Crit3: Footsteps

I shot my photos using an iPhone 4s with iOS 7.0.4. These two photos above were edited using preset filters that come with the iPhone 4s iOS 7.0.4 program. The top phone was also edited using the app Snapseed 1.6.1.

When I started shooting my extended viewing photos for this assignment, I instantly was drawn to the abilities of panorama shots. I liked how I could portray a certain environment and feel with these photographs by taking a small sliver of the entire scene. In the previous assignments, taking pictures from these views and angles would not have been as successful. If you try and break these panoramas up into pieces they instantly loose their appeal.

Panoramic shots gave me the ability to show everyday objects or scenes that we walk by in a new light. I tried to find unique angles and  play with distortions of straight lines. For example, in the top photo, the street appears very pointed and rounded despite being a regular looking block in Philadelphia. In the second photo, I could make a very static bridge appear to bend and move. Panoramas gave me the ability to manipulate the actual appearance of my subjects without having to edit with the way that I moved the camera. I really enjoyed this more organic and natural process of photography.

Time of day and weather conditions help bring a lot of personality and emotion to my photos. In the top photo I shot in the evening when it was cloudy, which helped capture the isolated emotion that I was trying to achieve. In the bottom photo, the sun manipulated the shadows in a way that created a lot of depth and gave the photo a more whimsical and light vibe.

In both photos I wanted to create an entire scene that captured and drew in the viewer. I titled this blog "Footsteps" because I want the viewer to feel as if they are in my footsteps looking at my perspective of Philadelphia. I want the viewer to feel an emotion and be able to transport into my footsteps into the scene. Through my photography I hope to invite people to have their own experiences and create their own opinions of my scenes.

For both photos above, I applied the "transfer" filter from the edit option directly on the IPhone 4s with iOS 7.0.4. This helps give my photos a warm/brown tone.
For the bottom photo I also adjusted the contrast and shadows to about  +20.

While browsing the internet I found the photographer Michael Penn, who is actually a black and white photographer in Philadelphia. Everyone should definitely check out his work! He sees lots of things in a very unique way and creates beauty out of very simple subjects. Plus it's also fun to see sites we know and love in a new eye! I am unable to insert his photos directly into this blog, but here is a link so you can look around! http://www.michaelpennphotography.com/PhiladelphiaCityscape.html