Motion

Sooooo I'm taking my first photography class....EVER....this semester at Texas and I have had some mixed feelings. For the first assignment, the class was asked to construct a camera obscura. To do this, I had to black out an entire room---windows, the cracks around the door, turn off all lights---and create just a small hole, the size of a ladybug, right in front of the window. This small light would allow a small beam of light to stream into the room and hopefully, this stream of light would carry the scenery from the outside and reflect it, upside down, on the wall opposite the window. Does that make sense? Wikipedia...help!

"The camera obscura (Latin; "camera" is a "vaulted chamber/room" + "obscura" means "dark"= "darkened chamber/room") is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography."

So basically I turned my room into a camera obscura and kind of failed...
BLEH.

Then I borrowed Isha's camera obscura:
EH.

Third attempt: I took over a room in Welch, UT's chemistry building, for an hour to capture the following...
Little better...

Assignment #2

The second assignment, Motion, went a little better....

Motion by Photographer

Ghosting

Blur

Arrested Motion

Long Exposure

Panning

But my self critique for the assignment was as follows:

I have always taken photos out of enjoyment, as a hobby and for this reason, the motion assignment felt like a chore. I had to focus on taking photos that met certain specifications, I had to be more creative and I had to plan photo opportunities. Or so I thought. I realize now that I should have just carried my camera around with me constantly for an entire week and the assignment would have been a breeze. In reviewing my film, I am not overly satisfied with my photos and I think I could have been more creative and could have put more effort into the assignment. In terms of shooting in manual, at first I was very bitter to be leaving the aperture priority mode, but I am quickly becoming more comfortable with constantly adjusting all of the settings. It’s like a game. Also, I really enjoyed using a remote to control the shutter speed during the long exposure, ghosting and “motion by photographer” pictures.

Ultimately, I need to start embracing this idea of shooting with a purpose and with technique, learning to embed new skills into my everyday shooting, and I need to get back to toting my camera around everywhere. I'll probably upload the Depth of Field photos tomorrow so check back :)