Final Project

 I learned how to use my digital camera in this course. It was a beautiful thing to finally understand all the buttons and what they did. I was taught how to do everything from changing my iso to making sure my white balance was adjusted properly. Everything was laid out in this course that a camera can do and how the user can change those settings. Now knowing my camera better and being able to adjust those shots is how I was able to make the beautiful shots in this post. I believe this course is a must take for any photographer just starting out and any hobbyist who just wants to learn more!   

             The five pictures I chose are all leaf related. I find macro and nature photography my favorite styles. I applied different techniques in each of these pictures. One style I didn’t use in these pictures but which I had a lot of fun with during the class was black and white. I didn’t want to remove the beautiful color out of any of the pictures. I think in a leaf’s journey the color kind of helps tell the story. However with as much as I liked the black and white photography, I was still tempted! However I believe all the shots in the post came out exceptional! The first picture I used natural light and a cloudy white balance to get the clear color on cloudy day. In the second picture I lowered my Iso and aperture to make most of the leaf to be in focus and let less light in for more sharpness. With the third picture I raised my Iso setting so I could focus on a midpoint in the leaves and have the rest of the path be out of focus. In the fourth picture (and my favorite) I used natural back light and a higher Iso to get the great lighting effect. This shot I believe came out beautifully! The fifth shot I was trying to play on shadows, I adjusted Iso, exposure, and aperture to get the longer shadows I got on the leaf. I had a lot of fun taking these photos and I learned a tremendous amount about my own talent during the exercise.

                Along with the blog work and the reading of the course information and personal research, I really do believe that this course has given me the tools and information necessary to move onto bigger and better things. I’ve taken many courses over the years and I don’t think I’ve had such a strong learning experience in a single class like I have with this one. Now I feel like I can take gorgeous shots with my camera that not only I will enjoy but that everyone will enjoy. I’m actually sadden to know that this is the final lesson, but I know that I will take everything I learned along with my in all my future endeavors with photography. They always say you have to have a strong base in anything to go
anywhere!

 

 

Portrait/Black and White

Let me start off by saying that Portrait and Self-Portrait photography are not my favorite. Nor are they my strongest area. I guess I would rather work with inanimate objects or still life. I do like voyeur style photography, but I find the setup or staged portrait photography a little boring. In my opinion any way! I love the shots other people can get with studio work or being creative with people, but it’s just not for me. It may be I need to learn more or study more about the area. On the other hand, I really love black and white photography. I think the absence of color can make pictures very dramatic and keep the viewer thinking deeper about the picture. I liked how composing the shot with thinking about how no color would affect the pictures. I’ll break down how I went about composing my shots.

                For the portraits and self-portraits I went about it as a outside person. Trying to think about what others would like and be engaged by. Most of my shots are taken in nature since I love nature photography so much. I like the aspect that nature brings to pictures. I tried to focus on the person while providing some interesting background without letting it clutter the picture. I’m not going to lie, I spent more time trying to compose the black and white pictures then I did the portraits. I overall thought my portrait photographs lacked personality, and me being my own biggest critic, hated them.

                However I really did love how my black and white pictures came out. I like the contrast in darkness and light I got. I waited to late afternoon to get some interesting shadows and tones in the pictures. I found subjects that had a range of dark and light areas and tried to play on them with the camera. I actually took 3 times as more black and white photographs as the ones I did for the portraits, which gave me much more to work with. One of my biggest inspirations in my photography creative eye is Ansel Adams. I love how his photography controls the image and the viewer and draws them into his world. He is a master of both landscape and black and white photography.

                Overall my pictures came out ok for this assignment. I guess the lesson I learned the most was learn what you like, and try to improve what you don’t. I now know I have to learn more about portrait photography and that I love and I believe have a great eye for black and white photography. The best thing about learning the basics of photography is learning what you like, and understanding how to do it. This class has helped me grow as a photographer and understand myself and the strengths of my photography. Going forward I will have a great understanding of how to compose portraits and learn what to focus on and off of. As far as the black and white photography, I’ll keep pushing the envelope and trying to get more out of my shots.