Close-up with Finley.
Finley, a Cairn Terrier, enjoys a little time relaxing after barking all day.
For this picture, my main creative device I used was focus. My dog, Finley, is the main focus of this picture, while the background of my friend is out of focus. This draws the attention to Finley and away from my friend and helps the viewer focus on Finley rather than her surroundings. Finley is hard to take pictures of because of her black fur, so getting up close and focusing only on her makes the photo more aesthetically-pleasing. I also used the rule of thirds to make the photo more interesting.
Fall in Laramie
Cottonwood trees changing color on the UW campus.
For this photo, my main creative device was color. I grew up in the Black Hills and only saw Pine trees my whole life, so I love the yellow color the leaves change to in the Fall. The yellow color against the blue sky makes the picture aesthetically-pleasing and the two trunks create leading lines up the photo and create a focus for the eye.
Bottles and Bottles.
Bottles line the shelves of a liquor store in Upton, WY.
I took this photo at my family’s liquor store in Upton, WY. The main creative device used here is leading lines. The shelves create lines that lead the eye down the rows towards the right of the picture, creating focus on the left then leading the eye right. Also, the symmetry of the bottles creates a uniformed look which makes it aesthetically pleasing rather than unorganized and confusing.
A day at the Esquivel’s.
Generations of music-lovers come out of the Esquivel family.
Although this photo isn’t as high-quality as I wish it was, I think it has great use of the creative device, background. The focal point is the little boy, Rio, in the middle of the photo. This focal point is created by the eyes of the woman on the left looking down at him and the angle I shot this picture at. I think getting on level with Rio makes the photo more interesting and makes him the focal point, rather than the entire “band” as the focus. This also helps the picture be more aesthetically pleasing to help make up for the bad lighting.
Rio eats cake.
Rio enjoys cake on his first birthday.
I took this picture of my nephew, Rio, during his first birthday party. Although the shadow in the background is distracting, I wanted to capture the texture of the cake. Rio is the main focus, but the addition of the cake in front of him and on his face adds texture to the photo. I took the cake in front of him a little out of focus to create focus on Rio and the cake on his face and fingers. The texture makes this photo aesthetically pleasing by making the cake look delicious and sticky. I also used the rule of thirds to make the picture more interesting.
————————————————————
My five main creative devices were: focus, color, leading lines, background and texture. Although these were the main devices, I also used many secondary creative devices as well. I used the rule of thirds in the first and last photo, this makes the photos more interesting and helps draw attention to the focus, especially by putting the cake in the corner of my last photo. I used leading lines in the second photo to help lead the eye up the photo. I used symmetry in the third photo to help create organization in the photo and make the photo more aesthetically pleasing.
I was surprised by how much I rely on Photoshop while doing this assignment. I usually take a photo and then crop it to what looks best in Photoshop. Not being able to crop made me think more about how I took each picture. I also wish I could have had more time to take my pictures, I think I could have found better subjects and took better pictures.
Dani's Report 