Assignment 2: Critique, Part I

For the first image, my self portrait, I re-cropped it differently, which improved the balance of the photo. I'm quite pleased with the amount of detail in my eyes and the amount of light and the reflection of the window. I like my inquisitive-happy expression. I feel like the diffused lighting from the window of my dorm worked really well, and provided good values.

For the first portrait of my friend Allegra, I am happy with the range of values. I feel that the composition of her is interesting, and is not your traditional portrait. I like the little highlight of her necklace and the subtle value changes.

The second portrait of Allegra is one that I feel has an excellent show of contrast. I am pleased with how the morning light from the window is reacting to her form. Everyone has commented or noted her expression to the viewer, who is looking down at her, but she is giving a look as if though she were the one looking down on you.

The final image (again of Allegra) is my favorite of the three portraits of her - I like the almost blown-out background, and I like the blurred out trees to give the photo some depth. I feel that the values are good, and I like her somewhat-blank expression. I like the asymmetrical balance of the photo, and I also like that the darkest darks are on her so that it creates a focus of emphasis.

This photo was inspired by the photography on fredandassociates.com, with the portraits done by Cass Bird.

Specifically this.

Assignment I

For this photo I did a close crop of my face with just a little peek of my shoulder showing. The photo was inspired by the concept of contrast, specifically by the work of (specific photographer here). Her use of contrast seemed subtle, yet still brought out specific details that were most important in the photo. I tested various angles of taking the photo of myself while sitting in the tree, and after about every 5-10 shots I would check and see what looked interesting. I am always looking for a way to create interesting self portraits, and I believe that this was a success.

This photo depicts bottle caps that have been tied and attached to a bike basket. I just came across this as I was coming to class and snapped a few shots. I feel that this goes well with the simplicity that I intended. It just documents something of everyday life, something that someone did to make their bike more interesting. The composition will lead your eye directly to the bottle cap in the middle of the left side, and lead your eye across the right side of the photo.

This is a portrait of my friend Breyer, inspired by the concept (concept). I had her stand out in the hall of the dorm that I live in and used a large aperture and a fairly quick shutter speed to capture her hair flip in the slightly dim lighting. I had her do this several times before we got this shot.