Project: Photo // Showing Depth

This week's task is about showing depth.

I think I've taken thousands of pictures of a beautiful view, only to go back and discover they all suck. Sometimes I shrug and post it anyway with a #picturesdontdoitjustice hashtag... but it seems I've always looked at it from a tourist viewpoint and simply never seen it with a photographer's mindset!

The most important aspect of a landscape photograph is showing depth, to avoid having the whole thing looking flat. The foreground is key, so interesting details or subjects nearer to the camera is equally as important as keeping the most impressive subject in the background. This allows the viewer to become immersed from the photographer's point of view and the photograph will look more powerful. (Click here for a good example.)

In this picture, I was originally trying to capture the stillness and tranquility of the lake in the early morning, as it was yet undisturbed by birds and ducks still unconscious in their cozy little nests. I took some shots attempting to show the dock in the foreground opposite the further bank and sprinkled clouds in the background... but the photo ended up lacking an "interesting subject." A few steps back toward the car, I noticed that the reason I stopped at this spot was because of the charming little gate and tree branches that framed this little walkway. Sure enough, I love the picture even more with those details included!

I wish I would have played more with exposure so that the rock was more in focus, but it's still interesting to see proof that a subject in the foreground is the easiest way to show depth.

Visiting Denver always makes us want to move out here, especially since both Jason's sister and my sister are both out here with their husbands... it feels like "coming home" every time we hang out with them. And Denver's gorgeous weather, amazing mountains, and the promise of skiing in fresh powder don't hurt!

This picture features some leading lines and layering of hills as a way to show depth. Mr. Fletcher Whitlock as a model for this picture is also just too perfect.

Following an interesting fence as it becomes smaller, the further it gets, gives the illusion of depth.

A small little winding path leads our eyes off to the distance, after we are entranced by Connie and Fletcher hanging out on the bridge!


Thoughts:

1. There are so many different ways to show depth and so many different ways to take pictures of the landscape. I think I need another week dedicated to landscape practice in the future.
2. I know I should be able to practice anywhere, but it is so much easier to be inspired in Colorado when the mountains lend a helping hand in every picture... some places simply just photograph better! All of my original pictures taken in Colorado looked like they already had a beautiful filter on it. (Connie says it was the haze that was present during the day, how ideal can you get?!)

Project: Photo // Rule of Space

This week's focus: Rule of Space.

Our eyes naturally follow the direction of a subject's gaze or anticipated movement in a picture. So it creates balance and intrigue to leave more active space in front of the subject, rather than behind. If the subject is positioned with more dead space behind him, it looks like they're about to walk out of the picture, which makes us feel more tension rather than harmony.

My rookie self would've centered Bellatrix's eyes and whiskers in the middle of the picture... but after reading about the rule of space, I see that it's more natural to have her on the left, since she's gazing toward the right.

Recently, I got into cold brew coffee. It requires a small bit of prep (about 12 hrs prior), and I'm still trying to figure out proportion of the cold brew concentrate to the water/ice that's added right before drinking, but it's amazing... super smooth and subtly sweet. Yummm!

I think this one qualifies as "direction of movement." At first, I had it cropped where the trickle of coffee was centered, but it seemed to be asking for more active space at the bottom... so after a couple drafts, the final picture was one with more space at the bottom (where the cup is).

What is Bellatrix is looking at so intently? She's gazing toward the left and a bit behind me, so there's a bit of tension here, since she might be entranced with something that might jump out and attack me at any second!

It's interesting that though we see no specific details of the man, this picture still seems pretty harmonious. I think it's because we're able to see the view that he sees. He had just gotten a cup of coffee at Starbucks so he could simply be walking out to his car, enjoying the view, or enjoying the drink in his right hand. Or perhaps he's just thinking about "absolutely nothing," as guys just claim they often do... right?

A couple thoughts:

1. Perhaps this was a more advanced task better suited for a future week, since it required dynamic subjects in motion. These photos turned out to be more difficult than anticipated because I typically needed more time to figure out how to freeze motion without it looking blurry. And then it was also challenging because I really wanted to snap a quick picture so that my subjects wouldn't realize I was taking creeper photos of them...
2. I'll only be sharing my favorite pictures from the week, not all of them. This will limit the sheer volume, along with the dull ones... and everyone's happy! ("Everyone" being me and my husband, who's my only other reader, haha.) 

Project: Photo // Rule of Thirds

I'm the girl who takes hundreds of pictures... but very sparingly posts on social media.

That's odd, right? Where the pictures go? Well, they mostly find a home in my iPhone's trash album.

I can't say what makes a good picture, but I do recognize the bad ones, so it's pretty easy to weed them out. Problem is, I hardly end up with anything I'm happy with...

And so begins Project: Photo!

I'm attempting to learn some basic photography rules that I can practice with, by shooting at least one picture every day. (But please, no judgement. This is just for fun!)

This week, I found that many basic rules were kind of intuitive, but one thing I'd never heard of was the Rule of Thirds.

Rule of thirds is a guideline that divides an image into 3 equal parts horizontally and 3 equal parts vertically. The important elements are positioned along the lines or at the intersecting spots, which creates visual interest and balances the composition... more so than a "centered" subject.

And that's what became this week's task!

The four focal points are where the light emanates out from behind the clouds. When taking this picture, I was trying to wait for the big ugly tow truck in front of us to get out of range, but it became an interesting subject in the shadows of the foreground.

Salsa class! I put the girl with the gold shoes at the second vertical line. True enough, my eyes directly go toward her.

This was my favorite. It started out as a picture of the palm tree, but after cropping with rule of thirds and putting a black and white filter on it to eliminate distracting colors, I realized that the subject of the photo was actually the sun... and the tree became a silhouette. Here is the original picture for comparison.

On Sunday, we went to Lake Killarney for some stand up paddle boarding (SUP) and I put my iPhone in this waterproof plastic pocket to take pictures. Sadly, all the pictures came out slightly fuzzy and dull, so I couldn't use them for this project. Regardless, I used the upper third horizontal line for the horizon and the bottom third horizontal line for the chairs in the foreground.

Thoughts:

1. Jeez, I've got a lot more work to do!
2. Walk further away. Smaller subjects are much easier to crop to the rule of thirds.
3. Shadows are something my eyes completely ignore in real life. Until I see them in photos. (This would be a good exercise for a future week.)
4. If I had a dog, I'd name him Voldemort. Oh... but also, walking him would be a good excuse to spend more time outside, thereby providing me with more things to take pictures of.

Project: Photography

Blogging is hard! I've been struggling with subjects to write about lately. There's no lack of activity in my life, but the days are rote and there's nothing I care to spend hours writing about (that people will want to read). Learning French? Tracking macros for flexible dieting? Weekly options trading? Planning for next year's trip to Europe? Nahhh.

So instead, I'm going to learn some basic photography skills, for use on the iPhone! To keep myself accountable, I'm starting a project to take 1+ picture a day. If all goes well (i.e. there's progress), it'll be cool to track the journey from the start. Meow!

Before I begin, I've selected 3 of my favorite Instagrams, taken prior to any research about "photography."

01/2015

04/2015

05/2015

First week's task will be practicing the "Rule of Thirds."

Stay tuned!