Photojournalism-swim team

Assignment #4

Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, California, 1944 by Ansel Adams

I chose this landscape photo because I like the contrast, especially the mountain's shadow in contrast with mountains themselves, and i like the angle. I haven't been to California but I would like to go there. My favorite parts are the shadows in the different ridges of the mountain and the shadow cast by the overall mountain. This photo is in black and white and I think it adds to the composition because it makes the shadows really strong and they stand out more because they are in black and white. I like the composition because the mountain is balanced really well with the sky and the clouds in the photo add to the contrast a little too so the sky isn't plain and boring. The mountains aren't exactly centered between the sky and the ground in front of the mountains which I think adds to the composition too because it gives it a good angle and it sort of gives it depth of field. I don't think I would change anything because I think changing the angle or the contrast or something else would give this photo a different feeling about it which would make it a different photo altogether. If I was there right now I would lay on the ground and look up at the sun rising over the mountains, and watch as the shadows change and the mountains come to life as the day begins. If I could put myself in the photo, I would put myself at the top of the mountain so it would look like one small person on top of one huge mountain and it would drag your eye through the picture so you would feel pulled into the picture.

Assignment #3

Grand Prix of the Automobile Club of France By Jacques Henri Lartigue

In this photo movement is shown because the car in the foreground is slanted a little and the background is blurry which portrays movement. The car is in focus mostly but there is some blur around the tires and the ground is blurry so this also helps portray that the car is moving. Movement is important in this photo because it adds to the composition. If the photo didn't convey movement there would just be a car and people looking at it. The composition would change completely and it wouldn't have the same feeling and you wouldn't be as drawn to it as you are when movement is conveyed. When movement is conveyed you want to know why the car is racing, where it's going, and what's going to happen next. If there wasn't any movement you wouldn't have any of these questions and it would make it kind of boring. The set up of the picture adds to the composition because since the car isn't in the middle of the picture, it draws your eye through the picture to the car so you can tell it's moving and you wonder where it's going. The people in the background also add to the picture because they add another clue to the picture, so you wonder why people are watching this car race by. I want to be able to show movement while still having a good quality photograph so i want to work on adjusting the iso so i can get the best quality photo possible.