Friday, December 20, 2013

David Hockney Photo Collage

This is my David Hockney photo collage. For my photo collage, I chose this fire pit and frozen pond as my subject(s). Basically, I just took a bunch of pictures of them and glued them together in Pixlr. Piecing together the pictures was a bit hard, like putting together a puzzle. The benches around the camp fire were especially hard to put together, because of there positions. But I like how it turned out.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Still Life Photos

For this assignment, I was asked to find a still life subject, take 20 pictures of it, choose the best five, and tell why they follow or don't follow different rules of composition. I have chosen the best six because...well, why not?  I have chosen this fire hydrant as my subject because, to my knowledge at least, it has not moved. Ever. Fire hydrants tend not to move, which makes them still life, right?


1. This picture follows the rule of thirds...and that's about it. The picture was taken from behind the fire hydrant and the lighting is coming in from the right. The picture kinda makes it feel like the fire hydrant is walking away...but fire hydrants can't move. We've already established that.


2. This picture uses the rule of thirds and leading lines...slight improvement. The fire hydrant is positioned in the top right of the photo and the road behind it acts as a line. And the lighting is coming from the left this time.

                                                    

3. This picture has...I dunno, emphasis? Maybe I'll skip this one.



4. This one just has the rule of thirds again. The subject isn't exactly clear in this photo, but it's supposed to be the fire hydrant. I didn't really get close enough to the subject sometimes.


5. I wasn't really close enough in this one either, but it's got the rule of thirds and leading lines. The road acts as the line and the fire hydrant is placed in the lower left of the picture.


6. This last one kind of has the rule of thirds and maybe some leading lines, but again, the subject isn't very clear. In this case, though, I was too close instead of too far. I think the sun in this picture looks kinda cool though.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Framing, Lines, Patterns, and Textures

Framing


This image uses those trees to frame the building. And the bench. I like the way they curve over the top of the building to frame it.


This image also uses trees to frame the subject, which in this case is a small park with a basketball court. In this image, instead of two trees curving up and joining at the top, one of the trees on the left reaches waaaaaaay over and touches the trees on the right.

Lines


The road and fence in this picture act as lines, leading your eyes towards the...farming...implement...thingy. I have no idea what that is, but it looked cool, so I took a picture of it.


In this picture, the railing leads your eyes towards the wheel. If you were to go even further, you would say that the railing leads your eyes to the wheel, and the spokes of the wheel lead you eyes to the center of the wheel. Some of the floorboards point to the wheel as well.

Patterns


The waves form a pattern in this picture. Would've looked better without the floating leaves and twigs.

The pattern in this picture is the tractor tracks. I found the tractor tracks while walking to take the wheel picture up there ^ .

Textures


The texture in this picture is...I don't really know how to describe textures. I guess this one would be...Muddy? Dirty? Dry? I don't know, just pick one and go with it.




In this picture, the texture is...wood? Wooden? Stiff? Rigid? Rough? I don't really know. But if you look closely, that part in the middle looks kinda like an eye.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Black and White Pictures

1. The Country Store
This is a country store. On the ranch I live on. I don't know why we have it, but I'm not arguing, since it makes a good subject for black and white. It would've looked better without all the stuff on the porch. And without all the stuff in the window. I like the how the sign looks, though.

2. The Stables
You've probably realized at this point there's kind of a western theme going on here. Well, I live on a ranch so what would you expect? (Okay, so it's not a real ranch, but it's a guest ranch. It's still a ranch!!!) Plus, the western style kind of fits with black and white, don't you think? This building was once stables for cows and horses (back when this was a real ranch), so it fits with with the western theme. I like how the roof looks in black and white.

3. The Sheds
These are two tool sheds and a silo and a hay loft. This is probably my favorite picture, the shade makes it look cool. The leaves on the trees look cool, too.

4. The Barn
This is the barn. I think this picture would've looked better if the doors had been open and if I had gotten closer before I took the picture, but it looks cool in black and white.

5. Cars
Okay, I know what you're thinking: "Again with the toy cars???" Well, what better to put in an old-looking picture than old-looking cars? They look pretty good in black and white. Plus, I have two younger brothers, so toys cars are easy to find at my house...okay, fine, some of them are mine...

Extra Picture


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Sunset Pictures

I was lucky enough to look out the window and see this amazing sunset, and I took some  pictures of it. Enjoy!




Monday, October 7, 2013

Light and Exposure

1. Hard Lighting
This is an example of hard lighting. When you look at this picture, your attention should be immediately drawn to the water. 

2. Soft Lighting
Okay, so maybe this isn't even an example of soft lighting, but it looked like it when I took the picture. My intended subject was that bird on the grass, but you can hardly see it , so it looks like the mountain is the subject. There also appeared to be more shade when I took this.

3. Mid-day Lighting
This is a picture of a little cabin on the ranch I live on, at mid-day. There is very little shade because it is mid-day.

4. Dawn/Dusk Lighting
This is the same cabin at dusk. Well, close to dusk at least. The sun was setting when I took this picture, which is why there's so much shade.

5. Back Lighting
In this picture, the sun is shining behind the trees, although it looks like the sun is burning a hole through them. If I had been a little closer, it probably would have just looked like the sun shining behind the trees.

6. Front Lighting

So, by the time I got around to taking these last few pictures, it was night-time, which means, obviously, that there is no light. So I found a flash light, a Hot Wheels car, and a Lego road, and the result is these last three pictures. The lighting sucks in these pictures, but I used a flash light, so I kind of expected that. In this one, I shined the light at it from the front.

7. Side Lighting
Again, the lighting sucks, but at 9 o'clock there's not much you can do. I shined the flash light at it from the side this time, so it's an example of side lighting...right?

8. Artificial Lighting
Technically, all three of these last pictures are examples of artificial lighting, but I can't use the same picture for several types of lighting. I just shined the light at the car from above.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Camera Modes

                                                   1. Landscape Mode
I think this mode worked best in this situation...well, because it's a landscape.

2. Sports/Action Mode
I think this mode worked best in this situation because this bat was moving fast. Now that I think about it, shutter speed mode might have worked too.

3. Kids Mode
I think this mode worked best in this situation because this pheasant wouldn't hold still. Just like a kid. I don't actually know what this mode was called, but it's icon was a kid.

4. Macro Mode
I think this mode worked best in this situation because these are very small flowers and macro mode is for photographing small things and close-up pictures.

5. Auto Mode

I think this mode worked best in this situation because...I didn't know what other mode to use. Plus, auto mode is for beginners, and I think I qualify as a beginner.


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Around Town(/Ranch) Photos

1. A Fire Hydrant
                                             
                                                                    2. A Playground

                                                        3. A Mirror Image/Reflection 


                                                                       4. An Animal

                                                                    5. A Church


                                                                     6. A School

7. An Antique or Something Old

8. A Flag (Multiple Flags, actually)

9. A Musical Instrument

10. A Toy (or two)