Assignment #11: Final Edit

This is my absolute favourite photograph from Photography 12. I really liked how the clock from Gastown was silhouetted by the natural lighting; that, plus the leaves up top that somewhat frame it, make it my favourite.

I edited this photo to make the clouds seem more soft, and to make the clock/leaves look more sillohouetted. I used the pen tool entirely around the clock and filled it with black to make the edges more sharp. I also edited out the leaves on the bottom right of the clock. After that, I applied a blurred overlay layer, and then a hard light layer over top, and then I shrunk it to increase the quality a bit.

I didn't use many compositional rules, since this picture was taken by fluke when I held my camera up way over my head. The ones that coincidentally appeared, however, are the following:
- Framing: The leaves up top kind of frame it
- Contrast: The darkness of the picture contrasts with the blue sky.
- Simplicity: It's the sky + the clock + leaves.

I dislike how it's not framed in a normal way. I would have liked to crop out the right part, but it makes the picture look less "full" to me. I'd also have to crop off the top to make it more proportional if I did that. I also dislike the asymmetry of the clock around the middle part; I probably took the picture from a wrong angle.

Extra edit:

I made the yellow into red, to make it seem more sinister, and I added a little bit of saturation and lightness to make it more clear.

Assignment #10: Gastown Scavenger Hunt

This scavenger hunt was incredibly fun; I rarely go outside so it was a whole new experience. We were given a bunch of words and we were supposed to interpret them in our photos.

Automobile

I used this picture for automobile because the type of vehicle it was stood out to me. It looked interesting and cute, and the red really caught my attention. I was waiting for Kristie at the park area so I didn't want to stray too far off, so the angle is quite low and it's hard to see the automobile.

Composition techniques used
Contrast: The red of the car is just incredibly easy to spot.
Angle of view: I took this picture from a low angle since I was far away and it was uphill.

Boots

 

As soon as we walked by here, everyone in my group went "boots!". I have a different picture of boots used as flower pots but that picture was lacking in composition so I couldn't use it. I regret not taking a better photo of it, but even so, here is my (not so original) boots pic.

Composition techniques used

Contrast: Even though the walls are red, the boots still pop out. The neon sign in the window is also attention catching.(red seems to be such a strong colour)

Angle of View: I was actually kneeling on the dirty floor of Gastown.. It doesn't really show in this picture, that the angle is low, so I'm kind of unhappy about that.

 
Feet

On the way back I was looking for last minute things for the scavenger hunt. I was looking for "feet". This was right infront of the Waterfront skytrain station; I saw the feet and I immediately pulled out a camera. I also really liked the wings, so the angle of the statue isn't that bad to me.

Composition techniques used
Rule of thirds: The statue is on the thirds line.
Depth of field: I think the cloth thing is a bit closer than the rest. I can't really remember how it was but when I look at the picture I get that vibe.

A Gaffer drinks here

A gaffer is an old man,(thanks, Google) and old men drink in pubs. This was by far the most pretty/fancy pub I've ever seen in my life, and the neatness of the area makes it a really nice place for photos.

Composition techniques used
Rule of thirds: The sign is pretty much on the downwards third line.
Angle of View: This picture is definitely taken from below, since the sign was high up and I'm not super tall.
Contrast: The bits of red in the flower pots add a bit of contrast, as do the green leaves of the tree.

Gaoler Mews

Apparently the first jail was here(Gaoler is pronounced jailer, or something). I was looking around but this was the only thing that actually said Gaoler, but maybe my eyes are just bad(they definitely are bad).

Composition techniques used
Simplicity: It's quite simple in my opinion. The main focus of the picture was the street sign, which was the simple part. I dislike the glare/reflection/signs in the window, though.
Rule of thirds: I tried to line it up to the thirds but it didn't quite make it. At least the G is on the thirds line.

Gassy ______ (Jack)

This statue stood out on the street. It was pretty big, and it was dedicated to the founder of Gastown if my memory serves me right. I did not stick by to read how he earned the title of Gassy, but I assume that it's a really interesting story.

Composition techniques used
Rule of thirds: I tried to position the statue on the left downwards third line, and I think it's pretty much on there.
Contrast: The lighting in the foreground vs the lighting in the background is drastically different.
Texture: The smooth sky and the smooth buildings really make the texture of the statue stand out.
Angle of View: This was also taken from below.

Grit

I kept googling around for the meaning of grit and I came across "perseverance", "courage" and "strength". The graffiti in this picture was being covered by cars in an old parking lot. I feel like this piece of art can provide perseverance, courage, strength, and a sense of hope to the people who are less privileged in Gastown.

Composition techniques used in this picture
Repetition: The bricks are a repetitive pattern, thought not 100% similar in shape.
Contrast: The artist was able to make the picture stand out with the use of white, black, and blue instead of realistic colours.
Texture: Again, the artist was able to convey differing textures in the hair, in the skin, and in the clothes. He/she was also able to make the bricks look less brick-like on the graffiti'd parts.
(Credit goes to the artist)

I'm hot & steamy

This clock kept tooting its whistle(or whatever) every once in a while and it constantly shot out steam to amuse the tourists. It was surrounded by people trying to take pictures of it so I had to hold my camera overtop my head and I had to hit the button without being able to see what I was taking a photo of. I would have liked to get a picture of the entire thing but people kept walking infront of it, so this was the next best thing.

Composition techniques used
Angle of view: Most my pictures were taken from below, and this is no exception. You can tell from the lamppost that it was from below.
Rule of thirds: I got part of the clock on the line, but it's not completely down the middle.

New vs Old

I really liked the designs of the building on the right. I took a few photos of it, but I really liked this one a lot. The building on the left/in the foreground is really old, and falling apart. It also has graffiti on its walls. The building farther back on the right is far away, but it seemed to peek out near the older building, so I decided to snap a photo of it.

Composition techniques used
Contrast: It's new vs old, light vs dark. The designs/shapes also contrast, as do the colours themselves.
Angle of View: Taken from below, yet again.
Repetition: The windows are repetitive, as are the building designs(right).

Stairs

These stairs were really cool. A lot of people in my group took pictures of it but I'm not sure if they went under it like me.

Composition techniques used
Leading Lines: the bars point up towards the next set of bars, and so on.
Depth: I'm not 100% sure about this, but it feels as if the picture has depth, and that it keeps forcing your view on and on.
Repetition: The bars repeat, the stairs repeat, and the swirl repeats.
Angle of View: This photo was taken from below and it looks pretty cool in my opinion.

Stereotypical Tourist Pose

There were so many Canadian themed things in Gastown. There was even a maple syrup store filled with nothing but "100% authentic maple syrup". But as I walked by this one store, I noticed a moose and a bear in mountie outfits, and I asked Kristie to pose next to one. I'm sure that anyone visiting Canada would take a picture like this.

Composition techniques used
Contrast: The red(it's always the red) stands out on the mountie outfit, as does Kristie's pink shirt. The lighting is also a bit different in the front vs in the back so it helps both Kristie and the moose mountie stand out.

 Trains

I took many photos of the trains up close, but as I was going back to the skytrain station, I noticed an alley with the train heads peeking out. I took the opportunity to snap a photo since it looked cool to me.

Composition techniques used
Framing: I used the alley to frame the train heads.
Depth: I'm not sure of this, but I believe the plants on the side, coupled with the alley, add a nice bit of depth to it.
Rule of thirds: The alley is kinda lined up on a vertical thirds line, and the train seems to be on the lower horizontal line.

Trounce Alley (Blood Alley)

This little creature was one of the cutest things I've seen all day. It was tucked in a corner and I noticed it right away. It was in Blood Alley, and it was a nice addition to the creepy posters on the wall(it was close to that area). There was also a single shoe in the little crawlspace, but I decided to not get it in the shot.

Composition techniques used
Rule of thirds: I tried my hardest to get the little creature on the intersecting thirds line, and I think I got his head on there.
Repetition: The bricks on the floor have the same pattern, and they go on and on.
Contrast: The crawlspace is darker, while the outside is lighter.

Vancouver

I got this shot while I was waiting for Kristie(I got quite a few, actually) and I realized that it said "Vancouver" on it. It's not that great of a picture since it was hard to get a nice photo of a moving vehicle, and the man became a merger on the picture, but it fit the "Vancouver" objective of the scavenger hunt so I'm going to go ahead and use it.

Composition Techniques used
Rule of thirds: I got the red vehicle on the bottom third line.
Depth of field: The post is closer to me, while the rest is farther back. I didn't notice it when I took the photo but now I realized that it got in the way. It's a bad addition, but it is a composition technique.

W

There were SO many things with the letter W on them, since we were in Waterfront, Gastown, but this W looked more visually appealing than the other ones. It seems to be a broadcasting station, or something.

Composition techniques used
Contrast: The red really pops out because of the cloudless blue sky.
Simplicity: It's one of the simpler photos I've taken on this trip. It was impossible to not get the buildings in the shot but I don't think they take away any of the focus.
Rule of thirds: I always try to get something on the rule of thirds, and I think I got it on this. It's on the intersecting top lines on the right, and the structure itself is along the vertical line on the right.

Working Hard

This building was really cute; it looked like it was being held up by people. One can not help but to think that it must be tiring for them to just hold stuff up all day and all night. Poor guys.

Composition techniques used
Repetition: The windows and the people are repetitive patterns that go on and on.
Angle of view: It was taken from below, obviously.

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It took a long time to type out, but all in all, it was a very nice experience. I learned that the camera type does make a difference. Most of my favourite photos were from this trip, and were taken with a nicer camera, as opposed to the really low quality yellow-bagged one.

Assignment #9: Contrast, Texture, Repetition, and Angle of View

We were made to use four more compositional tools in this assignment: contrast, texture, repetition, and angle of view.

Contrast
Contrast is when something is different from the rest. There are many ways you can use contrast: shapes, colours, textures, etc. For this picture, it's a contrast of colour. The huge difference in colour(nearly opposite of each other in the colour wheel) allows the flower to pop right out of the photo.

Texture
This photo has a contrasting texture. It makes the photo seem more interesting because of the different types of visuals. It's smooth along the side of the pot, rough in the soil, and grainy in the background. It also makes it feel more realistic(I feel as if the pot seems more softer, and the leaves seem more crisp).

Repetition
Repetition is easy to follow; it has a set pattern which makes it fun to look through. The fencing in this picture continue on and on, allowing you to look along it. The photo is too dark and lightening it up without losing the darker colours is hard, so this photo is kind of hard to see.

Angle of View
I had to sit in a weird position to take this photo.. Angle of view is when you take a photo in a non eye-level view. This picture was taken from down below, and it makes the picture tell a different story. At eye level view it's basically just an object, but from below it feels as if you're reaching out to it, and it feels taller.

Assignment #8: Scale, Depth, Framing, Simplicity

 We did more composition stuff in class; we covered a few things: scale, depth, framing, and simplicity.

Scale
I noticed that scale makes a photograph more interesting. Instead of guessing the size of an object, placing something with a known size next to it allows the viewer to understand the true height/width of the object being scaled. In this case, you can use Stephanie as a ruler to measure the tinman.
I was going to use a picture of D'alice but I forgot to email it to myself..

Depth
I was pretty confused with depth. I thought depth was something blurry in the front, with something not blurry in the back(which is actually depth of field). I was corrected by D'alice who said that depth was an image with a foreground, an optional middleground, and a background. Depth is used to draw the viewer's eyes around a picture, starting from the foreground of course. In this picture the depth isn't really that apparent, but the chair is in the foreground and the window/trees are in the background.

Framing
Framing is utilizing an area to frame a picture; it allows all the focus to be drawn to a specific spot. I used the armrest of a random bench at the housing area of the Quay to frame the flowers, but I'm not happy at how I cut off a bit of the top of the armrest.

Simplicity
This compositional tool is my favourite. Less is more. The object stands out more because it's the only thing you can focus on in this picture, and it doesn't have any distractions(though I wish it was a cuter flower..).

Photo Challenge #2 - Loud

I totally didn't do this last minute...
When I think "loud" I think of music first, which led to this horribly unoriginal picture.
(It's not actually loud, since no one ever turns it on ever.)

Oh well, participation marks

Photo Challenge #1 - Smile

I don't get the theme but here's a pic of my rabbit kind of smiling.(Excuse the horrid quality)

I also don't know if my phone camera's settings are okay but it was on auto ISO, cloudy mode, and +2 EV.

Oh Angel, you chubby rabbit.

5 - Assignment #7: Composition - Rule of Thirds and Leading Lines

The rule of thirds is a composition technique used to make the picture less boring. I took a bunch of photos of things that I found appealing and I pasted the rule of thirds on top, and cropped it to fit the lines.

I absolutely love reflections, nature, and the sky; that is why I chose these pictures. I noticed that by putting the focus on the cross sections of the thirds, more of the image can be seen, while the focus is still.. well, in focus. In the case of the bridge and the flowers, you start at the focus and your eye branches along the rest, giving you a full sense of the picture. The other photos were more simplistic in nature, but the rule of thirds makes it a bit more eyecatching and a lot more appealing.

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Leading lines are lines that one can follow to drag their eyes around the picture. These lines aid the focus of the picture and it's a pretty cool composition technique, in my opinion.

It was hard to find things that I liked that were led to by lines, so I did what I could to keep the stuff tied to my interests. The first pic has so many lines; it was the first leading lines picture that I took. It looks kind of bad since there's absolutely no focus but that's because of all the lines(the log, the railings, the top of the little shack, etc.). The next two pictures have the focus as the pigeon and the blue structure, and they're lead up by lines that are on the floor and the stairs. This last picture is one that I like, even though the leading rope stops between the wheels. The plant also leads up to the wheel, so I think it adds a nice contrast to it(man made stuff + plant).

I did 4 for both since I had so many pictures that I liked and I couldn't decide..