Friday, April 10, 2009

Try An Assignment

It's easy to get into a rut this time of year -- winter has been lingering, and it's frustrating when one would like to be out photographing and things are still rather blah.  Giving yourself a photography assignment  is a good way to get out and do some shooting and try something different. Last month, several of us Ann Arbor Crappy Camera Club members thought up assignments that people could choose to do before the April meeting.  One assignment was to photograph shoes or footwear in an unusual setting, and unattached to the feet.  I came up with an alternative assignment which is a bit different.  Take a photograph. Now, close your eyes and turn about 360 degrees, put the camera to your eye, and keeping them closed, take a photo.  Now open your eyes and see where you are and where the camera is pointed.  It's not really blind photography, because we are using our sense of place to take the next shot.  Of course, it's amusing to see how far off we can be.  Does the sightless shot differ appreciably from the first one?  Is it better or worse?  How close to the original pose were you?   

Using my crappy Vivitar PN400 plastic camera (which is wide-angle), I took a series of photos, some of which are shown below.    You decide which is better -- the first image with eyes open or the second one with eyes closed. Click on an image to see it full size.










3 comments:

Kat said...

I like the way the photos look next to each other.

Are these all taken in Ann Arbor? I like the house by the dam.

I work in Grand Valley state University's library and we got two bookmarks in returned books from West Side Book Shop, in Ann Arbor. It made me think of you....and my boyfriend since he goes to Eastern.

Kat said...

p.s. I think I would like the second photo pf the truck better if it was over enough so you could just see the words.

mfophotos said...

Kat -
The mill photo was taken in Linden, MI, and the Big Dick photo was from somewhere near Otisville, MI, S of Flint. I realize now that unless you have your browser window set to the maximum area, the right-hand photos appear cut-off.
Thanks for thinking of me and A2!
Mark