Portraits

1. I believe I was most successful with the surprise me photo because it was not necessarily something people would expect to be happening in school where he is climbing up a ladder to reach the light.

2. For the artistic picture I looked for shadows to get my partner in the shadows and have him pose in a depressed mood to give the feeling that something is wrong with him.

3. I gave my partner a basketball as his prop which went well with his Jordan shoes and I put him in the gym so he would do a pose a basketball player would do. The photo is decent but I believe it could have been better if his outfit looked more like an actual basketball players costume.

4. I believe what makes my surprise photo different is that someone is actually climbing on a ladder up to a light within the school and the person is a student, that is not something you see on a daily basis so i believe that makes it unique.

5. I feel that the pictures may have overall been better if we were instructed more on what exactly to do instead of do our own creative ideas because in reality I am not that creative and work better when given specific instructions.

Contact Sheet

Out of the 8 compositional tricks we have learned so far, my favorite is the extreme angles because I enjoy seeing things from odd angles that we normally would not notice.

Although extreme angles are my favorite compositional trick we have learned so far, most likely I will begin using rule of thirds in my day to day picture taking. For some reason it has stuck in my mind that the pictures look better when the emphasis is not dead center therefore rule of thirds is the compositional trick I will most likely use more frequently in my photographs.

The lighting compositional trick was my least favorite because I wanted to have something different that not everyone else was doing, but my plan did not work and my imagination could not go far enough to create a good lighting scene.

My favorite was the extreme angle pic I took from a birds eye view simply because I like how I am seeing the emphasis in an angle I had not seen before.

Compositional trick #8 Fill in Flash

When in the sunlight and facing away from the sun, a shadow overcast the subject therefore you cannot completely see your emphasis. The fill in flash makes the shadow disappear so that you can see your emphasis completely. So clearly the best time to use fill in flash is when some time of shadow is effecting the outcome of your picture when you want to see your emphasis clearly as the pictures show above.

Compositional Trick #7 Drawing with Light

The audience pays deeper attention to what all is occurring within the picture when the lighting is different from a normal picture, it gives them something to think about rather then just looking and realizing it is some picture of some person. The lighting often also affects the mood of the photo itself.

When I look at the photo I took, I get an adventurous feeling as if it is time to march forward and see what is in our future. The lighting helps create this feeling because it is mostly all grey and white toned colors which automatically make me feel like things are good when compared to a picture that has all black and some white which makes my heart feel dark.

Compositional Trick #6 Framing

The framing technique helps the composition by creating a frame that directs your eye to the emphasis. The frame makes the viewer look through the frame, which can be anything, and focuses on the emphasis.

The composition in my photo does not stand out to well, I could have done or should have done better eliminating more of what was around my frame and subject, I believe that would have been the best thing for me to do to improve my picture.

Compositional Trick #5 Extreme Angles

Extreme angles are a good compositional trick when you want your picture to be a little over dramatic and see things from a different perspective that most people would not normally have.

My photo of the rabbit is not a very good extreme angle picture because instead of viewing the rabbit from a worms point of view (which was part of the assignment) it looks straight forward which is not a unique view. The other picture of my partner is a better extreme angle as it has a birds eye view.

Compositional Trick #4 Simplicity

Having simplicity in a photo is great for strengthening the composition by only having one main object so your eyes go directly towards the emphasis. Simplicity does not mean boring, it simply means not having other things going on in your picture so that the focus is on one main thing. Although the picture of my cactus shows simplicity it is also boring therefore not being a very good example.

Simplicity can be an effective trick when wishing to direct the attention upon a particular object with no other distractions around. The picture of the rabbit is a good example of this because I only wanted a picture of it, so while it was in a corner I croped in enough so that the picture is only showing the rabbit.

Compositional Trick #3 Macro

Macro allows the photographer to see details they normally would not notice, to view things close up that normally someone can not see. It is good for the photographer to know how to use this so that when wanting to focus on a tiny object the macro not only does this but also blurs out the edges so that the emphasis really pops.

Compositional Trick #2 Leading Lines

Leading lines (when having a subject) takes the viewer right into the picture and directs the attention at the emphasis. Other times when there is not a subject the leading lines simply make the eye travel across the lines out the picture. You use leading lines when you would like the viewer to be immediately drawn into the picture.

Compositional Trick #1 Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds shows the best place on the grid to place your subject. You do this by holding down the focus button for a second then aiming your camera where the focus was best. The time to use the rule of thirds is when you want your emphasis to not be dead center and interest the viewers eye.