Week 4

Last one?! Crazy how time flies. This week part 1 of my assignment was to work on thematic and conceptual shooting. There is so much fun to be had with this assignment! I was in Edmonton and did a shoot of my cousin's family, so I decided to use the theme of family togetherness. I'm only allowed to post ONE photo, so here it is!


I'm only going to say one thing to critique myself...I think this image would more strongly portray family togetherness if I had changed my angle just slightly to see more of Erin's face. That is all.
Part 2 was SO HARD for me! I had to get in my own pictures! I'll admit, I figured the self timer would be my best bet. Ha! You should see what I came up with. They're awkward. So awkward that I refuse to let anyone see them. So I chose a different route. Since this is a lifestyle class, I chose to post a photo that I AM in, doing something that I love to do:

Yes, those are my hands. Since attempting this part of the assignment, I've come to a decision. I'm constantly giving my mom a hard time because she ALWAYS wants me to be the family photographer, which I don't mind doing, except the fact that I never have pictures of myself! Well my friends, this week I am teaching my mom to use my camera. And then...(drumroll please...) she's going to take pictures of me. And more than just one! I'm pretty excited about the whole situation really.

Challenges from this week? Again...shooting a baby. They just move so fast! And the whole self-portrait thing. It's going to take some work. I think I'll give it another shot during the makeup week.
Questions? What is the best way to focus when using a self timer? That was my biggest struggle.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Okay...this week was my FAVORITE project. After Thanksgiving dinner my cousin Payton and my Grandma Dudley were having a chat on the couch so I stole them for my models. My assignment was to portray some sort of conceptual contrast, so I decided to contrast the old vs. young, as well as the wisdom vs. the ignorance of youth. Here's a couple of favourites:

I cannot even tell you how much I LOVE the images I got from part 2 - the decisive moment. Without Grandma knowing, Payton decided to start a little whipped cream fight. I have to admit, I took more than the 3 pictures allowed, but I feel like they all captured the moment so well! Here's my favorite:

Thanks Payton and Grandma for your cooperation!

Week 2 Assignment

Part 1 of my project this week was to take a shot, and then take it from at least 20 different points of view. So naturally, I chose to shoot my nephew, Nick, playing with his toys. Little did I know how hard it would be to get that many different points of view with such an active little guy!
Here's my initial shot - not my favorite, but he's a cute little guy anyways!

View 1:

View 2:


Part 2 of the assignment was practicing the "Less is More" principle. We were to photograph a scene and then break it into as many smaller scenes as possible. As many of you know, I'm from a small town in Southern Alberta called Raymond. Among many other things, Raymond is known for being the home of the first stampede in Canada. My grandpa and uncles have participated in the Stampede (which takes place on Canada Day) for as long as I can remember, and it is tradition that we attend the rodeo every year.

For this project I wanted to portray how deserted the stampede grounds become in the fall by showing "less".

My original shot:



And less:


Challenges - an active little boy! Trying to come up with TWENTY different perspectives (although I loved it and am definitely going to practice this more!)
Discoveries - surprised by the story that such a small detail can tell.

Papa Squat

as he is affectionately known. I have recently started taking a photography class from the wonderful Brooke Snow (if you haven't checked out her work, you need to!) and this is my first project! The class is titled Lifestyle Photography: Telling the Story and our project this week was to document a character and capture them in some sort of conflict. Here's what I came up with!




Challenges - 1) Shooting in low light. I love natural light but wanted to capture the environment of my dad's "office". One day I will master situations like these. 2) Narrowing down the photos to really tell the story best and capture the conflict of tying the masterpiece fly.
Discoveries - Confession: I rarely shoot ENTIRELY on manual. Aperture priority is my go-to. Not today. I decided through this course I am going to always do everything manually so I can get really comfortable with nailing my exposure. I think it worked well? I also thought that I really loved the shots I was getting from right in front of my dad, but once I tried some different angles, I found I liked the different perspectives better.

Loving the class already Brooke!