My Final 5 Portfolio of the course

This course has been very enjoyable and challenging, which made me love it that much more. I have chosen my final 5 photos for my portfolio (which was no easy feat) and these represent my range of ability to capture color and my favorite: black and white. I have discovered that I like being able to set up a scene and control the photo, but at the same time to be able to capture a “moment” is a beautiful thing. I have always enjoyed photography, but this class has taught me so much and I will peruse to learn more, one way or another.

For my first photograph I chose “Daily Addiction” a photo collage that I created in the final module of the class. I chose this photo, because I think I did “break the rule” in that I created the scenes and compiled numerous photos instead of just one. I loved taking one constant subject and arranging it in different way in order to send a message. I took the photos in color, black and white and sepia ultimately deciding on the sepia, because it to me looked more “dirty” which I was going for.

The second photograph I chose to add to my portfolio is of a fall day looking down a walk way in a historical cemetery in Rochester NY. This photo was captured while participating in module about composition and this photo captured perspective. I fell in love with the colors and the textures of the leaves and the stone walk way. While taking this photo I got down real low to the ground so I could capture the incline of the road.

My third photo was from the black and white unit. The photo is of my son and my best friend’s daughter trick or treating on Halloween, walking down the sidewalk under the street lights. I love this photo, because it’s deep and rich with contrast and the way the light does appear is clearly bright and help balance the photo. I do not think a color photo would have done this scene any justice. I was trying to get good shots all the night, but was having difficulty without using a flash, but when I just shot this photo it all came together and luckily clear without the flash.

The fourth photo I have chosen was also from the black and white module. The photo is of a pair of handcuffs on top of an open book with a heart shadow beneath it. I set the scene up in this photo, and it is a significant scene in the book that I have open. The book is a love story and I wanted to display that by adjusting the lighting and creating a heart shaped shadow. While trying to capture the shadow and ideal shot I adjusted the cuffs and the lighting at least fifty times. I am a huge fan of black and white even more so now after this course and again if this was done in color it wouldn’t have been as powerful.

My fifth and final photo for my portfolio is from the composition unit and it captured foreground. The pink flowers take the place of the foreground and allow the vivid bright oranges and yellow tones of the fall trees in the background to take a lesser part of the photo. The flowers are the focal point and I believe they add softness to the scene. I do not think that the photo would be as appealing if I did not bring them into the foreground focus. To me it seems slightly whimsical the way the stems are swirling.

Here are 10 photos that I believe to be the better of the bunch. Please choose your favorite top 5 to help me decide on my final portfolio! Not an easy task! So thank you for looking at my photos!

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Appreciation of the Outlandish

For this week’s photo assignment at first I was stumped, not because I had no clue of what to do, but to pick an idea and run with it. I am not one for traditional photos, I have learned from researching popular photographers that I like the outlandish and slightly bazaar.

For my first project, I have always wanted to take shots of someone being pierced. So I posted that on my facebook page and voila!  I have a friend who is a professional piercer here in Rochester NY, and his wife saw my post and invited me to take photos of him performing a dermal/skin diver. Two days later I was in the shop. I didn’t want to just show one photo from the process so I created a collage of the photos. I chose black and white, because it shows more depth and tone to the situation.

 

For my second project, I wanted to incorporate coffee, because I am a total coffee addict. I call this collage “Daily Addiction”. I took coffee beans and grounds set them up as if someone would “snort crack” “shoot up” , even heating it up in a spoon ! By injecting or other form of consumption of coffee/caffeine in their bodies. I know it’s an odd series of photos, but I am in love with how it came out. I think the photos speak for themselves.

A Surprise Party

For this assignment I had plans to visit with my best friend, at their place for a little get together with our little families. She is also taking this course, but with a different professor so we decided to do this assignment together. To my unknowing as soon as she opened the door: “SURPRISE!” I was really walking into my own Paris themed surprise party! (I mentioned once before my love for Paris and how I hope to visit one day)

Here in this first photo is us being invited in and seeing them along with my mom, which was odd because I thought it was just a normal get together. So you can imagine my surprise! You can even see my best friend Katie doing her part of the assignment!

 

 

 

In the second photo everyone was enjoying some coffee, here my little man enjoying a mini éclair, my best friend and her son enjoying the party and chilling. The party was very laid back and relaxed: perfect.

 

My third photo is of my oldest son and Katie’s daughter playing video games. They were calm and peaceful, enjoying each other’s company. I found the black and white made for a classic photo.

The forth photo is of Katie’s husband Randy presenting me with my amazing rum birthday cake! Everyone sang happy birthday and then I cut the cake and enjoyed the divine rich cake.

 

For my fifth and final photo, as we were leaving I took this shot outside looking up to their already Christmas decorated balcony, and got them waving goodbye. The day was such a surprise and it was so lovely.

 

Here are a few other shots I took of the day:

 

Portraits

I just want to state that I am the shyest person; it takes a lot of effort to work up the courage to speak up to a stranger. So upon reading the assignment I was terrified of having to ask someone that I didn’t know if I could take their photo! I have in a slight acquaintance with this young woman who works at one of my favorite stores, never knew her name or really spoke to her, but I always admired her style and look. So the other day I was in to buy a CD and as I was cashing out I very nervously asked her if I could take her photo as part of a photography assignment. She was more than happy to oblige! I was relieved, she asked me what kind of camera I had, because she is into photography as well so I showed her and then she started to just pose around. I told her to do something that represents her personality and she was excited and ran over to a stand and grabbed a zombie rubber ducky and put it on her forehead! We were laughing and I lightened up a little, it was fun.  The she put on a Princess Leia hoodie with the bun hair and all! After we were all done I told her I would come back in to show her the final photos. So I was nervous and after getting started I quickly relaxed and had a good time.

I think the hardest photo to do was the self-portrait, because I didn’t know how to portray myself. I didn’t want to do a full face shot, but I also wanted to show something that interests me. So I decided to lounge out and read. I set up the self-timer and just kept trying until I was happy with a shot. Not only does is display that I love to read, but also that I have and love tattoos. The lighting was dim and placed behind me. I love black and white photos so that’s what I wanted to use.

 

 

For a portrait on someone I know well I decided on my husband. I wanted to show that he’s a little different, so I chose to show is chaos tattoo. And he loves toe shoes and wears them everywhere and he's proud of them, so I had to incorporate those as well, and obviously his wedding band. I took many different photos before deciding to do a non-facial shot, even though I liked most of them, I think this is unique, which is appropriate for a unique person. I also had a hard time deciding on color or black and white. It was really sunny outside so I decided on color.

 

 

Here are a few off the extra shots I took off the stranger, my husband and myself:



Color!

I decided to use my favorite color for this week’s photo assignment: Purple. I have loved the color since I can remember, it’s an artistic color and it can be seen as soft and pillowy to rich and royal, it can be girly and elegant or edgy and rocker. I didn’t want to choose a primary color, because I thought purple would offer me more of a challenge and I enjoy that. The color offered a challenge in that it is harder to find unless you are seeking it out, unlike say the color red. I see purple as fun and funky so I immediately went with glamour and rocker!

For my first photo I decided to use one of my many colors of nail polish. It is purple glitter and I placed it on a lighter purple surface. I really wanted to expose the sparkle so I used the flash to illuminate the polish. I tried taking the photo with the top of the bottle on, but it was to mundane looking so I opened it and let it drip back into the bottle give it the illusion of movement.

For my second photo I grouped the purple polish with other different hues of the color and added like colors such as pinks. I am happy with the up close shot of the photo; I believe it adds more depth. I noticed that by grouping like colors it can give an overall feel to the photo, in this case fun and flirty and girly.

For my final photo I took a photo of the lead singer to one of my favorite bands Me Talk Pretty (now known as Cilver). The stage lights were set to purple and the gold metallic prink on her shirt illuminated under its glow. Purple and yellow/gold are opposites on the color wheel. This displayed my idea on how the color purple can be glamour rocker chic. I tried using the flash on my camera, but it eliminated the glowing colors of the lights, so I turned my flash off and received this great photo. I also think the contrast is appealing, because you see the vivid colors and dark background and black clothing. (Also I know Uliana, and she loves the color pink and is obsessed with glamour!)

A few Black and White

I would just like to say, that I am a person who loves vivid colors in my everyday life, but there is just something about a good black and white photograph, and am a sucker for a dark rich black and white photo!

My first photo I took was of my son and his friend trick or treating on Halloween. I didn’t initially take my camera out to shoot for the assignment, but I saw this opportunity and took it. The street lights and porch lights were the only light source in this photo. Where the street lights were positioned it created a strong shadowing coming off of the kids and her bucket looks almost like its lighting up. The fall leave on the ground create an interesting texture for the photo, and tells you what time of the year it is.

The second photo, I set up. I am a big reader and I wanted to create something that incorporated one of my favorite book series. I took the scene in the book and used a prop that was being used in the story itself. I then placed the handcuffs on the book and angled a light to hit it just right to create a strong heart shadow. I think this is one of the best photos I have taken yet.

 

 

My third photo was a random shot while playing with my camera in my kitchen while making coffee. I think it is very different, with the scissors being the focal point; they look almost as if they are glowing, because they are silver. And in the dish with those are little travel size bottles of alcohol (even a little crystal skull). I only used the light from my stove and no flash.