Photography – Getting More Variety in Your Shots
• How to Photograph People When Traveling
• Photographing People When Traveling (on permission)
• More on Asking Permission to Photograph People
• Travel Photography – Mix Up Your Shots
• Travel Photography Tips – Think about Context
• Travel Photography – Which Lens to Take
• Keeping Photography in Perspective When Traveling
• What to Take in Your Kit for Travel Photography
• Photographing the Smaller Things in Life When You Travel
• Photographing Signs
• How NOT

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• Do I need to get a model release when photographing people?
• How do I put together a model release?
• What should a model release include?
• Who does and who doesn’t need to sign a model release?

All of these questions are regularly asked by readers over at our forums and here on the blog – so one of our wonderful forum moderators, Nicole, put together the following great primer on the topic of Model Releases (with links to some other great resources on the topic) that will hopefully answer some of the basic questions on the topic.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is a model release?

A model release is basically a contract that says that you’re allowed to to publish a photograph. It is something that you have the subject sign to show that they are ok with it. Read up on Dan Heller’s primer on the subject for more information.

So, what does this model release look like?

Model releases don’t have to be complicated, but they can be, especially when people start requesting particular things (like a clause that says you can’t photoshop the image). There have been several threads discussion the actual model release document.

• Model releases… are they really needed? (has a complicated example in the first post)
• Model releases (talks about a non-photoshop clause and gives an example of a model release)
• Examples of actual model releases:
  • Sisk Photography (Adult & Child Releases)
  • Apogee Photo (Adult Release)
  • Sime’s Model Release (Adult & Child on same form)

July was a great month for Digital Photography Tips Online. Here are some of the highlights as well as a few of our ‘classic’ tutorials from this time last year:

Links from Around the Web

• Studio DIY tells you how to make your own home grown softbox
• Sublime Light gives some Portrait Lighting if you just have one Light
• Photojojo suggests Using a Pez Dispenser to get Kids to Smile for a Picture
• Still Life With….does some Comparisons of her DSLR with a Point and Shoot
• Thomas Hawk advises What to do when you lose your photos on your Memory Card
• Paxton Prints suggests 12 ways to improve your Landscapes
• Strobist has been running a great assignment titled Cooking Light What’s Cooking
• Photodoto gives a few tips on how

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