My first attempt with photoshop

I really struggled with using photoshop, I had not used it previously and it took me a lot longer to figure it out than I thought it would.  The first picture is of the beach and the second is of Murphy.  I cropped the first picture and then took the picture of murphy and used the magic wand to pull Murphy out.  I then moved Murphy to the first image.  I struggled with being able to figure out how to shrink Murphy.  I still have a lot to learn but this assignment is my first attempt.  I can't wait to continue to play with it and learn what it can do.

My favorite landscapes

I took the first two pictures a few weeks ago when I was away at the beach.  I looked ahead and saw that we would be doing landscapes and wanted to be able to include my favorite landscapes.  The beach has always been one of my favorite things to photograph and my favorite photographs to look at.  This first one is my favorite from the 250 pictures I took.  I like the contrast in the bright blue sky and the very white sand of the dunes.  The second picture is more muted but still shows the beauty of the dunes.  In both photos the ocean is just on the other side of the dunes.

In my second two pictures I chose to highlight my second favorite landscape, the mountains.  I picked the two mountains that are part of my everyday life and I wanted to highlight them in different ways. I chose to highlight Stratton from a distance and I climbed up a little ways up Timber Ridge to get the picture there. 

This is the view from Bromley to Stratton, the mountain in the distance is Stratton.  On a clear day you can see all the trails. 

This is Timber Ridge, this is the mountain that I live on and my hiking ground.  I love the way that you can see the two different trails in the same photo and I like that the teepee from a recent festival is still on the mountain.

Framing

These are 6 photos that I took that I think highlight framing.

I took this picture in celebration of the supreme court's ruling on gay marriage yesterday.  I am at my parents in NJ and I found things in the kitchen to use to make the rainbow.  I like the way the color pops on the black background.

This is my little friend Owen, my wife and I took him to a construction themed amusement park this week.  I like the way the glass frames them.  Even with the glare you can see how seriously he was concentrating on moving the digger.

I love the joy in his face in this one, this is right before he got off the digger, he was so proud of himself.  I like the way the door frame frames him. 

this is one happy boy with sky all around him

Look Ariel, I can do a cartwheel.  I took about 30 shots of the cartwheel but this is my favorite as he is landing it. 

I like the way the pepper is framed causally but the big leaves around it. 

Rule of Thirds

This Winnie the Pooh statue is in a garden in my parents garden.  The first picture with the statue centered highlights pooh and very little else.  Though this garden is much larger.  This garden is a memorial garden that my parents have been growing in memory of my sister who passed away 10 years ago.  As I change the focus of the picture to move pooh to the left 1/3 of the frame you can see more of what is in the garden and the other statue that is there.  You can see more color and some of the other elements in the garden.

Composition and aesthetics

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/8965/what-is-the-golden-ratio-and-why-is-it-better-than-the-rule-of-thirds

I found this link that explains the Golden Ration and compares it to the rule of thirds.  This is a different way of lining up your photographs and using a different axis in your pictures.

Lighting

Please meet Murphy, he is not a huge fan of the camera and gets nervous when I take his picture, but I do it all the time anyway.  I decided to try and light him in a few different ways for these pictures.

In this one I just used my flash and the room was lit with two overhead pot lights that were not directly above him.  I like the attention that it calls to his paws and eyes they look very bright.

In this picture I turned the flash off and just used the lighting in the room, his color looks more warm and his features are less defined.

In this picture I put a small light directly above Murphy (you can see the cord).  This makes his fur look brighter and his features are well defined.  I like how shiny his coat looks compared to the other photos. 

monochrome and complementary

This is my example of a monochrome picture, it is of different rocks and grass on the jetty in Provincetown Cape Cod Massachusetts 

This is my example of complementary colors the yellow from the flower and the blue from the water. I took this picture on a boat in the ocean while in Cape Cod this past week.