Friday, May 6, 2011

Project Orange: Check

My homework got done. It was even done by Wednesday afternoon. And I was able to see Water for Elephants that evening. So glad too because the movie was gooooodddd. It was two hours long. And I never once looked at my watch. That is how I rate a movie. The imagery and costuming alone kept me enthralled.

On Wednesday afternoon, the teacher emailed saying "extra credit" if you turn your photos into a collage. Since we're not taking the class for any kind of grade, we all kind of scratched our heads on that one. One of the women even asked, "What do we get? Money?" My kind of gal! The teacher promised cupcakes. I heard that one and I was in. Will work for cake.

We're also supposed to keep a journal. Write about what works. What doesn't. What we've learned. Here's my journal entry for this assignment...


Limited Color Palette Notes: 
• I chose orange because the ballerinas have been really into oranges lately. I've been buying the big eight pound bags so I had plenty of them to photograph. Plus, BB has that sweeettt orange beach cruiser. Easy choice.

• very hard to shoot two kids together. One is always looking off, striking a cheesy pose, or not cooperating.

• I need to learn to give directions better.

• Make sure your kids poop before you drive them to a field where there are no bathrooms. Because even though there's no one around for miles. And you have wipes. She'll refuse to go. And all your pictures will look like this. Or you'll have to cut your shoot short.
• It's hard to take good pictures of things you're not that excited about.

• It's hard to find things that are orange that excite me.

• I don't like super saturated pictures.

• Don't plan to take pictures with balloons on a windy day. (Kim recently blogged about the same thing. I should have paid attention.)

• Discovered the "scale" slider in Lightroom. LOVE!

• Need to figure out how to crop proportionally in Lightroom. It never looks right to me.

• Need to learn how to selectively add brightness in photos (to faces, etc.).

• Bring along a stepstool to make it easier to take pictures from above. Climbing on your car hood is not a good idea. And your DH will kill you if he finds out you did that.

• Even though artistically you're supposed to group things in odd #'s, make sure you bring along EVEN numbers of props when you're shooting your kids. Or they'll fight. And you'll yell. And your pictures will suck.

Here are the photos I turned in...








And the cupcake collage...

22 comments:

kim {the non-mom blogger} said...

HA!

The balloons against the blue sky? GORGEOUS. Love those two colors together!

Unknown said...

Your photos are fabulous! And your list cracked me up! I love honesty in a blogger ... so I'm following.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

sloan said...

i knew you'd pull an A+ out of your hat ... these pics are truly home runs, kim ... wonderful! my fave is the vertical bike pic ... love love love!

Karina said...

I can't do anything but laugh. Would you want to poop in an open field? Oh wait - I did that plenty of times when I was a kid. Love the collage. The orange balloons against that blue sky is fantastic. Now I don't have to take a class - I'm just going to read your journal notes - thanks.

Amy said...

Wow. These are fabulous. And I love your list. You crack me up.

Ferris Wheel pic-I have no idea if that's close to the regular color. I was a fair distance away and my eyes aren't what they used to be. I did add a Florida action to it though. Maybe I'll do a B&A with that one....

Jill said...

Great pics! :-)

Andrea @ little buckles said...

Oh wow! This is fantastic. It looks great...the balloons and the bike. Super work :)

Anonymous said...

You did a great Job!

Kerri said...

Glad you got your project done early...thanks for worrying us for nothing! :)

Your collage is awesome! Love the bike picture...and the balloons and blue sky! LOVE your notes to yourself too...thanks for sharing your class!

Jennifer Thompson said...

Your journal entry cracks me up!
That's a great collage. I too, love the orange balloons with the blue sky!

Bridget said...

Your notes are hilarious! You did a great job on the pictures, they turned out great!

Unknown said...

eeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I love these photos friend! Your photography is looking fantasmic....and I am so jealous of your photography class! I want to take some classes one of these days!


....and p.s. I have not seen water for elephants yet...but I am glad to gave it the thumbs up....can't wait!

Happy Mother's day!!

xo

Casey Martinez said...

this is too cool!!! I have never tried to focus on one color so specifically in things..people but, not things. I LOVE THESE and what a fun color choice orange is!

Nicolle said...

I am not a big orange color fan, but seeing these makes me instantly love the color! LOVE all of these photos. They are so beautiful!

Amy said...

Loved the post. The pictures turned out great.

If you want to just lighten one area in photoshop there is an action called touch of light touch of darkness from MCP actions. It is a freebie and it is great. I know there is a way to do it in lightroom with the brush tool because I have seen it done at a workshop. If you google lightroom tutorial video there are some by a lady at adobe named Julieanne Kost. They are great and she has video tutorials on just about anything you can think of.

Have a wonderful mothers day!

karren said...

It looks like your project and your class is bringing out your creativity. Great collage!!! It is very professional.

karren said...

It looks like your project and your class is bringing out your creativity. Great collage!!! It is very professional.

Dani said...

I love the balloon shot.

All of them are great...but that one is over the top.

Good job, girly.

Sheryl said...

Blue and orange, one of my favourite colour combinations. I am NO expert but, may i say, your pictures are getting really, REALLY good. Can't wait to see more.

vanessa said...

Those are all great photos. My fav is the bike, it looks so cool! Hope that cupcake was good!

Jess said...

wow....pictures are amazing and your journal entries are hilarious...so true though...i laugh at the one about props...wish i was taking this class with you!!! that would be a long commute though ;)

Jen said...

May I say....you are sooooo dang good! Mean it!