Panning

 This was taken right outside of school. I had problems getting this shot because I had trouble holding the camera still since walking is slow movement. This is a good representation of panning because the girl is in focus and the background is kind of blurred. Before getting this shot, I took a picture of someone else on a sunny day but it didn't work because the shutter speed was too high and so was the ISO so I decided to take another picture. Before, I used a shutter speed of at least 1/1200 or higher but I realized a slower shutter speed needed to be used for panning. In this picture, the background could be a little more blurry.

 This was by the umbrellas. Before getting this shot, I kept pressing the shutter down too late and by then, I kept getting the back of the person running or they wouldn't be in the shot at all. This is a good representation of the skill because the person is in focus, but I didn't like how the background was in focus. The background could be a lot blurrier and that can be fixed with a slower shutter speed. Before this shot, I had all the same settings, so I should've changed the shutter speed.

 This is by the umbrellas again. I had the same problems as I did in the last photo; I'd press the shutter down too late. Also, in some pictures, the two people running were right next to each other, so people can only see one person in the shot. This is a good representation of the skill, but again, the background is in focus and I needed to lower the shutter speed. I used the same settings for previous pictures. The background could be a lot blurrier and so the shutter speed should've been lowered.

 This was in the back parking lot. A lot of problems were the vehicle and the background would both be blurry. Also, it was hard to fit the vehicle in the shot because if it was zoomed out, the vehicle wouldn't look like the main part of the picture. If it was zoomed in, part of the vehicle would be cut off.This was a good picture since the vehicle and person are in focus and the background is blurry. Before this shot, I hadn't zoomed in at all and the photos looked awkward. In this picture, I could've waited until the vehicle would be in the middle of the shot.

This was outside school on the street. Some problems were the cars would move really fast and I wasn't able to follow them and press down the shutter in time to take the picture. This is a good picture because the background is really blurry but the car was sharp and in focus. Before this shot, I had a high shutter speed but I lowered it a lot and it worked out better. To improve this photo, I might zoom in a little bit.

Shutter Speed Exercises

In this picture, I was by the umbrellas and the steps. The problem was that the picture kept getting taken at the wong time- either too early or too late. This picture is a good example of stop action because the person is frozen in mid-air and it isn't blurry. Before this shot, we used a slower shutter speed and it wasn't high enough. There was a lot of blur and we also had to set the ISO higher as we made the shutter speed faster so the image wouldn't be dark. To improve this image, I would take the picture from another angle so the viewer can tell that the person is really off the ground.

We were by the lunch courts for this picture. There was a problem with the ISO and shutter speed because when we turned the shutter speed up, the picture became way too bright, so we had to lower the ISO. It was on the lowest setting but it was still way too bright, so we had to lower the shutter speed as well. This is a good representation of this skill because the person is running but is stopped without being blurred. Before getting this shot, we tried higher ISOs and high fstops and the exposure was higher. But since it was too blurry and bright, we had to lower the exposure and make the shutter speed higher. Maybe the picture could have been zoomed in a little more so it's easier to see details.

This was taken by the office and umbrellas. The problem was that the picture was taken at the wrong time, so the leaf had either fallen or hadn't fallen yet when the picture was taken. This was a good representation of stop motion because the leaf is frozen in the air and it isn't blurred, like motion's occuring. We used the same settings for every picture we took of the leaf because the images didn't come out too blurred, bright, or dark. We could have picked a different location to drop the leaf because the leaf kind of blends in with the background.

The picture was taken by the gym. Some problems we had were the person would run too fast, so by the time the picture was taken, they were already out of the shot. Since the background is in focus, and the person is blurred, it was a good representation of motion blur, showing what's stationary and what's not. We used higher ISO and shutter speed settings before taking this shot, but it wasn't working out because the person kept coming out sharp and in focus. The person could be a little less blurry so they don't seem like a random blob in the picture.

We took this picture by the lunch courts. Some trouble we had was we coudldn't get the lighting to turn out right. When we had a fast shutter speed and a medium ISO, the picture was too overexposed. Then we lowered the ISO to the lowest setting and reduced the shutter speed, and the image turned out a little darker and the person running was more blurred like we wanted. The person is blurred, so it is a good representation of action for motion blur. Before getting this shot, we had higher ISO and shutter speed settings. The shutter speed could still be lowered, since the image still looks a little bright.

Framing

Man-Made:

 This photo works because the latches on the crate move in opposite directions and make a frame so the focal point is the actual crate.

This photo works because the railing is to the side of the picture, blocking off part of the background, so the bench and trees are the focal point.


Natural:

 In this photo, the tree branches both move in a diagonal direction to frame the bench and bushes in the background. If they weren't there, the background would probably be a little distracting and the viewer wouldn't know where the focal point is.

The tree trunk blocks off what would have been in the the left side of the photo. This makes the person looking at the photo notice the extending tree branch that is diagonal.


Architectural:

 This is a photo of the ticket window at the theatre. It works because the semi-circle frames the photo and makes the viewer focus on the brown and blue counter.

The walls frame the door and stairs. The shadows created from the walls make the image look eerie and this is why the walls work as a frame.



Biggest Challenge: The biggest challenge was finding things that frame a subject. I found good things to take pictures of, but I didn't know how to frame them. I overcame this by taking pictures with different angles of the same thing, so one or more of them might have a frame in them. I also looked for shapes, because frames can appear in all kinds of different shapes.

Pattern

Man-Made

 This photo works because the wire on the fence makes a diamond-like pattern and all the shapes are the same size. I took the photo so the pattern looked like it was getting farther away, even if it wasn't. It is a successful picture because there are two patterns in the picture; the diamond shapes and the fact that the pattern looks like it is getting farther away little by little.

This photo works because the pattern was broken by the black part of the wall. I took the picture so the black part was off to the side, not in the middle, so it would look more like a broken pattern. This is also what made the photo successful, and the black draws attention to people looking at the picture.


Natural

 This photo works because all the leaves are pointing down, which makes a natural pattern. I took the photo so the leaves filled the frame, so the wall wouldn't be distracting and confusing. The photo was successful because the leaves filled the frame and were pointing down.

This is an interesting photo because this isn't a normal pattern you would see on just any leaf. I took the photo zoomed in really far because the pattern becomes bigger and more noticeable that way. The photo was successful because of the interesting and unique pattern.


Improve

This photo needs to be darkened because there is too much white in the image. It also looked a little blurry. The problem was I was pulling the camera away after I took the picture too early, so I should've left it up longer. I should have moved the camera around a little so the lighting would change and become a little darker. I could've used a levels adjustment too, in photoshop, if there was more time.


Well

I am good at taking pictures of line patterns. To me, they are the easiest patterns to find, so I have a lot of pictures with line patterns. I took the line pattern pictures so the horizon line was perpendicular to the vertical line patterns, and parallel to horizontal line patterns.

For the next project, my goal is to take a lot more pictures, because this time, I didn't take enough and I barely had any natural pattern photos. Also, I need to make sure the photos I'm taking aren't blurry because almost all of them were this time. To achieve this goal, I need to hold the camera still longer so the image comes out nicely. I also shoudn't go around looking for specific things. Instead I should just take pictures of what I find and notice. That way, I will have more pictures.

Angles

Above

Below

Straight On

This photo effectively uses lines. The railing leads up to the hat, which is the subject of the photo. I made sure to not put the hat in the center of the photo and I also took this picture straight on.


Composition

This photo is my strongest because of the lighting and sharpness of the image. It also uses lines and rule of thirds.

Improve

I need to improve on this image because it is a little blurry and I think I took the picture too far away. The trash can kind of competes with the hat. I also think I took the picture at a weird angle. To fix the image, I would take the picture straight on and get a lot closer, so the trash can isn't in the picture.


The most challenging part of the assignment was deciding what angle to take the pictures at. I didn't really have a solid object; it flopped around. Also, it looks the same from all sides. That's why I think my best pictures were taken up close. To overcome the challenge, I took a lot of close up images and tried moving to the other side to take a picture at the same place. That way, the photo would look a lot different.



Lines

Diagonal

This photo was my strongest because the line was clear and it led to the gym in the background. It is in focus, too, which makes it even stronger. This is also an example of an architectual line and I took the picture at an angle so the railing was on the left and led up to the tree and gym.

This is an example of an environmental line. The leaf blades are leaning to the left, creating a diagonal line.

Horizontal

Vertical

The most challenging part of the assignment was to get 30 pictures of lines in an hour. It was hard to find lines around campus so I felt like I had to rush around and take a picture of everything. To overcome the challenge, I took pictures of the same things at different angles to see if the picture would look better.

To improve my experience in the class, I don't want to talk as much and share my photos with the class. Also, it would be nice to have a little more time to take pictures for an assignment.

One thing I can do to improve my experience in the class is to not think about finding a certain thing to take a picture of, and just take pictures of what shows up to me.

Before and After

Before:

 After:

I sharpened the image so your can notice the details in the flower more. I think this enhanced the photo.

Before:

After:

I changed the levels in this photo to make it a little darker. The change isn't that noticeable but I think this helped make the photo look better.

 

I don't think correcting photos is bad as long as the change isn't huge and the image still looks real. I don't have a problem with editing photos, but for photos you want to frame on your wall, I would still want the picture to look real, so I would only make small changes, like sharpening the image or adjusting the levels a little.

Composition Techniques

Use Lines Effectively

I think this photo is a good example of line usage because my eyes first gravitated to the line of clouds and then their reflection in the water. My eyes followed the line of clouds and it led me to the bridge in the distance.

Rule of Thirds

This is a picture of Tokyo Tower in Japan. It uses the rule of thirds because the tower is positioned off to the left in the shot and stands out.

Fill the Frame

The flower in the picture fills the frame and there isn't any space behind the flower in the picture. This is an example of a photo that fills the frame.