This week on Who We Become we are playing with a different type of contrast – the juxtaposition.  I was lucky to take pictures of my dear friend Dan and his new baby recently.  Dan is a really tall guy and I love the contrast between big and little here, with his tiny newborn son in his arms.  Please click HERE to visit Who We Become and see everyone’s conceptual contrast choices.

This week on Who We Become we are exploring color and tonal contrast.  My snowy landscape image below was taken during a snowshoeing expedition I took a couple weeks ago through REI at Lake Easton.  I love the contrast of the winding, dark stream against the snowy backdrop.  Please click HERE to visit all the contrasty images over at Who We Become.

This week on Who We Become we are exploring broken patterns.  I am not sure if the pattern here is broken or I am kidding myself, but I really loved photographing through the surface of the central library and seeing all the street scenes in the reflections.  Please click HERE to visit all the broken patterns over at Who We Become.

It is a new month on Who We Become and we are focusing this week on patterns.  Patterns can make an interesting background for a portrait, but sometimes a pattern can be interesting enough all on it’s own.  I found this pattern while snowshoeing this weekend (yes, seriously – I went snowshoeing; I even liked it!).  Most of what I saw was created by nature, but this very distinctly human object caught my eye just the same, contrasted against the white snow.  Please click HERE to visit Who We Become and see all the patterns posted by my dear friends this week.

We are shooting from below this week on Who We Become.  This image was taken in Snoqualmie, in the Cascade Mountains, where Avery takes ski lessons.  I love the snow covered trees.  Please click HERE to see all the images looking up.

Perspective: Shooting from Above

We are continuing our exploration of perspective on Who We Become.  Please click HERE to visit our collaborative blog and see all the posts shot from above.

We are continuing our focus on aspect ratio this week on Who We Become, and this week working on the 1:1 or square frame.  For my image, I took this picture of a jelly fish at the Vancouver Aquarium, where we had stopped on our way back from Whistler.  I like the way the tentacles spread diagonally across the frame.  Please click HERE to head over to Who We Become and see everyone’s square image this week.

Perspective: A Shorter Rectangle

We are experimenting with aspect ratio this week on Who We Become.  Please click HERE to see everyone’s work over on the blog.

Perspective: Specialty Lenses and Creative Purposes

We are continuing our focus on Perspective, and finishing up our first month examining the way choice of lens alters one’s viewpoint. This week we are utilizing various types of specialty lenses – telephoto, fisheye, macro, lensbaby, etc. – and seeking to be inspired by the unique qualities of these lenses or seeking ways to use those lenses creatively.

Here are some descriptions of some specialty lenses:

• The telephoto or long lens is often used for portraits, as we discussed in prior weeks, or for sports and action shots, when one can’t get very close to the action.
• Fisheye lenses are ultra wide-angle lenses that create visual distortion, so the image is circular rather than rectilinear. These lenses allow an angle of view that is greater than 100 degrees – sometimes even allowing a 180 degree point of view!
• A macro lens allows you to get very, very close to your subject and may be used to capture details barely noticed with the naked eye. •
• The tilt-shift lens is designed to allow the photographer to tilt the plane of focus and shift the position of the subject without moving the camera back. It is useful when photographing architecture, when one may want to avoid the convergence of parallel lines, though many photographers have utilized it when shooting portraits.
• The lensbaby brand of lenses are designed to give a creative effect, where one portion of the frame will be in focus, while the rest is blurred. In some cases, the lensbaby will mimic the effect of the tilt-shift lens.

As the saying goes, restriction breeds creativity. The narrow purposes of these specialty lenses can inspire the photographer to rethink how she might approach an otherwise familiar situation.  In the below image, I decided to utilize a long, zoom lens when taking an image of a landscape, which would traditionally call for a wide-angle lens.  I liked how it allowed me to fill the frame with “The Mountain” and the city of Bellevue.

Please head over to Who We Become to take a look at how each of us chose to take advantage of the characteristics of various types of specialty lenses by clicking HERE.