Final Self Evaluation

Today I was bored so I visited the digital photo blog and happened to find that we had another assignment to write things we learned as photographers this half of the year, so I apologize Mr. Slade, that this is late.

I had a lot of fun working with digital this go around instead of film. Of course I love the old fashioned film cameras, but I think it's also crucial for all photographers to be strong in both the old and new technologies, especially in this day and age where we are so technologically advanced, it is important to be working with newer tools. It took a bit of getting used to at first, but once I got the hang of it, I enjoyed it a lot. I really like the concept of being able to see by your screen if you are too under exposed or overexposed, and how your image will look, instead of being surprised or disappointed when you develop a contact sheet for the first time. As for shooting in color, which was also a big change, I learned to pay attention to the colors of the objects around me and eventually learning which ones work together, and which ones just look silly. I love black and white, but using color forced me to really pay attention to what I was shooting. I think I really grew as a photographer through taking this digital color class. It changed the way I look at my subjects and photography in general. When I first started taking in 8th grade, I thought it was just as simple as pointing and shooting. But now I know there is so much more to that, and so many different ways to do it. Thanks for a great half year!

Final Project- Shadows

I debated with myself for a while on what to do for my final project, and after discovering sweet light in my living room, I decided I wanted to do shadows. I've always enjoyed shadows. They're interesting to look at, and the rich black can make a great image. After shooting some with the same light, I found it a little difficult to make/find shadows in a different place. While making my own, I found that candles can produce warped images of objects (i.e a wine glass) made of glass on the wall behind them. In some of the images, the white balance was a little off, but i tried to fix that as best I could in lightroom. While shooting this assignment, I learned that you have to pay attention to the time of day in order to get a correct positioning of light to make your shadow. I had a lot of fun shooting this assignment, and I will miss digital, and you Mr. Slade! Enjoy.

This is one of my favorites, and the fist shadow I shot. It was when I discovered this living room light that this camel was in it, making this shadow. I under-exposed it (on purpose), and I think it looks pretty neat.

This is when I had to resort to making my own shadows when I returned home and it was dark. The light is produced by candle, and I love how the glass looks. My white balance was off on this one, and the colors still look a little funky, but composition wise, I love it.

This is my other candle operation. It's just the shadow of the glass vase thing it's in. I love how it gives off and orange hue, due to the color of the candle. It reminds me of fire!

This is a little...abstract. It doesn't have a specific subject, it's just two different shadows that happened to be next to each other. (same living room window light- just later in the day)

I like this one. It's funny how it's shadow is SO much bigger than it, and the light source is a motion light above it, not this light itself. (shot at night). I also like how the background fades from white to black.

This is another of my favorites. Same living room light at the camel, only with my brother's profile. I had originally shot it underexposed with the actual person and his shadow, which looked cool, but 1) his face was all distorted in each shot due to me forcing him to look into the light, and 2) Slade told me to shoot just this. And I really like it. It's simple.

This wood star thing is so intricate, I loved the shadow it produced against the wall. Same light source.

I walked into this room and thought this simple wedge of light was pretty cool, so I shot it. I also like how it cuts off the picture, so you can't really tell what it is of, which is erie.

I know Slade's no fan of guitars, but I really like this shot. I love the shadows our blinds make, and I just happened to catch them at the right moment laying across the guitar.

This is probably my least favorite. The shadow's blue, because I was outside and It was really light, so when I brought up the blacks, it turned more blue... but other than that, I guess it's ok. yes, that would be me up in the tree. I couldn't find a good angle to get the tree without me in it, so I got in the center. Mighty uncomfortable too.

Thanks for a great 1/2 year!!! I heart digital!

Final Decision (finally)

During break, I was still debateing on what to shoot. Then one day I found this awesome light on the wall of our living room coming from an above window. It made perfect shadows. So after some expirimenting, I've decided to shoot shadows for my final project. There you have it. :D