Boy Part: Framing

I knew that I wanted to photograph my hand was from beginning of this assignment and was determined to do so.  This was difficult to do.   Almost obvious enough, but the top photo is the strong one in my opinion and the bottom photo is weak.  The composition of the week photo just wasn't working.  My hand angle and the potion of the bag just do not create perfect unity of the entire composition.  And the lighting on my hand is not interesting.  In the top photo, however, the light almost illuminates my hand and I like the position of which it is in.  Basically the light made this photo a keeper.

Basically, this was difficult.  The word chosen to focus on was stipple- a speckle/ to paint, draw, or engrave in small dots. The first thing I thought of were the rocks that hit my car and engrave dents/holes.  I definitely should have thought more into it but I like the sky in this photo.  The top photo is very weak.

For this edited version I simply tried to sharpen the photo up and eliminate some of the cloudiness. To do so I heightened the black. I also increased the blue just a slight bit. I would like to next try and turn this photo more abstract and unreal.

 this landscape framing it was difficult because I could not get very close to the subject, which was the lake positioned s that you could barely see it through a patch of trees.  The top photo is the strong one in my opinion because the lake is more in focus and the light illuminates the lake and helps emphasize it. Also I like the landscape and how the line is aligned.  In the bottom photo the are too many trees on the right side and just is not an interesting composition.  The only thing I would change about the top photo would be to have the background trees more in focus.

Duck in rippling water

Photo Assignment #3 for Critique

This assignment I approached wanting to focus on perspective. However, when I went out shooting at Stephens Lake (which has many rocks, and water) I was surprised half way through my photo session when I saw the most beautiful snow white duck! I decided right then and there that I had been inspired to change my focus to motion. I love motion photos because they require skill and luck. It is difficult to catch the perfect moment when working with an animal that has absolutely no respect for what you would like for them to do for the perfect photo. It is up to you to catch that moment. And I think that I caught a few. The session in general was kind of awkward because I anticipated an isolated location however was shocked with people sleeping on benches with mountain dew bottles which kind of ruined the mood for a bit, but I steered away from that noise.
 

The first photo was kind of random and although has nothing to do with my favorite duck, the ripples in the water cause by the water beaming off the shore created a beautiful rippled effect. I also liked how the lovely red blossoms added to the all natural greens, browns, blues, and greys of the photo. It added a bit of contrast.  The duck was just fascinating in general. I started shooting from far away but managed to sneak up very closely without disturbing the creature. Even if he knew of my presence, he was not bothered. He kept dipping into the water which made for a few terrible shots but also for a variety, some you can even see his bright orange beak peeping through the shallow water. Trying to catch a photo that emphasized the duck's beauty was my main intention.  I couldn't get enough!

Jason Christopher - Fashion Photographer

This photograph was taken by Jason Christopher, an 'infamous' photographer located out of Los Angeles, California. Jason picked up his first camera (an old Cannon) at the age of 14 after saving up enough paper route money. He is 100% Italian blooded and was raised in Southern California. In high school he developed an interest in beautiful Italian designers that he was familiarized with through fashion magazines such as Vogue, Italian Vogue, and W magazine. That is what he focuses on photographing and it comes naturally for him.

Jason's photography is typically described as romantic, classic, and clean. To him, those three characteristics are necessary to nail the perfect photograph. He has been compared to that of French painter Degas and the Italian artist/genius Leonardo Devinci because of his use of clean, simple lines that make the body resemble something of fine art. Through those tactics along with his use of lighting and color, Jason creates some very nice photographs that are more than delightful to look at.

The photograph I chose to analyze is very similar in characteristics to many of his photographs. He specializes in beauty and fashion photography and truly brings out the most beauty possible in his models. This specific photograph I love because it has a very simple background and the emphasis is drawn to the models and their colorful outfits. The focus is centered because of the ambient lighting that is creating a bright aura around the models. The way that the models are standing is very flattering and the long lines accentuate their legs really does make me think of them as a piece of art rather than an advertisement, making this photo more of an abstract. Although Jason used a direct approach to this photograph, centering the models, they still somewhat are part of the entire composition. They stand out but also blend in naturally with the surroundings.

The intense edges in the rocky, organic background relate well to the geometric designs of the model's clothing. The models in the central focus have a great contour against the setting. The composition as a whole is very strong. The blue sky is so light that it creates a nice contrast to the rest of the image. The vantage point seems to be taken from a slight angle, since the objects on the far right appear to be larger, though only slightly, and to fade into the distance.