Week 13: Portraits

This week I took a photo of my god daughter.  As you can imagine, it was hard to get her to stand still.  After a dozen or so shots I got this, and in my opinion it was well worth the wait.  With the help of my girlfriend we were able to clear out some space in the dining room.  From there I took my camera and just sort of hovered over her.  After capturing my desired shot, I sharpened the image in Gimp and added a black and white filter.  I'm going to give it to her parents as a Christmas present.

The second photo I did not plan on taking that day.  I was on my way to a ski area in VT very early in the morning and my friend and stopped at McDonald's for breakfast.  I knew it would make for an interesting portrait!  Good old Ronald!  I thought it would be more amusing if it looked like there was a conversation being held.  I was more than satisfied with the final result.  Lucky for us we arrived early.  I guess Ronald had a full schedule that day...

Week 10: Paint

I used different sized brushes to create these giant lizards.  I used the color picker tool to get the right shade for the silhouettes.  This was a fun assignment.  I think it would have been significantly more difficult if I didn't use a silhouette photo as it would require more color and detail.  I like this photo because its just so far out there!

Week 10: Adding Text

I added text to this goofy photo. My girlfriend and I planning to send a version of this to our friends for christmas.  I used the standard font, increased the size, changed the color and repositioned the text to the top of the photo.  I tried going to various websites to download fonts, but I didn't have any luck. For example,  I went to 1001 free fonts and when importing it, it wouldn't open.   Does anyone know how to convert it or know of a better site?  The link offered from this assignment gives me an "404 not found" error.  I'd like to spice up the font for this creepy holiday card!  Thanks for looking!

Week 10: Clone and Patch

I used the gimp photo editing software. The tutorial provided was for photoshop,  but there were dozens video tutorials on youtube on these tools.  I first selected my subject which I was going to clone which is a rooster.  I then went into the clone window and selected the circle 19 brush tool and scaled it up to 10 to the use of pencil size brush strokes.  From there I cloned two of the roosters.  I also cloned the grass in a few spots surrounding the chicken to make the lighting look natural.  I used the heal patch button to touch up small spots.  Thanks for looking!

Original 

Week 9: Filters and Dodgle / Blur

Original Photo

Dodged Photo

Original Photo

Burned Photo

Original Photo

Filtered photo - Soft glow used

Original Photo

Filtered photo - polar coordinate filter, shine, glow and brightness adjusted.

I was psyched to find out that Gimp was a free software.  It works great and has many of the same tools as photoshop.  I like how many of the tools have information bubbles that explain what the tool does.  Thanks for looking!

Week 8: Color and Light

Cat clock raw photo.  

Cat clock edit photo

fox in forest raw photo

fox in forest edited photo

This was a fun assignment.  I used photoshop and created new layers to adjust the image without changing the original.  I adjusted and cropped the cat clock to give it more of a range of value, making the lights lighter and the darks darker.  

On the second image I used the auto tone, auto contrast and auto color tools to make the image pop more.   I also used the an edge tool to make them somewhat smoother.  

week 7: cropping and resizing

Below are two images I cropped, resized and edited in photoshop for fun.  Both were cropped to hone in on the subject I wanted everyone to focus on. In the second one, if you loo closely you will notice the frame in the photo is a pair of goggles and inside there is a reflection of my friend and I.  I'm the one holding the camera.  The second one I shrunk down, cropped out much of the crowd and zoomed in on the band to make it more interesting.  Enjoy!

Some additional framing photographs I'm posting just for fun.

Landscapes - Sugarbush, VT & St. John, USVI

These were taken at Bolton Valley Vermont, Sugarbush, VT and St. John, USVI
My intention when taking these pictures was to share it with friends and family.  I wanted these shots to get  them motivated to come out and enjoy the beautiful outdoors with me!  Some of these shots I had a macro approach (the shot with the frozen branch) with the landscape in the background.  Others I wanted to capture the vast mountain ranges of beautiful VT.  Capturing Lake Champlain in there was just a bonus.  Thanks for looking!

Monochromatic and Complimentary Photos

Week 4 Photos

I took this photo in the Champlain Islands.  If you look at the color of his nose in comparison to the color of his fur and horns, you will find that it makes up a monochromatic color-scheme.  If you look in the background you will find the red barn and the green summer growth to be complementary.  

Foliage season has come early this year in Bolton, VT.  As you can see there's a monochromatic theme with lighter and darker shades of yellows, oranges, golds and browns.  

Rainy Hike at Bolton Valley

These are some images I captured the other day when hiking.  I had a lot of fun taking these.  I can't remember the last time I enjoyed the rain this much!  I wish I had a better camera, but I was happy with the way these turned out.

Sunflower 2

Post two of your favorite images from this shoot to your blog and compare and contrast them. Say why you chose them. Talk about the photos. Which one do you like best and why? How does perspective, or point of view, change the photo's impact? 

This is the POV I find more interesting.  It is easier to see the texture in the flower and how bulbous the center is.  The flower possesses more power from this angle.  I also like how light is coming in the top right of the photo.

Sunflower

Although I don't like this angle as much, I still find it interesting.  I like the contrast of the colors in between the wooden bowl and the flower.  You can also see the water that I poured in better.  This angle lets the viewer see the flower's head as a whole which i like.  I also think you can see the different shades of yellow/gold in center of this one.