I had a ton of fun with the framing assignment this week!  I took lots of pictures today and yesterday, at a variety of different locations  (Even though I just got home today from a 14 hour drive and didn't get any sleep, and could've fallen asleep on my camera.)  These are only a few of my favorites.

I think this one is super cool, because you can see the drips off its beak, and it is framed between the bars.

I'm counting this as having a frame, because the ripples around the mummy and baby swan frame them in the water.

This is more a picture I tried to get, since Lena won't stop moving for two seconds.  She is framed by her tent and toys.

This picture is really more about the process, as I try to frame the music box between other nearby objects, in very poor lighting.

Snoopy(who desperately needed the bath he was about to get) Is framed nicely in the washer and subframed by the open door.

I used a porch door in the foreground to frame the potted plant.

(I really like taking pictures of toys-they're just so fun)  Ducky is framed and shadowed by this cinder block. 

Crocy had been ''put to bed'' by my little sister, and I realized he was nicely framed in the drawer.

It took me a long time to figure out the lighting for this photo so that I could frame it in the window but not lose the detail of the feather with all the inward streaming sunlight. 

 For assignment two, I set out to meet the task given, to take one picture of a subject in the center of the photo, and then another using the rule of thirds.

The lighting wasn't perfect when I took these, but I decided to take them anyway because the scenery was so pretty. I actually like the shadowed look of the bottom picture, but I could have made them a little brighter with the editing software, had I so chosen.  I just wasn't sure if we were supposed to do that with our assignments.  Anyhow, here they are, pictures of my sisters at the Afton Overlook in Virginia yesterday.  I think that using thr rule of thirds made the photo a lot more interesting!

Composition and Aesthetics-What the heck is that and why does it matter?

I really enjoyed both the required reading and searching the web on my own this week.  I learned that if you're willing to look for them, there are tons of great tips and suggestions on the internet that can help greatly improve your photography.  As to the question of this assignment, composition is how a picture is set up:  The placement of objects, the angle, the distribution of colors, everything.  Aesthetics has to do with if people perceive your photo as beautiful, which mostly depends on composition.  These matter because how your photo is perceived is everything, if not by others at least by you.  Composition is how you put together your picture, to make the viewer see the point, to give it a point.  You can have the most beautiful subject in the world, but the composition is what determines the final product. 

The link to what I found the most helpful information I researched on my own is below:  I thought it did a great job explaining complex concepts very simply and touched on multiple points not mentioned in this week's reading or videos.  The most interesting thing about it is the small section near the bottom headed "To please or not to please?" Give it a look, it really made me think.

Click here to see that blog, Photokonnexion.

Here's a simple definition of Aesthetic, from the same blog.

For the lighting assignment, I spent an hour puttering about looking for interesting light sources for my little dinosaur friend here.  Here are my three favorite, but in addition to these, I tried candlelight (reflected off of his varnish and looked creepy and had an awful glare,) dimmed recessed lighting in my kitchen (okay, but gave the picture an ugly yellowish tinge)  and various angles with the flashlight.

Here's Mr. Dinosaur in my favorite type of light--natural light!  I love how pretty photos in natural lighting always come out, and how flattering soft natural light is to people.  As a bonus, it was raining when I took this, so the water droplets are a pretty cool element.

This second photo was taken in complete darkness (I focused the camera and then switched off the light and turned on the flash.)  The light was surprisingly bright.  I also just really like this angle of Mr. Dino's head.

 This last photo is my favorite.  It was taken with natural light coming in from the window on the opposite side of the room, no flash, and then I had my lovely assistant hold a flashlight pointing up near the bottom of the Dinosaur.  I think the spotlight effect and shadow is super cool in this one.

The two color schemes I decided to represent were monochromatic and complementary (though I had to do some research about them to really 'get' it...thanks, Google.)

Here is my first photo, the one that represents the monochrome color scheme.  I like wearing color coordinated outfits, so I decided to roll with that.  I used my tripod and self-timer for this shot.

The second photo, representing the complementary color scheme, features these nifty little yellow-green and red-violet smiley trucks.  

Here is my post for the week three assignment!  I am pleased to announce that I finally received my new camera--this assignment helped me get used to it and learn the new controls.  It's a little challenging learning when to switch lenses. And just HOW to focus everything.  Anywho, here's what I've got!

 The top photo was taken from the ground up (versus the bottom one, which was taken standing tip-toe on a ladder and pointing down) and as a result the float seems a lot bigger in the top photo than it does in the other, and I think it would even if there weren't people there for size comparison.  In both photos, there are large shadowed spaces, which I like.  Both are just one part of the whole, but the top photo gives more of an idea of what the entire thing would look like. 

Which one do you like best and why? 
I really like both of these photos, but I like the top one the very best.  I know it was supposed to be a picture of the object, but I like that the float takes up one half of the photo and then you can see the bustle of the last minute changes going on on the left-hand side.  I also like that the shot catches the shadows beneath the float and how you see the close-up on the wheel and see the barn in the background.
How does this perspective change the photo?
As aforementioned, you can see the bustling on the left, which gives the photo life, but also the fact that you can see the length of it from wheel to barn makes the float seem a lot bigger than it does in other photos, like it does in real life.

Here's my pictures for the week 2 many angles assignment--I decided to take pictures of the float my business class helped the FFA make for the Strolling of the Heifers tomorrow!