In our last assignment Kat said, “Much of finding your eye is just learning to recognize what is already there!” I was a little more skeptical. My pictures just seem so much more varied and random. But then I followed her directions and created a “favorites” set in flickr. The nice thing about a set is that you can view it as a slideshow.
The first time through I didn’t really notice anything – except that I had some really nice pictures in there. : )
But I watched in through two more times, then three more times. Finally, I started to notice some things…Kat was right! So what did I find?
Motion
I do love to capture a sense of motion and this photo is one of my best, I feel. I was practicing panning while my kids were on a boardwalk kiddie park roller coaster. You definitely get a sense of motion with all the colors swirling around them.
Perspective
I love unusual perspectives. They are tricky though. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. It’s a fine line, I think, between an interesting perspective and one that is unusual merely for the sake of being unusual.
Rim Lighting
It’s that touch of light along the sides of the subject that helps to define it and separate it from it’s surroundings. Michael Freeman’s book, Perfect Exposure , was my first introduction to the term. He also taught me how to expose properly to capture that light.
Texture/Detail
I almost called this one color — but after viewing the slideshow several times, I decided it was really the texture of the image that was drawing me in. The textures, the different feel to the details, finding a way to combine them into a cohesive image… that’s the challenge of texture.
Wonderful! I really love your rim lighting shot.
YAY Jessica! I’m so glad you stuck with it and pulled out the themes of your inspiration file. Isn’t it an incredibly empowering experience? I love seeing what you found! Beautiful examples to accompany your descriptions. I can see your unique twist on all of these themes. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!
Wow! I’m impressed and motivated to continue to look deeper at my photos and within myself. “Rim lighting” also intrigues me…added the book to my wish list. Thanks for sharing it.
Love your unique perspectives!
Very nice. You like motion…I tried this one the other day at the park. I sat on one of those spinny chairs (not long because I get dizzy) and just snap snapped away. You won’t know what you get til after but it was rather fun (and interesting).
It really is productive to THINK about what you want to photograph. The motion and the perspective ones are my favorites here. That perspective one is just excellent.
I love the last on texture. It looks like metal, upon closer inspection I see it’s a maple seed. I know now I love macro and this is an awesome macro shot!
It’s amazing what we find – when we look..when we see! Terrific images!
cool perspectives thank u for sharing.
i love the rim lighting too and texture i catch myself taking pictures of bark and gravel and spider webs because i love the texture they have. i love the blurry photograph it does make you feel the motion this course has been wonderful hasn’t it.
This was such a great post – your rim lightening photo is gorgeous! I’ll definitely have to check that book out to figure out how to do it myself!
Beautiful shots, lovely post. Thanks for sharing!