photography #24

i got handed 1 small object.
with my eyes closed, i had to "get to know" said object.
after 4 or 5 minutes, the object got taken away.
4 similar objects including the one i held for 5 minutes were placed in front of me.
i had to pick the one i had gotten to know.

they were rocks.
i picked the right rock on the first try.
: )

then i took it outside and did the rest of the assignment.
aka the actual shoot. : )

my favorite shot. [submitted]

my woulda-coulda-shoulda shot. [submitted]

i love the idea of this picture, but i wish the background was a straight line. and i wish the rock filled more of the frame. 

another favorite. 

photography #21

my assignment for week 21 was to take three different shots of the same subject.
shot 1: a picture using color to set off the subject
shot 2: a high contrast, black and white image
shot 3: a shot with supporting elements that help tell a story

i had a lot of trouble coming up with a fun subject... i really couldn't figure it out, but once i did, i got some fantastic shots. the black and white image is one of my favorites. i submitted the top three photos. which is your favorite?

i like this image better than the one i submmited. the blue sets off the yellow and pink better and gives the shot more continuity. 

i love the reflection in this shot so much. : ) 

this assignment pushed me out of my comfort zone, but i really enjoyed the shoots i did. the results i got were rewarding.

photography #13-15

i've gotten way off my normal posting routine, but i took lots of great pictures over Christmas vacation.
i only had one official photography assignment for weeks 13-15. we learned about portraiture during the class before break. for homework i had to take one candid shot and one technically correct 3-quarter view of a face. for the three-quarter view there are three things to remember:
-the nose cannot extend past the outline of the face.
-only one ear can be visible. (even if it's hidden by hair)
-there has to be a little skin by the far eye.

three-quarter view 

candid :)

here are a few [or a million =] shots from vacation:

i took our family christmas picture, did a shoot with my sister, and have an assignment from last week that i will share soon... 

photography #11

week 11 was all about exposure... i learned how to use spot metering mode and the zone system and a few other complicated things. the first part of the assignment was to find a white wall and take 5 pictures of that wall in each zone. the top shot is the correct exposure because the white is bright with detail. the others show the different zones and how the zones go from light to dark. the second part of the assignment was a free shoot that was focused on learning how to deal with and get used to the new exposure settings. i was allowed to choose one picture from the free shoot to submit. i picked the bottom photo because i love the pastel colors of the sky and the contrasting silhouette. 

photography #9

this week we studied about LIGHT! the assignment was to take one picture using light from the side and another picture using light from behind the subject... pretty self explanatory, but a little trickier when using the sun. tip: shoot within an hour or two after sunrise or a few hours before sunset. all of these were taken around 4pm. 

Submission #1

Submission #2

photography #8

this week was our 2nd week on aperture.... the 5 shots below are exactly the same- except for their apertures. aperture is the size of the opening in the lens. it controls how much light is let into the frame and the depth of field [how much of the picture is in focus]. the smaller the aperture the bigger the depth of field. but here's the confusing thing, f/stops are the way you measure aperture and the smaller the f/stop the bigger the aperture. it helps to look at the pictures. for the first one, f/5.6 is a small f/stop; it has a small depth of field; and it has a large aperture. the difference between f/5.6 and f/8 isn't that much... the 2nd rung has a little more detail and the background is a bit more destinctive. the difference between f/5.6 and f/22, on the other hand, is huge! 

f/5.6 

f/8

f/11

f/16

f/22

part 2: self-portrait challenge!!! i was only allowed to submit one. which would you have chosen?

whewww... the concepts discussed in class the past few weeks have challenged me, but understanding more about the camera and photography in general is helping my photography grow in new ways.