Kaleidoscopes

I loved making kaleidoscopes, it was so fun to mess around with the editing and colors of pictures to make cool designs. Kaleidoscopes are all so unique and interesting and easy to make. Below are my favorite ones I made. 

The original photo for these two kaleidoscopes was a picture of a building and a tree. I loved the colors in the original photo and I turned up the blue tints to make the color even more defined.

I really liked how this picture made a vortex in the middle, and I edited it by turning up the rust color. The original photo was a photo of barbed wire with a sign in the background. I think this is a very unique kaleidoscope because its unlike what you'd usually see for a kaleidoscope.

The original photo was a photo of green moss on a rock wall. For the first picture I turned the moss yellow to change it up and for the second picture I turned up the green to make it more vibrant. For both photos I turned up the darks to bring out more shapes in the photo. I love the geometric shapes that the rock made. These are my two favorite kaleidoscopes that I made.

This photo was originally a symmetrically balanced photo of a plant. I turned up the green tints in this photo to get different shades of green to make it more visually interesting. I love the shapes that this kaleidoscope make.

For these last three pictures, I used a photo of a palm branch with the sky in the background that I took in Mexico. I love the dramatic difference between these three pictures, and I edited each differently. I turned up the blue in the first photo to bring out the sky and the clouds, so that that would be the main focus of the photo. For the second one, I wanted to focus on the geometric shape and the framing of the leaves, so I used the "Cyanotype" filter. I love the feel this gives the photo. For the third one, I like the contrast in the photo. I like how all the photos have a tropical feel even though they are in different filters. 

Diptych & Triptych

I was drawn to this diptych because of the way it looks like the tree is one tree in the middle, and shows a strong contrast of the blue sky against the yellow leaves. I did not include a white line in the middle of this photo because it took away from the forming tree in the middle. I think it is a very visually interesting photo because of the way that the trees are set up merging together. This image shows a tropical feel but at the same time shows a strong contrast.

I really like this photo because of how in the photo on the right, you see the sign and the barbed wire, and then on the left you see both things again, but from a different angle with a different focus. The first photo is also zoomed in on the fence, while the second one is more focused on the sign and the fence. I like how I set this up so it's not just that the second photo is zoomed or focused on the subject, I like that it is reversed.

I took these photos while in Mexico, and I really like how the color of the wood behind the shells corresponds with the color of the straw on the hut. I put the shells on the right side to give the photo balance, so not all the subjects were on the left. I made this photo vertical rather than horizontal because it really showed the relationship between the subjects. I like how this photo really encompasses the tropical feel without using the ocean or sand.

 This is my favorite photo out of all of them, because I love the diptychs and triptychs that tell a story. I found this man painting the inside of a restaurant and I loved the shapes his arm made while painting and the shapes behind him that added to it as well. I love photos with people because the viewer can really form their own story of the person in their head. To me, he looks like a French painter who really has a passion for art. I loved how these three shots captured him in motion, and had him at a different position in every one. I also decided co keep the white wall that he is painting in the picture to show what he was working on. This photo is horizontal because the flow of his arm movements was much better and the picture really worked horizontally.

Project 4

Contrast in Texture

In this photo, I love the texture of the soft hands with the hard leaves. I really love how I edited this picture, because her hand was not actually dirty when we took the photo, but by adding darks to it it makes the hand look kind of dirty and rough. I also like how the leaves are in focus but the hand isn't, I think it makes for a very cool contrast between the hardness and the softness.

Symmetrically balanced 

The way that the tree in the back and the clock lined up was unique for this photo, and I really love how every tree has a mirror on the other side of the photo. I edited to slightly bring out the yellow and green in the leaves but I wanted the main focus to be on the symmetry of the trees and the clock.

Contrast in Value

I really love the strong contrast in this photo. I was on the edge about posting this one because the way I've edited it makes it hard to see what the structure is, but I personally connected with this photo. The photo was originally lighter on the top and the bottom was a light blue because of the sky, but I edited it to make the photo more dramatic. The white part forms different shapes when you look at it because the black and white is so strong. I also like the light in the middle of the black, so the black doesn't get completely lost. I really loved this photo because of the geometric shapes and the visual intensity of this photo.

Project 3: Color & Grids

For this project, we took pictures where color was the dominant element, then we edited them on Lightroom to change or enchance their color. We made custom grids on Lightroom and played around with color, rotations, and grid setup to make unique grids that exemplified different types of color combinations. 

Color Compliments

I took a photo of orange petals with a blue paper background, and edited it on Lightroom to make one with red petals and green background, and one with yellow petals and purple background. I then rotated them to make a cool aztek looking print.

Color Harmonies

For this grid, I shot pictures of yellow and pink flowers, and moved each picture around to show different parts of each photo in order to get variety in the grid.

Monochrome

For this photo, I used a picture of a life saving tube that I took while I was in Mexico. I made four different colors of the tube, white, light grey, dark grey, and black. I rotated them in Lightroom but made them not exactly line up to a circle, in order to form a cool pattern that was not completely symmetrical. I thought this photo would make a very nice clothing pattern.

Personal Choice

I liked this photo because of the contrast between the orange and yellow, and how it did not necessarily form a symmetrical pattern. I also like the contrast between the purple sky and the blue sky. I like this photo because of the colors that pop in it. 

Mood

I really like this mood photo because the color of the yellow kayak combined with the deep blue sky makes a very relaxed mood. The water is also very still, and near the kayak you can see all the way down to the sand. These things give the picture a very calm and organic feel. I really like this picture because the yellow really stands out, but the blue does too at the same time and provides a calm and relaxed photo.

Color Wheel & Mood

Color Wheel

Corey Arnold uses the contrast between the red and blue colors to set the mood of tension and stress in this photo.  The waves look harsh, which is most likely enhanced by editing to give them a darker and more serious feel. The red color of the boat looks like it has been changed to have a more brighter and richer color to contrast against the blue and add the element of tension in the photo. Corey Arnold used this to make the person seeing the image to feel the stress of the large waves and the tension that occurs between the two colors.

Project 2: Framing and Composition

For this project, we focused on eight different framing and composition techniques. We had a variety of techniques to shoot and we shot our pictures mostly downtown, but I also shot some at home. These are the eight pictures I personally liked the best from each technique out of all my photos. 

Contact Sheet 1

Contact Sheet 2

Contact Sheet 3

Rule of Thirds

Leading Lines

Filling the Frame

Bird's Eye View

Close Up

Diagonal

Bug's Eye View

Frame Within a Frame

Project 1

Wall of Vines

For this photo, I loved the drama of the branches breaking off and forming their own path. I loved the way the bricks looked so solid behind it and how every branch was going its own way. To edit this photo I turned up the contrast, saturation, and darkened the leaves so that it gave it more drama and seriousness.

For this photo I used birds eye view, because I wanted to get a variety of angles. I love the way the clouds pop through at the top and the way the red stands out against the sky. To edit this photo I turned up the saturation, shadows, and structure, of which structure made the most difference in making the red of the leaves and the blue of the sky more defined.

I wanted to once again get a unique angle, instead of simply photographing the leaves face on. I love the way the front leaf is blurry and the ones behind are in focus, and I think it is a unique angle from the side of the leaves. To edit this photo, I turned up the brightness for the leaves to pop a little bit more, I turned up the contrast and the saturation to make them more prominent in the photo.

Downtown Library

For this photo I shot the leaves in the photo to add more setting so it wasn't so simply just a window. I chose to make it black and white to add eerieness to the photo, which I think the leaves do as well. For me I think this is the type of scene I would see in a scary movie, with the dark setting and bright lights coming from inside the haunting building. To edit this photo I turned up the contrast instead of using a black and white filter, so I could choose how much black and white I wanted.  I also turned down the saturation just slightly so that the photo was not completely black and white but has a small touch of color. I also turned up the shadows so that the bricks and small details of the building were noticeable.

This is easily one of my top two favorite pictures from this assignment. I love the color of the blue sky and the way it stands out against the red bricks. I also like how the picture is balanced, since the window is on the left and the tree is on the right. I also love the way the bright blue sky reflects off the window. To edit this photo, I turned the brightness down so that the sky was a richer blue color. I also turned shadows up so that the bricks were not too bright but also not too dark. Overall this photo really stuck out to me because of its colors.

I chose this photo because when I look at each window individually, they remind me of tombstones. They also have rectangles underneath the windows with names of old writers, like a tombstone would have the name of the deceased. To edit this photo, I added a vintage filter and added vignette in order to give the photo a creepy feel. I also added control points and raised the brightness so that the bricks were more visible in the dark corners. Lastly, I added sharpness and structure in order to make the windows defined and to stand out even more. This photo seemed really unique to me and shows variety in photography that I never knew I had. My comfort zone is to take very happy, pretty pictures, so this was very different for me.

My Summer

This summer I flew to California with my best friend. We stayed with her sister's family in Santa Cruz. We laid on the beach and swam, we went to the Santa Cruz pier, and went whale watching, where we saw two whales breech. I also got to paddle board for the first time which was really fun. On the third day, we spent a whole day watching chick flicks because we were both too sunburned to move. On the way back, it was also my first time flying by myself. I had a great time in California making new memories and having new experiences.