First Assignment: "Some Things That Caught My Eye"

Assignment 1: 5-6 pictures, 8 x 10, Black and white.
I used a Vivitar 35mm SLR for these shots. The film was Ilford HP5.

"Narrative"

Some Things That Caught My Eye

By Ro Forrest

Come on a walk with me and see some of the things that caught my eye!




BAGSAI Bridge, just off campus of BCC

A footbridge, to me, is always an invitation to adventure. (Especially when I have a directive to take a camera and explore.)

This shot required burning and dodging to get the proper contrast. The building on the right side required work due to problems with the film development--watermarks on the negative. But I liked the angle of the shot and the invitation of the bridge.

Cloud Reflection
(In stream under BAGSAI Bridge)

Water always attracts me. I love reflections, the surreal perceptions of depth,-- and the play of light on the water adds an invitation to daydream.

I worked on this shot a lot before finally deciding the angle. It was taken looking straight down from the bridge so that I could get reflection without getting glare. I chose this view because I wanted to get the stones in the bottom of the stream and the surreal feeling of looking through the water, while I captured the reflection of a cloud. The flora and the streambed required some extra burning in because of the black and white format.

 Little Italy Carousel Horse, Endicott NY

A place where I like to go and enjoy grand music from the past, relax, and feel that carefree joy of childhood!

This shot required a lot of dodging and burning due to the low light and the moving carousel. I was pleased to get the detail and sense of movement I was attempting to capture. I also cropped the shot to remove excess blurred objects that took away from the focal point.

Carousel Horse, Endicott Municipal Building Lobby

Contrasted against the 3-D metal sculpture on the back wall, this statue is decorated seasonally, with pride.
A small town that loves its legacy.

I took several shots of this to get the perfect angle si the sculpture would show past the horse. I also bracketed the shots so that I could get the best exposure, as the glare from the marble, tile, metal, and lights created challenges.  I used some cropping, and burning and dodging to offset minor light reflections that were annoying, and to create more contrast on the focal point of the horse.

Flagpole at Broome Community College

"Old Glory"--The most beautiful flag on earth! No matter where I walk, I love to look up and see this!

For the flagpole piece, taking light readings on the sky and on the pole itself were necessary. As the shot was straight into the sky in the afternoon and the wind was moving the flag, it was necessary to use the fastest shutter speed possible. Because of this the sky needed to be burned in considerably.

The Old and the New

I enjoy walking in the woods, and in pretty gardens and parks. But this is in my yard. I saw the eyesore of a stump surrounded by Mother Nature's way of renewing the world. The fresh ivy and the new tree growing up from the roots of the old remind me that life goes on.

This photograph of an old stump in my yard required burning in and a bit of cropping.  It was taken on a cloudy day in the late afternoon, challenging how well I had stored aperture and speed knowledge in my brain. I worked at getting the right angle without including background that would take away from the subject matter. After taking the picture, I thought it probably wouldn't come out well, but with the bag of tricks learned in this class, I was quite pleasantly surprised!

Thanks for joining me on my walk!

Assignment 2: 8-10 pictures, black and white

 “Perspective”

When I was young my oldest brother had the opportunity to get directly under a new radio tower after it was erected, and the photograph he took shooting straight up from the ground toward the top of the tower amazed me because I felt dizzy every time I looked at it.

Since then using perspective to draw the eye into a  photograph has intrigued me. When we were offered perspective as one of our assignment choices I wanted to be as successful as my brother in drawing the eye into a photograph and giving an unforgetable impression.  So I went searching for just the right object. I took my sister with me because she has an "eye" for neat possibilities and a creative bent that I envy, (she can look around while I try to keep the car on the road) and we added the dog to the adventure just for fun.  We drove around on some roads I'd never explored, and happened to discover this rail road bridge.  I was able to shoot nearly two rolls of film with my trusty Vivitar before the rain forced me to take shelter for the sake of preserving the camera. Then I found the rear parking lot of the Regency Hotel in Downtown Binghamton, and a few other places. 

Railroad Bridge #1

East of Binghamton

The east end of the bridge covers an old abutment of another bridge.  The clouds were moving when I took this shot, creating a dizziness that nearly resulted in discovering how cold the water was in the creek behind me!  Shooting straigt up into the sky again required differing light meter readings; I used bracketing to assure a good exposure. The trees needed to burned in some, and the bridge needed to be dodged.  I especially liked the contrast of nature's textures against man-made materials.



Railroad Bridge #6

East of Binghamton

Glare was a consideration as it was late afternoon and the sun was alternating between popping out just as I decided on my exposure, and hiding.  It was like trying to photograph something in a room with a flickering flourescent bulb!  Consequently, burning in was needed on the grasses to the left of the bridge and the trees in the left background. I was pleased with the clarity of focus attained with the Vivitar 35mm SLR.

Walkway behind the Regency (Riverwalk)

This photograph was taken with an old Ricoh 35mm SLR.  Again I took several angles and exposures to allow for the lighting. It did not seem like a difficult shot at first, but the more I worked with it, the more finicky I became.  The glare on the cars in the far background limited the exposure, and the bright lights in the foreground were challenging. Much patience was required to wait for cars to come and go,  and to get the exposure time correct. Dodging was required to elminate glare, and some burning in to bring out the contrast.




Fountain behind the Regency (Riverwalk)
I recalled taking some pictures of this fountain for beginning photography, so I was looking at them when the glass panels behind the fountain caught my interest. I returned to the scene with the trusty BCC Vivitar 35mm SLR and took a number of pictures, again bracketing and working with time exposure. When I saw this negative, I was taken by the reflections and the overlapping perspectives they created. The fountain shadow on the building added to the visual symphony of light and distance and shadow. I removed some glare on one window, and repaired a blemish caused by slight water spray captured on the lens (in the bush, fortunately!)  




Lawn Paths #1

BCC Campus South Lawn, looking toward Titchener Hall

Lawnpaths #1 is the original shot, looking toward Tichener Hall, across the traffic loop, with the library just out of sight to the left, on the BCC campus in the summer of 2010. I was experimenting with bracketing the picture in the ‘v’ formed by tree branches. The perspective of the path was framed by the branches, giving the impression of peeking out of the shade. I was not certain if I liked it, so I cropped the shot for LawnPaths #2.

 

Lawn Paths #2

(cropped from Lawn Paths #1)



Perspectives: MOMA-NY

 I pulled this from an older shot taken with my Ricoh 35mm SLR, not the Vivitar. But it definately has perspective!  Taken at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, I was trying to get the "typical perspective shot" at an opportune moment. The photograph was crooked and needed work because the lens was dirty. I removed several dirt blemishes, cropped the photograph, and worked with contrast, dodging and burning.