On the Edge Assignment
For this assignment we had to take images of various things while thinking about composition. The main compositional practice was to keep objects on or close to the edge of our photo.
The intended composition of this image is to use the swings as guiding lines in conjunction with perspective to guide the viewers eyes from the bottom left to the top right. The focal point of this image was the swing in the foreground, I wanted to focus on it because it is where I wanted the viewers eyes to start. I made sure it had good highlights and focus, as well as was closest to the camera and sat closest "on the edge" of the image. Hopefully this made viewers eyes start here. I think I achieved this pretty well, in post I used saturation and other adjustments to pull away from the background and bring more focus towards the swing.
Only problems with this assignment was finding an interesting enough composition around my apartment, this playground in the back is fun to shoot at because it has some interesting shapes, but before going here I couldn't find many things inside my house that were interesting.
I turned the image to black and white and turned down contrast and highlights for parts of the image that I want the viewer to focus less on. So I masked out the background and right corners to pull attention away from there in post.
Things Assignment
For this assignment we had to take photos of a smaller object in various contexts, I chose to take photos of this toy I had sitting around because if its colors and interesting shape. We were to use focusing techniques to add depth to the image.
The intended composition of this image is to center the focus on this toy, I used the surrounding metal bars to help frame the character. I tried to use framing to center the attention on the figure in the center, which was the focal point. I think I achieved this pretty well because it's obvious where the viewer should look, but if I could take the photo again I would move the toy closer to the camera, as I think I lost a lot of detail by moving it so far away. Other problems with this assignment I had trouble finding good contexts and lightings for the toy. I wanted to make sure I presented it well, but even though it made sense for it to be indoors, I think it looked better outside. I remember this specific day was a little windy and the figure fell over before I could take the photo. I had to use tape to secure the toy so I could get enough time to properly take the photo. I also had trouble getting the DOF correct to really produce a nice blur effect.
I think this time of day was good for the photo, but I think I could have improved the subjects position, if it was closer I think the image would be more interesting. I also wish I knew a bit more about how to control the depth of field. In post I added some color adjustments to make the toy more saturated against the background, which I think helped a lot to make the image more interesting. I also desaturated the foreground a lot.
HDRI Assignment
In this assignment we were supposed to take an HDRI photo. We learned how to do this and how to process the photo afterwards. This type of photo is meant to capture a bit more detail than an image that isn't an HDRI. You do this by taking multiple images of the same shot, each with different exposure. You should take one photo with a lot of exposure, one with a balanced amount, and one with little exposure. You mix these images in photoshop to end up with an image with more detail on things that otherwise would not be seen without that exposure variance.
The composition of this photo was meant to capture a large flat in the road. I generally use this space to skateboard and wanted to capture its emptiness and usefulness for that activity. I placed the parked cars on the left and right to frame the empty space.
Trees and apartments sit above this space to set the scene. The focal point is mostly the tree that sits in the center. I don't think I successfully pulled this off and I think I could have done this better. The main reason I think I failed at this was because of how close I was shooting to the floor. I wanted to use a tripod since I had to take multiple images, but my tripod is very small. So the camera ended up very close to the ground and made it hard to see what I was shooting. I think I could have solved this just by standing with the camera and trying to hold it very still. By changing the angle I definitely could have improved the image. I used some color adjustments to try and improve the image as well as lighting and curve adjustments. I don't think these adjustments made much of a difference to improve this image.
Panorama Assignment
This assignment was meant for us to practice our learned panorama skills. We had to take multiple exposures per panorama and then choose one to process in photoshop afterwards.
For this composition I found a three-way intersection. I thought it would have an interesting shape in a panorama image, and I was correct. I tried to use its natural perspective to the image's advantage to help lead the background away. This guides the viewer's eyes along the image. For this image, unlike the others, I made the trees the main focal point. They sit along the horizon and the eyes I think are guided across it. I think I achieved this pretty well, I made sure the highest contrast was located around the trees so that they were the most interesting in the image. I also didn't directly center them to hopefully make for a more interesting composition. This photo didn't have many problems, but I did have to take it twice because the first shot was overexposed. If anything would improve this image I think angling the camera a bit higher up might have been a good idea. I also like how the shadow of the tree behind the camera consumes the road. It pushes the road out of focus for the viewer so their eyes most likely follow the horizon and trees. The shape of the tree almost follows the panoramic view of the intersection. In post I added some contrast variation, I made the trees have a higher contrast. I also adjusted curves and some hue of the image.
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