An Umbrella and A Semester in Branson

An Umbrella and A Semester in Branson, a photo by TheLouisianaJackhammer on Flickr.

I shot a lot of black and white during this season. I like the way my camera converts to black and white, but the preference also corresponded to my black and white photo 1 class, which I was taking at the time. I remember being amazed by a print that a color photography student was working on—it had been so long since I'd seen any color! I caught a glimpse of the wonder the oldies must have had when they reeled out color film.

1/4000s at f/2.0 ISO 800

An Umbrella and A Semester in Branson

An Umbrella and A Semester in Branson, a photo by TheLouisianaJackhammer on Flickr.

Kara's become a great model for me. She'd better get used to the camera being in her face if she wants to stick around for long. She's become more comfortable over time, and I've learned a lot by being able to practice shooting and working with people as subject matter. Plus, I can usually say something hilarious and get a smile out of her.

1/4000s f/2.0 ISO 800

An Umbrella and A Semester in Branson

An Umbrella and A Semester in Branson, a photo by TheLouisianaJackhammer on Flickr.

I miss traveling to Branson every weekend. Its strange to experience the side of the city that isn't shows and theme parks. In doing so, I've learned to like it a bit more. Every Saturday or Sunday, we'd walk along the Landing, browse the thrift shops downtown, hit up some Dairy Queen. Sometimes we'd venture out to Tablerock. But we always seemed to end up in Stockstill Park, just off the main drag, to take a walk on its trail. We must have been expecting rain on this occasion—we bought a new umbrella in anticipation.

1/4000s at f/2.0 ISO 800

1/2000 Second: Shutter Speed and Depth of Field at the St. Louis Zoo

1/2000 Second: Shutter Speed and Depth of Field at the St. Louis Zoo, a photo by TheLouisianaJackhammer on Flickr.

A note for the photographer--several of the early images I'm posting were taken in the effort to achieve the fastest possible shutter speed. What's the use of having an f/1.8 if you don't have the “sharpest” image possible, right? I shot at very wide apertures and, for the most part, at ISO 800. I made a lot of mistakes doing this, but gained a greater understand and appreciation for depth of field. Its not really worth having an extremely fast shutter speed if you only have a tiny sliver of focus.

Not to be one of those people who complains about digital and asserts that film is superior, but digital lenses don't typically come with depth of field and focus scales like manual lenses usually do. A scale like this would come in handy, not just guessing at depth of field, but intentionally selecting an aperture to get what you want in focus. I suppose they just expect you to trial and error different apertures until you get the depth of field you want.

1/2000s at f/2.0 ISO 800

Limitations and Creativity: St. Louis Zoo

Limitations and Creativity: St. Louis Zoo, a photo by TheLouisianaJackhammer on Flickr.

Limitations inspire creativity. I would even say there would be no creativity without limitations. Limitations create challenges, and creativity overcomes challenges. Its as simple as that. Think of aviation—people can't fly, that's a challenge to overcome. So bam, we invent the aeroplane. And you can always tell who the least creative art students are—they gripe the most about completing the assignment and not being able to do what they want. Our instructors have figured out the best way to kindle creativity: assign projects with an obscure, but challenging criteria—the tallest tower from one sheet of paper, the lightest bridge that can hold a brick, a piece made from multiples of one type of object. Some writing prompts for standardized tests are like this too. You could write about vigilante heroism in response to a particularly dull writing prompt about community service. The end product wouldn't turn out the same if you told someone to just build something or just write something.

That being said, the challenge for my St. Louis photos (with the exception of the fisheye-cathedral photos), was to shoot with my 50mm portrait lens and shoot in only black and white. Not much of a challenge, I know, but the photos wouldn't have turned out the same if I were switching lenses and anticipating a lot of manipulation in post production.

1/6s at f/22 ISO 100

Cathedral Basilica

Cathedral Basilica, a photo by TheLouisianaJackhammer on Flickr.

Another image from the cathedral taken with a 50mm prime lens instead of the fisheye converter.

1/2000s at f/1.8 ISO 800

A Glimpse of Heaven: St. Louis and the Cathedral Basilica

A Glimpse of Heaven: St. Louis and the Cathedral Basilica, a photo by TheLouisianaJackhammer on Flickr.

A circular view from the outside. It seems that a radial composition is always interesting...

1/1000s at f/4.0 ISO 800

A Glimpse of Heaven: St. Louis and the Cathedral Basilica

In my few short years in the world, I've learned this: big cities are probably pretty cool, but you can't just drive to one without some sort of plan or guide. So, when a couple friends and I decided to hop in the car to go to St. Louis one Monday morning, we probably failed to have the most authentic St. Louis experience. We managed to find the Zoo (and a place to park), but we also stumbled upon this architectural gem, the Cathedral Basilica. I mounted my camera on the old trusty tripod, (which, I'm sure, is not allowed) and poked around with some long exposures. When I found myself, at last, in the sanctuary, I borrowed a fisheye converter from a friend and found this shot of a lamp. A 25 second exposure at f/22 ISO 800 revealed something heavenly.