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.

 



Composition & Technique

           There are so many different techniques and aspects to taking a photo, making it much more interesting than a single point and shoot experience. By altering the shutter speed, aperture and lighting the final outcome of a photograph can be far more interesting than first imagined.

A shallow depth of field is when you want to bring the foreground object into focus and blur the background, making the object center or attention. A good way of achieving shallow depth of field is to set the camera on its lowest f setting and snap a picture and decide if you want increase the setting until you achieve your desired image. The lens will be almost completely open. In the photo here, a girl sits in the background blurred, allowing the shrub in the foreground to be clear making the photo very eye appealing in my opinion, and the girl is left looking almost sad and leaving you wanting to to know why shes there. By having the photographer down at the same level as the scene make it more personal and relatable, if the photo was taken from an arial view I don’t think it be be as impactfull.

 

    Greater depth of field means that a majority of the photo will be in focus. To get this effect use a

close aperture such as an f/16, with a short focal length. This happened because half as much light is

 being allowed into the camera, the lens will be smaller. In the photo you can see that the image as

a whole is clear, no blur or specific focal point be brought forward. The angle of the camera for this

shot is ideal. You can see into infinity which is great with how the sky looks, especially the clouds.

Even with the hay you can see the point of perspective change as they decrease in

size.                  

 

 

Stop motion is for when you want to isolate a moving image so there is no blurring, the whole image will be clear. In order to achieve this effect the shutter speed should be set to a high such as 1/120 sec, you are allowing the most light in by setting the camera to f/2 and the lens is nearly completely open. In this photo it appears that a woman is doing a back flip and the photographer has chosen to capture the stop motion, isolating the woman in mid-air. You do not need blur I order to see that she is clearly in motion. By having the shot taken straight on you can see all the aspects of the photo, from her pointed toes, the falling skirt, then the falling of her arms and hair. If the photo was taken from above all you would see of the girl is her torso, not making it as interesting. When I look at this photo the lighting catches my attention, the photographer probably executed substitute reading. By using a special gray card of a very specific shade, they take a test shot of that card to test the lighting and thus the exposure.

 

 



Blur motion photography is allowing the image to distort and blur in order to show that the object is in motion. A photographer would want to slow their shutter speed down to shutter speed such as a 1/8 sec. or even a 1/15 sec. and by selecting to have a smaller aperture of  f/16 or f/11 to minimize the amount of light into the lens. “If your shutter speed is fast (eg 1/4000th of a second) it’s not going to see much movement (unless the subject is moving mighty fast) while if you select a longer shutter speed (eg 5 seconds) you don’t need your subject to move very much at all before you start to see blur.” (Rouse D. DigitalPhotographySchool.com, 2007)

In this shot you see a woman standing in front of a train, and she is in focus standing still, while the fast moving train passes her by displaying it in motion. For this particular photography the straight on approach is ideal in order to see that the train is in fact a train. This looks like it is in an underground subway station so exposure bracketing may be ideal to ensure proper expires takes place. “Exposure bracketing means that you take two more pictures: one slightly under-exposed (usually by dialing in a negative exposure compensation, say -1/3EV), and the second one slightly over-exposed (usually by dialing in a positive exposure compensation, say +1/3EV), again according to your camera's light meter.” (photoexls.com 2010)

 

Panning is the effect you get when a photo is part stop motion and blur motion. The actual moving subject is clear and still, while the still background looks blurred and in motion. Here (my photograph) the subject was caught walking and the camera followed him in motion, so when he reached the same point with the camera he came into focus and showing movement in the background. To help achieve this look slowing down the shutter speed anywhere from 1/60 to 1/8 and it greatly helps to have a steady hand. Some people may use a tripod and move the camera on top of it. The angle of any panning shot should be interesting but at the same time at one where you can move smoothly and easily.

 

With so many techniques to using a camera, the final outcome to any photo can be endless as long as you are willing to take the time to learn the features of your camera. With know how to control the depth of field alone can leave you with an amazing photograph.

 

References

 Darren Rowse How to Capture Motion Blur in Photography, 2006 - 2012 Digital Photography School

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-capture-motion-blur-in-photography

Photoxels, 2002-201

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_exposureBracketing.html

B. London & J. Stone (2012), A Short Course in Digital Photography. Second Edition Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River NJ



            

Composition

For this assignment I went to the historical Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester NY. Here the graves of Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony lie. Between the color of the autumn tress, the blue skys and beautiful stones, it is an amazing location to take photographs. (I even went with a friend who is also taking a photography course)

In this photo I would like to point out the abstractness and pattern. At first glance you can’t exactly tell what it is, but then notice the same shape and pattern carried through. I was working on a painting when I took this photo, I liked how the colors and tones took center stage, and by taking the photo up close it make it slightly abstract.

For this photo I was able to make the flowers in the foreground more of the focal point versus the colorful blurred background. To do this I manually adjusted my settings. It was almost a challenge, because it was a windy day.

For line I took a photo of this stair case on top of a hill in the cemetery. They are diagonal creating interest and the leave give you a feel of what time of the year it is. Even the lighting hugs each step to enhance the lines.

Balance is the idea for this photo that I took in “The Sunken Garden” across the street from the cemetery. The lines are symmetric in the middle of the courtyard and the stair cases frame the edges (so there is framing in this photo as well).  Even down to the topiaries are balancing the scene, with a final focal point of the flower bed in the center.

In this photo I stood at the bottom of this brick walk way and shot upward. The point of perspective lies at the top of the hill hugged between the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves. The eye is drawn to the apex where the path, trees and sky meet at the top.

I took an up close shot of this beautiful stone carved rose on an aged gravestone. The artmanship has held for years and years and the texture is unbelievable.

When I first pulled into the cemetery this amazing fountain greeted me. I took notice of the shape immediately. The curves and the carving in the metal are astounding. Not even the obvious shape of the object as a whole stands out, but upon closer inspection the curves of the figures and floral of the carving is unbelievable.

Reading Photographs

For this assignment I decided to use one of my favorite decorative pieces, which if my miniature Eiffel Tower. I think the simplicity of the lines, make enough of a statement alone and the neutral coloring makes it adaptable for any alterations.

In the first photograph I took it outside. The leaves are just starting to fall and I thought it would make an interesting photo with the Eiffel Tower. It reminded me of how I think it would feel to be in Paris, France in the fall. I have always wanted to visit the city and this photo takes me there in a way.
I tried a straight on view, downward view, color, black and white and sepia angled the camera and tried to get an upward shot. I settled on this photograph because the angle is interesting, its not straight on. I liked how it looks with the sepia, because it softens it and makes it feel a little vintage.

 

 

 

For my second photo I darkened the room and plugged in some LED Christmas lights and wrapped them about the mini Eiffel Tower. I tried taking the photo with standard  settings, soft, warm and even tried massing with the shutter speed to see what would happen. I also tried black and white, sepia and finally on this cool tone. I love how the light plays off in the background and adds interest. Again I have always wanted to visit Paris and have been drawn to know what after dark brings in "the city of lights" it could be elegance or a time for young people to head out on the town and have fun.

 

 

 

So as you can see just by changing the tone of the lighting and exposure and even the time of day between day to night can have a huge impact on what the photo has to say. It can be light and cheerful, calm and beautiful or even dark and mysterious.

There was also no editing of the photos I took, this is how they were shot and captured.