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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

something blue, nocturnal roots

I'm starting a new recurring post topic, that is photo of the day.  I'm using this as a way to track my improvement in the realms of creativity, composition, lighting, technical abilities, etc.  Also, it gives me an avenue to receive feedback and a sense of obligation to upload, edit and post.  I welcome and encourage all constructive feedback.  For my first post, I'm starting with two.  So, without further ado...

something blue  
This is a Fenner/Dunlop tire factory that has recently stopped production and is scheduled to be destroyed and mixed use buildings built upon the property.  It was a windy day, even with a few snow flurries (in Atlanta!)  I didn't do much to this in photoshop.  I adjusted the levels and the hue to bring out the rust.  I'm thinking about erasing that power line in the upper left corner.
nocturnal roots
I went grocery shopping at the farmer's market tonight and when I came out I saw this awesome tree lit by a parking lot lamp.  Originally, I thought the branches were the real subject, and they were, only it was their shadows on the concrete.  They appear to grow and spread.  I tooled around with contrast, hue and saturation trying to find what I liked best.  Currently I favor black and white or minimally pigmented with one concentrated spot of more intense color.  My main problem is figuring how to eliminate the grain.  I still think it looks cool.

4 comments:

FuturePrimitive said...

i like - tres bon.
the tower one is especially good (well they both are) i think - but then i love anything industrial. the tree is good with the lines on the road - it shows something beautiful mixed up with something...well, not so beautiful, which is significant of our times x
well done kat. seems like you're loving the photography right now x

Kim said...

Very cool.

Nick said...

Hey, what do you edit your photos with? Adobe Photoshop LightRoom has a crop feature that shows lines for the rule of thirds as you're cropping. It reaaaally helps me with composition in post processing.

I think that your tower composition is much stronger if you put the line for the left third right on the left side of the tower. It takes some of the emphasis off of the center of the photo and allows you to really take in the vertical aspect of the picture.

I am learning photography as a hobby, so if you're ever interested in chatting about it - hit me up on twitter or something and we'll figure out how to chat. I don't have many photo buddies. lol

Looking good though! You obviously have an eye for interesting photos.

kat said...

Nick - right now I have photoshop elements. I'd like photoshop, but since I'm not a graphic designer and still completely amateur, I wonder if it would even be worth purchasing.

I am aware of the rule of thirds. I can't ever seem to keep some sort of strategy in mind while actually snapping pictures. Today I took pictures of turtles and geese and thought aloud "I'm a terrible photographer". It will always interest me, but I wonder if I'll ever capture interesting enough images to entice interest and even pay.