Week 3: Photo Taking & Editing
Nothing truly spectacular but did a bit of photography and photo editing which is a goal of mine to do more consistently.
I am still working on a regular schedule to take photos and regular schedule to edit them but am trying to work on the story-telling and intentionality of my photo creations.
This collection was primarily during Chinese New Year so there was a parade, floats, costumes, and festivities. I’d say there wasn’t really a theme or intentional style to the photos but interesting shots from my perspective. Maybe talking about my thoughts on each image would be helpful to introspectively analyze what I was going for and whether it was clearly communicated or not.
The first photo is of a man holding a camera taking a photo of the paraders. I cropped out the camera and heads. I found it somewhat amusing because the posturing looks a little like curiosity and a little hiding behind the dumpster. We get a glimpse of the paraders in their attire. Visually, the man’s backside and backpack hold focus and then your eyes lead to what he’s looking at.I also like the leading lines towards the man along the left side if your eyes get distracted or explore the left side of the photo. So all in all, there’s a cyclic return to the main subject no matter where your eyes wander.
My criticism would be that the main subject is not very interesting in that, apart from being in focus, there’s nothing special about the subject that holds or retains attention for long.
In the second photo, I like facial expressions. There’s something juxtaposing between the side-eye hidden underneath the costume and the out of focus smile just adjacent. Similarly, the brightly coloured Chinese lion attire versus the lack of a costume. There’s almost a duality of happiness in being fully and completely seen versus unenthusiastic or unfestiveness when masked away. (Miud you, this is a completely fictitious story I’m creating in the photo. Not trying to say in reality that this woman isn’t happy doing the Chinese lion dance, just the story I captured in this split second).
The photo itself is a little too yellow to be balanced in my mind. Overly yellow but given the cropping I wanted to isolate the subject and contrast with the person in the background, it had to be cropped so close. I wish I captured more of the left hand side of the scene. Could have told a different story or have the option of a different story based on what was to the subject’s right side or what the subject was giving side-eye towards. This also impacting the framing of the Chinese lion, which is partially cut out.
In this third picture, it’s completely distinct in that it wasn’t from Chinese New Year. I just liked the architectural framing, the overexposed sky and the feeling of climbing to freedom or paradise.
I really liked the leading lines, the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ feel and high contrast feel of the ladder steps against the white sky.
If I were to do it again, I’d try to establish an even higher contrast. Maybe pump the contrast even more. If I spent time in Photoshop, maybe get rid of the branches reflecting in the windows to reduce distracting lines. I do like the grime and cracks in the window framing that make the ladder escape to white space more appealing though.
Best case scenario would be a person actually climbing the ladder so that motif of climbing or escaping more obvious.
Just pictures of shoes. I liked the leading yellow line, the distinction of the parader’s dressed up shooes compared to the viewers and the vibrancy of their attire, again compared against the backdrop of jeans and boots/sneakers. I reduced the saturation oof the red in the audience. They’re actually standing in front of a fire hydrant but the red was distracting from the main subject’s red. I also liked the differing orientation of the shoes. Paraders versus audience are pointing differently.
The road is a little distracting and the composition feels a bit distant between those contrasting elements. The patchwork repairs on the road like the square on the top right quadrant pulls your attention away. If I took the photo at a lower angle, the shoes could be closer proximity too to have that contrast more clearly communicated. If I took the picture on another section of road, maybe that crack in the road or the gloves on the ground near the curb would be less distracting or removed entirely.
Overall, not the most interesting or well composed photos but I’m glad I took them and I’m glad I went out and used my camera. I like posting them so there’s a degree of public pressure and introspective analysis on my composition so I’ll probably do something like this again soon.