Week 5 - Thoughts

This is outside our normal assignment, but I was thinking as I was searching through some of my favorite photographs, that keeping the focal point in the center of the frame can be very effective in its own way. I noticed that most of the responses to my classmate's posted rule of thirds photos all agreed that putting the subject in the center of the photograph was the less attractive placement. I felt the need to show some art that speaks differently to me:







I think the reason why these photos are all so effective is the more subtle use of line, value, color, light, and movement.

All images and profiles of the photographers can be found off my DeviantArt favorites list, along with some of the other pieces of art I am in love with.

Week 5 - Framing & Comparison

Assignment #2 is to take a couple of really beautiful shots this week in two different ways. Take a shot centering the item of interest and then take a shot putting it on one of the "third" lines. Post the photos side by side and compare them on your blog.

This week I focused a lot on portrait shots, which is what I truly want to work on. My friend Arden and I did a photo shoot for a few hours and resulted in most of the photos you will see in this post.

The two below were both taken with her reclining on a swinging bench, the angles are different, I realize, but I did move the focus of the photo from the center to the left side. The centered photo is very picturesque, but one-dimensional. When I moved the focus to the left side of the frame I feel it made the photo a lot more interesting to view. I personally dislike the angle I chose for this one, and feel it could have been made much better with a slightly lower angle, but it does utilize the rule of thirds.



Assignment #3 is to get at least five shots that represent framing. Make those photos into a slideshow that you can put on your blog.

I only found five shots that I felt truly embodied framing as I saw it, and I used Smilebox again to make a slideshow for this entry. Click below to see the photos I took:

Week 5 Pt. 2 - Composition: Two Links

For the second part of my composition research, I did a more formal internet search, specifying portrait and glamor photography and compositional tricks. I ended up with two very handy links, after reading through page after page of generalized information:

1) The Perfect Pose

This website is a literal goldmine of compositional tricks and inspiration. You can search by type of photography and the author will provide a multitude of reference shots as well as a written explanation of the why and the how.

2) Jake Garn Photography: Composition

This photographer blogs about how the rule of thirds is imperfect in a way, and explains how. He prefers the Golden Ratio method of looking at composition.

Week 5 Pt. 1 - Composition: Al

Assignment #1 this week is to do some quick research of your own about composition and aesthetics after seeing what follows and make your next blog post about that. The requirement is to post one thing. See if you can find any other composition techniques to share with us. Maybe an interview with from a photographer about composing photos will yield a technique. Or maybe you want to look into what "aesthetics" means. What the heck is that and why does it matter? Or maybe you can find a quote about aesthetics to post.

I chose a photographer who recently did a shoot with a friend of mine to link to his website. He is a budding photographer like my classmates and I, but it putting out really professional level work because he is working very hard at it. He posts a lot of pictures from his shoots with the technical difficulties that were encountered while shooting and has a lot of commentary on his compositional takes and what was necessary to make the shoot truly beautiful. He also posts links to sites that he has found via research and tutorials that he is attempting to use in his own photography. I am definitely going to use some of his points and links in my own work.

Make sure to read back a page or two on his blog to get to the more compositional-related posts:

http://silenceral.com/photoblog/

Week 4 - Exercises in Color and Light

For this week's blog post, please post two color photos that show an example of the three color schemes shown on the slideshows above: monochrome, analogous or complementary. You choose which two to represent.

Also this week you are to take the photograph of something in three different lighting situations. I do not expect you to get this assignment done quickly. You may choose an outdoor or indoor shot and the light involved. Stretch yourself. How about the same tree in early morning, mid day and sunset? How about thinking about the way the following affects a picture: sun, the camera's flash, ceiling lights, spot lights, a tv, a lamp, windows, etc. By next Monday I want you to post the three shots and tell us about your process taking them. What worked and what didn't.

This week I chose to do two photos of both an analogous and a monochromatic color scheme.

Monochrome:

Analogous:


The first picture above is of a cosplay wig I received on a set of red bedsheets. The colors are basically a tint of one another and thus monochromatic. The second is of my old broken moped and the tarp that was thrown on our porch. Green and blue are next to one another on the color wheel but not touching, hence why they are analogous.

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For the second portion of the week, I worked on taking some pictures of a wooden sculpture I've had since I was a child. I took photos at night, in the early morning, and midday inside.

This is the one taken during the day:

I decided to play around with staging the lighting a bit and both of the following shots were taken during the night or early morning. I used mirrors to reflect the light in different directions to get a very different look for each. I found that manipulating the lighting manually made for a greater level of specification. ie I could choose which features to bring out and which to leave dark. I really like high contrast in photos so it was fun to be able to bring the light around multiple sides of the figure and leave the folds of the wood in deep shadow. This wouldn't work so well in daylight. The second photo below utilized this same floor lamp and two small round mirrors. I angled the mirrors using clay so that they would illuminate the front of the sculpture while the light was behind it. Keeping the light behind the sculpture makes for a very backlit figure and a strong outer line, while the mirrors reflected upon the face to capture detail.

Week 3 - Macro Collage

This week I want you to take pictures using your macro setting - a lot of them...Macro can be about taking photos of items up close, or it can be about taking photos of textures.

Make a collage and post it to your blog for all to see!

I went out at night to take my photos. I wanted to see what my camera was capable of in low light. Some of the photos did not come out as clear as I would have liked due to the lack of flash increasing the shutter length and my shaky hands. Some of them still came out really good, though!

I used SmileBox to make this collage; it is semi-interactive so click below to look at my photos!

Week 2 - Viki

This week I want you to take 6-7 pictures of the same object and I do not care what you chose to photograph, but something small is more difficult for this exercise. Pick something that you can photograph from MANY different angles. Then I want you to compare and contrast two of them. Post the two photos to your blog and then talk about the photos. Which one do you like best and why? How does this perspective change the photo?

I probably win the award for strangest item photographed, but this is what I took photos of. Her name is Viki:

Viki belongs to my roommate and lives in our living room. We're all artists in my household so unusual things like this are pretty par for the game!

Below are the best of my photos for this assignment. No editing or cropping was done aside from resizing for use on here.

1.	2.
3.
4.	5.

6.

I decided to compare Photos 3 and 6 because they are very similar, but give off a very different feel. I am very drawn to these two because they both imply movement of some sort on behalf of the object. Now, Viki can't move anywhere on her own accord, so it was a neat effect to get. I recommend looking at both pictures larger (but full size is still probably a bit much) because you can gain a better understanding of the movement that way.

Both photos have a hope or eagerness to them. From the angle on Photo 6 it almost feels like the subject is about to dash away from you at a full run. Photo 3 is a bit more sedate; you still get the feeling of waiting/anticipation, but the shot is zoomed in closer and it's similar to someone successfully keeping their enthusiasm in check. Photo 6 feels as though the subject is barely going to keep itself contained for another whole minute! Photo 3 has a more calm feel to it, "settled" perhaps. Photo 6 has a tension to it that exhilarates me.

In a more technical breakdown, I love the deeper shadows on the edges of the curves in Photo 6. The sun was at just the right angle and brightness to really bring out those lines against the lighter picnic table and the higher points of the leg. In Photo 3, the sun is a bit brighter and the angle formed by the shadow in relation to the semi-vertical line of the leg is engaging. The center focal point of the photo is also even with the bottom of the V formed by that angle. The curve of the arch of the foot and the shadow align perfectly and leave a very dynamic triangle of negative space in the bottom left corner. The whole photo forms sharp points and lines except for the gentle curves of the subject.

Between the two, I think I like Photo 6 more. Photo 3 has a lot of technical interest to it, but Photo 6 has a much more emotional interest to it and that is really what draws me.

**Note: I apologize for the fact that the layout of this entry will not show up well within the blog interface. I tried to code the HTML so that it would be neat but for some reason when you view my full blog it jumbles things about. I'll do my best to remedy this in future entries.