Snapshots of a good life...

I've been wanting to take Karen Russel's "Snapshots of a Good Life" photography class for a very long time. I have been on the wait list for the class for about a year and half, but it never worked out because the class was always full or the timing didn't work (natural-light photography class in Oregon in January... I don't think so!). Well this year it worked out perfectly and I was finally able to enroll.

My hope with the class was to learn more technical aspects... mainly getting my camera off of the preset settings (auto, portrait, landscape, sports, etc.) and taking control of my photos by going manual. I also really wanted to start taking better photos from the get go, so that I could spend less time editing. The class started a few weeks ago and I think it's heading me in the direction I want to go.

Each week we have mountains of pages to print off and read (about 70 each week for the last few weeks). We talked about equipment (which has now got me salivating over a new lens that I really can't afford. LOL), composition and are now on ISO, shutter speed and aperature. Each week we're given assignments to complete and post to the forums. I have completed and posted week 1 and just have one more do for week 2 (hoping to finish that when I'm out on the river with Brian tomorrow).

Sooooo... I thought I'd share my photos from week 1 and continue to share them as I go along this course. Two things you should know:

1. You are required to post two photos for each assignment - your favorite/best photo and one of your not-so-favorite photos. Then you have to post what you liked about the better photo and what you'd do differently in the not-so-favorite photo.



2. These are SOOC (straight out of camera). No cropping or editing is allowed. That is not how I usually post photos - I love my photo editing! LOL So consider this the stripped-down version of my photography.

Week 1, Assignment 1: Viewpoint (You had to take photos of one subject form different viewpoints - low, eye-level and high above) to see how that would affect the subject and background.

You have already seen these photos before, but these are the SOOC versions.

Fave:

Not-so-fave (I didn't like that you lost some of the story because you don't see her arms around the doll and the way she was hugging her. I also would have liked to see her more to one side of the frame, rather than the center):

Week 1, Part 2: Composition (Giving no directions, take a photo of an event with focus on thoughfully composing the shot. Things like the Rule of Thirds, filling the frame, offcentering, mergers, lines, etc.)

I have to admit to fudging this one a bit. It rained the end of last week and the family walk we had planned to take just didn't happen. I had taken these pictures during the week but didn't take them specifically for this assignment. With the deadline just hours away and rain still on the horizon, I just decided to make them work for me.

Fave:

Not-so-fave (I didn't like how the lines weren't straight in the background and I would have liked to have Carissa on one side of the frame):

Week 2 is due on Sunday and I'll post my photos here sometime next week. :)