Class Submissions #4 / Our Weekend

Last week in class, we talked about lenses and how longer lenses allow for more shallow depth of field. The class assignment was to take two photos with the same aperture but different lenses. I only have the one lens for my PowerShot (you actually can buy lenses for that camera but I haven't made the investment since we plan to upgrade to an SLR soon). Since I couldn't experiment with lenses, I took two photos with the same aperture and varied my focal length. 

Close up without zoom (7.4), f/4.5:

Close up with zoom (36.7), f/4.5

The rest of our project was centered around meter reading and exposure. With my camera I'm not able to take a meter reading, but I can change metering modes. I tried and did my best. I wasn't very happy with the results, but I tried! 

My husband was kind enough to let me practice on him. We loaded up our very black dog, Hitch, and took him to the school practice ball field where we knew there would be white walls for maximum contrast. 

Spot-metered on midtones of shorts and skin

I wasn't happy with the exposure but I think this would be way easier using an SLR. Because my husband is handsome, and because he and Hitch are buds, I dragged them around and took some other pictures of them, too. Hitch wasn't real sure what was going on.

Hitch is a good 'ole boy. He lived at my mom's house with us before J.C. and I got married. We got him from a lady who fostered dogs from the Humane Society. J.C. and I would often take him with us on our evening walks when we were dating. When we got married, we took him with us and he became OUR dog. He's part Mastiff and part Lab. When people see us with him, they make comments like, "Whoa, that's a big dog!" or "Nice looking horse you have there!" because he really is HUGE. He makes me feel safe, and it's fun to have a big, bad dog (even though he is actually one of the gentlest dogs you will ever meet). Evening walks with my little family make me very happy.

Saturday evening, we had to take a trip to Little Rock. We had to get to the fairgrounds early, because I had photography submissions that had to be turned in for the State Fair. Solid Rock does the production for the main stage at the State Fair every year, and when I go to see J.C. while he's working it's kind of fun to have something interesting to do, so I submit some photos to Arts and Crafts. 

Since we weren't quite ready for dinner, J.C. suggested that we go walk around by the Rivermarket and maybe walk the bridge. So we did. And I took a few shots for fun. We had a good time. We saw some cool stuff, some weird stuff, and some very interesting people. An evening out with my best friend is always a good time.

This Week's Class Submissions

Last week's lesson focused on shutter speed and depth of field, so we had to submit four photos demonstrating these ideas. My husband was working the fair last week and we had a birthday party to attend over the weekend, so I figured those would give me opportunities to do some shooting. My submissions:

Slow Action - White County Fair Ferris Wheel
[4 second exposure; f/3.5]

Stop Action - Ethan in the Sandbox
[1/500 second; f/4.0]

Shallow DOF - J.C.'s M7
[f/2.8; 3 seconds]

Wide DOF - Little Rock National Cemetery
[f/8; 1/50 second]
Unfortunately, this is one I was less than pleased with. f/8 on my point and shoot is as closed as my aperture gets, so it's still not all in sharp focus. 

Class Submissions

My composition submissions for this week. We'll discuss them tonight in class.

Framing

Thirds; close ups; focusing

Thirds; close-ups; color; focusing

Framing

Portraits

Well, after last week's photography class, we were given an assignment to come up with four pictures illustrating composition. Since I've had virtually no practice with portraits, I asked my sister to let me practice on her and my cute eight-year-old nephew. I came up with a couple that I liked. Later, I'll share my four submissions, but for now I'm just going to share my favorites from those portraits.

Our State Capitol

The Arkansas State Capitol building in Little Rock has been fashioned to look like our nation's capitol building. It provides a great place for practicing photography skills, and since I was in Little Rock last week I made time to go by and see what I could get.

Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers, and they were blooming all around the Capitol building. So pretty!

This butterfly was kind enough to pose for me.

The Little Rock Nine were nine African-Americans who marched up the steps of Central High School to support civil rights in education. These statues have been erected at the Capitol building as a monument. One of the members of the Little Rock Nine passed away just last week.

Pedestal Rocks and King's Bluff

The weather was beautiful this weekend and we both had Saturday off, so we got to go for another hiking trip! This time we drove up Scenic Highway 7 to Pedestal Rocks in Pelsor, Arkansas.

National Cemetery & The Old Mill

I stopped by the National Cemetery in Little Rock to get some photos. Unfortunately, most of the photos were lost. Here's one I still have that I liked.

I also went by the Old Mill — a popular tourist spot in Little Rock due to the fact that it was built as a set for the classic movie Gone With the Wind. 

I had to get pictures of the flowers blooming around the Mill.

A duck was pretty interested in what I was doing. :)

Flowers

I love flowers, so I took some macros recently.

A bright pink Zinnia blooming in my flower bed.

A lilly covered with pollen from a vase on my kitchen table.

Hiking Adventures

One of the main reasons I'd like to become skilled in photography is because my husband and I love hiking. Our favorite thing to do together is spend a Saturday on a day hike, and it's not uncommon for us to hike between 6-12 miles at a time. I love being in the open air and seeing God's creativity displayed in nature. It adds to my joy when I am able to share the sights we have seen with other people and see the wonder in their eyes, as well.

Hiking a small trail at Lake Sylvia in Perryville, Arkansas, I came across this scenic little bridge. The lighting was just right for me to capture it well. Too bad there was no water flowing in the creek underneath!

My husband posed for me on Hawksbill Crag in the Buffalo Wilderness near Ponca, Arkansas. I'm never able to look at this photo without being scared he might fall off! I actually entered this picture into the landscape photography division of the 2009 State Fair and it won 3rd place.

I like to call this photo "Forgotten Stream" because we happened upon it while hiking off a secluded trail in the Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee where we spent our honeymoon. The stream was near an old cabin, grist mill, and barn that were inhabited by Noah "Bud" Ogle and his family in late 1800's. The area has since been preserved as a historic site along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in the Smokeys, and when I happened upon it I couldn't help but imagine Bud's children playing at this very spot when they were children.

A lone orange leaf among green moss hints at the arrival of fall after a very long, hot summer.

After fording a river we thought would only be a few inches deep (turned out to be close to three feet) my husband stops to admire the rock caves and fall colors on the Sylamore Creek Trail near Shirley, Arkansas.

While hiking a stretch of the Ouachita Trail near Maumelle, Arkansas, we came across this old tombstone leaning up against a tree in the woods. There used to be an empty coffin there, as well, but we never saw it.