Orange n' Red

Its been so long since I did an assignment that I thought I would add a little sumthin just cuz...

And here is an attempt at red:

Kellie: Assignment Pot Pourri

Here are a few notes on the whole collection: These were all taken with my 50 mm f/1.4 lens. I'm really working hard to master using that lens at large apertures (the lower numbers). The focal plane is so small at 1.4 that it creates absolutely beautiful effects, and can be used in very low light but is not very forgiving about letting you find your focus point. So, you'll notice some images where the focus on the subject is just slightly off if the f-stop is very low (1.8 or lower).

Here is another panel I did from the Point of View assignment:

This was shot with my new camera at ISO 1250, f/1.4, 1/100 sec. Light was a daylight-bulb reading lamp above and to the right. No color adjustment in photoshop.

Cool Colors:
The above shots were also for my cool colors assignment, as purple is so much in the eye of the beholder. Violet is a pretty classic sort of purple, and below I have a periwinkle color. I also have some pinky purples that I decided to save for if we do more color studies.
Purple:

ISO: 400, f/1.4, 1/2500 sec, vibrance ramped up a bit in photoshop.

Blue:

ISO: 100, f/9, 1/640 sec. This is untouched in Photoshop. Everything really was this color. I considered taking out the smog line, and I know I should have straightened it some (sorry if you get seasick looking at the tilting horizon) but I think the smogline adds a little interest and contrast, even if it is sad. BTW, this is Lake Michigan, at a park called Michigan Dunes.

Green: I love green and took a million green photos. There are so many greens that are truly green, and they all look beautiful together.
ISO: 400, f/5, 1/200 sec. No color adjustment.

ISO: 400, f/1.4, 1/3200 sec. No color adjustment. I considered cropping to get the convergence of the leaves more off center, but I didn't like it. From a composition standpoint, I think there are enough different things to attract the eye that the rule of thirds can be a little flexible here.

Warm Colors:
Red is another tricky color, because most reds are actually cool reds, not warm ones. Most warm reds tend to get another name, like brick or terra-cotta. The boots and the rose are definitely cool red, but the leaf is a warm, orangey-yellow tone.

ISO: 400, f/5.6, 1/200 sec. No color adjustment.

ISO 400, f/1.6, 1/3200 sec. No color adjustment. I don't have a macro lens, so this was taken at my minimum focus point (18 inches) and then cropped.

ISO 400, f/1.4, 1/3200 sec. No color adjustment. Playing with the color of the leaves made them look fake, and I liked the subtle contrast.

Yellow:

ISO 6400, f/4.5, 1/125 sec.

Orange:

ISO 160, f/2.8, 1/50 sec. No color adjustment.

And lastly, my first attempts at a self-portrait. These were done by a window, some with an old lamp with a painted shade turned on, but most without. I used both timer/camera on a book and outstretched arm. As Kathy mentioned, framing is so hard, so all of these are weak from a composition standpoint, but when you study professional portraits, you learn that the rules are pretty bendy if the atmosphere or other elements of the shot work. You'll notice on the close-ups that because I had my aperture wide open, the focus is often sharp on my nose instead of my eyes. I'm working on that. It was very interesting to contrast my favorites with my family's favorites. I won't tell you which is which. :o) We each have our own image of ourselves, and it usually doesn't match up with what others see. Should a self-portrait reflect how we see ourselves, how we want others to see us, or how others actually do see us????
These were all taken at the same setting: ISO 3200, f/1.6, 1/60 sec.






Okay, you deserve a prize if you actually looked at all these. Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestion.

Cami Assignment 7

Ok, so the self-portrait was hard for me. All of yours look so great! I didn't think of doing them with kids. I was just trying to be not looking fatty. SO, here's the one I chose. It is not totally in focus, and I had to do a lot of photoshopping to get the light to be better (it used to have really dark shadows on my face and lots of light on my nose--also, my hands were really bright). But I liked this the best. All of them looked better in BW.


Here is the runner-up. It really is better lighting, but I just didn't like the composition as much. And it looked too posey.


This sequence is one Janey's 1st birthday. I had to use that as the sequence! I've done a lot of her lately--walking, eating cake, whatev. So here's the one I made for this group:

I should have worked on this one a little more to make the lighting consistent. I'll go back and do that.

And here's one I did for fun:

This one was a few days before the actual birthday, at a big family party. We let her go to town with chocolate. It was funny, I had to do a 21 panel sequence. Thought I'd throw it in for you all. :)

april assignment (#7)

I think this is number 7 :) Anyway, doing the self-portrait was fun. I used my 50 which is a bit tricky to do while holding the camera my own self, although I found a couple I like and I found a LOT that hardly had my head in them at all :) AND I finally figured out a fast way to make them a more managable size, so you should be able to click on them this time :)


I tried one normal, with the tripod shot. Here it is:
I'm not completely in focus, I had my aperture too small. Ah well, it does the job.

And for my sequence:
HA~ That silly boy laying on the grass. I FINALLY realized it worked best to turn it into a panel FIRST and THEN process. So much better! BUT, someone, can you help me make his hair less green WITHOUT using photoshop? My computer doesn't have it right now, I just use picnik.

That was fun! Thanks Erin for the good assignment :)

KJ self portrait assignment

1/500, f2.8 50 mm

I felt so vain doing this assignment. But it is nice to have some pictures of myself to put in our family album. I've turned into quite the ghost in that book. I think the hardest thing about this assignment is framing the photo without being behind the camera. I used a remote button to take the pictures (as is very obvious with the kid shots). I used the 2-second delay on the one of myself. But I couldn't bring myself to do that with the kids.... too many bad memories of trying to take a picture with my old camera and having to wait 2 seconds while the moment passed and while the camera thought about how to take the photo. It was hard to think of doing a self-portrait without including props that dominate my life, hence the kids, camera & mother day's necklace naomi picked out. I couldn't decide which I liked best.

Specs for the photos at Lake Elkhorn were 1/200, f3.2 50mm.

Jeri's: Assignment hodgepodge

I thought I'd be a little daring and do something I haven't done before...post a few finished assignments! =)


assignment #5 cool colors-

Green

Blue

Purple
(Do you see that heart?! My husband said he didn't.)

assignment #4 warm colors-

Yellow

Red

Orange

assignment #7 a sequence-



I had two sequences I liked. The one where my husband is shaking blossoms on my kids is now a tradition. We do it every year!

(The web compression is killing my images. I have researched it so many times this week, and nothing is fixing the problem....so ignore it, and imagine they are nice and smooth and crisp. =)

Update....

Okay, Here is the plan.


I am going to Brookside Gardens tomorrow at 10....IF the weather is nice. It will not be a formal photography group, but more like a playdate where the Mommies have cameras. We will try to make a stop at the train and carousel in Wheaton park which is....somewhere very close to Brookside Gardens. (If someone knows exactly where the train is would you let me know! Can you walk there from Brookside Gardens or will we have to drive?)

There will be NO additional assignment for this month. Get working the past assignments you have missed.

Thanks everyone,
Jeri

(Brookside Gardens 1800 Glenallen Ave, Wheaton, MD 20902) is the correct address.

A few questions.

Hey everyone,

A few our photography group members can't make the next meeting at Brookside Gardens on Tuesday, May 12th.

(Brookside Gardens 1800 Glenallen Ave, Wheaton, MD 20902) is the correct address. It was copied down wrong on the bulletin.

Question #1. Should we postpone so we can have more people there?

It looks like we all need some time to make up past assignments.

Question #2. Do you want to have an assignment in May, or just use this month to catch up on missed assignments?

Let me know as soon as possible.
Jeri