The season of fall has taken over campus, and I decided to take advantage of the surprisingly good weather we have been having and take some photos. To make this a little more interesting, I forced myself to use only my wide angle lens. This forced me to think more about composition and less about what I call “blurry background syndrome.” What I mean by this is the misconception that any picture with a blurry background is a good picture, which is definitely the mentality I found myself in when I first got my camera.
Balance
Recently, I’ve been trying to compose my pictures with more purpose and intent. To accomplish this, I’ve been looking at the frame in my mind and trying to see what kind of lines, colors and weights are present and how they affect the image. While walking around campus, I found a sidewalk with a few leaves on it and some cool trees nearby.
I like this image, but it is far from perfect. I like the sidewalk in the center, and I like the trees and their color. I really like the arch way the trees form in the top third of the image. The fatal flaw this image has for me is how much \"heavier\" the left side is. Because of the tree in the upper left corner, the blank sky above the building in the upper right feels vacuous and to me this makes the whole image seem off balance. That type of thing is so hard to catch in the moment!
Arch Hall
This is easily one of my favorite buildings on campus! It really stands out as one of the most aesthetically pleasing, colorful, and interesting buildings on the UNL campus. I rather like this image, as I think the gray sky acts as a good counter to the red brick of the building and matches with the sidewalk below well. I also like the slightly muted colors (which is odd for a fall picture). This is definitely my second favorite picture from the shoot!
New Light
It’s very interesting how drastically different a sight you see everyday on your way to class can change in the lens of a camera. I walk past these benches on the way to class nearly everyday, and I’ve never given them too much notice. But at just the right time of day and just the right time of year, these benches really glowed!
I really like the shadows in this picture. The way the light filters through the orange tree and the slots in the bench works very well for the picture, and the angle of the benches compliments the angle of the trees shadow. This is my favorite picture from the shoot!