Assignment 1 - lines, shapes, textures and the whole works

Our first assignment took us out on an adventure of capturing the basic subject elements of photography. Of course, within the school compound.

Here are some of my shots..

Of Lines:

Shadowy lines that intersect at interesting angles along AS6

Silhouette of a tree set against the grim looking sky

For Color:

Slippers!

R.G.B

too much white space tho.. could have been better if its a tighter crop on the 3 markers..

For Textures:

Egg trays.

This was shot on 50mm 1.8. Made use of the widest aperture cuz of the bad lighting available.

Looked ok on the screen but when i uploaded on the computer screen i realised tat the depth of field was way too shallow. Did not capture much of the texture as i want it to be.

should've used a smaller aperture to achieve a deeper DOF with the help of some external flash...

but i guess the egg trays are now lying somewhere in Seneko incineration plant.. oh well.. :(

Tree bark

Very normal shot i feel.. could've been better if a macro lens is used..

For Shapes:

the Fire hose.

the Door.

lastly.. for Form!

the "Worm"!

the Masking Tape.

yup. tats abt all for the first assignment.

i think the greatest takeaway for me is that the assignment really makes me look at very mundane objects in a different way.

i think having this quality of turning seemingly mundane objects into interesting subjects of photography will really make u stand out among so many photographers nowadays..

Appreciating photos.

We were given a 3 online resources and out of this 3, the World Press Photo of the Year is the one that seemed the least unfamiliar to me.

World Press Photo of the Year

I first heard about the WPP in late 2004 when I was briefly into photography.

I was simply amazed by these shots taken by journalists all over the world and every shot seems to tell a story.

I remember very clearly that of one the winning shot in 2004 (which was also used as the cover picture for the print edition) was taken during the tsunami that hit South Asia.

It simply showed an Indian lady in prayer position, with both palms facing up and her face on the floor, obviously praying in grief. However, on the extreme side of the photo was a bloated, grim-looking hand that seem lifeless and gory.

The hand was from a body that was washed upshore of someone who was drowned.

Upon further reading, i realised tat the lady is actually a relative of the drowned person whose hands are captured in the picture.

A simple photo with simple framing, nothing too flowery nor complicated, yet sending across such a strong message is what makes press photos ever, ever so special.

For the 2008 edition, i'm particularly interested in the category of "photo stories".

These photos, which are usually displayed in a series, brings the viewers deeper into what was going on "right there" at the moment when these shots were taken.

You can feel as though u were seeing it all through the photographers' eyes.

Ultimately, I believe that the heavy emphasis placed on human interest is what makes me more engaged in appreciating the press photos.

International Photographic Art Prize “Arte Laguna”
Digital Camera Photographer of the Year

For the above 2 resources, they portray a lesser mainstream genre of photography as compared to WPP.

For Arte Laguna, the winning shots were more "boundary spanning" in the sense, more artistically done and it requires a deeper understanding of the subject before one can gain better understanding of the photographer's intention.

Another thing is that these photos are largely manipulated via digital means and that is why they are known as photographic art. No doubt, it has opened my eyes to a new genre of alternative photography.

Lastly for the Digital Camera Magazine Award, a larger range of genre is covered.

I can see interesting macro shots of insects, at the same time, beautiful sunsets and modern landscapes.

For this particular Award, I feel that it is a generally a blend of WPP and Arte Laguna as it showcases photos bit of photos from each of these 2 other resources.

Finally, from these 3 resources, it goes to show that photography is something which is very broad and can cover a whole range of genres and subjects.

It is a medium which, when used creatively and effectively, can evoke strong emotions and feelings to those to view it.

An introduction.

The first lesson for NM3223 is over and I can see that this will indeed be a module that will open up my eyes to even more photography that I had ever seen.

This blog will also serve as a outlet for me to share my photos, thought processes and anything photography. Pls feel free to drop a comment and critic! =)

Hello world.