Brother Rick lights candles for Tim's 53rd birthday - the composition of this photo fell into the "3rds" category
A point-and-shoot kind of gal, I’m stepping into a whole nuther ball of wax taking this online course through the University of Alaska Southeast, and I tell ya, it is so much fun. Sure I have to learn to read my new camera manual, sure I have to read instructions on how-to techniques that I never learned before in Photoshop, sure I’m frustrated with all the gizmos, icons and settings that I gotta figure out in this digital world; these are things that I have resisted doing most of my life. I don’t want to read manuals and instructions; I just want to get out there and shoot. Who’s got time to mess around with instructions!? Gee, believe it or not, I do. I want to learn; i want to expand my horizons, and have fun!
Two Brothers and Mom; this composition also falls into the "3rds" category - this was a powerfully emotional moment for all of us
What is this composition called “3rds?” In my simple definition, it is a composition where the imagery is divided in thirds, which could include diagonal, vertical, horizontal, or curved “lines.” In our on-line class, we can only submit one image per assignment. It is sometimes difficult which one to submit. So I am posting some of the images I chose for the assignment but did not submit along with the one I did submit.
South Franklin Street, Juneau, Alaska - last night - another 3rds composition
"Jennie Weaves An Apprentice" Chilkat robe that I am presently weaving. This was the "3rds" composition that I submitted for my class assignment.
I have rarely seen photo images of Chilkat robes and weavings captured with this type of composition; this is why I submitted this for my “3rds” assignment. I realized that most photo images of Chilkat weavings are straight on shots of the entire robe or close-ups. From now on, I will begin including these kinds of compositions when taking photos of my work. It just makes things more interesting for the viewer, as well as more challenging for the photographer!
On a walk out Auke Bay Recreation area, we saw this pair of underwear, soaked and just hanging out - this was an image that I almost submitted for the "doesn't belong" class assignment
Eagle River Beach skies are always spectacular no matter what time of day, month or year - these hearts (one that is obvious and the other forming) were directly above us - this composition fit under the "doesn't belong" class assignment too. Like how often do you see hearts in the sky, huh? I didn't submit this one because I didn't want my classmates to naturally assume that I Photoshoped that heart in the sky - I swear to God, I did not. And I have a witness that i didn't because there were two of us sitting directly underneath!
A banana washed ashore on Auke Bay beach! This is the image I submitted to my online class for the "doesn't belong" assignment. Why? Because it was dang obvious that this banana just did not belong. If the beach were white, hot sands, the sun were blazing and there were coconut trees with lots of tropical foliage, then I could understand. But, when I saw this banana on the beach, I thought, man what is a nice, ripe banana doing in a place like this!?
The next few images are compositions that I submitted for the various assignments in our online photography class where I did not have other images that I shot for these categories.
This composition fell under the class assignment category "RUBI - a photo that is Relevant, Unusual, Beautiful & Important" - Really? This Photo? Why?
Grand-daughter Violet is a doll; just look at that expression as she checks out the one that is most relevant and considered beautiful (by American standards), while the “foreigners” watch in anticipation and shock saying to themselves “She could have chosen any of us as her baby doll…but how is it she chose THAT one when the girl is only three years old!?” Of course this is my RUBI choice, check it out: A Barbie doll is something we can all RELATE to, my Violet is BEAUTIFUL, the company is UNUSUAL, and it is very IMPORTANT to scrutinize the quality of each doll if you’re paying big money!
The underground train in either Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle - I forget which one; this image I submitted for the class assignment entitled "best represents my concept of photography." I generally use photography for documenting my art progress and work, events, travels, people, places and things - I consider myself a "drive-by-shooter." This image represents my "quick-on-the-draw" method while documenting my travel.
The sound and anticipated taste of fresh, untainted wild water! Nothing like it. We are fortunate to be one of the few places on earth with pure wild water. Nugget Falls, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau - This photo fell under the assignment of "a photo that appeals to a sense other than sight (touch, hearing, taste or smell)...
My imagination got away with me when I turned around and saw an extended arm reaching out of the fireplace! - This image I chose for the assignment of "disturbing."
Clothespin photo by my son, Kahlil Hudson. The class assignment was to find a photograph (taken by someone else) that was one of the most powerful and riveting images I'd ever seen and explain why the picture was so meaningful.
She never lined her drawers with scented liner sheets, incense or sachets of fragrant dried flowers. Mom loved the smell of fresh air in her clothing. A clothesline in winter didn’t stop her from hanging out the laundry; by golly, they were freeze-dried if it took capturing that fresh, natural scent! How many of us make the time to hang our laundry outside on even the sunny days to capture the wind, sun and predicted rain? When Mom first came to Colorado for a visit the first time years ago in 1993, I had discovered how she was always eager to do the laundry and hang it out to dry (probably because it was always sunny in the town we lived). I didn’t know this about my mother because we didn’t have a clothesline when we were growing up (because we didn’t have any land to make a clothesline post). When I first laid eyes on this photograph, I cried. It brought up the firm reality that I will never see my mother hang my (or her) laundry again, as I no longer live in Colorado and she has become too fragile to reach for a clothesline. This image also reminds me of a time not so long ago in our own home town of Juneau where we weren’t constantly rushing about and actually took time to “smell the roses…” When’s the last time you saw clothing swinging in the breeze?