Photography Course Reflection Assignment

[Suzan J]

These shots were part of an assignment for a photography class I attended in the Spring. It was also my first attempt at manual focusing as I was using my new 50 1.8 "nifty fifty" lens. As I have a D3100, there is no in-camera focus motor. C and C welcome, please ! I was using a really old beat up mirror. My first instinct was to remove the spots, but then I decided the ragged look might be preferable.


horse 4 by Soo J, on Flickr

Glass 2 by Soo J, on Flickr

[Mike Buckley]

I really like the second one because of the imaginative use of the glass apple as a lens that inverts the image. Very well done!

I very strongly encourage you to take that with you everywhere and to use it regularly. I don't have any idea how old you are, but if you are fortunate to use your glass apple for decades, you will have a unique compilation of photos. In fact, if you can buy a second or third one for use as backups in case the original breaks, it would be well worth it to do so.

Consider lifting the highlights in the second one a bit for a brighter tone that adds more contrast to the image. If possible, also consider cropping a bit off the right side and adding some space to the left side.

[pnodrog]

I prefer the second shot. There is a bright reflection in the middle of the apple that I think would be worthwhile toning down by low opacity cloning and maybe crop the top and right just to see how it works.
The first shot I think needs the white in the top left would be better replace by a very light blue gradient. Of course don't change anything if your tutor want straight out of camera shots.

[RockNGoalStar]

I very strongly encourage you to take that with you everywhere and to use it regularly. I don't have any idea how old you are, but if you are fortunate to use your glass apple for decades, you will have a unique compilation of photos. In fact, if you can buy a second or third one for use as backups in case the original breaks, it would be well worth it to do so.

I really like the thought of that!

I prefer the second image. I think I would like to see a bit of space between the apple and the subject, provided it didn't adversely affect the reflection in the apple itself.

Well done and thanks for sharing

[escaladieu]

I prefer the first one, the second is too contrived for my taste. The first one has a great feeling of motion & dynamism & I love the use of the old mirror keep the ragged look. You should be pleased with that shot.

[FrankMi]

In the first image it is less obvious that two of the horses are a mirror reflection leaving the feeling that there are four objects. If the mirror was more noticeable it might convey more of the reflection concept you were looking for. This kind of image also has a even number of subjects whereas an odd number of subjects usually works better.

The glass apple image is very imaginative Susan!

This may sound a bit loony, but as the assignment was on reflection and the apple is where the focus is, have you considered flipping the image both horizontally and vertically to make the image in the apple 'right side up' and on the left and let the out-of-focus background serve more as a background and less as the subject? If you do experiment with this concept, I would also consider a tighter crop on the apple.

[Suzan J]

Thank you for the comments and suggestions. I will definitely experiment with your ideas. I love the suggestion of having "the apple" accompany me on outings. It could very well be a personal quirk that my future great grandchildren might find amusing.