CI 6: Symbol Assignment

For my "peace" image i immediately thought of one of my good friends tattoos. A peace symbol on her wrist. Ive always loved that tattoo and what it represented to her. I wanted to show what peace ment to the two of us. When i think peace i think earth, poverty, the environment, anti-war, and simplicity. To express these concepts i went to a location with earthy tones, i also shot close to the ground to create a feeling of being grounded. I thought about having her face in the photograph but i thought i would be stronger without, it would show more the feeling of the image rather then concentrate on the expression of her face. I wanted the photograph to be earthy and simple. I used depth to emphasize the feeling of a large space (or world) that has the potential to be peaceful.

CI 3: 100 Shots

So, heres the assignment: Take a hundred different pictures of the same single object in the same environment. Well to say the least.. thats not all that fun. After a while it becomes difficult to tell what constitutes a 'different' picture. After a little bit longer, its hard to remember what youve already done. Its quite difficult to keep things interesting too. If i had to choose i would probably never do that again, UNLESS it was a person. People are so easily mouldable and immediately interesting. As people we like to attach stories to people and when youre photographing a human its so much easier for the viewer to make up said story. People are naturally interesting to us, compared to things such as well, a pen. When we see a pen we think 'ok i have something to write with', rather then when we see a person we think 'what are they doing, why are they here, what are they thinking...' the list goes on. When taking these hundred photos i was contemplating how to attribute a story to this pen as if it were as interesting as a person. Unfortunately, photography is still an art that has to be interpreted and other may not see what i see. They may still just see a hundred pictures of a pen. Just something to write with.

Simple Composition Assignment

Here is an example of simple composition in black and white. Its composition was successful because of the use of the rule of thirds. The chair is on the right third of the image and the window is on the left third of the image. The contrast between the bright wall and the dark shadows in the window and from the chair draw your eyes in to both thirds of the image, not just to one side or the other. The dark floor and shadows  near the ceiling also apply to the rule of thirds. The crack in the wall between the chair and window helps to draw your eyes from one side of the image to the other and from top to bottom. The fact that the chair is  in a square shape that is similar to the window creates a balance in the image as well.

Blog Post #1

Im Hayley! I am a student at PrairieView School of Photography. I have a online portfolio of my previous work at http://www.flickr.com/hayleyfrancisphotography. I have a Nikon D60 DSLR camera, and a Yashima FX-D SLR camera. Attached is a photograph that was taken for one of my assignments in CI class.