Final Assignment - The Art of Silence

To put it in simple terms - I am hearing impaired.
I have Bone Anchored Hearing Aids, (or BAHA), to help me hear.

But when I do photography, I turn them off.

I actually like silence.

It causes me to look at the world a bit different through the naturally enhanced visual acuity I've acquired.

But photography is not silent. Every photograph speaks to you, encourages you to keep looking, and just keep looking, one more time.

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Bonus Photo -
Merry Christmas from a bright spot in Durham.



* What I've learned: I am still learning (as we all are if we're good) how to be more expressive and my goal in this class was to keep shooting, no matter where I go. I always welcome and appreciate the feedback I've received. I feel I've exceeded my own expectations.

*The Strengths: The challenge is always to "Think outside the Box." My strength is "There is no Box," so the possibilities for creative expression has no limits. I took this farther than I could have anticipated or planned at times, since looking at the composition elements could be varied for the still shots. My camera is my constant companion, as I notice things and keep shooting from different angles and varying the technical aspects.

*Working Harder: There is a finite point, but how you get there can cause you to completely throw away an idea in favor or another more challenging look.

*Changes: Can't change the past, but you can influence the present. I hope this will give a few more people some insight into who I am.

Michael

Assignment Four: Using Color as a Compositional Tool

Color - Red

After a round of initial shots, in addition to researching the subject, I decided that the color red was not only a good choice but a challenge as well. Based on the first set of images, I focused on using color in the composition and as a way to show the impact of red.

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Assignment Three: "Good fences make good neighbours." from "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost

I could not have chosen a more interesting line as this one from the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost. When you think of a fence, what comes to mind - maybe a pristine, new fence put up by your neighbor? The fence you see on the perimeter of a pasture?

The line "Good fences make good neighbours" can be carried beyond the literal meaning of a physical fence to just about anything that exists to seperate or divide. The physical fence itself can be ironic and it does not necessarly need to be present, but the understanding that there is a defined seperation, or the perception of seperation yields at least two distinct spaces, two different viewpoints, two sides to the story, two different methods - the list is virtually endless.

In the reverse what does a bad fence say? Does a shoddy fence, an unkempt or damaged fence, or a fence made of materials not usually associated with a "typical" fence really mean bad neighbors?

Through five photographs, the visual representation will show the "fence" in a way that represents the boundry it seperates. It can range from an implied viewpoint to an actual fence, wall or barrier that shows seperation.

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Assignment 2: Compositional Tools

Assignment 2: Compositional Tools

I really enjoyed this assignment, because it pushed me to look at things in a very different method visually. I took every opportunity to notice settings and concepts that were not the normal ones that would come to mind. It resulted in some very interesting visuals I'd like to further explore, as well as possibilities for experimentation in future photography. 

Beyond Borders: 

This early morning photograph shows a portion of the Red Oak Brewery's glass front section. Not only was framing and positioning a challenge, but setting the correct White Balance to ensure the colors were correct was necessary. AWB did not produce the correct colors, so I had to find the correct WB setting. The brewing vats, pipes and other equipment inside the building is distinct and has a good DoF.

Framed: 

There is a location I noticed where the Renaissance Tower was in the distance beyond a house on a farm. Using a section of the wire fence just sightly out of focus, I framed both structures and the surrounding landscape and used a circular polarizer to bring out the clouds at the same time.

Motion Blur: 

Using a higher f-stop and slow shutter speed, I used a fiber optic spray as the only light source to create an abstract moving effect, but each shot was different (I took 130 at different shutter settings). Sometimes, numbers and letters appear randomly, as in this example. I'm going to play with this idea for a while, since I used a variety of ways to make the fiber optic strands move, and I'd like to see different colors interact also, since this one uses blue LEDs.

Stop Motion: 

I had been waiting to try out my longer lens on the Moon, and found that at the lowest f Stop I could use a higher shutter setting I saw a different effect, more of a black and white exposure. I found a shady spot right at sunset and used a tripod and cable release since the Moon is moving during the whole time.

Long Depth of Field: 

I had taken several shots with different lenses of this scene just at the end of a foggy morning. I wanted to get the entire scene in a very deep DoF. I noticed a great deal of information in the content, as well as how the composition flows smoothly. The lighting was very sharp and distinct.

Short Depth of Field: 

I noticed a spiderweb on the side of a stop sign when it had been raining. I positioned myself so that the web would be visible along with the raindrops, with just enough of the background to have variations in color.

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Assignment One: Light

Image One: Waterfall

The moment I was after was the motion of the water without entirely stopping the action, giving the water the appearance of being in motion. I used the smaller runoff as the focal point and used it to achieve a relative depth of field with the large waterfall in the background. It is slightly overexposed and I would reshoot this during the afternoon "Golden Hours."

Image Two: Duke Chapel at Night
Duke Chapel is lit at night from several external light sources that focus on the chapel structure itself. By using a higher f-stop with a slower shutter speed, I wanted the photograph to have the stonework and the associated work around the windows to be able to "pop" out in a fashion to emphasize some individual stones and their different colorations as compared to other gray stonework.

Image Three: I-85 Traffic just before first light
I wanted to show light effects from cars/trucks at around first light with long exposure, but not too long to acheve some definition of seperate light trails. To achieve the desired streaking red light effect in the foreground, I used f32 at 6 seconds. By having the camera on a tripod and using the remote shutter release, I was able to start the exposure just when a group of vehicles were at the same point as I was. I wanted to get at least a group of 6 with one tractor trailer in the group to achieve the higher streaking effects.

Image Four: Beta
A friend has Japanese Fighting Fish, or Beta, and the coloration in natural light at the right moment can yield a rich blue. It was a challenge to capture the fish turning into the light (natural light from a door) at the right moment to ensure the blue appeared rather than the usual black, as well as showing the reflective and refractive components of light at the same time.

Image Five: Steeple Reflection
Right at the end of the morning "golden hours," this was a shot I noticed and walked back for. The way the church steeple was framed in the window frame, which has "old glass" caused the reflection to be warped into an abstract rendition of the steeple. An added bonus was the lens flare, which I had not captured before this on this camera. I would like to revisit this subject with a spread of shots tight on the window,taken over the course of the morning and afternoon golden hours, as well as first light/sunset, preferrably with some clouds in the background, to see what kind of photographs may emerge.

Image Six: Butterfly
Usually, I have seen that butterflys have a duller underside as compared to the top side of the wings. I positioned myself so the light would illuminate the underside from behind, which resulted in showing the coloration of the underside better than I expected.

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