Week 4: Natural Light

Man. I was so excited for this week! I ended up not being able to take any pictures until today, and the day just seemed to fill right up with distractions. So, here we go, and I'll for sure take TONS of photos this next weekend while I'm in Utah with ample locations and subjects.

Natural Reflector: Light tan stucco

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/1328
f/5.6
(I didn't even know I could have such a random shutter speed.)


Back Lighting

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/250
f/4


Silhouette

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/3200
f/4
I forgot to close my aperture down for the sunburst in this shot, but it's still pretty cool.


Zach has a test tomorrow, and he couldn't spare much time for being my model. So, when the light was where I really wanted it, I had to be a little creative in finding a subject. Luckily, my camera's screen flips around so I could see myself to compose the shot. I was even able to meter using this screen. Sweet. It only got a little weird when I noticed the neighbors standing on their porch watching me.

For this front-lit shot, I really couldn't get away from the fence, and thus have a nice line down my face. Oh the joys of a big city with no open spaces. :)

Front Lighting

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/64
f/5.6


I really want to know why the light is so much warmer in the above shot than it is in the below shot. I was in the same spot, just turned a different direction. I even took some side-lit shots facing the opposite direction that turned out really warm. My hair looked so red! So what's the dif?

Side Lighting

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/40
f/4



Just for fun, I wanted to try placing Zach next to this red surface to see what kind of color cast we could get.

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/1250
f/4

Also, here are the shots from last week that Sarah wanted to see in black and white.

Week 3: Composition

This week's assignment allowed for more creativity than the last weeks have, which was really fun. However, I find that I have more to criticize about my photos. It's so easy to think of things that I could have done to make the images stronger when I'm not just going for "technically correct."

ISO: 800
Shutter speed: 1/1000
f/8

I wish I would have remembered to check the ISO before taking this shot! I decided to use it anyway, because I believe it's a good example of a few different compositional elements.
Pattern, shape, lines, framing, rule of thirds.
If I could take this shot again, I would also move the camera a tiny bit to the left to get the edge of the building out of the shot. I think that would have made the building look longer, which would have been a cool effect.

ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/30
f/36

Here's the effect we get when shooting the sun at f/36! I decided to submit this photo because of the element of contrast.
Looking at the camera settings now, I realize that I definitely should have hiked up the ISO so I could get a faster shutter speed. I also wish I didn't have the power line and tree branches in the background.

ISO: 200
Shutter speed: 1/50
f/8

This is my favorite shot for the week. I think the thing that makes this picture strong is the fact that the whole image is split into thirds: sky, wagon, grass. I love the color of her bright red shirt, blue socks, and neon yellow shoes. We also have the elements of framing, shape, and lines.
The image would be stronger without the distraction of the trailer in the background, but I still think it's pretty strong. I probably should have taken the ISO up to 400 so I could get the shutter speed a little faster. Her face looks a little blurry to me, and I wonder if maybe a quicker shutter speed would have helped. Or, maybe I just wasn't focused on her face. : O)


I had such a hard time narrowing it down to 3 photos this week; I had so many that I loved! I wanted to post some extras that I really loved. I didn't submit these as my assignment because I felt they weren't quite as good examples of the compositional elements we were going for this week.

I can't decide whether or not the board behind her head counts as a merger...

The fence behind her would have made a great pattern if we could have gotten a good background.

I thought this was a beautiful background. However, of all the shots I took in this spot, I love this one the most, even though it really doesn't show much of the background.

I was so excited to find all of these cute little flowers sprouting from the same plant!

I didn't realize until after this shot that the temple was being framed so nicely by the bush and trees. Honestly, I'm not even sure if I took this photo or if my husband did...

The background here was really distracting (it's a parking lot with cars), but I was excited when I remembered that I know how to blur out the background. :)

Week 2: Shutter Speed

#1: Frozen action

ISO: 400

Aperture: f/4.5

Shutter speed: 1/1000

(my husband)
This was my favorite style to photograph this week. It was pretty easy to find actions that looked good frozen.

#2: Implied motion

ISO: 200

Aperture: f/20

Shutter Speed: 1/30

(my niece)
This was my least favorite style to photograph this week. :) I had a hard time picking subjects that made this effect look successful; most of my pictures just looked like they were blurry by accident. I do think this one was somewhat successful, and I like the idea of a little girl swinging her feet. I don't remember for sure why I cut off her head... I think it was an artistic choice, but I'm not totally sure it worked in this particular setting.

#3: Panning

ISO: 200

Aperture: f/16

Shutter Speed: 1/30

(another niece)
I'm guessing the background would blur better if my subject were moving faster, or maybe I needed to slow down the shutter speed even more. I do think that the closer I was to my subject, the better the blur was. Near/far at it again.

Week 1: Aperture and Depth of Field

Storytelling aperture:

ISO: 3200
Shutter speed: 1/800 sec
f/22

Who cares? aperture:

ISO: 320
Shutter speed: 1/40 sec
f/8

Singular image aperture, far:

ISO: 2000
Shutter speed: 1/640 sec
f/5.6

Singular image aperture, near:

ISO: 125
Shutter speed: 1/50 sec
f/5.6

What I'm Learning this Week

#1: Metering! Hallelujah. This is what I always had to do in Photoshop in the past. The colors are just so much more clear when you meter correctly! I could use some more contrast in this photo; maybe next time I'll try taking it with an f8 aperture to see if that creates a little more contrast.

#2: Different apertures affect how the sun looks! One aperture turns the sun into an indistinct ball of light, while another aperture creates sharp rays. I must not have metered correctly to make up for the difference, but it is interesting to see what that difference is. One makes the whole picture brighter while the other darkens it.

#3: When wind is blowing, hair should be secured. :)

Photography Class

I just started Brooke Snow's online photography class, and I'm so excited! I'm really, REALLY looking forward to learning some technique and how to use all the nifty settings on my camera. To submit assignments each week, I'll be posting them here on this blog. This means that anyone who wants to can see my assignments and (hopefully!) watch me progress.