Independent

The subject of this photo is a rope swing along with the tree and stand that goes with it, and the setting is at the pond near my house looking out over the ice. The photo was made using a 35mm film camera to take the initial image, then I went through the developing process of the film in the dark room using developer, stop, and fix solutions before rinsing and drying the roll of film. After it was dry, I cut and sleeved the film strips to keep the film together and prepare it for the contact print. Then to get the correct aperture and exposure, I made test strips and selected the one that I wanted, using the enlarger in the dark room. Then I put a full sheet of light sensitive photo paper underneath the sleeved film, turning on the light for the correct amount of time. After, I developed the enlarged image using all the chemicals and baths, ending by putting it in the dryer. I chose to create this photo because it captured the most interesting composition with the sun light shining in from the right, casting shadows across the snow. The specific elements and principles of design used in the photo are value, contrast, and emphasis. The work is arranged with the sun in the corner of the photo to create the lens flare, and with the rope swing being the focus.

The composition rules and techniques that are captured in this photo are informal balance since the tree and sun throw off the balance, weighting it to the right side, silhouette lighting since the sun behind the tree forms a silhouette, sharp focus since the entire photo is in focus, high horizon line since the horizon line is above the center of the photo, and high key lighting since the light from the sun brightens up the entire photo. My project evolved because in the developing process I had a difficult time deciding how to expose the photo, since in the past I had problems with "drying down". So on this, I left the photo a little lighter so that when it did dry and get darker, it wouldn't be overpowering.

The meaning behind this photo is that different things occur as the seasons come and go, as well as with people. This photo relates to my life because most of my childhood was spent at this pond in both the winter and the summer; however, as I got older and people began to move on to different things, I lost interest in this place and moved on as well, never moving on from the memories though. (I just read through what I wrote and it doesn't really make sense, but I think it's fine). For the most part, I really like this photo, but if it could be revised, I would mess around with the contrast because everything kind of merges together as it is now.