Photo Diary Jan 9-15 2024
Liam Robertson
This past week from January 9th to the 15th I was tasked with creating a daily photo diary, focusing on composition and subject. I captured all of my images throughout my week on my phone, capturing moments as they happened.
Jan 9th
Legal Lines
This image was taken during an in-class exercise about composition. I chose the subject of the law books for the potential symmetry and almost perfect pattern with almost identical spines. I chose to shoot them on an angle creating leading lines that draw the viewer’s eye from left to right and create the feeling that the books keep going even out of frame, which they do.
Jan 10th
Winter Wandering
For this image, I was at the gas station on my way home in some bad weather. The bright lights really emphasized the texture of the snow and I managed to capture the person walking through, braving the storm, so to speak. I put the person roughly on the rule of thirds line while also keeping a lot of negative space to again, emphasize the texture of the snow against the dark night sky.
Jan 11th
Red Swan
When I was picking up a pizza on the way home I noticed the sign of this place my family and I often order from and I liked the design so I decided to take a picture for my photo diary. I chose to underexpose the image to make the illuminated sign pop while also capturing it at an angle to lead the viewer’s eye through the photo.
Jan 12th
Behind the Scenes
This photo is a simple behind-the-scenes shot from my capture class on Friday. I chose to shoot the photo wide and under-expose it slightly to create a lot of negative space through the shadows, to draw the eye to the camera and egg on the illuminated and colourful table.
Jan 13th
Lincoln Fields
This photo was taken on another commute. It depicts one side of Lincoln Fields Station as seen from the other. I framed the bus shelter in the middle of the image touching the edges of the frame to show it’s longer than just what’s in the picture. I also tried to use my phone’s “long exposure” feature to capture the movement of a bus to show the busyness of the station, though its capabilities are limited.
Jan 14th
Personal Space
This is a photo of my girlfriend with my dog, who does not understand the concept of personal space. She and I were talking while she petted him, and I thought it was a cute moment that I wanted to capture for my diary. I framed my girlfriend using the rule of thirds and giving her the lead room because she was looking at the camera and smiling.
Jan 15th
Way Home's Sunset
Finally, this image is of the sunset on my commute home. I took the photo from a spot where I could include a lot of foreground elements such as the shelters, road, and lights, to keep the viewer in my perspective, with the setting being apparent. Then the top image of course shows the soft golden sunlight on the clouds and the horizon.
After completing this photo diary, I can say it was a great exercise in capturing candid moments and a positive learning experience. However, the choice to take all my shots on my phone I believe affected my results somewhat negatively, with the seemingly inconsistent quality, and lack of fine control of settings, which Is most evident in the long exposure if compared to some of my previous work. That being said, I still find myself agreeing with the phrase “The best camera is the one you have with you”, as these are just some of the photos I captured over the week, with many more for myself.
