Some Setbacks...

Okay, this week didn't really go as planned. I was sick in the beginning of the week and couldn't really take pictures of anything (unless I took artsy pictures of tissues and medicine...) But anyway, I did not achieve my goal to take pictures of architecture, but I did end up taking random pictures throughout the week of various things like my dog, a couple things inside and I tried to take pictures of nature.

On the side note, I finsihed reading my book, Nikon D3100: From Snapshots to Great Shots. The way the author wrote the book was not to act as another owner's manual. It was to teach the reader how to effectively use the different settings on the camera to enhance the photo and not just how to physically change the settings.

I might try and do a bit more of indoor photography if I have time, because I like the challenge of finding something in my house with a good subject as well as a good background. (Indoor photgraphy was not incorportaed in my project from the beginning, but I REALLY liked Carolyn's pictures, and considering I was sick, I decided to incorporate it.)

Here are some of the shots I took, though I do not like any of the ones I took this week:

I wish I could have found an artistic way to take this. And I pretty much failed at the lighting. Its a really bad picture, but I needed to post something.

Yummy....bananas and apples...

Got a little bored taking pictures, just you typical artsy piano picture. 

I took some pictures of my dog too, I thought he would make for an interesting subject.

Apparently, this is comfortable.

I like the close-ups.

One day I did go out and take pictures, it was raining. I have a rain cover for my camera, so everything is covered and nothing gets wet. I had been trying to tak pictures in decent weather but I figured it might be fun to take pictures of raindrops, escpecially when I looked out my window and saw raindrops on the tree.

The pictures that I took pretty much failed. I'll post some down below, for the sole purpose to show how they failed. I tried changing the ISO to match the lighting and the focusing to manual, but no matter how I changed the settings I could not produce a quality picture of something I wanted. I would have played with the settings longer, but I was wet and cold and it was getting dark.

It just wouldn't focus...

Wouldn't focus on the right thing..

I don't know what else to say about this picture besides...yikes

Since I did not achieve my goal for this week, I have a lot of work to do. This next week I want to take pictures of architecture and I want to take pictures at night (or in the dark) Even before this project these were two general themes that I never really took pictures of.

My project is not going as planned, so for the photoshop element of my project, I will most likely end up reading as much of the book that I can (The Photoshop Elements Book 11) and I will spend a decent amount of time working with photoshop and taking even more pictures over this next week and spring break.

I plan to shoot something interesting this week, maybe, so if I do, more pictures will follow!

Even More Comments!

This week (once again) I commented on..

      Carolyn Chen (ccphotograph.blogspot.com)
      Arielle Goldberg (aripianoprodigy.blogspot.com)
      Jenna Rollins (jennamakesfood.blogspot.com)

Pictures & People

This project would be ten times easier if I had a license and a car. Its so hard to convince my mom to drive me places and if I had a license I would probably just drive around randomly until I found something interesting to take pictures of.

I'm still not done reading the book I've been reading since the beginning of the project. It has been teaching me a lot about the ins and outs of my camera and what settings to use for what pictures. It has a wealth of information in it, so I will probably finish it in the coming week. All the pictures I took were not on auto, but I was manually controlling the settings. (Except for the focus- some were manual and some were automatic...but I am still learning how to focus manually.)

The weather was better this week, and I went out a couple of times. Taking these pictures I almost got attacked by a squirrel that was coming down from a tree. I wish I would have seen it sooner because then I could have gotten a pictures. I don't really like these pictures turned out but I thought I should post a couple of them anyway.

The shape of this tree is so cool...

I tried to get an artsy picture of the birds nest but it was high up in the tree so it didn't really work. 

I'm not sure why this picture was like this, that was not how the lighting was when I took it so I don't know if I like it or not. 

Something I really wanted to do was take pictures of a person but I had no one to model for me. Thankfully, Chloe let me take pictures of her. That was....interesting. I really like the way the pictures came out, and I would post more, but these were the few Chloe approved.

This one is my favorite out of the ones she approved, there were so many more! 

The only picture where she is smiling...

We both really liked this one, especially because it brings out the blue in her eyes. 

There's something fascinating about this one. I like it, but I wonder how it would look if the house was not in the background. 

Molson "smiled" when we called his name to take pictures of him. What can we say... he likes the camera

Can you find Chloe?

Molson is too cute!

For next week, I want to take pictures of buildings and have a subject with life in the background. It will be a challenge not only taking these pictures, but finding a good location to take them!

More Comments

This week I commented on:

      Jenna Rollins (jennamakesfood.blogspot.com)
      Carolyn Chen (ccphotograph.blogspot.com)
      Arielle Goldberg (aripianoprodigy.blogspot.com)

This Weekend...

This took a while to post, but I wanted to wait and post pictures this weekend because the weather was supposed to be better. I ended up taking a few pictures, but still none of a person. (That will probably be later this week...)

For my finished product, I will have a portfolio containing thirty-six photos. They will be of twelve different themes according to the settings on my camera  (ex. portrait, sports, landscape, night portrait, etc.) Each theme will have three of the same photos, taken with different settings. (The first will be auto, the second will be adjusted to fit the shot as well as the lighting, and the third will be photoshopped.) This may sound confusing, but it's actually not.

Anyway, here's some pictures I took this weekend...

It can be hard to take pictures of trees in the winter, but I kind of like how this turned out. I wish the trees in the background weren't in the picture, but I can't really do anything about that...

I don't know if I like this one or not... but it's interesting..

Just a rusty nail. And some moss. 

To me, this just captures the dreariness of winter. I'm so ready for spring to be here and the trees to start blossoming and everything to look really pretty and colorful instead of dull and boring. 

I don't know if this is obvious to people or not, but this is a pinecone. Something about this picture fascinates me. 

Out of all of the ones I took, this is probably my favorite. No reason, I just like it.

I know these aren't the best photos, but thats partially why I am doing this project. I want to learn how to make my pictures better. Plus, these pictures were taken in and around my neighborhood, so I need to go out to a new location, like a forest. 

If you have any tips or suggestions on how to make my pictures better or anything to take pictures of, let me know! Thank you!

No Photos, but Comments

The three blogs I commented on are:

        Jenna Rollins (jennamakesfood.blogspot.com)
        Jenny DeLuca (designsbyjennyd.blogspot.com)
        Arielle Goldberg (aripianoprodigy.blogspot.com)

Photos & the Weather

When I chose my project, not once in my mind did I ever consider I would not be able to take the pictures I wanted. It's been rainy, overcast, dreary and the lighting is terrible for photography (especially since I do not know the correct setting to put my camera on in light similar to this). Even though I took some pictures already, they are really basic and not that interesting. It's supposed to be sunny this weekend, so I'm excited to go somewhere and take more pictures!

I spent the past week reading Nikon D3100: From Snapshots to Great Shots. I find it really interesting to learn about all of these different settings and functions that my camera has that I have never used before. Even though this book is interesting, it is also very hard to understand at some points. I  know a bit about photography, but I never learned the correct vocabulary for it or took any classes on it. The author will mention how to change something on the camera, like ISO and I have no idea what it means.

While I will continue to read the book, I am going to go back and see if I can find more information about "photography jargon," so when I read I will know the importance of the features and how they can be applied to certain types of photos. If I want to learn how to make my photos the best I can make them, it is essential I learn the jargon of a photographer.

 

My plan for the upcoming week is to continue reading the book, and take more pictures. I am going to use a person for my subject (I haven't done that because no one will be my model..) and I want to take some unique motion pictures (I learned how to adjust my camera's settings so I can make one subject appear in a frame multiple times).

 

I can't find anywhere to shoot that would make an interesting photo. Many professional photographers who write the books travel the world taking pictures and aspiring photographers always seem to find places to do a shoot. I want to go into the city one day, because those would be amazing photos, but I can't think of another place that would be pretty. Any ideas?

 

* I plan to take pictures in the next few days so I will upload some to my blog after I shoot this weekend!