Assignment: Ordinary to Extraordinary

The photo on top was taken at the Basilica by the organ pipes, which can be seen in the background. I thought this photo was successful in capturing the shadows cast by the relief, but I thought it could be taken to another level using Photoshop and its filters. The bottom photo shows the finished product after alterations using Photoshop. I cropped the organ pipes out of the photo. I then adjusted the level of lighting by using the 18% graycard so that the warm color tones did not interfere with the impact of the photo. I originally used a flare in the middle of the dove, but I thought it was too distracting, so I decided to change my idea. Under "filter" and "render," I chose the "five lights up" filter in order to place the focus on the dove.

This photo was taken by the pillars between the law school and the Pryz. It reminded me of the photo assignment from a couple of weeks ago in which shadow had to be the subject matter. I think shadow makes the photo much more dramatic, especially the leading lines it forms.

This scene near Union Street in Alexandria caught my eye by the way the light was reflected underneath the structure of the bridge. This photo serves as an example of how architectural elements can be enhanced depending on the lighting.

This photo of McMahon Hall was taken on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. I thought the fall colors on the trees were quite striking. I altered the original photo by calibrating it using the 18% graycard since it was very cloudy that day.

These photos were taken at Benedict's in Monroe, CT.
Since Thanksgiving is drawing near, here's a photo to help get into the spirit of thanks.




















A family of owls, which is actually a bunch of stones that can be used for a front entrance walk.

Here's a statue of a couple of frogs. I thought it was a unique statue and other statues around it provided a good background to use as a setting for it.

This series of photographs is a different take on "the unseen." The picture to the left shows a before picture from the point of view of Broadway and Exchange Place before the Yankees tickertape parade started on Nov. 6, 2009. The picture below that shows toilet paper streaming from the overhead flagpoles, which is not a usual sight in NYC.

This photo also shows toilet paper and all sorts of other things used as confetti thrown onto the streets of NYC during the parade.

The Unseen

Here are some interpretations of "the unseen." I think the shape of the lights form an interesting shape, which looks like an arrow.












The reflection in the window of the Fairfield University library almost looks like a mirror. This reflects a similar idea explored in class last week of including the photographer in the photo. I think it's unique that one of the outside lights was showing on one of my legs, which indicates that there's something about the photograph that's unexpected.

Here's another similar photograph which shows a mirror-like effect in the window of the desks and chairs.

Assignment: One Shot

For my assignment, I had to capture "light building". I thought of different ideas that included finding buildings that were dramatically lit on the outside, but then I realized that there was a perfect opportunity to capture "light building" on campus. The structure of the Pryz is such where the light that shines on the inside can also be seen on the outside at night. This allows it to be a more inviting building at night because of the light that emanates from it. I often have noted over these past weekends that it has been unfortunate to have to shoot pictures in the rain, but I found that the reflection off the sidewalk from the rain worked to enhance the photo. This gives further emphasis to the subject, "light building".





I decided to see what alterations could be done using Photoshop that could give the photo more character. First, I flipped the photo 180 degrees, then applied the watercolor and smudge functions. This gives it a more dramatic feel I think, inspired by the waterlilies of Monet.

Here's a picture of some flowers on campus. The top picture is the original and the bottom picture has been altered with Photoshop using the watercolor function. I think the bottom picture is more successful in placing focus on the subject, the flowers, than the top one is because the detail of the soil is not as sharp in the bottom picture. The detail in the soil distracts the eye from the flowers. There is a stark contrast as well between the red and yellow of the flowers and the soil, which further places focus on the flowers.

The top picture is the original. The bottom picture has been altered using Photoshop. I used the midtone dropper to achieve the desired grayscale of 18%. I then altered the midtone level by adding more highlight. I liked the leading line formed by the flower bunches in this picture surrounding the subject of a bigger thistle bush.

Thoughts of Spring

These pictures were taken by some flower bushes outside the Basilica. With these pictures, I tried my hand at nature photography. I wished I could have gotten some better angles of the bee, but it didn't stay in one place for too long, so it was difficult to capture it at a good angle.