Assignment: Photo Essay

For my photo essay I captured the 2010 Scottish Christmas Walk in Alexandria, Virginia. My goal was to capture the atmosphere of the event which features ethnic heritage, food, drink, and other types of entertainment.

Week 13: Advent

Assignment: Ordinary to Extraordinary

My aim in editing this photo was to tone down the original oranges of the photo and the over-exposure on our pasty Irish complexions. I did some minor cropping and vignetting as well as adjusting levels and exposure.

Week 12

Rocking the bangs for the first time since 1st grade. I feel so young.

Week 12: Thanksgiving

Assignment: The Unseen

Halloween is Over, kids.

Disgusting.

Writing with Light

Assignment : One Shot

For my "one shot" project I wanted to capture students leaving mass on Sunday night. I liked the feel of the soft lighting around St. Vinny's, and have always thought it complemented that after-mass peacefulness that one feels when leaving. Had I had more than one shot to make this photo, I would have found a slightly better angle to give the church itself more weight in the photo. I also do not like the harsh glow that the lamp to the left of the shot created on that side of the frame.

Week 9: Moon over Ryan

Week 9: Pizzer Boxes

Assignment 4: Light and Shadow

Week 8: Pryz

This was taken in class on Monday night. It was one of the few shots I got during the light assignment. I was really struggling with getting a clear image with longer exposures. Things were just not cooperating. I did quite like this shot, though.

Week 8: Carousel edited

Mr. Barrick helped me edit my carousel photo last night in class. Liking it a lot more now. Go photoshop!

Assignment 3: Rules of Composition 6-10

Room for Logical Movement

Avoid Mergers

Framing

Balance

Leading Lines

Assignment 3: Rules of Composition 1-5

Rule of Thirds

Keep it Simple

Biggest Boldest Brightest

Cropping

Impact

Week 6: Carousel + Long Exposure

I found myself at the Smithsonian carousel and really wanted to try the long exposure + circular motion technique we had discussed in class a while ago. Unfortunately, it was VERY bright, and any time i slowed down the shutter speed to capture the blur, my photo became over-exposed. I tried to make due with what my camera could do, but I had difficulty. I had my aperture pushed all the way to the end of its scale, and that still was not enough to undo the over-exposure being caused by the long shutter speed. Does anyone have a solution for this, other than just shooting when it's darker out? I think I'm going to go back during the evening/night time eventually to try this again.

Side note: overexposure aside, I kind of liked how random panning caught this little girl as she went around.

Week 6: Shot from Class

This was my leading lines photo from our in-class shoot. Although the photo seemed fairly unsuccessful when critiqued by the class/Professor Barrick, I still really like the lighting and the colors captured in the sky.

Week 5: Tunnel Photos

I used the trip back to DC as an opportunity to play with the bulb setting on my camera. It was a lot of fun, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not manage to keep the camera totally still. I would have liked for the dashboard to be more in focus, but was only able to brace myself against the arm rest. I love how the motion in the tunnel was captured, though.

Week 5: Enjoying Fall

Some more pictures from my time at home this week.

Week 5: Fall in Pennsylvania

I was home for a few days this week and tried to take as many photos of fall as I could. I was loving the colors!

Week 4: More Basilica Photos

I'm kind of obsessed with the basilica lately. Apologies for more. I really liked the reflection in the floor, and tried to capture the symmetry I was feeling in that scene.