Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Finding My Eye: Learning by Description

Here it is...the final lesson of Kat Sloma's Find Your Eye - Journey of Fascination class.

The exercise for this lesson is: Find several photographs, not my own, to which I have a strong positive reaction. Then analyze them, facts not emotions. Look for things like format, technical choices, perspective, light, lines, etc.

I have been putting this lesson off for a few reasons:

  • It is the last lesson :(
  • Last week was busy with my daughter home on Spring Break, and this lesson required some thought and quiet time.
  • I don't want to analyze photos. I just want to feel them. I like them because I like them and that's good enough for me. 
That being said, in the spirit of being a good class participant, I buckled down and did the lesson. I turned to two of my boards on Pinterest - Photography and Still Life Photography - for my pictures to analyze.

I generally prefer horizontal as opposed to vertical photos. I feel horizontal tells more of the story. I love shallow depth of field. I prefer eye level shots. Natural light is a must. I like roads or paths with clearly defined lines. In my still life pictures, there is a heavy preference for blue in every hue and saturation.

I think the biggest eye opener for me when I did this exercise was learning my preference is for eye-level shots, followed by shots from above, least favorite is from below.


The first picture is taken looking up at the barn, the second shot is of the mechanism for opening the barn doors, taken at eye level.

So once again even through my resistance Kat has taught me something about myself and my photography style. She is so tricky.

If you have never taken one of Kat's classes I would highly, highly recommend taking one. The stuff you will learn about yourself and the way you photograph is amazing.

7 comments:

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

She is tricky it was amazing what I learnt about myself too......Love your shots they are very similar to my favourite types too...

Cathy H. said...

I love barns, any way you look at them. I love all the details that were revealed by your eye level POV! I have never failed to learn some very important and fascinating things in Kat's classes! I enjoyed this lesson and yes, learned something about my images.

Anonymous said...

It looks like you also like detail in your images. What you learned about your favored point of view was interesting. I often like low POV's in other people's photographs, but seldom think of trying it myself. It's something I'd like to do more of, just to broaden my horizons.

stacie said...

Sorry your class is over. Sounds like you really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it.

Simon said...

That shot on the right is yum-mee. I'm glad you soldiered on thru this lesson. I too am trying to stay out of my head and feel with my heart on the photo thing, but I think "getting it" is kind of cool too. And, as you like that shot from above-I rarely use that in my tool box, and it would be good for me to be mindful of that. Guess I'll have to carry a step ladder around with me. : )

Unknown said...

Nice job analyzing. I love the close-up detail of the picture on the left and the fact that the background is still in recognizable focus. Wonderful color and texture.

I really enjoyed looking at your blog and I am looking forward to being in a group with you again but I will definitely keep in contact with you by walking through your blog (virtual photo walk) to see what you have seen and captured.

Cathy said...

I think it is amazing what you have learned taking this class. I can't wait!