Landscapes

I went to New York this week and hiked, with my best friend, along an island in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River, between the U.S. and Canada.   The island was truly beautiful and I was able to capture, what I think, are some really cool shots.  There are actually six images instead of four, I couldn't bring myself to narrow them down any further.  

This isn't from the island but rather from the drive over.  There is this one stretch of northern New York where there are miles and miles of these wind turbines.  I think they're so awe inspiring and alien across the otherwise normal farmland.  They fascinate me so much, I couldn't resist snapping a picture for this assignment.

The rest of these are from the island.

The last two are my absolute favorites.  We were under tree cover so the lighting is a mixture of dark with speckles of light.  The shadows in the water are incredibly evident which give the illusion of motion.  I was fiddling around with framing and the "rule of thirds" a lot, and generally the position of my subject in the frame. 

 There is so much to think about with landscape, endless possibilities, I was really surprise at some of my results this week.   

Rule of Thirds

I was out biking a couple of days ago, when I saw this railroad crossing in the distance.  As I approached I instantly thought of this assignment, especially after I saw the bridge in the background.

Here is the first one, the centered shot:

Here is the second shot, the third line:

I definitely like the second one better.  The centered image seems off balance because of the pointless stuff to the right of the crossing sign.  The tracks and the bridge give the illusion of depth, but the field to the right seems very flat and out of place.  If I were to keep the centered image I would definitely crop most of the right side.  In the "Third Line" image you can see even more of the track which really draws your eye through the photo, and the track and the crossing sign seem more balanced.

Framing

I was able to get some pretty cool shots this week!  I went hiking on Tuesday which provided a bunch of opportunities, and I found a few at work and at a local baseball game this evening.  

My sister as she balances across a rock, I thought the foliage framed her pretty nicely.

There are some really cool caves along the trail, I made my sister go into them so I could get some pictures of her, she wasn't overly impressed (ignore my dog's head).  

These are from a fire tower at the top of the mountain.

This is another view from the top of the mountain.

This is from work yesterday, I thought the miscellaneous stuff in the foreground somewhat framed my coworker as she made a creemee. 

This was taken through a fence on the back porch of my work.

Finally, tonight I went to a baseball game and I was trying to get shots through the chain fence and protective netting.  

I had a lot of fun with framing this week!  It can really make photographs look really cool!  

Composition and Aesthetics

"I'm an aesthetic empiricist. If you like something, it doesn't matter who made it. There really is no objective standard other than your own taste. You develop your own tastes, you find things that do or do not fit your tastes, and therefore are or are not 'good.' Whether they have been labeled as produced by the right person is another matter."  -Arthur Philips

I saw this quote and it really struck true for me.  By definition aesthetic means beauty, pleasing appearance, or an appreciation of beauty; all of these responses are completely subjective.  The response to a particular piece of art work, whether a painting, drawing, photograph, etc... is totally dependent on an individuals personality and preference.  Yes, there are general guidelines to "successful" artwork, that's why there are countless art classes to teach them, but ultimately it comes down to everyone's individual taste preference.  

Lighting

So, I actually have four images rather than three, I hope that's alright, but there all under different lighting situations.

I work right next to a huge cemetery and I decided it would be really cool to take pictures of a grave stone throughout the day; before I get to work, on my break, and then at night when I leave.  I was just going to pick a random grave stone when I remember a legend I heard as a child, the particular grave I chose has a statue of a lady perched over it; legend has it that if you sit on the lap of the lady you will die.  I thought it would really cool if she was my subject.

It's kind of funny, when I first went to take her picture my camera stopped working, I was mildly freaked out  because I knew the legend of the cursed statue.

Anyway, here they are:

10:30am on an overcast day.

5:30pm sunny.

10pm with flash on

10pm no flash, but I have a friend shining a flashlight

 

Color Schemes

Here are my color scheme shots! I've found myself very aware of all the colors around me over the last couple of days, in particular I've noticed these two signs as I've been out and about.  I love how in the caution sign photograph there is a vine growing up it, this is what caught my attention as I drove by the other day.  I picked the Stop sign because of the green graffiti.  These two abnormalities on the traffic signs were what made me decide to photograph them, had they been average traffic signs I probably wouldn't have bothered.

Analogous Colors

Complementary Colors

Collage

I know I'm cutting it a little short this week for submission, but I knew I was going to be in New York this weekend and saw it as a prime photography opportunity.  I had a ton of fun this week with the assignment, I was making people laugh because of how often I was whipping out my camera.  Close-ups reveal such cool and unusual perspectives of things, it's been a treat to explore this particular style!

Compare and Contrast "The Creemee"

My two favorites from this week were the 4th and 6th images.

The 4th:

The 6th:

Of these two I like the second one the best, the image of the curl.  The curl of a creemee is, by far, the best part; it has the best flavor because I eat it first, before my mouth begins to go numb from the cold.  It is also, in my opinion, the prettiest part of the creemee, and also the most satisfying to make because it takes true technique.  I like how the focus of the image is completely on the curl, and as your eyes move back through the image it begins to get fuzzy.  I also like how the sunlight coming through the window glistens off of the creemee and you can also see it slightly in the background shining on the counter.  In the first image, the side profile of the cone, there is similar glistening and depth; but, the transition from the foreground to the background is a bit more crisp, there is a more defined edge to the cone, and you can see further beyond the cone.  The two images are completely different parts of the same object, the first is a side profile which shows more of the whats going on beyond the creemee, while the second focuses entirely on the creemee itself.

Creemee's

My Object, "The Creemee:"