Class Field Trip - Sylvester Park

Our class recently took a trip to Sylvester Park in downtown Oly, focusing on one specific aspect of the class thus far to really delve into. I chose form; showing the illusion of three dimensions in a two-dimensional photograph.

It was a lot of fun and I feel like I got some good shots out of it.



This one is a lamp post in the park. I lied down to get it. In hindsight I wish I had positioned myself to put the head of the lamp in the sky instead of against the trees, but what are you gonna do. This was at f/11, 1/160, ISO 100.



The lighting changed like crazy throughout the day. We were there from 10 a.m. to a little after 1 p.m. This shot of the statue was at f/22, 1/125 and ISO 100. Later I came back and shot it again and had to adjust my shutter like crazy, although I should have adjusted my aperture since it was an immobile subject.



It really shows the difference light can make. This one was f/22, 1/60 and ISO 100.

Early in the day I was trying to capture the form of this bike rack:



Admittedly, this is a pretty lame shot. I liked the shadow, but was also trying to get the form, and instead got crap. :) This was at f/9, 1/500 and ISO 200.

Later I reapproached the shot and got something much cooler.



Not a great, extraordinary shot, but it was much more appealing and intriguing after I had kind of adjusted how I looked at things. This was at f/14, 1/100 and ISO 100.

After I crossed the street to the state building adjacent to the park and found a lot of subjects I hadn't considered or saw some of them in new ways, including the building itself.



The trees in the park framed the building itself nicely before I went over. Again, looking at form, I liked how the shadows fell differently on different surfaces of the building to create the illusion of 3-D. This was shot at f/16, 1/60 and ISO 100.



A slightly different angle as I crossed the street. This one was at f/14, 1/60 and ISO 100.

But it was the things around the building that really drew me in. For example, there's a sign in front that I had never looked at differently before this trip. Rather than a head on shot, I got these:





Just again, new ways of looking at things that turned out great to also show form. The top shot was shot at f/14, 1/60 and ISO 100. The bottom was shot at f/16, 1/60 and ISO 100.



A cool grate protecting some kind of utility box. I really like how the photo stayed colorful in this case, although you could add some cold emotion in B&W or with more monochromatic colors too. Shot at f/13, 1/60 and ISO 100.



Since form was my focus, I decided to challenge myself to show form in a blade of grass. I think it turned out OK. This was at f/22, 1/60 and ISO 100.

But these were my favorites from the day:



The first is the hands of the statue in front of the state building across the street from the park. I just really loved how the shadows from the fingers so clearly show the depth and form of the statue. This was at f/20, 1/60 and ISO 100. But the next variation on it was truly my favorite image of the day.



Just adding in that little bit of face really opened this image up to me. This was at f/16, 1/60 and ISO 100.

Colorful Color

Last week's class assignment focused on color (I began this entry draft on June 3...whoops!).
I took the camera along with me on a stroll across campus and came up with some really nice color shots.



These flowers are along the wall behind the dental and nursing building right along the road. The bee was in there too, so that was kind of neat. This was shot at f/5.6, 1/200 of a sec and ISO 200. I really like how well the blue and green contrast while being very deep colors.



This is the fire hydrant at the same location. I like how you can see the value range in the yellow, as well as the contrast of the red flower on the side. This was shot at f/10, 1/160 and ISO 200.



More bees! This is a couple of nicely contrasting rhodies int he walkway between building 25 and the SUB. I just liked how deep the purple was. This one was shot at f/7.1, 1/1000 and ISO 100. This was with a auto white balance setting. I played around with the white balance and got this cool tint too.



This was at f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO 100 and I believe the tungsten white balance (I'll double check that).

Lighting, shape

This was a rather unassuming shot when I was looking at it through the view finder, but I really like the depth of the colors and the shadowing effects. It's of the chains that used to the welding sign when the program was still housed in building 22.



I was trying to mess around with focus, so I had this one at F/32, 1/400 and a 400 ISO.

Out of Class Assignment No. 2: Manual vs. Settings

For this one, we tried shooting images at both the manual setting of our choosing and a pre-set automated setting to get comfortable with the differences. I have to say, I did not notice as much on this initial set as I thought. For example....


Anyone who has been on the main SPSCC campus knows this iconic building...the SUB, or Student Union Building. The shot on the left was my camera's Landscape preset, shot at F/5.6, 1/3,200 and a 400 ISO. Not very different from the original I shot on the right: F/4.5, 1/4,000 and 400 ISO.

So, I decided to try again. And while the example is not nearly as exciting, at least you can start to see a little change.


In this set, which is the staircase outside building 25, the difference is slightly more noticeable. I shot the one on the left under manual settings at F/8, 1/250 and 400. The one on the right, again in landscape setting, came out at F/7.1, 1/100 and 400. It's got a little darker, more full color than my original, but the difference is pretty slight.

I guess what I really need to do is get out there and play with more of the settings in even more varied situations to see just how much some of the others can change.

Rollerpalooza!

So, last weekend I went with the derby team I'm affiliated with, the Rainy City Roller Dolls of Centralia, to Coos Bay, Ore., for Rollerpalooza, which is basically three days and two nights of camping at the coast, roller derby, bands, fire dancers, belly dancers and more. Needless to say, it was a pretty good time. While there's not a lot of derby in here (I had my Canon PowerShot A540 point-n-shoot instead of the Rebel XT), I did get some nice shots out of the trip. So here's a few!


Right after we set up our tents, I noticed a small trail, literally less than 30 feet long. So I took it. This is the view I found. This was shot at F/4.5, 1/1,250 of a sec and an ISO of 100.


The next day the view was the same with one slight difference. :)
This one is F/4.5, 1/125 and ISO 100.

In-class assignment, 5/20/10

Our in-class assignment this week focused on shapes and form, while also looking for repetition and remembering our early thoughts on rhythm and lines. Instead of the parking lot, this time we wandered the halls of the Hawk's Prairie campus.


I was really drawn in by the different colors of each of the book boxes, leading to this shot (shot at F/5.6, 1/125 and 1,600 ISO) as well as this following one. I like both, but I think I like the second slightly more as a shot even though you miss some of the distinct layers.



It's a little hot on the top book, but I was glad I was able to keep the left side dark and really focus on the corner of the first box. This one was F/7.1 at 1/25 and 1,600 ISO.



I like this one for its shape and form, but wish I had noticed my focal center was higher on the leaf. I would have preferred it to be on the very tip but didn't notice until I had uploaded the image. It's at F/5.6, 1/25 and 1,600.

President's Club Event

Last night, I worked our annual President's Club induction at the college, which had lots of nice eye candy this year thanks to a new building a some old cars. It included tours of the new Automotive and Welding Technologies building, the induction of four very generous donors into the President's Club and an appearance by the Corvette Club of Thurston County.


This was just a cool spool of copper wiring, shot at F/5.6, 1/80th of a sec and at ISO 1,600.



I just liked all the repetition in this shot, from the cars to the hoses to the lights. It's at F/4.5 and 1/160 with ISO 1,600.

This last one is from the portion of the evening that toured the welding facilities, where a student was using the school's new plasma cutter to create art; in this case, a bear.


This one is at F/5.6, 1/1ooth of a sec and 1,600 ISO.
Not too shabby for just keeping my eyes open while shooting an event!

More from Nehalem Bay State Park

Here's a few more shots from my trip to Nehalem Bay State Park last weekend on the northern Oregon coast. Enjoy! As always, feel free to leave feedback!


This is my friend Stacy (the fire dancer). I just really liked how clean this shot came out. My only regret is that I had used the bridge lines to lead it in more than the head-on shot it is. This was at F5.6, 1/100 sec and ISO 400.



This one is a couple of my buddies emerging from the surf, framed with another friend on the shore. I just liked the balance and lighting in this one a lot. F8, 1/1000 and 400 ISO.



Another of Stacy spinning fire. I love this move of hers! This one was shot at F11, 1/2 sec and 1,600 ISO.

Life from the Parking Lot

Our first assignment was a photo shoot last week on May 13 in the parking lot of our SPSCC Hawk's Prairie campus. The objective was looking for different types of lines and rhythms. While I got a few shots that worked, this one definitely came out as my favorite:


It's one of the lamp posts out front, shot up close and at an angle, at F5.6, 1/800 sec and 400 iso.

My SPSCC Photo Blog

Hi - I'm Aaron and I'm taking a photo class at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, Wash., to help get more familiar with the camera and photography in general. I've shot at a high amateur level for a long time, so this is a good opportunity to up my game so to speak. Basically, I'll be posting photos on here that I shot in my class or for class assignments. Always open to feedback and constructive criticism, so don't hold back! Word.
Aaron

And on that note:
This was from a trip I took this weekend to Nehalem Bay State Park on the northern Oregon coast. My friend Stacy is a fire dancer, and I got this cool rhythm shot of her spinning fire on the sand at something like 1 a.m. It's shot at F/11, 4/5 sec. exposure time and an ISO of 1600.