The guidelines for this assignment were simply to photograph something for yourself. The assignment encouraged participants to take pleasure in the exploration, the appreciation of simple beauty found in everyday scenes, and the act of creating an image for your own expression.
Michele's image titled
One of those days... was another great
creation. I love that instead of just photographing what she finds, Michele visualizes an image that she wants to create, and then puts together the elements necessary to create that image. Even more impressive is that the image is not just a pretty picture, but is designed to convey a concept (or feelings) in a way that is difficult to do in words. As we've talked about in previous discussions, often times the "message" conveyed through art is complex enough that it can't be verbalized in simple words, but instead is revealed by the artist through metaphor. By using metaphor, an artist can connect and communicate with viewers that understand and empathize, while using the metaphor to mask their vulnerabilities from those that might not understand or empathize with the ideas or feelings conveyed in the image.
One of those days... is a concept that many of us can identify with, and most of us would respond to this image with empathy, which immediately establishes a strong emotional connection with the viewer. This is a powerful and effective image that I have selected as
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.
One of those days...Editor's Choice for Artistic MeritPhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
Jack's
Self Portrait In HDR was another great creation. I appreciate that Jack took the time to explain (in the gallery comments) how he created the image. I thought Dave's description was right on when he described the image as "Very soulful, and seems to hint at all the mysterious facets that make up a human being." This is one of your most artistic shots yet Jack. I agree with Michele that it is full of character and very well done.
Self Portrait In HDRPhotographed by Jack Powers
I thought Rebecca did a great job putting together the photo essay on
Evan's First Day of School . As Rebecca said, one of the reasons we love photography is to capture all those life moments that zoom by too quickly. With a photograph, we get to relive them again and again.
Evan's First Day of School (follow the
link for the photo essay).
Photographed by Rebecca
Tom's image of his grandsons titled
Observation was another wonderful image that captured one of life's moments, and the boy's fascination with the life in the pond. I think it is the expression of the boy on the right that "makes" this image. I wonder how the image would have looked with less ambient exposure (so the light coming through the doorway didn't blow out) and with fill flash to illuminate the boys' faces? There are several high contrast areas (and a few areas of very saturated colors) that tend to pull the viewer's attention away from the primary subject (the boys' faces). Still, the image succeeds based on the expressions and body language.
ObservationPhotographed by Tom Parrish
So how many of you noticed that my two images of McKenzie were taken within four minutes of each other? (The date/time is in the filename.) After I took the first picture (21.8 pounds of Spunk) McKenzie decided that she wanted to model for me, so she ran into the bedroom and changed into a prettier shirt. I was struck by how different the two images were, especially considering that they were taken from the same shooting position (my easychair
) in the same light, within four minutes of each other. The subtle differences in body position (and therefore direction of the light in relation to her face) and the differences in McKenzie's expression were enough to give these two images a totally different feel.
21.8 Pounds of SpunkPhotographed by Keith
My Name is not McKenziePhotographed by Keith
I loved Dave's
Reflecting image, and the story behind it. This image was a very creative way to convey the feel of being in a gallery space. I do agree that visiting art shows and museums is one of the best ways to improve our photography.
ReflectingPeople's ChoicePhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
I enjoyed Luc's series of images showcasing
beauty in technical detail. Creating an image from these graphic designs is a great way to help us improve our composition skills, and many times simply appreciating the aesthetic can help us mature our own sense of design.
beauty in technical detailPhotographed by Luc Bigler
exhaust system of a racing car at the mountain race in St.Ursanne, SwitzerlandPhotographed by Luc Bigler
details of a beautiful black racing carPhotographed by Luc Bigler
Luc's series of Urs Müller preparing for the race was a great photo essay, and I though Luc did a great job controlling the exposures for this high-contrast scene. I wonder if using fill flash (with a strong external flash) would have helped Luc fill in the shadows and would have enabled him to get a better exposure on Urs Muller's face without blowing out the bright white of the car? Then again, the super bright white of the car helped to give a sense for how blazingly hot it was that day.
Urs Müller preparing for the race:
getting ready is almost as hard as the race itselfPhotographed by Luc Bigler
before the helmet comes the protection bonnet against burns..Photographed by Luc Bigler
Urs Müller is almost ready for the racePhotographed by Luc Bigler
I enjoyed the creativity and the ability to "see" the composition in Luc's image of the
Houses of St.Ursanne reflected in the chrome of a Harley Davidson. What a fun combination of forms and styles.
Houses of St.Ursanne reflected in the chrome of a Harley DavidsonPhotographed by Luc Bigler
I was impressed by Sue's image of
Every Woman's Dream. I also had to smile at Sue's answer that "The roses were from Mom's rose bushes in the front. They were wilted so I put them to good use." Now that is the Sue I know.
I wonder if this image would have seemed a bit more "complete" if the top of the wine bottle hadn't been cut off? This was a great take on the "Just for Myself" assignment. Very nice job pulling together the elements to create this image Sue.
Every Woman's DreamPhotographed by Sue Pepin
Lorin's
high jump image was an amazing capture. Lorin was smart to bump up his ISO and shoot at a relatively wide aperture in order to get the shutter speed (1/1250 sec) needed to prevent motion blur and get a crisp rendition of the fish. Not to mention the timing and focusing skill required to capture this shot. Very well done Lorin.
high jumpPhotographed by Lorin Schroeder (wildshutter)
Julie did a great job capturing detail in her
Wings image. When working with the very narrow depth of field one would get shooting with a wide open aperture (f3.5) at this level of magnification, it is important to align your film/sensor plane so that it is parallel with the areas of the subject that you want to be in sharp focus. Awesome job controlling the focus plane in this image Julie.
WingsPhotographed by Julie Schroeder (WriteHeart)
I enjoyed Marilyn's photo essay of
Stopping Along the Way, and was happy to see how well this fit in with the assignment. I liked the video Marilyn put together, even though she was disappointed that the images displayed in the wrong order and she thought the resolution wasn't that great. I love how music can be used to enhance the feeling or mood of our image presentations. Thank you for sharing your journey through your images Marilyn. I'm glad you were able to take time to photograph just for yourself, and very appreciative that you made the effort to share that experience with us.
Stopping Along the Way (follow the links for the
video or
photo essay)
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney
Thank you to everyone that participated in this assignment. As artists, I think it is sometimes very important to take the time to be creative just for ourselves. Thank you for sharing your creativity and inspiring us all.
