Assignment 3 submission

[markusdivinicus]

[attachment=1:5b5b8yaw]Little Red River.JPG[/attachment:5b5b8yaw][attachment=0:5b5b8yaw]Frosted Flower.jpg[/attachment:5b5b8yaw]

[Duncan Rawlinson]

Two beautiful photographs.

Let me begin by saying what I love about both of these shots and then I’ll give some recommendations on what to do to improve them.

For starters, your shot at the river abides by her rule of thirds, you’ve shown great color control and organization of objects within your frame. The 4 walls of your frame are clear of distractions and your exposure is great. Most importantly, you’ve shown your understanding of the effects of a slow shutter speed on moving water. Great.

Your second photograph of the flower is spectacular. I was immediately impressed with this photograph. The texture, the completely isolated flower through the use of an exaggerated depth of field setting, the contrast in the colors, the precise focus and the simplification of the composition. It’s an incredibly beautiful shot.

Going back to your first shot for a moment, what I would like to see your experiment with a little more in your landscape photographs is the idea of depth through objects. Lighting, shadows, camera placement, DOF settings and your natural environment all play a role in the idea of turning a 2 dimensional photograph into one with shape and the illusion of 3 dimensions. However, with “big” shots like this it’s often beneficial to use lines and objects to create a sense of depth. Otherwise your photograph will appear flat. Always be on the lookout for objects that could be used to punctuate a foreground, middle-ground and background. To do this you may have to play with your camera positioning and move a lower to the ground or climb a tree. By putting rocks, trees, trails, animals or people in your foreground you add depth and give your viewer a sense of being there with you.

In this photograph you have a nice rock formation on the riverbed. It would have been interesting to see you play with the idea of creating a foreground out of those objects. You’ve accomplished some sense of depth with your long grass on the foreground on the left hand side. But what about moving closer to the grass and capturing the scene through the blades of grass? This would exaggerate your foreground and lead to some interesting shots. Just an idea.

Great work overall though. Very impressive.

[markusdivinicus]

Thank you for your comments, they are very helpful. I just purchased my camera 2 months ago and i am trying to read as much as possible to understand photo composition as mentioned in your comments about creating a sense of 3 dimentional photos. Can you recommend a book or website i can go to to help me understand more on this subject? Right now all my photos are about what i personally like to see, so consequently that is why i am taking the course and my shots are hit and miss at the moment. Once again thankyou for your comments they are extremely helpful, maybe you could point me in a direction of an article or pictures that can illustrate this as i am more a visual learner.
MS

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