Week 8

 Here is a close up of my goat.  I chose to photograph him because of all the white markings he has on his face.  I thought that he would be a good topic for this week's assignment.

 Here, I darkened all around my goat so much that even his leg in the lower left corner has mostly disappeared.  The colors have changed quite a bit--and now the image is slightly evil looking.  Appropriate for Halloween I'm thinking!

 This is the original photo of my horse.  She ended up with that bright eye from the flash on my camera.  I couldn't quite figure out how to perfectly color it in.  Once I zoomed in on her eye, I could see so many colors within the rest of her eye, I couldn't tell which color to choose.  I did finally choose a brown.  It almost works.  I also brightened up the image, and in fact, I think the second photo seems better than the original 

Week #8

 Here is my mosaic.  I must say I spent a lot of time trying to get my little pictures to pop out more.  I spent a long time trying different settings, and well.......this is one of the better ones.  I got it to look like this by changing the pixel setting.  There were some pictures that ended up looking very black, and nothing could be seen.  Then with other settings I created what looked somewhat like a maze.  None of those were acceptable.  Each time my computer popped up with a message that I was not filling all the squares.  It told me to pick a smaller double space, but I had it on the smallest number offered.  This was a challenge.  It seemed like it should have been an easy process too.

This is just the original to compare to the mosaic.

Week #7

 With the second photo here, I resized the playground equipment and cropped the scenery.

With this last photograph, I did not resize, but cropped the background so only the owl was in the photograph.

slideshow attempt #3

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AEfj-gVvy4kp2s0wn0J2ig?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuam-zzb0jaV-CI79kcUAClXAMSq0usdn-wY0lmiC5W8Js6uwqx6RkmYwKS0aSBruuYutGsODBxVbvedkSMVDfYvOXr4q3HtHldmbRgCVaNd3fr6FyiSNwAoWP_No7beWQpjQx368hI0/s144/%2525231%252520in%252520slideshow.jpg" height="108" width="144" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/103241362397507855731/October152011?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">October 15, 2011</a></td></tr></table>

Week 6-landscaping

Slideshow post #2

Week 5 slideshow

Week #5-post about Elements of Photographic Composition and/or Aesthetics

This week I found an article written by a very successful landscape photographer named Alain Briot.  He wrote several essays on the subject of Aesthetics.  The essay I read and chose to comment on was titled "Aesthetics and Photography."  This article can be found at: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/aesthetics-1.shtml

I learned a lot from reading his words.  But, the ah-ha moment for me was when he listed nine steps to the process he has in place to use when he photographs.  He lists them, and later goes on to explain each step.  It is overwhelming to say the least, but it was nice to see how I should be thinking before photographing.  I will mention the nine items he stated, and I am taking them exactly the way he wrote them in his essay. 

1- How to see photographically
2-How to compose a photograph
3-How to choose the best lens for a specific composition
4-How to find the best light for a specific photograph
5-How to choose the beset "film" for a specific image
6-How to determine the best exposure for a specific scene
7-How to decide which photographs are "keepers" and which are not
8-How to assemble a body of work
9-How to establish a personal photographic style

He also stated this quote which I really appreciated.  "Keep in mind that the goal of this series is to walk you through this process step by step and to provide you with skills and techniques that will enable you to work your  way through both the long journey ahead and the long list above.  This list is here only as a blueprint."

I also talked with my son who has a Master's Degree in film, entertainment business.  I asked him for some advice in taking a good picture.  He gave me this piece of advice.  He said, "Make sure you use leading lines."  He explained this to me as use the lines that are around to point towards the object you are photographing.  I have found that helpful. 

Trina