Midterm

"City Life"
Nikon D3200  1/1600  f1.8  ISO100  35mm
This might not seem like an obvious representation of city life, but to me it epitomizes the city.  I've never in my life lived somewhere that has fire hydrants. I know they exist in the suburbs, not in my suburb.

My focus has been shooting better images to begin with so that they need less post-processing. To process this image I initially adjusted the white balance, exposure (-0.07) and contrast (+40).  Then I adjusted the highlights (+100), shadows (+73), and I turned basically turned the whites off (-100).  I bumped the vibrance up a little bit and I adjusted the hue based off of the orange in the fence in the background. I finished it up with a little photoshop to remove a distracting blue stain in the lower lefthand corner.

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"Portrait"
Nikon D3200  1/2500  f1.8 ISO200  35mm
Portraits are not something I have ever attempted before.  Again, my goal was to take good pictures to begin with so there would be minimal need for adjustments. This was taken late in the evening, on an overcast day a little after "sweet light".  I intentionally bumped up the ISO and shot it a little darker so I could lighten it up in Lightroom.  After I adjusted the exposure and  I didn't do much elseI chose this image because I think it captures my daughter's personality perfectly.  She's her own person, and if I say twirl, she's going to lay down and roll around on the ground.  And laugh every minute.

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"Still Life"
Nikon D3200  1/80  f1.8 ISO200  35mm
This was the hardest picture for me to take.  (All of them were hard - there is just something about being "assigned" a picture to take that makes it extra difficult for me.) I don't see any reason to photograph plants, vegetables, or fruit.  No reason at all.  BO-RING.  But I do love old stuff, and this is my grandmother's fabulous old Adler typewriter.  It was new in 1950. I set it up in both natural light and I also took a series of pictures using a lamp to light it in various ways.  Of the 30+ images I captured, this is the angle that I like the best, with the natural light coming in a window from above.  I don't know why I liked this one best. Usually what appeals to me is the exact opposite of what is considered good composition.  Antiques are all "warm" to me.  They are comfortable and inviting, so I used LR to adjust the exposure and contrast and then I used a Lightroom Preset B/W filter (the green filter) to make it feel more austere and rigid. I adjusted the contrast, shadows and highlights to make sure there was some level of detail available in the shadows. To me, the image of this old typewriter is now about as cold and uninviting as I could make it. I very much like how it turned out, especially the "grunge" and dirt that came out on the keys.  Years of use and ribbon changes - this is a well-used machine.

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"Nature"
Nikon D3200  1/160  f1.8 ISO200  35mm
I'm a fan of b/w photography, but I try not to overuse it.  The reason I ended up turning this picture b/w was because of the subject matter.  These baby cardinals are in the rose bush about 6 feet up.  They are so ugly, and they were so alone, I thought b/w would emphasize that starkness.  After I switched to black & white mode in the Hue and Saturation panel, I began adjusting the hues.  I found that there were a lot of purples and blues and oranges in this image, specifically in the bird coloring, and I really liked the affect I got when I moved those sliders far to one direction or the other to get the maximum contrast. This is a dark picture, but I like that I can still see detail in the nest.

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"Action"
Nikon D3200  1/250  f5.3 ISO400  240mm
Action shots.  I have a hard time getting those that don't need to be cropped.  In my experience, action is best shot from a distance.  But if you don't crop in, you include way too much of what is (or in this case) isn't going on around the action. I take lots of action shots (like close to 12,000) - mostly animals, sometimes children.  I picked this one because I took it expressly for this assignment, and I loved the exuberance.  To me this image conveys unbridled joy.  Anne is a  rescued dog.  She was found abandoned at an old farmstead in a very rural area. My brother-in-law was discing a field stopped to urinate behind the barn.  She was a big, clumsy puppy.  Extremely dehydrated, in addition to starving. She scared him to death as she ran out from the bushes, where she had been hiding - watching him plow, to drink his urine.  Being a drought summer, it was the only liquid around. He brought her home and she's spent every day since trying to please them.  Everything she does is to please her family.  She is a well-trained obedience and agility dog. This picture expresses everything about her personality.  My sister made her run and do tricks for me for about an hour.  This was literally one of the last images I captured. Exhausted, she still gave it everything she had.

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