Day 90 Fighting Fire

Fighting Fire

Today I got to participate in a prairie burning. Well Kind of. We were all set to do it but then the wind direction changed and we had t put the fire out. It was very fun and a little borring. Even though we only had a small fire going I can now understand what a big fire like this would be like, supposedly if we had actually done the burning there would have been flames up to 40 feet high. I like this picture because of the story it tells through the expressions on Alan and Dylan's Faces. I also really like the color of the dry prairie grass and the beautiful flames.

Day 89 "Its really big, like this"

"Its really big, like this"

I have gotten very far behind on posting again due to the extremely large workload I have in the last two weeks of school. On this day my US Government class took a field trip to city hall. We husled from place to place talking briefly with people in the different departments. This was the last stop and we were already late for lunch. This guy, sorry I don't remember his name, had a power point about the water systems. It was very neat and the scale of it all was impressive, there are over 400 miles of pipes. I like this picture because of the animation in his gesture. He doesn't have the most pleasant expression but everything about his posture and expresion is dramatic.

Day 88 Portrait, Laura

Portrait, Laura

I had more portrait shoots today, one of them being of Laura my girlfriend. She was the most unhelpful model yet. She made faces, moved around, smiled fakely... I did end up making some nice one though and this is my favorite of them. I like the natural smile and relaxed face. I also like the way she is looking at the camera over her shoulder.

Day 87 Silver Music

Silver Music

I like trying to photograph common things artistically. I liked how the shallow depth of field shows off only really one valve but then also implies that they continue onward. I like the abstract shapes created by the valves and buttons.

Day 86 Reading Time

Reading Time

Today I waited too long till making my photos. I did however enjoy photographing random things durring dorm meeting. One of them was this lamp sitting right infront of me. Then these feet showed up and I was very pleased. I like how only small parts of the picture are lit. also the light is very soft and pleasantly calm. I also like how simple and ordinary the image is.

Day 85 Portrait, Oriana

Portrait, Oriana

I have been doing many portrait shots recently. I got some that I really like and this one ended up being the one I picked for today. One thing I like about this one is that I used the flash bounced off the floor. At first the color was all off because of the tone of the floor but I fixed that and it now looks much more natural. Oriana is very photogenic and I defiantly like this pose, lighting and picture.

Day 84 Campfire

Campfire

We had a fun campfire with smores today. I made some nice pictures but didn't like how when I used the flash so that I could capture the people the fire was just reflected light off of the ashes. But when I turned the flash off so as to get the fire to expose nicely. I ended up combining two pictures to make this one that has a nice fire and visible people.

Day 83 Spring Welcome

Spring Welcome


I have been looking at the fields recently and just waiting for there to be more green. I really like this picnic spot overlooking the Scattergood Pond. I have photographed it throughout my time at Scattergood. I really like the composition of this one and the colors also turned out nicely.

Day 82 Our Flag, Our Country

Our Flag, Our Country


Today for government class I went and talked to an aid for the local house representative. I made a few pictures of the occasion and didn't really make any other then that. I was more interested in what we were learning and not focusing on making pictures so didn't get many I liked much. I ended up picking this one because I like the rich blue and it tells the story of the field trip.

Day 81 Gold!

Gold!

I made this picture bouncing the flash off some wood directly above the weights. It gave them a nice gold sheen. I liked it and bumped it up changing the hue a little to get the colors how I wanted them. All in all I like the image because of the colors.

Day 80 Looking Dark?

Looking Dark?

Recently I found and got working the cord for my flash. This enables me to use it in any direction I want. I have been having fun with this and have gotten soem cool pictures by bouncing it off peoples laps. I like The closeness of the eye and how there is very little to distract from it.

Day 79 Monster Machine

Monster Machine

I liked the shape of this picture. I didn't make many photos today so didn't have many to chose from. I then tried to edit it dramatically to enhance the monster like impression I got from how this headlamp looked. I also discovered some cool arty tools in Photoshop.

Day 78 White-Tailed Deer

White-Tailed Deer

Today I spent over an hour out in the cold chasing deer. There are many deer around Wolf Ridge ELC that are very used to people around. That makes them much easier subjects to photograph. They still made me work for my pictures though. I chased one all across Wolf Ridge campus and then found its friends back at the bird feeder where I started. The deer were as bad as the eagle at letting me come close and I had lots of treas and brush blocking my view of the deer. They are bigger creatures though and I got some pictures I am happy of. This one I like because of the curious way the deer is looking at the camera and me.

Day 77 Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Today I went job andBald Eagle chasing. I drove up and down the north shore of Lake Superior picking up job applications for the summer. I also stopped for all the eagles that were lounging at the many road kills. I got a lot of practice backing up in my pursuit of the eagles and jobs. I didn't get many good shots because the eagles always flew away if I cam to close and because I discovered that I need a longer lens to really get close-ups of relatively small creatures. This one turned out well considering all the challenges I ran into. I consider this a good start into my wildlife photography away from the bird feeder.

Day 76 Squirrel

Squirrel

I have gotten very behind on my posts but hope to catch up a bit. I took this as part of my bird feeder wildlife photography practice. There are a bunch of squirrels that have grown up and live in our barn. By a bunch I mean many families with parents, children, and teenagers. This was one of my favorite "teens" who would complain insistently at me until I got far enough away from the fallen bird seed. I got many great shots but this is defiantly one of my favorites. Squirrels eating in this fashion is a very characteristic trait and I liked how well I captured it in this photo.

Day 75 Chickadee

Chickadee

Today, and for many days recently, I have been photographing around our bird feeder. I like the challenge and practice of photographing abundant wildlife. I take advantage of birds and animals that are easy to find and used to people being around to practice my wildlife photography. This is one of those photos that I saw and liked immediately. I really like the composition and it is really crisp and sharp.

Day 74 Tea Time

Tea Time

Today I got some nice pictures of my pets but I am sure those photos are much nicer to my eyes because they are my pet. So I chose this photo because I like it. I like it even more now because it is in black and white. I like the contrast of bright and black and I like how the background is less distracting then when it was in color.

Day 73 My New-Used Chair

My New-Used Chair


Today I was not really motivated to make many pictures. I went around the house finding mundane things to try and get an interesting angle on. I liked this one because of the simplicity. I like the open empty chair with only one other subject of the power cord sitting on it. I also like the wood background.

Day 72 Snow Shoe Hare

Snow Shoe Hare

Today I saw a Snow Shoe Hare out my bedroom window. I then proceeded to chase it around the farm trying to get a good picture of it. The chasing was hard because there is over two feet of snow that I was wading through. I didn't get many good shots but this one actually taken through my bedroom window turned out acceptable.

Day 71 Fire, Fire, Fire!

Fire, Fire, Fire!

Today there was a big parade in my local town with a population of around 500 people. This event gets visiters from near and far, Minneapolis and beyond. I have photographed this event on other years so was trying to get new angles and compositions. I really liked this one with the imposing fire truck and the large area of sky. I edited it so as to make the already bright fire truck very vibrant to contrast with the dull gray background.

Day 70 Farming Dana

Farming Dana

Today was the last day of school before a week long spring break. I as usual was bussy right up until my departure. One of my tasks was to get a photo of Dana for Scattergood's spring newsletter. I got a few nice ones and I did really like getting to make two portraits at once, Dana and the sheep. I also felt proud of myself because it was just after noon and the lighting was not good but I still managed to get an acceptable shot.

Day 69 Climbing the Steps

Climbing the Steps

I really struggled with titling this picture. It is of the railing on a flight of stairs. I really like the abstract view of a mundane object. I also like the depth and how the blur enhances that. I have come to actually enjoy those days where I wait till the last minute to make pictures because I get more creative and get shots like this one. 

Day 68 Simple Life, Simple Death

Simple Life, Simple Death

Today my photography class went to a cemetery to make some pictures. There were many beautiful gravestones often with colorful plastic flowers. I however liked most this picture of a very simple gravestone just inside the unmown area.

Day 67 Skating in the Dark

Skating in the Dark

Today me and Laura went rollerblading after dinner. I ended up chasing or running from her the whole time. I would skate backwards trying to stay far enough away to get a picture of her or follow her trying to do the same thing. I got a few I liked but this one won out. I like the angle of her body and the movement implied. I darkened the background because it was distracting and I liked how she now looks like she is skating in black nothingness.

Day 66 Chicken

Chicken

I like chickens and have been meaning to photograph the Scattergood Friends School flock for a long time. I finally got to it and I liked a few of the shots. This one ended up wining out because of the way the chicken is framed in the picture. The head is very close to centered, which would normally be a no no, but with it angled and the wide breas and pointy tail I like it. I also like how crisply and colorfully the  eye and the red jump out, not literally, of the black chicken.

Day 65 Bread Baker

Bread Baker

Today Annie made bread. I like eating her bread and also like photographing her. I really liked this photo immediately mostly because of the eyes looking deep into the camera/viewer. I do however wish that the bread was not as blurry.

Day 64 Can You Eat the Apple?

Can You Eat the Apple?

Today we had a really fun saturday night activity. We played a bunch of games. One of them, my favoriet I think, was trying to take a bit out of an apple hanging from a string without using your hands. at first we did it in pairs which was easy so some of us raced to eat the whole apple the fastest. Then some tried to do it alone. It was very fun participating and watching and was also photogenic as long as the people were okay with looking weird. It was a hard choice but I liked this one best out of all the crazy open mouthed pics.

Day 63 I Was Sick

Unfortunately I was sick today. Throwing up, fever, and aches. I don't feel at all guilty about not making any photos today. I might take a representative photo but I have yet to do that for the last day I missed so we will see.

Day 62 Stalking

Stalking

I like practicing my wildlife photography on available animals like birds and pets. I have especially enjoyed, and been frustrated by, working to capture Jet, this black cat. He is black and moves a lot. This is the first photo I have gotten in which his eyes are really crisp and sharp. It also helps that he has a nice posture and expresion as much as a cat can have those. Needless to say I like this photo because of the accomplishment of a challenge and how it is a nice photograph of a cat I love.

Day 61 Ready To Read

Ready To Read

I made this photo when I was simply wandering around trying to find new things or new angles to photograph. I have photographed the library very very very heavily and was pleased that this turned out so wonderfully. I liked the quality of the color, texture and simplicity. I also really liked the tinny text and the curves of the pages. This was one of those shots made in passing that I latter looked at and was like wow.

Day 60 Couple Portrait

Couple Portrait

I made this photograph on a shoot here at Scattergood Friends School. I made many images but this one stood out above many others. I really like the love that can be seen on Hikma's face and through Dieudonne's thumb on her chin. Also the arms wrapping around and the warm light add to the love.