March assignment: Jessica

This was a hard assignment for me... but I enjoyed it! But now I need your help :) The non-representational part really gets me.  I think I understand representational and abstract though. Ummm... well, we'll see about that....

The top photo is representational:

A flower... (yeay for spring!)

I'm going to say this one is abstract:

A portion of a chain...

I *think* these two are non-representation but... ummm, help?

Let me know what you think...

Editing: Jessica

I don't know about anyone else, but I am having so much fun with editing after getting tips from Kim. I was always terrified of photoshop and now I'm not :) When I learn to do new editing skills I tend to go over board and do to much to my photos. I have been trying not to do this. If you have any tips or pointers for me, let me know.

This photo I took in November and all the pictures I took in this spot turned out really gray. I tried editing in Picnik and I didn't like what I came up with.

Here is the original:

In photoshop I added a "Soft Light" layer (Pioneer Woman has a tutorial on how to do this but with "Hard Light" HERE). And then I used PW warmer action (40%) and this is what I came up with:
I like how the photo pops a little now that it isn't so flat and gray. I also like that there is a little more color in her skin tone. But I am worried that I went a little over the top....


This picture is a favorite of my son. In photoshop I used PW seventies action, quick burn action and sharpen action (too much?)

Original:

Edit:

I liked how the seventies action toned down the red in his skin. I also like the contrast that the edge burn creates. What do you think?

Rule of thirds: Jessica

I wish I could say that I took at least one picture a day, but I didn't. I have been thinking about this assignment a lot though. This was good for me, I usually don't think about this rule very often. I am also not very good a seeing if the rule was followed. The photo below is following the rule of thirds, right? Her eyes (and scraped up nose) are the focal point of the picture and they fall along the top line.
This photo does not follow the rule of thirds, but it works because the bars of the slide frame in his face. What do you think?
I did not take this photo this week but I thought it was a good example to show for positive and negative space. The subject is the positive space taking up 1/3 of the space, while the brick wall is the negative space taking up 2/3 of the space. Her eyes also fall along an intersection rather than being placed right in the middle of the photo.Let me know what you think, I can take any constructive criticism that you give! I just want to improve my photos and become more familiar with this rule.

Intro: Jessica Bateman

I too am from Utah, born and raised. I grew up in the Salt Lake area (South Jordan). I attended Utah State University after I graduated from high school. I married my husband, Dallas, 4 years ago. It wasn't until last August that I broke away from my comfort zone and moved to Indiana. I am here with Dallas who is a graduate student at Purdue. I am a mother of two adorable children, and I love being a mom! Evan is almost 3 and Makiah is 15 months old. They definitely keep me busy.

I can't say that I've always loved photography. My high school photography class is to blame :) I really didn't like developing my own film. Having to go that process was just a bore to me. Since I've entered the digital world I've loved photography! I can see my photos in an instant and it doesn't stop there. I love playing around with post processing to improve my work. My children have been an inspiration for me and I love taking pictures of them. Just in the past year I have really come to love photography and there is so much I want to learn. I just got a digital SLR (Canon Rebel XSi) almost two months ago, and I love it! I am excited for this blog and all the upcoming challenges.