Rain Drops Falling

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the students in my group and in other groups on tumblr who gave me feedback on my project 1 - selfie. I really appreciate it. I have learnt so much from this course, from the online content, from ideas and techniques that others have shared in the discussion boards, and here on tumblr.

I originally set up my blog as public, but I would like to change the privacy settings so only ppl who follow me ( who I approve ) can see my blogs. Is this possible ?

After reading the feedback on my selfie submissions for project one, I decided to try and reshoot the photos with the reflection of my hand on the fish tank glass with a fish swimming past. I wasn't able to get the reflection right with the natural light, or the LED light. Then I thought I'd play with placing my paw ( hand ) in the fish tank. My guppies in the other tank love eating my fingers, but my blue dwarf Gourami's are a lot more shy. It was difficult holding my iPhone at an angle with one arm and the other arm deep inside the fish tank. After about 20 minutes, my arm was getting sore, but I managed to capture a few shots that I like. Instead of my reflection of my paw, I think these photos of the fish coming up to my paw are more gentle, there is more of a connection between me and my fish. A bonding session. The photos show my love of water, and marine life.

The moss on the rocks is slippery #TheAdventuresOfLittleAmy #Lego #Photography #mtb

SMPUTAS Visual language Leading lines, the head of the mother kangaroo leaning forward directs the eyes of the viewer to focus on the joey in her pouch - the centre point. The background is a bit distracting, but it's difficult to capture the moment when a joey pops their head out of the pouch, and ensure there are no other animals photo bombing as seen in the bottom right hand corner. I haven't used any software to edit this photo. I was limited with positions, as the sun was setting.

Visual language - week 4 Rummy nose tetras A splash of colour with the bright red noses of the Rummy nose tetras. I've filled the frame with the plants in the background. I shot this photo using my iPhone camera with no flash. I used the LED light from my fish tank.

Visual language - week 4 Blue dwarf gourami A splash of colour with a predominantly empty background. I shot this photo of my blue dwarf gourami after replanting the tank. My fish are expert gardeners and sometimes need a little help replanting. Or maybe they prefer the plants floating in the tank. I used my iPhone camera, with the flash off. I have a LED light on top of the tank. I like how the green baby tears plants add a bit of contrast. I think this photo also has the rule of thirds with the gravel, plants, and black background with a centre point being my fish. My model or subject ( my fish ) was mostly happy to have his photograph taken. They don't seem to like the reflection of the camera lens, so I angled my phone upwards slightly.

Visual language Little Amy (Lego mini figure ) practicing outdoor / landscape photography in low light on a rainy day. I shot this photo of Little Amy using my Canon 600D with macro setting using a 50mm lens. It had been raining most of the day, the grass was damp, trees blocked out most of the light, and there was cloud cover. I shot this photo for my Facebook page I created for Little Amy. The page is called The Adventures of Little Amy. I created it to combine my love of Lego, outdoors, nature, mountain biking, and photography. I wanted to create a page where I can share photos to make ppl smile, laugh, as well as motivating ppl to be active. It's a happy place. In this photo, I've blurred out the background, but it still shows the outdoors, and what looks like mountains. It's actually a lawn area and I've positioned Little Amy on a small tree root. It has the rule of thirds with the tree root down the bottom, the grass in the middle and a shrub in the top of the photo. I've positioned Little Amy in the foreground to the right so she is the centre point of the photo and the viewers eyes are drawn to her and her Lego camera. The photo has a splash of bright colour with a predominantly green background. With photographing Lego, I often struggle with using a flash or artificial lighting as it reflects off the plastic. I haven't used a flash or other lighting in this photo. I was laying down on my front on the lawn while I shot this photo with the camera pointing upwards slightly to capture more natural light. I welcome all feedback

For project one, I have been experimenting with my reflection in water. I love water. It's calming, refreshing, relaxing. I feel a strong connection with marine life and the ocean. I like how patterns form from waves, or ripples from a pebble dropped in a pond. I have a fish tank next to my bed, on my bedside cabinet, I always wake up feeling happy when I open my eyes and see my fish watching me. I noticed reflections of my timber frame bed on the aquarium glass and then wondered if I could take a photo of the reflections of the shadow of my hand on the glass with a fish swimming past. I tried taking a few photos using my iPhone camera. I liked how they turned out and I was just about to upload a photo onto my Tumblr blog before realising the photo revealed more than I wanted to share. It reminded me of a photo that went viral after being shared on the Ellen Show. A young woman had taken a photo of her new timber door with lead light window panes, that she had just finished staining. She hadn't noticed her own reflection in the glass. Standing there in front of the door wearing just a bra and knickers. Oops! I'm going to try and retake my photo with more clothes on 😊🐳💦🌱📷👙

Visual language The first photo is a building part of the Australian Museum. It's an older building that is being restored. It stands alongside a new section built using mostly glass. I like the character, the history, old charm. I stood almost underneath it and shot this photo looking up, capturing different angles. The frame is filled and the windows are repetitive. The fading blue paint adds colour. In the second photo, I sat down in the garden bed in the botanical gardens and focused on capturing colour and a rose bud representing new life, a new year. I like getting down low and shooting flowers from the view point of bugs and insects. I'm not so sure that the gardeners like me stepping off the path.

Week 4 Visual language - rule of thirds, the golden hour, centre point Seagull modelling for me on Coogee Beach. I think I have covered almost all of the rules, the rule of thirds with the sand, ocean, and sky. The seagull is the centre point. Shooting at the golden hour is the ideal time, no one sunrise is the same.

Project one - selfie Shadows, the golden hour, part of me. In the top 2 photos, I was experimenting with the morning light, and my shadow. I was trying to photograph my hand making the sign for 'I love you' in Australian sign language. In the bottom 2 photos, I was experimenting with photographing parts of my body, my foot and my hand in a rock pool on the harbour in the early morning light. The background of the rock pool, water, moss on the rocks, and marine life reflect my love of, and connection with nature and in particular the ocean and marine life. I had fun photographing my feet and hands, but found it difficult photographing my shadow.

Week 4 visual language. Colour and texture. I thought it would be cool to colour my hair electric blue. I've never coloured my hair blue before. This is a photo of my pillow. When I looked at it, I thought of the project one selfie and the week 4 visual language topic, so I took a photo. Blue is my favourite colour, I like expressing my creativity differently, I think it gives an insight into my unique self.

I am most comfortable behind the camera, than in front of the lens. There are a number of reasons, how I feel about my body, how I look, how others will judge me. I'm comfortable having my photo taken in a group photo with friends, but I've always felt uncomfortable having my photo taken. Taking a selfie is probably one of the most difficult tasks for me in this unit. Which is why I focused on the parts of my body that I like and feel comfortable sharing online. Thinking about fears of sharing selfies online, one of my fears is that once you share something online, it's out there in the big wide world forever! With photo prints in a photo album, you can choose who I want to share my photos with. But once you share a photo online, you lose control over who sees that photo. Even if I choose to share photos only with friends online, there is nothing stopping them from saving the photo or sharing it on. There is a risk that once the photo is in others hands, that they will use photoshop to edit it, or just share it without my permission or consent. I was born in the era before digital natives, only just. So I feel a lot more comfortable with older technologies. I'm not a dinosaur, but I did my growing up without mobile phones that had cameras. The Internet was in its infancy, and most homes only had one desktop computer. When I look back, I liked not being connected 24/7 365 days a year. I actually like turning my phone off and going for a walk or ride in a national park or to the beach for a swim. I like being in the moment, whether it's with ppl I care about, talking to ppl I don't know, or alone listening to the sounds of nature around me. Going back to the topic of selfies, when I grew up, I made mistakes like most ppl did, but only the ppl who were with me at the time will remember what happened. There are no selfies or photos of me getting drunk when I was 14 years old and thinking it would be a good idea to go to school ( drunk ! ). My teachers and classmates will remember, but there is no online record to haunt me for years to come. I've seen how it can upset ppl when they share a selfie with their friends, and it ends up being Photoshopped and edited or turned into a meme without their permission. So I guess that's why I fear sharing selfies online. The loss of control over who sees it, and of being judged.

Week 4 Working with natural light. The top left photo is an early morning shot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge stairs ( southern side ) looking up. I like the look of the original lamp posts still lit with the light from the rising sun above. I sat down on the bottom of the stairs and shot the photo looking up. The sun is rising from the east which in this photo is on the right side. In the second photo, I sat on the ground underneath a garden feature and looked up at the morning light. All of the photos were taken on my phone camera. I walked through a park looking for different angles. The third photo is of the same stair case, but a different angle, and I waited a bit longer for the sun to rise. In the fourth photo, I shot a portrait of little Amy sitting on a rock on the harbour. I like the green moss underneath her. It's difficult photographing little Amy in both natural and artificial light as the plastic Lego reflects light. I sometimes use filters on spot lights if I'm shooting at night to deflect the light, or I try and photograph her in the shade or indoors. Look up 'The Adventures Of Little Amy' on Facebook for more photos of little Amy and her friends. I've combined my hobbies of Lego, mountain biking, nature and photography to create a page to make ppl smile and be happy. In the last photo, I'm standing on a landing after climbing up the first set of stairs on the harbour bridge, looking down at the road below. This area is The Rocks in Sydney, one of the oldest areas in NSW. I like the old historic buildings.