The subject of this photo, The Ground Up, is a chrysanthemum bush with many of its flowers in the frame, and in the background there is a barn that is at my house. This photo was taken with my phone camera which helped because I was able to get the lens really low to the ground, eventually getting the angle I wanted. I then framed the the photo so that it mainly focused on the flowers, but got the barn in the background for perspective, instead of blank white sky, letting the viewer know that the photo is looking up. I chose to create this specific image because I was walking around our garden look for things to photograph, and these flowers were the only ones that still had some good colors to them, so I ended up with these. The specific elements and principles of design that are shown in this photo are color, space, balance, and movement. This image is arranged evenly, being very balanced throughout the space.

The composition rules and techniques showcased in this photo are formal balance since the photo is evenly "weighted" throughout all the space, selective focus since the focus is in the center blurring things like the barn and parts of the flowers, grouping since the flowers and stalks are all grouped together, and high key lighting since overall the photo is very bright in the highlights and background. My photo evolved as I was taking it because I was messing around with the proportions of what was captured in the frame, either more barn, less barn, etc. I also tried editing the photo a bit, but in the end, I went with the original photo.

The meaning behind this photo is that it is getting us to look at things from a different perspective (literally). This is one photo I probably never would have taken if it wasn't for this assignment, so it was interesting to discover new things through this photo. This photo relates to my life because, stick with me here... I've thought a few times that it would be fun to be a smaller size, exploring things we see in day to day life from a completely different perspective, lawns turning into jungles and puddles into lakes. So this photo gave me an idea of what that experience might be like. I think this is the first photo this year that I am actually completely happy with for everything: how it is framed, all the values/settings, etc., so I don't think I would change anything if I could.