Photographs of London: Week 1: Potential Portfolio Photos
Hello everyone!
Below are several photos that I am considering adding to my semester portfolio. Each photo was taken by me and was carefully selected by a team (a big thank you for Anna's assistance). Please let me know what you think!
The photo to the right was taken in the Temperate House in Kew Gardens on July 4th. This was part of a class trip.
Kew Gardens is a beautiful, massive place and I highly recommend paying the small ticket fee to visit.
This photo on the left was taken at Hyde Park, when I was walking from the Marble Arch to the Italian Gardens located in Kensington Gardens. This photo is one of many that I took on my independent trip to Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens on July 5th.
The photo to the right was taken as part of my independent trip on July 5th. It captures the Fountains located in the Italian Gardens that overlook the Serpentine. The fountain did not have a specific name or plaque dedicated to it that I could find.
Side note, I almost got my camera wet while taking this photo because the water isn't completely contained in the fountain.
The photo to the left contains the Serpentine Bridge & the Serpentine and was part of the same independent trip on July 5th. I don't really have much to say about this one, sadly.
The photo to the right contains an absurdly chill swan on the Serpentine in Hyde Park. This swan was separated from the flock and right next to the bank. I was able to crouch five feet away and take this photo as part of the July 5th independent trip.
This photo to the left is of some unknown small purple flowers with the Diana the Huntress sculpture in the background. Diana is located in the Hyde Park Rose Garden, where she has been since 1906. Again, this photo was part of my independent tour of Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens on July 5th.
The photo on the right was shot on July 6th in one of the drawing rooms at Blenheim Palace. This trip was one of the group CCSA excursions.
Many of the rooms at this palace contain chandeliers similar to this one and the painting behind is one of the Dukes of Marlborough.
This photo on the left captures a butterfly found in the Butterfly House at Blenheim Palace on July 6th. Unfortunately, I was unable to match this butterfly to one on the classification board outside the house. Online research suggests that it is a Monarch butterfly, but it does not match the images. If anyone has any idea, please let me know.
In total, I have uploaded 8 pictures for review. Please leave tips and suggestions below! Thanks for stopping by!
Below are several photos that I am considering adding to my semester portfolio. Each photo was taken by me and was carefully selected by a team (a big thank you for Anna's assistance). Please let me know what you think!
The photo to the right was taken in the Temperate House in Kew Gardens on July 4th. This was part of a class trip.
Kew Gardens is a beautiful, massive place and I highly recommend paying the small ticket fee to visit.
This photo on the left was taken at Hyde Park, when I was walking from the Marble Arch to the Italian Gardens located in Kensington Gardens. This photo is one of many that I took on my independent trip to Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens on July 5th.
The photo to the right was taken as part of my independent trip on July 5th. It captures the Fountains located in the Italian Gardens that overlook the Serpentine. The fountain did not have a specific name or plaque dedicated to it that I could find.
Side note, I almost got my camera wet while taking this photo because the water isn't completely contained in the fountain.
The photo to the left contains the Serpentine Bridge & the Serpentine and was part of the same independent trip on July 5th. I don't really have much to say about this one, sadly.
The photo to the right contains an absurdly chill swan on the Serpentine in Hyde Park. This swan was separated from the flock and right next to the bank. I was able to crouch five feet away and take this photo as part of the July 5th independent trip.
This photo to the left is of some unknown small purple flowers with the Diana the Huntress sculpture in the background. Diana is located in the Hyde Park Rose Garden, where she has been since 1906. Again, this photo was part of my independent tour of Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens on July 5th.
The photo on the right was shot on July 6th in one of the drawing rooms at Blenheim Palace. This trip was one of the group CCSA excursions.
Many of the rooms at this palace contain chandeliers similar to this one and the painting behind is one of the Dukes of Marlborough.
This photo on the left captures a butterfly found in the Butterfly House at Blenheim Palace on July 6th. Unfortunately, I was unable to match this butterfly to one on the classification board outside the house. Online research suggests that it is a Monarch butterfly, but it does not match the images. If anyone has any idea, please let me know.
In total, I have uploaded 8 pictures for review. Please leave tips and suggestions below! Thanks for stopping by!
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ReplyDeleteSarah, your images are very specific. When looking at them, I don't need to ask myself, "Why did she take that image?" because the answer is in the frame. I believe that is a good quality unless your intention is to cause the viewer to question what they are seeing, like Edward Weston did with the photographs of his Pepper and Shell photographs. If I have to be critical, I would suggest to take a little more notice on the composition of your images. The only composition I do not care for is the one of the flowers and the statue (that is not to say I do not care for the image, it is a pretty scene with nice colors); I simply felt as if the composition ( mainly the stems and heads of the flowers) could have been used in a more interesting way. And same with the one of the rose, there is one pedal blocked by a leaf in the left side of the frame; consider readjusting so the whole subject, focal point, is in the image? One more side note, in the image of the rose as well, the frame has an upward angle to look at the rose which a nice point of view. Since the angle is already guiding your eyes upwards, be careful not to blowout the highlights of the sky above the rose because this could detract attention from the rose. You want to be able to keep the viewers eye on the focal point, and the blown out sky sort of draws my gaze away from the rose. Just food for thought. Overall your work is very pleasing and calming, and I look forward to seeing what else you photograph during your time in London. Cheers!
DeleteSarah, your images are really pretty, and the focal point of each image is both obvious and interesting and I really love looking at them!
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteYou have a great eye for composition! The pictures of the waterfall, water fountain, bridge, and chandelier are all composed very well.
I would say to watch your highlights. Do you see how in the photo of the swan a lot of textural detail was maintained? I would have liked to have seen the same with the water fountain (the main source of water) and chandelier (where the lights are at the top of the frame). I do think the photo of the white flower could have used a little bit more separation between flower and sky. The edges of some petals are being lost.
The best image out of this group, I think, is the chandelier photo. Even though the chandelier is in focus and in the foreground, I think more about the painting behind it. Who was this person? What made him important enough to be painted? Seeing the chandelier as a marker of wealth further complicates these questions. Stacking important imagery like this makes your viewer take time to consider theses questions. This photo accomplishes layering very well.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI really like your work and how (at least for this first round of images) you seem to be drawn to naturalistic subject matter.
The images I enjoyed most were the ones with shallow depths of field ( butterfly, purple flowers, and waterfall). Something you might try if you like taking photos like that is taking the same picture but switching the focus. I’ve done it with some of my previous work and it can be fun seeing how it changes how the image is viewed. Sometimes the two images can be put together and become narrative! It might be a fun exercise.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Sarah, I'm impressed by this first round of work from someone without a background in photography and design. In particular, I'm delighted that you've experimented so widely with unusual perspectives and layering foreground, middle ground, and background elements. You're also using focus in interesting ways - from very shallow to very deep depth of field - as well as finding engaging framing elements.
ReplyDeleteThe shape of the images is a bit unexpected. Perhaps that's how your camera captures photographs - or the way your blog displays pictures - but most digital cameras try to recreate the dimensions of 35mm film, which would result in slightly longer widths. On Monday perhaps I can take a look to confirm that what you're seeing in the viewfinder (and how you're composing your images) is what the camera is recording.
A couple of folks have commented on highlights. I'd suggest bracketing your images (taking several pictures both at the exposure your camera indicates and at exposures it 'thinks' are too high or too low) to help with this. If have (or google) the user manual, see if you have easy access to your exposure compensation controls. Here's a super short article to get you started: https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-exposure-compensation-to-take-control-of-your-exposure/
On Monday you and I can take a look at your display settings to see if your camera provides a histogram view (I'm certain it does) and/or a blinking highlight option. Again, here's a very short reading: https://www.dpmag.com/how-to/tip-of-the-week/the-blinking-highlight-method-of-exposure-verification/
Also, since you like images of moving water, you might want to take a variety of exposures at drastically different shutter speeds, although extremely slow exposures would require a tripod.
My favorites in this group include the chandelier, the purple flowers, and the butterfly.