Exercise: Working with a camera

For this exercise, i was asked to take photographs around my neighbourhood of natural and man-made objects, whatever i could find that represented certain words that i could use for resource materials.
These were:
Contrasts

The contrasts in this photograph, are not only the colours but contrast between the real and edible rings.
I played with the contrasts on some of the colours in this picture, making the reds and yellows a lot brighter and bolder and made a repetition of the photograph to form a pattern.

Again for this photograph i played with objects i found around the house. Here i took a picture of the keys on a keyboard. the contrasts lays within the colours here. black and white. I played with the levels of brightness and contrast here to make the contrast between the colours even bolder and more visible

 Grouping of objects

Here, i took a picture of a group of cactus' and surrounded by purple flowers. I like the colours in this photograph, the purples and greens and the slight blue tint around the edge from the sky you can see. I also like the different textures with the picture, the straight lines formed by the cactus', their lumpy skin and the flowers which look like little purple dots.

I was lucky enough to spend some time in L.A, and came across some modern art of the streets. There were parallel rows of silver street lamps formed into cubes, i found this piece of art very interesting . I like the symmetry and the use of lines/ rows . i also like the pattern formed in the background by the row of palm trees and the contrast this adds to the image.. I shrunk the photograph and formed a repetition to create a pattern. I looks very warped, almost like an optical illusion.

 Light and shade

Here i took a picture of the sun setting on a beach, the trees silhouetted and the foreground almost, the the sun bursting from between the trees. creating light and shade. I made the blue sky a brighter blue and the yellow from the sun a bit brighter, making the colours slightly more unnatural of a sunset, but i like the colours, the contrast they create and the glow.

Here a took a photograph of a large spherical object casting a shadow. I like the patterns and textures on this object and those created by the light and shade also.

 Lines

Here i took a picture of the lines created in the bark of a tree. I like how these lines are quite subtle, but create a lot of texture. They're all slightly different colours, thicknesses and have different spacing between them

I took a photograph of the lines of the veins on a leaf. i like the symmetry the create.

 Looking down

Here i took a photograph looking down at the ground i was walking on, i like the different colours, shapes, sizes, textures and materials all present here. All of these aspects, would make for an interesting graphic/ textile.

I took a photograph looking down at a plant, i added a couple of repetitions to create an unusual pattern.

 Looking through

A prison cell in a museum, i took a picture looking through the bars to a noose, I like the shadows cast by the bars, and the patterns they create. Giving this picture more of a sense of depth.

Looking through some branches to the sky; i like the different shapes created by the branches, berries and leaves. Creating a quite messy yet dainty pattern

 Looking up

Perhaps one of my favourite photographs i have taken so far, i love the geometric pattern in the dome, and the shapes within this picture. The more you look at it, the more patterns your eyes seem to create within the frame.

I took this picture looking up the arm of a tree i like the different colours and textures on the tree, and how the background, although out of focus looks as if it has been dotted on with a sponge.

 Reflections

I took a picture of some lights reflected into water i like the way the lights and their reflection all seem to meet at a point in the middle drawing the viewers eye automatically there.

I took a picture of the reflection of a tree in a puddle. I like how this image has quite a cold feel. The only colours really used are browns/greys. You cant see the actual tree in this image and so the pebbles almost act as a frame for the reflection, which is almost a picture within a picture.
There are a lot of different shapes and textures present here also.

 Textures

I took a picture of the patterns on a persons coat. The way the light hits the shiny fabric adds some sort of slight depth. The band around the middle of the coat almost works as line of symmetry between the bottom and top half of the coat. It also breaks the image up slightly.

Here i took a picture of some tree bark. I love the textures created with this, and the different perhaps unusual colours found. The orange dusting and the green moss also creature more texture, and seem to make that of the bark more visible.

Looking into the distance

I took a photograph of a cliff in the distance, every time i look at this picture, i see it as a painting, i see the different textures in the trees in the background and foreground and how i would paint them. Although a cold picture, i like the warm colours in some of the trees and the different textures created in the trees, rocks, grass and water.

My final photograph is of a fairground ride, looking down the ride into the distance, the chairs getting smaller as they go along. i like the bright colours used here, and the patterns created within  the colours, in the chairs, the lights, and the bars.

As a photographer, i found this task slightly difficult, looking at subjects in a way i never have before, it was easy to find patterns and textures in my surroundings, but looking through the view finder in my camera, looking at an image in a way i never have before was slightly harder. This is something i would like to improve on and something i will aim to do more as way of improving and hopefully looking at my surroundings from a textiles point of view in my day to day life.