This past week, my Multimedia Production class met at the local conservatory here at the University of Wyoming (UW). We were tasked with capturing moments that fit into the creative devices of photography.
Though I have been going to UW for almost four years now, I had yet to make my way into the conservatory. I was pleased to find a plethora of plants posing right when I entered the room, begging to have their picture taken.
I would not consider myself a professional photographer by any means, however, I do find that I can take a decent photo when the time strikes. The following are some of my favorite shots from the shoot and have not been edited in anyway.
The Imperfect Leaf
Believe it or this is the original photo. The photography device that I was was going for in this shot was focus. I liked that the front section of the leaf and the background was blurry because it draws the eye to the middle of the leaf.
The darkness of the photo also gives it an element of mystery which I think helps it pop aesthetically.
There is also the element of line in the photo with the leaf showcasing both vertical and horizontal lines. The vertical line helps draw the eye up into the rest of the photo. There is also a small pop of red on the left side behind the leaf. This can give the eye something to discover the long the photo is looked at.
Tranquil
The main photography device I was aiming for in this photo was cropping. This is a close up of one of the fountains I came across. I noticed another person taking a picture of it straight on and I wondered how I could make my photo of the same thing different.
The cropping of the photo brings out the contrast in the pebbles which makes pleasing to look at. All of the pebbles are smooth and solid colors which makes the spout of the fountain have a moment as well.
Another prominent theme in this photo is color. As I mentioned above, the contract between the pebbles and the spout and the pebbles with each other make for an interesting photo.
Over the Edge
This photo was taken while looking over a staircase and I felt it make this plant look a lot longer than it actually was. The creative device I was going for was depth with the bottom of the stairs being out of focus.
This makes the photo aesthetically pleasing because it allows the eye to focus on more than one aspect of the photo.
There are a few spots in the photo where there is some great texture peaking out. Right at the top where the plant starts it looks much rougher then the green sections of the plant.
Ascending
The main device I was trying to capture in this photo was line. I loved how big the leaves were on this plant and couldn’t resist taking a photo like this.
Much like the photo of the leaf above, I loved how the natural lines of the plant draw the eye up and side to side. I tried to make the two pictures different by taking this one off to the side so the middle line of the plant seems to just disappear from the frame.
Even though the photo is taken from an angle, there is still quite a bit of symmetry from one side of the leaf to the next. This makes the photo really satisfying to look at.
Texture
As from the title of the photo, the device I was going for in this photo was texture. I feel that the bark of a tree is always great at capturing texture because they are so unique.
Though this is a plant coming out of the bark in this photo, it doesn’t take away from how prominent the tree is.
The angle of the photo also helps to provide some depth and turn the tree into a leading line. It allows the eye to travel up with the tree.
There were not a lot of challenges that came with this assignment because I prefer to take pictures of nature over people. I didn’t really want to have people in my photos because I feel that I can’t capture their essence like I can with nature.
The only problem I encountered with this assignment was that there were a lot of us taking pictures at the same time in a rather cramped space. I still feel like I got come nice shots but maybe we could go somewhere with more space in the future.
Bird Thoughts 