i’ve seen the light

I’m still trying to figure out just why people come and read my blog. It’s been a hard long journey, but I’ve come up with a few reasons. I’ve come to see the light (pun intended when you keep reading).

1. You like to laugh at my life

2. You like granola

3. You like oatmeal

4. You’re just a really nice person and can’t leave me now that you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.

It’s okay – the Husband is guilty of the latter. It’s a cryin’ shame too because he’s stuck with me for the next 60 or 70 years (perhaps even more if science is on our side).

I’m guessing you all don’t come to my blog for my ridiculously beautiful photos. If you did, I’m sorry. You should probably go here, here, or here if you want to see some pretty pictures.

I can promise you I have been working on my photography skills. For the majority of my life, I have always wanted to get into photography. Other factors have gotten in my way, but I have been spent the last few months trying to figure out my new camera (Rebel EOS). I could have gotten further in my experimentation too, but apparently the sun liked going down at 5 PM for the last 4 months.

That kind of cramped my style.

Last week, Ashley gave her readers homework to “play around with light”. I, of course, in natural “Chelsey” style was a little late to the game. The teacher would turn her homework in late, right?

So, here’s the set up:

Please don’t laugh at my subpar paint skills. Those blue squiggly lines are supposed to be arrows. Yeah – I know.

Basically I took photos in 4-5 locations which are numbered in red on the chart. I took some pictures with a light bounce (a white sheet) and many without to see if it made a difference.

Meet Exhibit A – an orange.

All of the following photos are without a light bounce.

Position 1:

Position 2:

Position 4:

Position 5:

For this round, I think my favorite was position 2 and position 5. I can’t believe how different the coloring of the orange is just based on where I was standing while taking the photo.

The next photos of the orange are with a light bounce.

Position 2:

Position 5:

I think there is more of a glare in these pictures, but I think the light looks much better.

Exhibit B – an onion

All of the following are without a light bounce.

Position 1:

Position 2:

Position 4:

Position 5:

I love love love the last picture in position 5. It has everything to do with the angle of the onion, and I love how there are shadows casting behind it. Awesome.

The next photos are with a light bounce and at a bit of a higher angle.

Position 1:

Position 3:

Position 4:

Position 5:

 
Once again, my favorite is position 5, but I like the one without a light bounce better. I really like the shadows in the one without a light bounce.

With every lesson, it’s important to reflect upon what has been learned.

I learned this: I don’t have it all figured out.

It’s going to take a lot more practice for me to really understand how the light is actually working and why it changes the pictures the way it does.

My next goal is to focus more on angles. What angles work best, which ones don’t work at all, and how light and angling works together to make a good picture.

If you’re a master photographer, feel free to chime in. However, I can without a doubt tell you that I don’t learn unless I experience. So jibber-jabbering facts at me won’t work because I won’t understand it.

Teachers always make the most horrible students.

Question: Which one of the photos above did you like the best? Did my Paint abilities blow you away? Have you ever tried any “light” experiments?

Tagged as: canon rebel, light, light bounce, photography