Rule Of Thirds Page: 12/7/16

Image and Design by: Me

To take my photos for the rule of thirds I kind of just wandered around my neighborhood with my camera, and made sure that the subject was off center. Also, I used a lot of my old photos that I haven’t used for anything else. For designing my page, I created a grid to represent the one that I used to crop my photos for the rule of thirds. Then, I made the background a gradient with similar colors to my pictures.

The rule of thirds is a way to make a composition more interesting and dynamic. It states that a photograph is most pleasing when its subjects or regions are composed along imaginary lines which divide the image into thirds. It is better than just having the subject in the center of the frame. Active space is when you take a picture of something that is in motion, and the space around it is often blurry. If you taking a picture of someone running, you would leave space out front of the run to show were they are going. It would look unsettling if the active space was behind the runner.

This project wasn’t that difficult because it could literally be a picture of anything as long as you could make the main points line up in the grid. Even if you didn’t really use the rule of thirds when taking the photo, you could crop it in Photoshop to make it fit. In this case, I was able to use some of my older photos that I haven’t been able to include in my photo shoots. Overall, designing this page was pretty simple. I discovered fun, new fonts and a new type of gradient.

I think I was successful in this project because I now know what the rule of thirds is, and I am able it apply it to my pictures to make them better. I really like how my different elements in my page came together to create a cohesive composition. I wouldn’t want to do this again because I think it is the best it could possibly be. Anyways, maybe I would add more planets or design like stars, moons, or spaceships to my polar coordinates tutorial.

 

 

Filling the Frame Page: 12/12/16

Photos and page design by: Me

For this shooting assignment, I took most of my pictures in my house because it was so cold outside. I unintentionally did a red and gold theme, when I realized it I really liked, so I decided to continue it.  In designing my page, I took the “filling” and “frame” parts literally. I made the title bubble letters and then used the paintbrush to make it look like it was being filled in like a coloring book. Also, I put picture frames around my example image and my tutorial piece. Then, I used a paintbrush and a circle to fill in the empty space to demonstrate filling the frame.

Filling the frame is when the photographer fills the frame with the subject to eliminate all negative space. To fill the frame, I got really close to the subject, especially if it was really small. You could see the details better and the pictures were more interesting without out the unnecessary negative space.

This one wasn’t the hardest because it could literally be anything, but it was a little difficult to find new subjects. It has been really cold and snowy, so I didn’t want to go outside. Also, I have already used everything around me, and my house has horrible lighting, which often results in bad pictures. In designing my page, I wasn’t sure what to do in the background once I did the title and the frames. Then, I couldn’t find frames that looked good, but I didn’t have that much time to find better ones.

I think I was fairly successful with this page, but my photos for my shooting assignment are definitely better. I loved how they are went to together with the red and gold wintery feel. My page background could use some work, and I would find better frames to put around the photo and tutorial.

 

 

 

 

Shape Page: 11/28/16

Image and Page Design by: Me

For the shape photo shoot, I walked all around my neighborhood looking at things that have shapes in them. I climbed to the top of the playground and looked around at one point. When I was designing the page, I used a bunch of geometric shapes and other custom shapes in all different colors. They ended up being pastels, which wasn’t the plan at first, but they looked the best like that. In the tutorial, we learned how to define things as a custom shape with our gingerbread man. I already knew an easier way from digital design, but it was a nice refresher.

Shape is the quality of a distinct object or body in having an external surface or outline of a specific form or figure. Shapes can be used to define or frame an image to make it more interesting. For most of my pictures I searched for basic geometric shapes in everyday things. A silhouette is the dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background, especially in dim light. To take a photograph of a silhouette you need backlight and something or someone to be in front. If shooting outside it is best to do so at sunrise or sunset because the sun will be at the right height.

This was the hard one to find pictures for because the first night I took pictures, I later realized that they we mainly form and not shape. So, I had to start over and take some more the next night. Also, it is getting harder to find new, interesting subjects since I don’t really have time to go places other than my neighborhood. In designing my page, it was hard to put the all the shapes together in a way that didn’t look like a mess, but I think it turned out looking cohesive.

I think I was fairly successful in this project because I like the way my page turned out, and I enjoyed putting my digital design skills to the test in the gingerbread tutorial. If I could do it over, I would make the tutorial piece go better with the pastel colors of the page background, since the gingerbread composition has lots of primary colors it kind of clashes. For future projects, I will make sure all the different components create unity.

 

 

 

Texture Page: 11/15/16

Image and Design by: Me

For this texture photo shoot, most of the pictures are from around my neighborhood. I had to look up-close in unusual places to find interesting textures. My favorite one was included in my texture page, which is a picture of mushrooms on the side of a tree. My mom was walking around with me outside, and she pointed it out. When I designed my page I wanted to experiment with different brushes, so I went online and found water paintbrushes. After I downloaded them, it was hard to figure out which one to use, and what color it should be. I also used a grass brush in a purple color to match my cement tutorial, and a dark blue splatter paintbrush to add more texture. For the title, I used various blending options to give it texture and a gradient.

Texture is the feel, appearance, or consistency of having a surface or subsurface. It can be used as a composition element in photography because it makes very simple subjects have more dimensions. Macro photography is extreme close-up photography, usually of very small subjects, in which the size of the subject in the photograph is greater than life size.  I used Macro photography for many of my photos for texture because you can see the texture more. For this type of photography, magnifying lens or filters are recommended, and you have to get extremely close to the subject.

This was hard because I have a 58′ lens and we only had smaller Macro filters, so I had to hold it up to my lens. It was also kind of hard to focus with higher magnifications, so manual focusing is a must. Texture is everywhere so it was not hard to find cool things to take pictures of.

I think I was successful in this project because I was able to find a lot of things with texture and they all kind of go together, since they were all taken outside. Also, I think my I was able to demonstrate texture in my creative background, and my concrete turned out pretty well. This was one of the easiest of the composition book, but if I was to do something different, I would try to find macro filters that fit my camera lens.

 

 

 

Line Page: 11/6/16

Images and design by: Me

For this first page I wanted it to be a bit simple and emphasize the lines. I framed the example pictures with black outlines to make them stand out, and I found a font that I thought best represented line. Also, I used vectors to create an interesting background. For the texture photos themselves, most of them were taken at the high school football stadium, but the flower picture from the copy lines tutorial was taken in my neighborhood a few weeks back. Adding the lines made it more interesting.

Line is a continuous mark or band that travels in a direction, whether is horizontal, vertical, radial, or on a diagonal. They don’t have to be straight, they can be curvy or zigzag. Lines can be used to guide the viewer through the photo because you can’t help but follow the lines with your eyes. Also, they can frame the background like in my first example.

Taking the pictures for this was fairly easy because there are lines everywhere, so I didn’t have to go far to find good subjects. Also, we had an in-class photo shoot day , which made it more interesting than the things around my house. The photoshopping part is pretty easy because we’ve been doing it for so long, but the tutorial was interesting since I didn’t know you could create patterns like that.

I think I was successful in the this project because it is not that hard to find interesting lines around, and I think me pictures turned at good. If I was to d this again, I would probably create a better background for my page, but I like the simplicity of the one I made.

 

Light Painting: 10/26/16

Images edited by: Me

This assignment’s goal was to create images using light.We worked in groups of four in a completely dark room, and we had to write a word, draw a picture, have a battle, outline something, and then do something random. I used the word stars, a moon drawing, a devil outline, a battle with light coming out of our hands, and a random, multicolored portal. We used flashlights with different colored paper, Christmas lights, and a colorful light-up sword.

It was important to have a long shutter speed, so you had enough time to draw everything, and have the light stay after it was drawn. You want to have a tripod to avoid camera shake. Also, a blank background makes it easier to edit out any unnecessary things that the camera picked up, like a person moving while drawing. If you want the people to show up in the photo, you have to shine a flashlight on them, too. Also, you need several people to draw complex pictures. Dark clothing helps to not show up in the image too much.

The first day of shooting was difficult because our group didn’t really know each other, and we had a hard time coming up with ideas that actually worked out well. After that, it was really fun, especially the last day of shooting because we were doing random one that ending up looking pretty cool. Editing was a little difficult because we had a lot of background lights, and moving people to cover up. It took a little while to figure out what shutter speed worked best for each picture, and sometimes we didn’t have enough people to take the image, since we couldn’t figure out the camera timer.

I think we were fairly successful because our images, after editing, turned out good. We had a lot of fun shooting, and met some new people. If we did it again we would work on writing letters backwards better and come up with drawing that are more interesting.

 

Alphabet Collage: 10/11/16

“Dream” by: Me

The objective of the alphabet photography assignment was to take photos of letters created by everyday things. Then, collage them into a word, and create a background for it. The word that I made was “dream” and each letter in featured in a cloud of its own. The background is mainly a sunset blended with a starry night sky to convey the idea of dreaming. There are various water activities in the ocean and a plane in the sky to express the idea of exploring new things and experiences.

I learned that if you look at things from a different perspective, then you will discover a completely new image. It is kind of strange trying to come up with letters in the most random things, but it is kind of fun, unless you are looking for that one last letter. I find myself finding letters all around me now, and imagining how I could Photoshop them to make it stand out. This made very boring photos seem interesting.

This project was a little difficult because it was hard to find letters that went together well, and figuring out what word I could create with them. I didn’t have any troubles with photograph since this was similar to what I used to do in Digital Design. I didn’t have to go take pictures that may or may not work in the composition, so it was in my skill set.

I think I was relatively successful in this project because I managed to put everything together to create a cohesive composition. If I had extra time I would find a better “M” because I think it could be more clear, and match the other letters better.

“Out of Focus” Abstract Photos: 9/26/16

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Images by: Me

The objective of the “out of focus” project was to take photos that are not in focus, so they are blurry. Instead of focusing on the subject of the photo, you focus on the colors and lines that are created. I created 6 images that each use a different method in Photoshop. I selectively filtered a fire hydrant, used the paintbrush to emaphasize blurred background colors, and liquefied images to manipulate lines and create a sense of movement. Also, I used vectors to add different colors and shapes to the abstract images, and collaged different element together to create one cohesive composition. In editing my photos, I used levels and curves along with selective color to highlight key colors.

Abstract art is when the subject of an art piece are shapes, colors, and lines used instead of depicting something in the natural world. It usually displays an emotion or an array of emotions through colors, and not a realistic image. Abstract means existing in thought or as an idea, but does not have physical existence in the world. My photos would mostly be considered abstract because you can not tell what the subject was, and they are composed of the colors, lines, and shapes that the subjects created. Some might be called semi-abstract because their subjects could be assumed, since they are not blurred out of complete recognition.

Taking blurry pictures with interesting colors, and lines was definitely not the hard part of this project, since I usually take burry pictures on a normal day. I loved playing with different shutter speed to create cool streaks of light across my photos. The hard part was finding pictures that I could use specific methods on like vectors because I felt like they were too harsh for photos, and they are more useful in digital design.

I think most of my pictures were successful like my Abstract Brick, Stage Lights, and Yellow Gate, but the others could use some more work. If I could I would find a different picture to put vectors in because I don’t think I goes together very well. Maybe a less complex picture, so it doesn’t look overwhelmed be the random shapes and colors. The different filters and liquefying were interesting, since I have never used them before. I will definitely use them in future projects.

 

 

 

 

Aperture, ISO, & Shutter Speed: 9/18/16

Aperture:

Aperture is how big the hole that allows light into the camera is. Like an iris, it is constantly changing to account for the brightness of the world. It is measured in f stops, which is the size of the opening. The lower the f stop number, the wider, or bigger, the aperture. This picture represents a narrow depth of field, which is caused by a wide aperture, so the background is blurry.

ISO:

 

 

 

ISO is the level of sensitivity of your camera to the light available. The higher the ISO the more sensitive your camera is to light and the more noise in your photo. The first picture was taken at ISO 200 and the second one was taken with an ISO of 1600. The one with the higher ISO is not as clear and it is brighter.

Shutter Speed:

Shutter speed is the amount of time your shutter is open when you take a picture. It is measured in fractions of a second. The more time the shutter is open the longer the image sensor has to record motion. This picture was taken with a fast shutter speed, so it captured the motion very quickly to make it look suspended in the air.