For my Assignment 4: Bucketlist, I strolled around ARCA South with a few friends to capture new photos applying what I learned in Module 2. My device (Iphone 11) for capturing photos does not have the Shutter Speed feature so I had to improvise how can I capture motion with only what I have. Click the arrows on the picture to see camera settings!
Before walking to my designated photowalk place, I stopped by an old tree where it regrew its leaves. One of my first captures during this activity was this photo from our garden. I titled this piece "A Bug's POV" because it shows how tall and big these leaves are when you're small as an insect. It also reminded me of the movie itself, "A Bug's Life" where everything else is big and huge.
The technique composition found in this photo was the diagonal line leading the eyes to the tall height of the trees where it is blurry, the more farther away. The diagonal shot of the branch shows an illusion that the eyes are leading upward showing how tall the plant is. This was the work of large aperture with a f/1.8 and with a ISO of 32, helping the lens focus more on the leaves closer while still having the shape of the leaves from the background visible but blurred and less grainy effect. I shot this photo from the root part of the plant capturing the shadows and shades beneath the light exposing the leaves.
I love how the Fibonacci sequence is very visible as the leaves fade away making it look balanced. From the big healthy leaf to the yellow dying leaves that soon to be leaf-ing (leaving) the tree, I like how it shows that it's already summer (tagtuyot).
Natural lighting can be seen in this photo, but since my ISO is set to 32, the photo captures the shadows and shades from the bottom of the leaves making it less harsh. Although the glimpses of natural light can still be seen on few parts of the photo, the help of large aperture of f/1.8 softens and parts away the sky and the other trees in the background.
This photo reminds me of taking breaks. The signal light that I captured that night was letting the vehicles know that there is a pedestrian where many people are crossing roads. The lights from the buildings in the background, the darkness of the sky, the reflection of the signal light of an incoming car on the walking sign, it all pieces a peaceful and quiet night stroll.
Setting it to ISO 1250 helped with the dim lighting minimizing grain and noise in the photo. Compared to my other photos taken during this activity, this photo specifically had a higher ISO to capture light in the dark without being harsh to the eyes (lens). Since my aperture was set to f/1.8, the photo shows a wide depth in field but still emphasizes on the signal light. I also set the exposure value to -1 to darken the setting a bit.
There are two flowers that can be seen in the photo. The first one is a dying flower serving as the emphasis of my capture, while the second is the blooming one behind it. This photo shows the two cycles of life: birth and death.
I set the aperture to f/1.8 using portrait mode in my device mimicking a Bokeh look. With the blurred background contrasting with the dead flower, setting to ISO 32, this caught the warm and cozy feeling of the sun's atmosphere (This was taken around 4 PM in Taguig City where the sun was still burning our skin!)
If I were to capture this using a camera, I would be setting the shutter speed to high for a more steady look. The photos I took of the bikers were grainy because of the lack of adjustment in shutter speed and aperture. Although I adjusted the aperture to f/1.8 to capture the natural lighting and saturation of the sky and trees in the background, the automatic shutter speed for my device is set to 1/1193 s. The ISO was also set to ISO 32 avoiding overexposure and minimal noise.
I chose this photo rather than the rest to better focus on the details of how the people look while they bike. I also really like that all three of them are smiling because they noticed a bunch of people who had a camera before the bump on the road. I love how the focus of this capture was the first biker without having to blur the background or the others.