Picturing New York. Photographs from the Museum of Modern Art.
I have just checked out this book which I found at the local library. It provides an interesting history of photos in a place which has been heavily photographed for most of photographys history! The emphasis is on the MOMA, which has supported photography for many years, and includes work by 'famous' photographers, and also a few news photos and unknown photographer shots. I found it to be really enjoyable to look at. There are a couple of beautiful Alfred Stieglitz photos (Flatiron Building, 1903 in particular) - I quite like the soft focus and dreamy character. The early shots of 'skyscrapers' are great, and I also really liked some of the clever cropping and unusual lenses used in the 1920s (eg Bernice Abbott and Ralph Steiner). A real minimalist photo that I liked (particularly in it's B&W nature and strong geometric design) is Charles Sheeler 'United Nations Secretariat, 1951. The range of subjects is incredibly diverse, the 1940s section in particular - from shopfronts, to subway portraits (Walker Evans), abstract unusual views (Lisette Model, Times Square, 1940), blurred lights & distorted focus & double exposures, studio portraits (Irving Penn), and a couple of real comedy shots - such as Helen Levitt (New York. c. 1945 - a shot of a woman bending over with her hed in her childs pram, the child is grinning hysterically!). Also Weegee's 'the critic', 1943 is a classic comedy shot of three women, two dressed quite smartly with a third caught looking on with a look of criticism - fabulous capture! The range of photographs seem to capture every aspect of life in the city, and the photographers whos names we (mostly) now know very well appear to have grasped something of the soul of the city. A few more favourites: Lee Friedlander, 'New York City, 1966' - a street photo of a womans head from behind (in fur) with the shadow of a man on the top - it looks like the man is wearing her head as a hat!! This is a fun book and I'm really glad I picked it up for a look.
Published by the Museum of Modern Art
ISBN: 978-0-87070-763-6
Friday, 16 July 2010
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Project 50: Rain
This project has been somewhat long in the taking! I have found opportunities to get out in the rain difficult to manage, however we have had some good rain in the last few weeks (Scottish Summer and all), and I have actually taken the camera out with me. I have found it surprisingly rewarding taking photos in the rain. Everything feels fresh and new and the colours are vibrant and exciting. Even my photo of a discarded desk next to a bin is more exciting than it would have been in bland sunshine or cloud. The presence of water around seems to be very cleansing. I also very much enjoyed seeing the water droplets on the foliage of plants when I was out and about. While I have noticed this before, having my camera in my hand while out walking made me notice them _much_ more than I ever have before. One of my first interests in photography was macro photos of flowers (something I have not pursued in years!) and I never used rain to my advantage - it really makes flowers and plants look beautiful!
I have included one photo taken on holiday in Venice last year as I like the effect of a city scene doused in water - in this case the lights reflecting are particularly effective.
I am a little frustrated that I didn't push to finish this particular project earlier, though I did have the challenge of the fact we had masses of snow in winter and not much rain. I feel like since I have finished it now I feel more confident taking photos in inclement weather and that the results are going to be pleasing. Perhaps I just needed the time to realise this anyway. However, here are the photos that I have produced.
Photo 1. Venice, a rainy evening in the square.
35mm, f/11, 4s, ISO200, tripod
Photo 2. Abandoned desk next to rubbish bin. I quite like the quirky factor in this shot.
50mm, f/4, 1/250s, ISO500
Photo 3. Chair and leaves. A simple photo which is made a bit stronger by the bold colours which are brought out by the rain.
50mm, f/4, 1/180s, ISO200, -1/2EV to saturate colour
Photo 4. Yellow flower. Shallow DOF in this case makes the yellow flower punchy. I tried another photo with -1/2EV but I found I preferred the colour in this photo.
50mm, f/1.8, 1/1000s, ISO200
Photo 5. White flowers. In this photo the presence of rain is not obvious, but I felt like the colours and background were influenced by the rain, and the same shot in strong sunlight would have not worked as well.
68mm, f/2.8, 1/1500s, ISO500
Photo 6. Pink flower. I tried to slightly increase the DOF in this photo to have more of the flower in focus. In retrospect use of a tripod would have been better here and in that situation I could have increased the DOF more, though the flowers were moving around in the wind that accompanied the rain.
64mm, f/5.6 1/250s, ISO500, -1/2EV to saturate colour
In retrospect, I probably didn't need the ISO as high as I pushed it, as by using large apertures I could easily handhold at the shutter speeds selected by the camera. However I have found low light levels to be a problem before in the rain, which is why I set the camera up this way. The rain got heavier and heavier while I was out, so I didn't play with my settings very much!!
I have included one photo taken on holiday in Venice last year as I like the effect of a city scene doused in water - in this case the lights reflecting are particularly effective.
I am a little frustrated that I didn't push to finish this particular project earlier, though I did have the challenge of the fact we had masses of snow in winter and not much rain. I feel like since I have finished it now I feel more confident taking photos in inclement weather and that the results are going to be pleasing. Perhaps I just needed the time to realise this anyway. However, here are the photos that I have produced.
Photo 1. Venice, a rainy evening in the square.
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| From Project_50 |
35mm, f/11, 4s, ISO200, tripod
Photo 2. Abandoned desk next to rubbish bin. I quite like the quirky factor in this shot.
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| From Project_50 |
50mm, f/4, 1/250s, ISO500
Photo 3. Chair and leaves. A simple photo which is made a bit stronger by the bold colours which are brought out by the rain.
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| From Project_50 |
50mm, f/4, 1/180s, ISO200, -1/2EV to saturate colour
Photo 4. Yellow flower. Shallow DOF in this case makes the yellow flower punchy. I tried another photo with -1/2EV but I found I preferred the colour in this photo.
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| From Project_50 |
50mm, f/1.8, 1/1000s, ISO200
Photo 5. White flowers. In this photo the presence of rain is not obvious, but I felt like the colours and background were influenced by the rain, and the same shot in strong sunlight would have not worked as well.
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| From Project_50 |
68mm, f/2.8, 1/1500s, ISO500
Photo 6. Pink flower. I tried to slightly increase the DOF in this photo to have more of the flower in focus. In retrospect use of a tripod would have been better here and in that situation I could have increased the DOF more, though the flowers were moving around in the wind that accompanied the rain.
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| From Project_50 |
64mm, f/5.6 1/250s, ISO500, -1/2EV to saturate colour
In retrospect, I probably didn't need the ISO as high as I pushed it, as by using large apertures I could easily handhold at the shutter speeds selected by the camera. However I have found low light levels to be a problem before in the rain, which is why I set the camera up this way. The rain got heavier and heavier while I was out, so I didn't play with my settings very much!!
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Exercise 12: Close and Involved
I spent Saturday morning photographing the Edinburgh Farmers Market and the characters there. I used my f/2.8 17-35mm lens at the widest angle, which is roughly equivalent to 25mm. I had previously been using my telephoto lens at 200mm, so the change was very dramatic when I put the wide angle on. I found I had the lens right up close to people which if they noticed could be a bit intimidating, but most people simply didn't realise that they were in the photo at all! This made for great fun, and I could capture people and their strange expressions!!
In this series of photos the guy with the dog actually posed for me, so I just took a quick snap (metering was challenging in the bright sunshine), but I don't think anyone else really noticed what I was doing. Sometimes people tried to get out of my way, as if I was photographing something else, so I just smiled and kept on shooting generally. I found the technique of keeping the camera down and then bringing it up quickly to take a shot worked quite well.
I don't like the way the backgrounds are all in focus, pretty much regardless of what aperture I used. However, I tried to use this to my advantage in a few shots by filling the background with other people. And I attempted to avoid blown-out bright backgrounds where possible. I think flash would be useful in this situation but I'm not quite comfortable enough to do the Martin-Parr-style street photography yet!!
Most of the stall-holders I photographed seemed quite happy for me to do so, they probably assumed I was a tourist photographing their lovely wares. It was fun capturing the expressions of people, but generally I found using the wide-angle lens to be more challenging than the telephoto. It was hard to get close enough to people to fill the frame, and because of the optics of the lens in some cases people look a little distorted. However, being able to capture, for example, the produce on the table, the stallholder and a customer all in one photo is effective. I think with some more practice (like all photography hey??), using this lens could be even more fun than standing back with the telephoto.
I've put my best photos below, my favourite is the final one, with the elderly man trying to get out of my way and the little girl in the background. His expression is priceless :)
In this series of photos the guy with the dog actually posed for me, so I just took a quick snap (metering was challenging in the bright sunshine), but I don't think anyone else really noticed what I was doing. Sometimes people tried to get out of my way, as if I was photographing something else, so I just smiled and kept on shooting generally. I found the technique of keeping the camera down and then bringing it up quickly to take a shot worked quite well.
I don't like the way the backgrounds are all in focus, pretty much regardless of what aperture I used. However, I tried to use this to my advantage in a few shots by filling the background with other people. And I attempted to avoid blown-out bright backgrounds where possible. I think flash would be useful in this situation but I'm not quite comfortable enough to do the Martin-Parr-style street photography yet!!
Most of the stall-holders I photographed seemed quite happy for me to do so, they probably assumed I was a tourist photographing their lovely wares. It was fun capturing the expressions of people, but generally I found using the wide-angle lens to be more challenging than the telephoto. It was hard to get close enough to people to fill the frame, and because of the optics of the lens in some cases people look a little distorted. However, being able to capture, for example, the produce on the table, the stallholder and a customer all in one photo is effective. I think with some more practice (like all photography hey??), using this lens could be even more fun than standing back with the telephoto.
I've put my best photos below, my favourite is the final one, with the elderly man trying to get out of my way and the little girl in the background. His expression is priceless :)
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
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| From Exercise_12 |
Exercise 11: Standing Back
I spent Saturday morning photographing the Edinburgh Farmers Market and the characters there. I used my f/2.8 70-200mm lens which is a large, heavy white lens which stands out. I have noted in other students postings the challenges of using a lens like this in a public place because you are really noticed. I knew that this could be a problem before I went, but I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to take photos without being noticed. I think this is mainly because it was really busy and people were concentrating on the stalls & produce, not on other people around. There were a few other photographers out too, and it is a common place for tourists to visit, so perhaps it was a good place to pull out the big lens.
My first photos were not great - a few blurry, some out of focus and I had some real challenges with metering in the bright sunlight. As I realised this, I adjusted some settings, and waited for the patches of cloud to drift past the sun to take my photos, and also chose my position more carefully so I wasn't shooting towards the sun. I also became more aware of the background of my photo, and tried to avoid bright spots (eg from vans in the background etc). I wandered through the market a few times and gradually felt more comfortable taking photos. Towards the end of the morning I simply stood in one spot and shot a few photos of people in the distance, exchanging money, chatting, drinking coffee. I felt a little like shooting prey on a safari, but I did like the feel of being able to stand back and take photos without people noticing, or at least most people not being aware of me.
It was a shame that a number of people were wearing sunglasses, though I guess this is a common problem, however it would be nicer if their eyes were not covered. I took a lot of photos and have chosen what I consider to be the best ones and display them below. I have tried to choose a mix of people - some young, some older, some were watching a cooking demonstration, others are simply walking around. I have cropped in close with some, and tried to capture a bit of background in others. This was really fun project and a good challenge for me. I really enjoyed using the long lens to grab shots of people, and I quite like the effect of the telephoto - blurred backgrounds and foregrounds in some shots. This really makes the subject 'jump' out of the photo I think.
These people were watching a cooking demonstration and were easy to take lots of photos of.
A stylish young lady with her fancy sunglasses on.
Even though she is blurred in the foreground, I really like the capture of this girl with her mother.
This lady seemed very expressive.
I found sometimes people walked through the shot as I was taking it, and sometimes the shallow DOF didn't work so well, but overall I found using the telephoto quite good. If I was more clever, I think you could play with juxtaposition with the telephoto lens, but I have not managed to do that in this set of photos. I think my favourite photo is of the mother & daughter, the young girl is out of focus but she looks directly at the camera (I think she noticed me), she is biting her lip and the mother is looking at something in the stall. I think it is an interesting image.
My first photos were not great - a few blurry, some out of focus and I had some real challenges with metering in the bright sunlight. As I realised this, I adjusted some settings, and waited for the patches of cloud to drift past the sun to take my photos, and also chose my position more carefully so I wasn't shooting towards the sun. I also became more aware of the background of my photo, and tried to avoid bright spots (eg from vans in the background etc). I wandered through the market a few times and gradually felt more comfortable taking photos. Towards the end of the morning I simply stood in one spot and shot a few photos of people in the distance, exchanging money, chatting, drinking coffee. I felt a little like shooting prey on a safari, but I did like the feel of being able to stand back and take photos without people noticing, or at least most people not being aware of me.
It was a shame that a number of people were wearing sunglasses, though I guess this is a common problem, however it would be nicer if their eyes were not covered. I took a lot of photos and have chosen what I consider to be the best ones and display them below. I have tried to choose a mix of people - some young, some older, some were watching a cooking demonstration, others are simply walking around. I have cropped in close with some, and tried to capture a bit of background in others. This was really fun project and a good challenge for me. I really enjoyed using the long lens to grab shots of people, and I quite like the effect of the telephoto - blurred backgrounds and foregrounds in some shots. This really makes the subject 'jump' out of the photo I think.
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| From Exercise_11 |
These people were watching a cooking demonstration and were easy to take lots of photos of.
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
A stylish young lady with her fancy sunglasses on.
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
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| From Exercise_11 |
Even though she is blurred in the foreground, I really like the capture of this girl with her mother.
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| From Exercise_11 |
This lady seemed very expressive.
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| From Exercise_11 |
I found sometimes people walked through the shot as I was taking it, and sometimes the shallow DOF didn't work so well, but overall I found using the telephoto quite good. If I was more clever, I think you could play with juxtaposition with the telephoto lens, but I have not managed to do that in this set of photos. I think my favourite photo is of the mother & daughter, the young girl is out of focus but she looks directly at the camera (I think she noticed me), she is biting her lip and the mother is looking at something in the stall. I think it is an interesting image.
Exercise 10: Movement & Gesture
I spent Saturday morning photographing the Edinburgh Farmers Market and the characters there. I played with different lenses (for the next few exercise), and also managed to capture a variety of movement and gesture photos.
I took a series of photos of the Falko stand (our favourite German bakery), and saw a woman who looked like a bit of a character, so took about 15 photos of her (using a telephoto, so I was not noticed). I have chosen 5 which show interesting facial expressions and gestures. I quite like the last photo as it puts everything into a bit more context by including arms of a customer and the seller exchanging money in the foreground.
I also photographed one of the entertainers on the stage, she was easy to photograph because she stayed in one place, had a variety of facial expressions and I could just stand back and take photos. She was singing and playing guitar, and I think a couple of the photos are reasonable. However because she was singing her mouth looked a bit strange in a few shots. I find this a challenge when photographing people talking/singing etc, however in this case it gives her a fun variety of expressions!! I have included 5 photos of her below.
I found using the telephoto lens good for capturing gesture & movement, as it enabled me to stand at a distance and take repeated photos of the same person/people. This is not so easy with the wider angle lenses. Taking repeated photos of people means you are more likely to be noticed, so this is something to take into account. I got more comfortable taking photos throughout the morning.
I took a series of photos of the Falko stand (our favourite German bakery), and saw a woman who looked like a bit of a character, so took about 15 photos of her (using a telephoto, so I was not noticed). I have chosen 5 which show interesting facial expressions and gestures. I quite like the last photo as it puts everything into a bit more context by including arms of a customer and the seller exchanging money in the foreground.
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
I also photographed one of the entertainers on the stage, she was easy to photograph because she stayed in one place, had a variety of facial expressions and I could just stand back and take photos. She was singing and playing guitar, and I think a couple of the photos are reasonable. However because she was singing her mouth looked a bit strange in a few shots. I find this a challenge when photographing people talking/singing etc, however in this case it gives her a fun variety of expressions!! I have included 5 photos of her below.
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
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| From Exercise_10 |
I found using the telephoto lens good for capturing gesture & movement, as it enabled me to stand at a distance and take repeated photos of the same person/people. This is not so easy with the wider angle lenses. Taking repeated photos of people means you are more likely to be noticed, so this is something to take into account. I got more comfortable taking photos throughout the morning.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Day 2, portrait 2
Today I went out in the rain to take some photos. Already this project has forced me to make some changes to my photography - I put on my lightest lens (the plastic fantastic - 50mm f/1.8) because I was already laden with my 5 month old and all the associated paraphernalia (one of the main reasons I have not been taking photos much lately). This meant that I could whip the camera out when I needed to take a photo and not worry about changing focal length. This is good for street photography, though some people would certainly say that a shorter focal length would be better (it is closer to 80mm full frame equivalent). Anyway, it suited my purposes for today.
Today's photo is of a young woman waiting at the bus stop - she is nicely looking up at the electronic board which tells us when the next bus approaches. I don't think she noticed me taking a few snaps, and I am quite happy with this photo. I have cropped a little to remove some bright reflections from the left side of the photo from the wet road. I really like the way the umbrella frames the photograph, and her hands are neatly crossing her chest.
Today's photo is of a young woman waiting at the bus stop - she is nicely looking up at the electronic board which tells us when the next bus approaches. I don't think she noticed me taking a few snaps, and I am quite happy with this photo. I have cropped a little to remove some bright reflections from the left side of the photo from the wet road. I really like the way the umbrella frames the photograph, and her hands are neatly crossing her chest.
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| From Portrait_Project |
Exercise 9: A comfortable situation
According the the notes in my study guide, the aim of this section (People Unaware) is to have the “confidence and skills to tackle street photography … without being conspicuous while still being able to make effective compositions with good timing” hmm... somewhat of a bit challenge I think! Nonetheless, I'll have a go.
I chose for this project to take photographs while on a recent holiday in Northumberland. We were staying in a cottage right next to Hadrians Wall, and went for a few walks along it. One day I took my camera along and aimed it at the other walkers/holiday makers. It was easy to take photos of the scenery, but I found it quite challenging to take shots of the people there. Most of my photos are actually backs of heads/people, which is not terribly interesting to look at! I think I gradually improved over the morning, but never felt very comfortable.
I used the lens I normally have on my camera – 24 to 70mm, which is roughly equivalent to 35 to100mm full frame. In the chosen 12 photos I have used most of this range except the widest angles. The subjects are generally quite small in the photos, but this is partly a factor of the environment. Given that the area is quite large (ie the wall is long, and there is a large area to walk in), it meant that although busy with people, they were generally spread out. This meant that I couldn't get really close to people without it seeming strange (and very obvious!). At least one pair of people noticed I was taking their photo (no. 3), but it didn't seem to matter.
It was fun to undertake this project, and I found I did slowly get more comfortable throughout the morning. I am moderately happy with the photos, and my favourite is number 10.
Photo 1.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 2.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 3.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 4.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 5.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 6.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 7.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 8.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 9.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 10.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 11.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Photo 12.
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| From Exercise_9 |
Note to self: Next time I will use multi-shoot on the camera – that way if the person's expression improves I can capture a few photos in sequence more easily.
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