PPR12

1. PPR12 Kurt Morton

2. This is one of the first pictures I took, on the first day of class. I didn’t really have any idea what I was doing, so this turned out pretty well. f5.6 1/13

3. This is a pretty interesting picture, because of the repeating geometrical shapes, the angle, and the texture in the peeling paint. It would have looked better with a more interesting sky, but there’s nothing I can do about that. f11 1/200

4. I chose this picture because, even though it could have been better, it shows many composition rules in use. There’s lines, geometry, and unusual angles. F10 1/250

5. I liked this one because of the artistic effect. It also represents how we are “fenced in” from the pool because it’s the winter. f10 1/250

6. I chose this because it’s a striking image of the school, with it nicely framed by the tree. You know right away that it’s Massey, even though there’s no name on the building. Photoshopped I used a number of effects such as contrast, sharpness, and HDR Toning. f10 1/250

7. I chose this picture because it was my first attempt at using the panning effect for motion shots. I thought it turned out really well, even though it’s a fairly boring picture. F5.6 1/30

8. This is another panning shot, this time taken outdoors. This is a great example of the effect you can get from panning, and I like the was this turned out. The wheels of the car are still a bit blurry, so you get a really good sense of the motion. f32 1/50

9. This picture is actually a combination of three pictures taken in PPR2, when we were experimenting with bracketing. I combined them using the “HDR Pro” tool in Photoshop, in order to create this image. I also applied a number of filters and effects, in order to give it the surreal look. F1.8 1/4000 F1.8 1/1600 F1.8 1/4000

10. I chose this picture because it is a good example of what we were working on for taking portraits. This, obviously, isn’t a portrait of a human, but this uses the same basic photography rules. There’s strong depth of field, a simple background, sharp features, and effective lighting. F1.8 1/30

11. How I’ve changed as a photographer At the beginning of the course, I had no idea what I was doing. I simply tried to fit the subject into the frame with no respect to composition, framing, or the background. I now realize that it’s important to think of the image as a whole, instead of only thinking about the subject. The background isn’t there to distract; it’s there to complement the subject. I now realize how important lighting is to the quality of a picture. When I started the course, I just took the picture from wherever I happened to be standing. Now, I will move around in order to get the best light. It’s important that the light is in front of the subject, not behind it, but I didn’t know that at the beginning of the course. There are also many things I learned about composition rules. I used to just frame the subject in the center of the picture. Now I know to think about the rule of thirds, as well as to leave lots of space for the subject to move. It’s also important to think about the effect of lines and leading lines. In the future, I’d love to save up for the purchase of a DSLR, possibly the Nikon D5100. It’s a great camera, and the ability to take videos would be awesome. Doing freelance photography would be awesome, but it would require a lot of dedication. Photography would maybe be best left as a (very expensive) hobby.