Week 12: Bugs Point-of-view

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Week 12 Assignment: Bugs Point-of-view

I wanted to try something a little different this week and I decided on Bugs point-of-view. I think it is important to try to see things from different perspectives or different points-of-view. This is a great way to expand your photographic vision, or just get out of your shell and normal way of seeing things. I will do a couple different ones in this series, and we will start with Bugs.

The first photo may seem a little different looking and that is because I tried to make it look like what a fly or similar bug might see. Their eyes have multiple lenses so I believe they see multiple images, probably many more than you see in this image. Since Easter is coming up, I envisioned the bug looking up at some Peeps.

The second and third photos are down pretty low where many bugs live, in the grass or weeds, like a dandelion. The forth could be considered a worm's view, and last, I am guessing bugs get thirsty too.

Coming Next:

Week 13 Assignment: Real Estate Photography

Week 11: Lighting - Diffusion

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Week 11 Assignment: Lighting - Diffusion

This week I wanted to get into a little bit of Lighting. The first type of lighting we will look at is Diffused lighting, doing a comparison between direct lighting and diffused lighting.

I chose a couple different subjects to show the effects of diffused light on these subjects. The light in question is a simple off-camera flash, with a photo umbrella used as the diffuser. The first subject is the blue Beetle. The left image is without diffusion and the right is with diffusion. As you can see, without diffusion you create strong, dark shadows. It does depend on the look you are trying to achieve with your image, but for me, I find the diffused image more pleasing most of the time.

The next images of the apple show the same thing, except more noticeable. The shadow is dark and overpowering along with a smaller, brighter highlight (or catchlight), on the apple itself.

Then, in the final images of the sunflower, you can see how the undiffused light creates the hard shadows again. I don't believe most people would want to see dark shadows of petals from the front of the flower cast on the petals on the back of the flower. The diffused light creates a more even tone of color, a more natural look.

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Week 12 Assignment: Bugs Point-of-View

Week 10: Travel Photography-Seattle

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Week 10 Assignment: Travel Photography - Seattle

This week I wanted to try a little Travel Photography, without actually traveling. I live near Seattle, but for many people each year, they choose Seattle as the destination of their travels. For me, this makes for a good place to start with my first Travel Photography segment.

Taking travel-type photos of the place that you live can be a challenge. You see it almost every day so it can be tough to get a fresh perspective on places or things that may be unique to the city you know so well. I decided to include a couple "icons" of Seattle, some of which most people outside of Seattle may not know about.

The first icon is the Fremont Troll, which is very unique to the city of Seattle. Seattle is quite artsy and full of many original pieces created by local artists. The Troll is one of my favorites and is included on many of the scenic tours of Seattle.

The second, of course, is the Space Needle. I decided to show it in the background of a piece from the new Sculpture park. I have photographed the Needle many times, so this time I tried to show it a little differently.

Third is the Fishermans Terminal. The fishing industry is pretty big in Seattle, all the fresh seafood you can handle, with many of the Alaskan fishing boats docking here for the winters.

Fourth, something you may not recognize, is the Starbucks Siren. Seattle is known largely for its coffee, Starbucks, being the largest of many coffee companies in the area. Seattle's Best or Tully's you many also recognize. (Tully's actually took over the Ranier Brewery building.)

Fifth, is not an icon, per se, but you can see how some icons are recreated and used to help many businesses in the Seattle area. Also, the name of the store goes nicely with the name of my blog.

Coming Next:

Week 11 Assignment: Lighting - Diffusion

Week 9: Textures

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Week 9 Assignment: Textures

This week I chose textures, mainly because I thought they would be fun. Textures can be used for simple art and they can also be made into a fun game of "guess the texture".

Trying to find ideas of textures to photograph can be a little overwhelming, even though you can actually photograph just about anything. For me, I decided to break it down into colors and their compliments. This helped me to choose a direction and narrowed down what to photograph. I chose the three primary colors; red, yellow, and blue, then found their complements; green, purple, and orange. The fourth, I chose to do black and white, but also have the textures themselves complement each other. If you can guess the textures you win a gold star.

Coming Next:
Week 10 Assignment: Travel Photography-Seattle

Week 8: Senior Portraits

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Week 8 Assignment: Senior Portraits

I ventured into something new for me this week, senior portraits. My niece Kelsey (top) and her friend Brianna asked me if I could take their senior portraits for them and I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to try some new things I have learned and test some different lighting situations.

The shoot started out in the early afternoon, which is probably when the sunlight is the harshest, creating dark shadows. To overcome this, I used a flash for "fill flash", which fills in the dark shadow areas with light. I still want some shadow in those areas so it will still look natural. I also wanted to find some simple backgrounds or interesting scenes to do the portraits. Some seniors also like to take their portrait with something that means a lot to them, or their favorite hobby as we did with Brianna and her horse. These portraits can tell you a little for about the subject than your standard headshot.

As we shot later into the afternoon, the sunlight got better, giving you a warmer look, and eventually the sun went down putting us in the shade essentially. The second and third shot of Kelsey were taken in the shade and just using a little bit of umbrella flash for some catch light in her eyes, but the light turns out to be a lot more even on the subject because it has been diffused by the sky and umbrella. An overcast sky during the day with do the same thing. All in all, it was a lot of fun and a good learning experience for me.

Coming Next:

Week 9 Assignment: Textures