On Taking Assignments #9 - Perspective

Jason Faucera March 16, 2015

When I left the area I was shooting for this assignment to go back to work, I knew I didn't have what I wanted. I had spent my lunch hour searching the streets for a shot that never materialized.

There are days where you go out and can't stop taking pictures, and then there are days where everything on your camera is a bust. I am to the point now where I know in the field if I have hit the mark or not 90% of the time. I come home with images and go through the motions of editing them, but I know in my heart there is nothing on the camera worth keeping.

That is how I felt on this day, and this shot of the bridge light posts was the only shot I kept. While I wasn't successful in finding a shot for the perspective assignment, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the day was a complete waste of time.

First off, even though it doesn't meet the goals I had when I went out to shoot, I do like this shot. I was exploring the bridge in this scene when some really dark clouds approached from the east. The sun was still in the foreground, so the contrast between light and dark was pretty amazing to see. Shortly after I took this shot I had to seek shelter from the hail that followed.

So even though I was searching for other shots, I didn't pass on shots I found in the process of looking. I try to leave myself open for pleasant surprises, and many times that openness rewards me and I come home with something unexpected.

I never look at trips out with the camera as a waste of time regardless of the outcomes because part of what I love about photography is that it motivates me to see things I may never have seen otherwise. I will go out of my way for little else, but when it comes to taking photos, I am always ready to ignore the beaten bath in search of a new perspective.

I guess in that regard, this assignment was a success.

On Taking Assignments

I frequently listen to the On Taking Pictures (OTP) podcast, which I highly recommend to anyone looking for good conversation about creativity, especially as it related to photography. In January 2014 the hosts, Bill Wadman and Jeffery Saddoris, began a new segment of weekly assignments that they gave to listeners. Results of the assignments are posted on the OTP Google Plus group. I decided that I would commit myself to the assignments for a year without interruption, and that I would complete each one before the next assignment was announced on the show each Tuesday morning. My 'On Taking Assignments' blog posts are the culmination of my year-long focus on these assignments.

Ideas and Imagery #54

Jason Faucera March 10, 2015

Eastern Oregon is a beautiful place to shoot. I spent a few days in the Baker City area in Fall 2014 and came home with more than a few great shots.

This buck was working his way across a field at dusk. I love the soft evening light and the green, blue, and brown palette. Seeing these animals never gets old.

On Taking Assignments #8 - Diptych

Jason Faucera March 8, 2015

The Diptych assignment was a bit of a departure for me.

I often shoot multiple images in the same area with a similar theme, each able to stand on its own. I've even gone so far as to display them together, but in those instances the individual photos didn't depend on the other images to deliver their message. In fact, it was not my goal at all to shoot images that were dependent on other images to communicate.

My goal with this assignment was to shoot multiple photos with the intention of communicating one message from both photos. In other words the photos individually would not have the same message of the photos together.

My first Diptych above contained pictures that focused on sensory perception. The patches of color focused on seeing and color as sense. The picture of the eighth note was meant to suggest hearing and sound. Each photo can stand alone, but when they are combined they bring the sensory theme into the forefront.

I like the though of seeing music as color or hearing color as music. Our senses are often intertwined, making them difficult to separate. There are seven distinct notes played in a major scale before finishing with the last note a repeat of the first, only an octave higher. There are seven colors in the visible spectrum.

In fact, Isaac Newton correlated colors and music, among other things in his 17th century writings. Here is a quote from the Wikipedia article on the Visible Spectrum:

"Newton divided the spectrum into seven named colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. He chose seven colors out of a belief, derived from the ancient Greek sophists, of there being a connection between the colors, the musical notes, the known objects in the solar system, and the days of the week."

In addition to the senses, I found symbols to be useful in this exercise. Below is another Diptych from the assignment that conveys something completely different when the images are interpreted together.

This assignment was really interesting and it introduced a new format for presenting my photos that I otherwise would not likely have tried.

On Taking Assignments

On Taking Assignments #7 - Familiar Faces

Jason Faucera March 4, 2015

My two favorite subjects and the reason I wanted to learn how to take better pictures.

On Taking Assignments

Ideas and Imagery #53

Jason Faucera March 4, 2015

Three...it's the magic number. I love the repetition and arrangement of these cows at the fair. It makes me think they are singing a sweet little ditty about something and that they are getting ready to swing their heads the other way. The lead singer is stage center and the backup vocals are on the wings like something out of a 50's doo-wop act.

On Taking Assignments #6 - After Dark

Jason Faucera March 1, 2015

I've not delved too far into portraiture in my photography. It is something I am interested in, but I just haven't made the time to tackle it on a regular basis. The On Taking Pictures assignments then were the perfect place to begin to ease my way into the world of portraits.

I shot this with one flash positioned camera right with a homemade snoot. Self-portraiture is a lot more difficult than it seems because focus and lighting positioning are tedious. There are tricks to nailing focus, but I was too lazy to look them up. As a result I walked back and forth between the camera and couch more frequently than I'd like to admit.

All in all, I thought this was a solid shot that conveyed the scene I was trying to enact. Even though there is some spill onto the background and a little spot on the record as well, I thought the light position worked great, focusing on my body with good falloff toward my legs. Also there is just enough of the records lit to see them and a tiny spiral shadow from the headphone cable that helps add a bit of depth.

I tried a few self portraits with the assignments with results that I liked, and feel like I was able to finally get some portraits under my belt.

On Taking Assignments

Ideas and Imagery #52

Jason Faucera February 25, 2015

I really like the richness in this photo. Warm tones bathe the grass and the barn, which has great presence among the grass and cows. This photo was from just outside Baker City, Oregon which is a beautiful place. I am lucky to be able to travel around to different parts of the state. Oregon is truly diverse and full of incredible photographic opportunity.

On Taking Assignments #5 - My Town

Jason Faucera February 25, 2015

Though I moved to a neighboring area of Portland in 2013, Oregon City is the place I chose to shoot the My Town OTP assignment. I still spend a lot of time in and around the downtown area and it is where I frequently go to create new imagery.

The My Town assignment took place in February right after the only significant snowstorm of the year. The snow provided a nice contrast to the pavement and other surfaces that blend into the surroundings the rest of the year.

The shot of the highway curling around to the bridge is one of my favorite shots of the year and the assignment helped me to find this composition, which I had never noticed previously. The shot from inside the Oregon City Elevator tunnel looking out to the Oregon City Bridge shows the great symmetry of these two iconic downtown landmarks, and the shot of the tanks covered in snow emphasizes the great shapes of an abandoned factory.

Oregon City is a great mix of old and new. Historically rich, the downtown is a time capsule from multiple eras, none recent. There is so much character in this place that seems a bit neglected at first glance, waiting to be rediscovered. Changes are in motion for the city founded in 1829 and that was the first city west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. My hope is that the unique character remains.

On Taking Assignments

On Taking Assignments #4 - Texture

Jason Faucera February 18, 2015

It's really surprising how much light affects texture in photographs. Conceptually, texture is easy to create with directional light.

I used a flash to shoot the black and white shots above, angled parallel to the surface plane of the objects. The result is very similar to long shadows at sunrise or sunset (when the sun lights along the earth's surface instead of straight down upon it) where an object of very small height can cast a significant shadow.

When sidelit, even a relatively smooth surface such as paper shows its texture. Shadows form on the surface from the fibers and the result is completely different to what you normally perceive with a book, which is a smooth page.

Below is a sample of 4 different shots where nothing changed but the position of the light. The difference between the first and last shot is such that they look like different objects. Try lighting a portrait in this fashion and two different people will appear.

This was an interesting assignment and a good reminder that photographs are as much about the light as they are about the object being photographed.

On Taking Assignments

Ideas and Imagery #51

Jason Faucera February 18, 2015

Structures like these are becoming a bit harder to find. Many of these older structures are either torn down or replaced by more modern equivalents. The character of these stave silos is great. It was fun to find an arrangement that was so photogenic.