Top Ten

Earlier this month we were given an assignment to take pictures of five different themes. These were Animals, autumn, composition, Fruit & Vegetables and reflections. Here are my top picks from each of the categories:
I used a regular Canon compact camera (Powershot SD790 IS)




Animals

Buddys eye is really cool in this picture. It evens out his white blaze. Unfortunately the background in this picture is  crooked, but it was one of my favorites. The look on his face is just priceless. The idea behind this picture was to take a picture of his white eye at a cool angle. I also wanted the picture to have a lot of movement. Buddys white eye is sort of scary and gives a really dramatic expression, and this i s the impression i wanted in the photo. This was a rainy day, so it was pretty gleamy outside and as we all know, hungry horses are not easy to photograph.  

Itza playing with a toy. This was really difficult to get a picture of because every time the camera was focused the little mongrel moved leaving me with a series of blurry pictures. There are some benefits with having a SLR camera instead of a regular compact camera, indeed. The idea was to take a close-up of one of my dogs. I wanted a playful and energetic expression. I chose this picture because it looks like the dog is looking straight at the camera. I also liked the effect her whiskers has on the movement in the picture. It makes a really open composition.   

Vegetables & Fruit

The bug on the top of this corncob was interesting. This was a rather impulsive shot so I didn't plan it or have an idea, I just had to take pictures while the bug was still on there. I used the digital macro function so I would get a really detailed shot.

This corncob was originally a dark red color, but I retouched it to make it look black. The idea behind this photo was to bring out the depth and the highlights in the corn. The lines in the corn drag the eyes up to the left corner. Ive learned to look for interesting compositions and lighting in even the most simple everyday things, and also how to make a quick, random photo interesting.

Reflections

This is a reflection of a sunset and silhouettes of trees in a window. I likes this picture because the reflection was so clear. It almost looks like a curtain or a sticker. I like the bright colors against the dark wood and the trees.   

Reflections from the faucet in the bathroom. I don´t really look like this, its just that the metal i curvy, hehe! I wanted a humorous and weird shot of a reflection, first I considered a spoon, but this was the best way to get a photo without the camera showing in the reflections. I think it makes the shot more realistic you don´t get the impression of a reflection, but a picture if the camera is out of view. taking these pictures I really had to focus on the right lighting to get the best possible reflections.    

Autumn

Here´s a picture of a beautiful sunset. The colors really pop behind the silhouettes of the trees. I like the way the light renders in the camera and makes a sort of spotlight diagonally and downwards in the picture. There is a lot to rest your eyes on here but its not too busy or crowded.

This holly is retouched and manipulated to look black. The intentional idea was to capture the contrasts in the raindrops and the holly´s structure. After I made the holly darker the highlights popped from the raindrops. This also pretty much sums up the essence of autumn here in norway. Evergreen and rain.

Composition

I set this up in a dark hallway and took the shot without the flash. I also used the Digital Macro function to catch the texture of the candles against the metal. I lined the candles up in a half circle so the picture would have a movement in it and i also wanted to capture the light and the reflections they made in the floor. 

This fossil makes a beautiful circular composition. I´ve made it black and white, then made the contrasts bigger and brought out the highlights. I didn't really have an idea, i just found something cool and started taking pictures. The ideas came when I was retouching it. I realized if i made it black and white it would become more abstract and the composition would pop. 

So these were the top ten photos from this assignment. It was hard to pick because a lot of the photos were pretty good. You an see some of the others which didn´t quite make it to Top Ten in the entries below!