Nature

     In this assignment, I chose to shoot nature. Being spring time, there was a lot of green to be seen. I thought it was cool to have some of the dead stuff in with some green. I thought it created a great contrast between the colors and it looks really nice. My second favorite picture was of a dead bush in front of a pine tree and some grass. It was fun to look for aspects that represents the new replacing the old. Most of the shots I took, I waited until the sun started to set to take. I liked the light the sun provided at this time. My favorite picture of the tree was taken when the sun was behind it and I liked how it kind of created a silhouette of the tree. I tried to play with it to make the texture of the tree show but I thought the picture looked best when the color of the sky was shown. It was fun to shoot this assignment since the weekend was so nice. I didn't get any shots on Sunday, though, which would have been fun since I could capture the water on the plants.

Best Photo
ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/80
Aperture: 5.6

Pop Art Assignment

     The pop art assignment was my first time really using photoshop. I think that it came out very well. I followed some instructions and I was able to successfully create a pop art picture. I thought it was fun to edit the picture in photoshop and I am more well versed in what exactly I can do with photoshop. I realized to have the picture turn out how it is supposed to be, or how you want it to look, you have to be very careful and make sure you are doing everything in the right order. Each thing that you do in photoshop will change the picture and it would be very easy to get frustrated with the results. To work with the program, you have to be careful and patient. I think that photoshop is still a huge mystery, but it will be fun to slowly learn how to use all of its resources.

Black and White

      In this photo assignment I chose to do this time was the black and white photography. I originally thought it would be cool to take some pictures of landscape in black and white, but when I started it didn't turn out as I hoped it would. I chose to take some shots of nature and flowers was a theme I stuck with. Not all the flowers I chose to photograph were real, though, and one of the pictures I liked the best was actually of a metal flower made out of a pop can that was in my house and flowers made out of duct tape around it. I had planned on going to the woods behind my house, which I did, but I also wandered to the playground by it. The playground was a good place because each thing that was there for the kids offered a good subject for a picture. I thought this one thing that was there for the kids to climb on was particularly interesting because of the round shape it had instead of a traditional ladder. Shooting these pictures was fun, but I thought playing around with the black and white was fantastic. I shot using a traditional camera before, so I could only print in black and white. I love to play with exposures and effects to change the darkness of the black and the lightness of the white. I think it changes a lot about the picture.

Best Photo
ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/250
Aperture: 5.6 

Inspiration

     For my first photo assignment I would like to explore black and white photography. I first started with traditional photography before learning about digital photography and cameras. I liked the pictures I took before, of course in black and white, because it made my think more than about I like all the colors in the picture. I think black and white photography makes a statement about the subject in the picture instead of focusing on other techniques used such as color. Now, I'm not saying color is bad, but I just love how black and white photography turns out.

Some pictures I found particularly interesting were:
CubaGallery: leaf
CubaGallery: landscape
Land[e]scape: car
Land[e]scape: alley
Fionn Luk: Refreshing

     I like how landscapes look in black and white so I want to try to capture some landscapes in black and white. I think I will take some pictures of the paths in a wooded area behind my house in black and white. I think the picture of the man in the alley place was very well shot. I want to try to capture a person in black and white and make it as graceful as the man. With the rain that has been coming, I think it would be cool to capture something like the leaf with water dripping. The water droplets help add something interesting to the subject and can help express things with the absence of color.

Composition Assignment

Assignment description:
     In this assignment I took pictures to show the elements of composition. The elements I captured were color, perspective, rule of thirds, framing, balance, space, depth of field, texture, symmetry, pattern, and lines. Taking pictures to represent the element help me understand how to use it in all of my photography. 

Photos:

Frame: The tire creates a frame around the leaves
and the water bottle that allows the viewer to concentrate on that aspect of the picture. 

Color: The red pops out of the background since it is against white. 

Depth of Field: The grass in the foreground is out of focus 
but the further objects are in focus.

Lines: The supports all lead the eye into the post from all 
directions, guiding the eye to the subject. 

Texture: The light from the sky illuminates behind 
the grass which shows the prickly grass blades. 

Symmetry: The picture is split by the lane divider 
which the lane lines can reflect over. 

Space: The tree is isolated in a field so that there is nothing 
around it which makes the viewer focus on the tree.

Rule of Thirds: The leaf is laying on the top third line 
and the break in the leaf with the  rock jutting 
out of it lays on an intersection of the third lines. 

Perspective: Looking down at the staircase 
captures the different lines in a different way. 

Pattern: The lockers are the same and are shot in a line.
The pattern is broken with the open locker making it stand out. 

Balance: The two cats balance the picture
since they are located opposite one another. 

Concepts learned:
     While working on gathering these images, I learned some of the basics of a camera. First, I found out about the differences between a point and shoot camera and a SLR camera. The point and shoot camera may be easy to use and light weight, but the SLR camera gives more control to the user with the settings. Then, I explored the camera itself with hearing about the different parts of the camera. The basic viewfinder and camera body were easy to figure out, but when trying to get my pictures perfect I learned about how the image is affected by the light available in the picture and how to change some settings to create different effects. In another area, I learned about computers more. Blogger became a place for me to present my pictures and Bridge helps me organize my images so I am able to quickly find them. These resources aid me in my photography adventures. 

Welcome

Welcome. This will be my blog for digital photography. The posts on here will be pictures that I have taken to achieve objectives given to me. Although not all of my work will be shared, my best pictures will be displayed here. Enjoy!

One of the firsts!