Balance and Contrast

This picture shows scale contrast between the man and the waterfall--the man is small and accentuates the largeness of the waterfall and the rocks.
Photo by Alexandre Deschaumes

This picture shows color contrast between blue of the water and the orange of the leaf, which really accentuates the differences between the two items.
Photo by: Olga Mareeva

This photo shows differences contrast between the smooth texture of the sky, the fluffy texture of the clouds, and the grainy texture of the tree and the wheat.
Photo by: Philipp Klinger

This picture shows symmetrical balance, since the two sides of the photo are the same on either side of the center.
Photo by: Philipp Klinger

This picture shows radial balance because no matter where you split the image, the photo is symmetrical. The way the photographer got this picture is actually pretty cool--to see how go to http://www.fastcoexist.com/3022002/amazing-closeups-of-snowflakes-give-a-little-glimpse-at-how-awesome-nature-is?partner=rss#1
Photo by: Alexey Kljatov

Project 3: Color and Grids

In this project, we had to edit pictures so that they showed warm, cool, and complementary colors, as well as monochromatic pictures and photos that show mood. We also had to make photo grids. All pictures were edited using Lightroom.

Warm Colors

These two pictures show warm colors--one is part of the artwork in my backyard, and the other is a flower.. I increased the saturation of the colors to make them pop while editing.

This warm-colored grid (dimensions: 3 x 3) is of the artwork in my backyard. When editing, I increased the saturation and changed the exposure.

Cool Colors

These photos show cool colors--one is of a watch that I found in a bowl full of marbles and the other is of sunset at Heceta Head on the Oregon coast. When I edited these photos, I decreased the saturation of the warmer colors (the gold of the watch and the gold of the lighthouse) and cropped them.

This grid (dimensions: 4 x 4) shows cool colors. I love the swirling patterns of this grid, and I rotated the pictures to make a pattern.

Complementary Colors

These photos show complementary colors--in both cases, the colors are blue and orange. One is of  a tree behind my house and the other is of a glass vase my uncle made. When editing, I cropped the photos square, enhanced the saturation, and sharpened the details.

This grid is of some wall art in downtown Portland, and it shows complementary colors. When making this grid, I rotated the pictures to create patterns and cropped the photos.

Monochrome

These black-and-white photos are monochromatic--one is of the trees in my backyard and the other of some rocks of the coast of Rockaway, Oregon. I edited the tree picture by making it black and white, and I cropped the beach photo and changed the exposure.

This grid (dimensions: 3 x 4) combines monochromatic photos from some of my favorite environments--the forest and the Oregon coast. I rotated the photos of the grid to make the lighthouse symmetrical and to make a pattern with the branches of the trees.

Mood

These two pictures show mood. One is my basketball hoop and the other is the one surviving flower left after a winter storm. I edited these photos to create a sort of somber mood by making it monochromatic, and for the flower picture I increased the saturation of the flower to give it an almost hopeful feel. I also made the flower off-center to affect the mood.

I decided to include this photo because it shows both cool colors and monochrome--and because I like the photo! I edited it to enhance the details of the waves and cropped out the beach behind it. 

Color

This photo (taken by Johnson Zhang) uses color to illustrate the mood. The colors (red, yellow, and orange) make the setting comforting and warm, and the lighting of the sunset creates a feeling of serenity.

Project 2: Framing and Composition

This photo collection is a study of framing techniques and compositional techniques that was edited in Light Room.

Rule of Thirds

This picture was taken just north of Tillamook on the Oregon coast.  To edit this picture, I cropped it and enhanced the color a little so the blues and greens would not be washed out by the cloud cover.

Frame within a Frame

This picture was taken at Heceta Head Lighthouse, and it shows the light up at the top of the tower. I cropped this picture when I edited it to better show the panels of glass.

Close Up

This is a picture of a flower at my house, and I loved the colors of the petals. When I edited this, I increased the saturation and cropped it closer.

Bird's Eye

This is a picture looking down into one of our candles (with multiple levels). I cropped the picture closer and changed the exposure so the light reflected in the outside glass wouldn't be over-exposed. 

Bug's Eye

This picture shows a view of the trees in my backyard from underneath. I edited the picture by changing it to black and white and cropping it a little closer.

Leading Lines

I chose this picture because I loved the way the sky was reflected in the glass of the building. When editing this, I increased the clarity and the saturation to enhance the color and the lines in this photo.

Diagonals

This picture is of the a section of a building and the sky above. I changed the exposure so the building would not be under-exposed and increased the contrast against the colors.

Fill the Frame

I chose this photo because I liked the detail in the rings of this piece of firewood. When I edited it, I cropped it closer to the center of the wood and increased the contrast so the lines and rings would stand out.

Project 1

Project 1

When I took this picture, the background was already blurred and I loved how the block of news stands I used as my subject stood still among the movement of the city. To edit it, I cropped the image closer and gave the color ore saturation so the stands would stand out more.

I selected this picture because of the symmetry--the framing was nice and that really appealed to me. When editing, I gave the colors saturation and played around for a bit with layers to make the colors almost surreal. The final result looks almost as if someone had made a painting of the scene.

The diversity of the papers in the stands was really interesting, and I selected this picture because it showcased that. (The front page of the Asian Reporter was about rare triplet pandas!) I played around a bit with shadowing and making the picture vaguely vintage when editing.

This staircase in the woods has always been ethereal, but I loved this picture because the lighting through the leaves made it more so. I blurred a bit of the edges and gave the picture more saturation when editing, and also filtered it so the lighting wouldn't be as harsh.

It had just rained when I took this picture, and this photo made the woods look especially vibrant. I did some blurring to the edge of the picture when I edited it and focused on the staircase, even though I think it's the colors that make this photo pop.

My camera has a black and white setting, as most of them do, so I turned it on to take this picture. With the lighting and the uneven tilt of the staircase on the hill, I think that this looks cool and intriguing. I sharpened the details when I went back to edit this picture, and filtered it so the light would be less glaring.

My Summer

This summer, I went on the annual trip with family friends of ours to South Dakota. We explored the Black Hills, hiked throughout the Badlands, tried (and failed) to count all of the Wall Drug Store advertisements, and visited a pioneer homestead. Of all of those places, the Badlands were truly astonishing. The rocks seemed so out of place among all of the prairie that it was impossible not to stop and stare. When you hiked out into the formations, it really felt like you had stepped into another world--which easily made it the highlight of our trip.