Proof of Ben Rector Concert

Ben Rector plays not only the piano....

...but also the guitar.

He even asked for audience participation, asked for a subject, and made up lyrics to one of his previous songs about that subject. This time it was about Facebook. 

We even got to meet him after the concert was over. 

Breaking the Rules

Our assignment for this week was to take pictures that break the rules of normal photography. Often some of the best pictures that are taken are the ones that are taken completely breaking all the rules. So when a picture is blurry and not completely clear then it might add more intrigue instead of just laying the whole thing out for the viewer to figure out. Also lack of perspective gives that vibe as well, and that is how I decided to go about posting this picture. Without a description hardly anyone knows what this is a picture of, but when I told people they all saw it. It is the embers coming out of a fire. So I basically cut off the bottom of the fire and only showed the top. I love the way this turned out and I am sure that it will be going into my portfolio!

I also tried the tactic of taking pictures out of a moving vehicle and panning as we went by to keep just one thing in focus. 

All these pictures were taken in the mountains this past weekend, and I just decided to post this one because I simply love it!

Portrait Photography

Although portrait photography is very difficult, it is one of my favorite things to do. I love that the shot depends on so much more than just the photographer. It makes getting a really great shot all the more difficult. This is where my story comes into play. I had originally planned on taking pictures of my roommate because she loves fashion and has thought seriously about being a model; however, she had a very busy and hectic schedule this week. So I preceded to ask multiple other people if they could pose for me and most, as I thought, said no because they felt awkward. So I found one person and they said they would do it, but when the time came for us to meet up she said that she had a paper to write and she just couldn't. So in my limited time frame I scrambled to find a replacement. Then I remembered one of my friends has strikingly beautiful eyes, and it was perfect because she said she would love to do it. After all my ups and downs with this assignment, I still love portrait photography. Hopefully I will continue for a long while with portrait, because I do love it so much. 

Found Words

This weekend our assignment was to find letters from nature around us to create words or phrases. I struggled a bit with this exercise, but overall I am very happy with the result. So, decided to base my assignment around my favorite Bible passage.

"I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. Come let us tell of the Lord's greatness; let us exalt His name together.

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the Lord is a guard; He surrounds and defends all who fear Him."

Psalm 34

From Above

I am very grateful for the weekly assignments that I receive for this seminar class. It is helping me to grow as a photographer and forcing me to shoot outside of what I would normally take pictures of, and in the process I am taking some pretty good photographs. The assignment for this week was to post two pictures which have been taken "from above." The first was to come from a timed on campus event. As far as campus goes I, as a lifer feel as if I know most of the areas that a person would go to take pictures; therefore, I decided it was time to try something different. I went to the parking garage next to the boys high rise dorm. The picture that I ended up selecting to post is interesting because it shows a part of campus that is not regularly shown. Lipscomb University i shown for it's clean campus, but this pile of trash hidden at the bottom of this garage would make it seem otherwise.

For my second shot I selected one of the many pictures I took on my weekend trip to Charlotte North Carolina. I have to admit I thought it would be easy to find a "from above" shot in the middle of a large city, but what I did not take into account was the fact that all of the large buildings require some sort of ID to get to any floor other than the lobby. I found myself wishing on several occasions that the assignment was to take photos of things looking up. We eventually stumbled upon a parking garage that had a very interesting perspective and I am very happy with my results. It took many hours to find the right shot, but I believe it is worth it.

Timeless

Our project for this week was to take shots that are "timeless." Timeless photography should pictures in which the viewer is not able to distinguish what period of time it was taken. So the shots could have been taken in the 40's or in current time, and they also need to be in black and white. The ironic element of the project was that all the pictures we took were supposed to be taken within the time limit of one hour. Time limits can be both a blessing and a curse in that you have to just take what you get. I decided to take pictures of nature, and because nature is one of my favorite things to take pictures of I fully enjoyed this project. Unfortunately, the fact that I like taking pictures of nature so much meant that I had a very difficult time attempting to narrow it down to one picture. Therefore, these are the two shots that I ended up with.

This picture was not one that I was really meaning to capture. It was simply a nice morning and I was looking at how green the grass looked at that moment, but I did not even see at the beginning that the grass still had some dew left over from the early morning. I really enjoy the overall composition of this shot. 

This picture is one that I love for a lot or reasons. It reminds me of the little fuzzy caterpillars that I played with as a kid. I love the simplicity of this shot, and that the focal point does not have to fight for the attention of the viewer.  

Take a Glimpse

A "Glimpse Photograph" is defined as:

"A type of photograph consisting of a glimpse, a frame, and a background scene. There may also be a foreground.  That area of a photograph which is partially or completely surrounded by the frame and offers a view of the background scene." (information from Take a Glimpse, blogspot.com)

Photos which are classified as glimpses are very interesting to look at because they do not always show the entirety of the object, which is the focus of the photograph. They can be something that makes a person wish they were there when the photographer was taking the picture in order to see what they were thinking while taking the picture. My experience of taking glimpse pictures was something that I think will help me become a better photographer in general. When I went out to shoot I realized that I was paying more attention to what I was doing instead of taking pictures of what I thought was a pretty picture. It required me to look more closely and really see objects in a new way.

This picture is a new way to look at a very familiar object to any Lipscomb University student. The fact that it only shows a small part of the sign for the Alumni Auditorium means that a person would have to look more closely to figure out what prominent building this is.