MMS 173 Assignment 4:
Bucketlist

Description

This photo was taken at the new St. Nicholas of Tolentine Cathedral. The church was a work in progress: some parts were painted and polished, while some were still undeveloped. My first idea for the photo was to capture the contrast between those two elements. While walking around, I found myself fascinated with the ceiling’s intricate and ornamental pattern. On one spot, looking up, I found this visually interesting half-and-half angle between the ceiling, and a partial wall that was loud in its texture of concrete, cement, and all the marks of an unfinished construction. This very angle matched my vision, with the cherry-on-top being the sunlight beaming through a hole in the ceiling that highlighted the roughness of the photo’s left half.

Because of that light source, I was able to shoot at a much lower ISO of 250. It also worked out since the photo was able to capture the adjacent rough textures. As this photo doesn’t necessarily focus on any moving elements, choosing the shutter speed was more of a matter of light, so I went with a middle-ground of 1/60 seconds. Aperture was fixed at f/1.8, but I suppose it worked out with the photo style I attempted. The wall was within the depth of field, while the ceiling, despite being afar, still retains its pattern and details.

Description

Patterns can be found everywhere. So, for this theme, I had an idea to shoot something more up-close for some variation in my bucket list, given that most of my shots are either far-away or at a medium distance. I was honestly just looking for stuff around our house with a visually interesting pattern. I had a lot of possible options, but my favorite one was a colorful abaca fan that my grandmother has had for ages. I felt that its intricate twilled pattern would translate well to a photo. I angled the shot so that the fan’s radial weaving aligned with the golden spiral.

I was indoors for the shot, prompting me to use my desk lamp close to the subject for additional lighting. This made for a bright environment, so I used a low ISO 100. Moreover, having a lower ISO also works well for a close-up shot like this one as I want it to be as clean and free of noise as possible. I also picked a moderately fast shutter speed of 1/119 seconds for this reason. Once again, aperture was fixed at f/1.8, but it allowed for this interesting effect where the closest and farthest part of the image were out of the depth of field. The focus was instead on the middle area.

Description

I took the photo before dawn while walking outside. Admittedly, this theme was the one I was the most excited about. I mentioned my love for the nocturnal on the first assignment. I had no clear idea of which subject I wanted to take, so I was just snapping away. Looking through them, I was intrigued at these photos of electrical light posts with all sorts of wiring coiled around them like tendrils. With such limited lighting, it allowed for some dramatic shadows on the objects, feeling almost ominously cinematic. There was almost a vignette-esque effect to the lit part of the post. The post’s diagonal angle also helps contribute to that visual unease.

Since I was relatively close to the subject, and the light post was providing ample light, I got away with a very low ISO 25. With a photo that emphasizes the surrounding darkness as a stylistic choice, it worked out. After all, any photo with a higher ISO setting was already way too grainy for my liking. For the same reason, the shutter speed was 1/93 seconds. I wanted it to be sharp to capture the details of the post. Once again, aperture was fixed at f/1.8.

Description

I wanted to have something unique for the flower theme, so I had the idea to make this my take on the classic still-life style of photography. Like the pattern photo, I was just looking for anything around the house that I could use as a prop, in combination with some white flowers that I bought. One thing I was firm about when looking for props was for them to have a cohesive color story, hence the title “warm.” With some fruits, a tiny chest, an amber bottle, and an unused curtain for a backdrop, I set up the shoot. I once again used my desk lamp for lighting. Rule of thirds was used to position the flowers in the sweet spot (lower left and upper right).

With a controlled light source, it was bright, but still not too much since it was indoors, prompting me to use an ISO setting at 250 and shutter speed of 1/60 seconds. Once again, since the photos had still elements, picking the latter was more of a matter of which would be synergistic with the existing brightness. These settings worked the best with the lighting situation. Aperture was fixed at f/1.8, which put the chest of flowers in the depth of field, and the bottle of flowers out of it.

Description

For this theme, I looked to capture the shapes that a candlelight makes as it flickers and moves with the wind. Additionally, I had the idea to capture a steady, still element to contrast with it. I ultimately decided to use a rosary in conjunction with the candles, allowing for a photo that is a symbolism for unwavering faith. The photo brings up dichotomies of darkness and light, stillness and motion.  The shot was indoors, and all the lights were turned off. I did a quick setup of candles and held the rosary in front of the camera, lit by my desk lamp, to take the shot. Using the rule of thirds compositionally, the cross of the rosary was placed on the upper left.

My stylistic choice for the photo was to have the subjects the only visible elements, with the rest being plain darkness. As such, I went with a very low ISO 25. To capture the candlelight in their specific shapes and freeze them, I went with a very fast shutter speed of 1/1011 seconds. Once again, aperture was fixed at f/1.8, with the rosary being in the depth of field and slightly blurring the candles. It adds to the visual element of contrast, with one being of clarity and the other not.