Week Four - Lighting

I really liked the idea of taking "the same" pictures at different times of day to experience different lighting, so this morning I went outside and picked 4 different subjects. Two more times today I went outside and took the pictures again from (as close to) the same angles as I could. It was very interesting to see the results!

10:30 AM

The sun was bright and direct in this shot, as well as behind the camera. It was great! You are able to see the tree AND the sky beautifully. It almost makes me want to start my days earlier instead of waking up so late! ... not quite, though.

5:45 PM

This shot shows diffused sunlight from behind the subject. I like silhouettes, but I don't like this picture. I think if I had more freedom with the angle it could be better, but because I was trying to mimic the first shot it is not very pleasing. Also, a tripod could have made this clearer. I thought it was funny though to see the difference in snow, seeing as it melted throughout the day.

6:45 PM

This is pretty much the reverse of the previous picture! I had to use a flash... If I didn't use one it would be a pretty boring photo, haha. It was dark and scary outside at this point, so I just pointed, clicked, and ran. Even though the tree is just as clear in the first photo, when I look at this one I notice the details much more. They pop without the distraction of the sky (though I do like seeing the sky... wow I'm indecisive!)

Week Four - Colors

Nice colors are hard to find this time of year! I ended up having the most difficulty finding colors to satisfy the analogous scheme. I had to fight with myself over which photo to choose to represent the complementary scheme, I had two favorites! The one I didn't choose was a close-up of a Mardi-Gras mask I have that is blue and gold. It came out really nice, but it didn't interest me for some reason.

Monochrome Scheme
Here is a pile of gold-ish necklaces, taken with the macro setting. I set them on a silky white piece of fabric and turned the flash off.

Complementary Scheme

I used the macro setting for this one as well and it had a different effect in the end. The lighting is natural light spilling in through the window, with just a small reflection showing on the glasses.

Now it's time to do other homework while I wait for the sun to move so that I can take my different lighting shots!

Crowd Pleaser

A couple classmates noticed this photo in my collage, so I thought I'd show a bigger version of it.

Macro assignment, check it

During this assignment, I learned that my camera is not very macro friendly. Well, I don't know if it's my camera, or cameras in general, but I thought I would be able to get closer than I was. Also, when the flash is turned off (which is kind of important in these cases), the shutter speed is longer on my camera, so I had to practice steady hand!

I wasn't able to get very inspired, but I did take a couple of shots that I really liked.


This one makes me regret eating so much fast food yesterday :) The lettuce doesn't look the most fresh, but the close-up still entices me. I would love to be able to afford a better camera, to get shots like this, but much crisper.


I don't know if this exactly qualifies as using the macro setting as intended. It's just so cool how the front is clear and the back is blurry! I think I need to invest in one of those bendable tri-pods to increase the clarity of my pictures.

Steady hand...

There is absolutely no theme among my subjects... :)

Found my calling?

When I first read this assignment, I knew right away what I wanted to photograph. Last year I decided on a whim to go home for a night (it's about an hour drive from school, and I don't have a car, so I can only make the trip so often). It was one of those times where things happen just right, and you don't know why. I came home to my parents waiting in the kitchen, with a surprise for me. My dad had built me a table, based on my passively expressed interest in having a table that wasn't made out of crates and plastic. It was perfect in every way for my dorm room: Size, shape, material, quality. A year later it has gotten a lot of love, and it is one of my most cherished belongings.

After taking various pictures, I eliminated all of the ones that had angles that didn't line up, apparently I like perfect lines and angles.





I can't explain why this first picture is interesting to me. I guess I like the way the lines of this part of my table come together. I tried to get a backdrop so there wouldn't be any distraction, but I had limited resources. A tripod would have helped straighten the shot a bit, but all in all I got what I was trying for.




This picture gives a completely different feeling, which is why I chose it. The table surface is littered with scribbles, but this is one of the most meaningful to me. It is the score to a card game (pitch) I play with my dad. I like how it is virtually the only thing in focus and you see the mesh of colors around.

This was an interesting assignment, a challenge for me. I have never considered myself artistic, so I got stuck on analyzing my pictures. Hopefully I'll learn how to do it better by looking at my classmates blogs!

Everyone is busy

Here I am sitting at work between classes... catching up on my reading for digital photography. All I want to do now is play with my camera! But I have to wait until after classes, after meetings... I think it's time to work out my time management. I cleaned my room last night so I could use my table as the subject for my first assignment, I even vacuumed! Turned out my camera batteries were dead anyway. Charged them last night and now I'm just hoping the room stays clean until I get the pictures taken!