First Assignment for Basic Photo Course

ChasingFireflies

Our first assignment for my Basic Photo course was simply "I am _______". I decided to attempt a shallow depth of field, with a pile of books & shoes in focus and myself messing around on the computer blurry in the background.

Here's what I came up with (two edits of the same shot):




Thoughts? Tips? Any ideas of what I can do better, whether it's re-shooting or re-editing? I have already edited out the white spot on the bottom of the black shoe. :thumb

Thanks!

Richard

Hi there and welcome to Dgrin

I looked at the pic before I read the text of your message. My first thought was that a shoe shot really belonged on the Other Cool Shots forum. It's a creative approach to the assignment, but by making yourself part of the background, I think you might confuse the viewer a bit.

Regards,

1pocket

So, the shoes and books in the foreground are kind of a still life, conveying a bit of your personality mix, and then there you are in the background...

I like it.

If you keep bringing this kind of creativity to your photos, it'll be a lot of fun to watch your style develop -- given this is your first assignment!

Keep us posted

Flyinggina

I think this is a wonderful self portrait - very creative - fun - different -

It tells the viewer something about you, which was the point I gather.

I prefer version #2 - the colors in the left foreground - but would like to see a bit more detail in the rug as in #1.

Either version, though, is a great start. I hope you will share your future assignments.

Virginia

LensCap

I like it! Kinda like get home, kick the shoes off, drop the books, and get on the computer. Looks a lot like my house . What kind of class are you taking, I just finished a non-credit course at the local university and loved every bit of it.

ChasingFireflies

Thanks everyone!

LensCap - I'm taking a 6 week Basic Photo course through the local adult school. I'm contemplating taking another photography course or two through the community college next fall.

Flyinggina wrote:

I prefer version #2 - the colors in the left foreground - but would like to see a bit more detail in the rug as in #1.

Okay I made another editing attempt. I tried to bring out the details in the shoes & carpet, and bring out the colors in the books/shoes.

SloYerRoll

Hey CF, Welcome to Dgrin

I like the concept behind the shot. But I think you can do better. It looks like the entire shot is set up to look natural and feel unposed. But the books and shoes seem very much posed to me. Try picking them all up and actually dropping them in a pile maybe?

Also, is this a photography course or post production course? While PS, LR and all the other photo editing software apps are your friend. You'll find that you'll benefit most from a photography course if you take allot of pictures vs. agonizing over the same shot in post.

Just my .02 Good luck w/ your photo course

Best,
-Jon

ChasingFireflies

Thanks for the advice. I actually have taken a ton of shots for this assignment. I just chose the one I felt had the most potential to edit and post here.

I did have someone suggest trying it again with the camera completely vertical, so I tried that this afternoon. Here are two new shots and one more edit of that first one.

Thanks everyone!