Working the Scene — Ryan Thielen

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Working the Scene

Date: 10.22.2018

Location: North Minneapolis, MN

Practical 1

All images shot at 50mm (f1.8, 1/100s, ISO 6400), except direct light shots shot at 50mm (f.1.8 1/100s, ISO 1000)

Part I (Top 5)

1. Split Image

2. The Branch

3. Tilted Tree

4. Raised City

5. Ascension

Reflection

These were my top 5 photos I shot. My location was in North Minneapolis next to the Mississippi river - there were a lot of different textures to shoot in a small area which is why I chose this spot. Shooting this dark at night made it challenging and difficult to get the right exposure. I was forced to raise my ISO to 6400 and luckily my camera performed rather well.

I tried experimenting with symmetry, rule of thirds, and dutch angles to get as many different looks as possible.

Part II (Rejected Clips)

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Reflection

Here are my other 29 photos (I know the assignment said 10 - but I would like to show more). As you can see I was really trying hard to push the image in different direction with composition. Some worked - others didn’t. Not one of these photos really excites me but the combination of all of them on the screen at the same time is strangely interesting. Maybe it’s because the different angles and textures paint a larger picture of the space.

What worked well for me was trying to find a light source and compose it interestingly in the scene. Sometimes that was a light coming from a source and other times it was light reflecting off the ground. Sometimes I would try to take two opposite lights or textures and mirror them on either side of the frame. I thought this worked - although sometimes it felt like your eye was torn on which one to focus on.

I kept all my shots at the same aperture of 1.8 - obviously I needed all the light I could get - but I was also trying to isolate parts of the image. You’ll notice the middle of the frame where the grass and sidewalk meet is only in focus in the middle of the frame. There were times where Cooper (my dog) would be out of focus looking at something - which brought your eye towards that area.

Moving forward I think I’ll try to do a better job of utilizing light as an asset rather than fight it. Most of the shots where I was trying to hard to fight the light I didn’t care for too much.

DGMD E-9: Fundamentals of Digital Photography