Primary Color

"Twinkle in the eye"

ARTIST STATEMENT

I really like the blank blue background in this image. Unlike most images, I think the negative space really helps this one. Without any distraction in the background it let's the viewer focus on the subject. I had to ask the subject to sit up against a wall and really asked a lot of her. Smile, not smile, move the mug up, sit more to the right, very demanding but in the end I think it was worth it. I really felt like a professional photographer. Originally it looked like a mug shot, and I struggled on how to make it better. I ended up asking the subject to smile because although you cannot see her face, I realized her eyes are effected too. It give the photgraph a mysterious yet happy sort of feeling. Centering the image could have worked, but rule of thirds it my favorite composition technique and I most always use it, it just adds the simplest bit of interest to any picture. The subject insisted I use flash which I was doing at the start. I'm glad she did. It makes all of the colors brighter and adds that little glint in her eye. If you look closely you can see it. I hadn't realized how much I like reflections and how unnoticed but great they are. The flash on the Mickey Mouse mug and you can see the window on the mug as well. It keeps the viewer from being distracted by too much negative space. For editing, I lightened this image even more and played with all of the effects to see which gave the best color. I ended up brightening the image quite a bit and found the contrast works very well with enhancing color so I used that as well.