Weekly Assignment

This week we finished up another compositional assignment, and it was Repetition and Patterns. With a little looking you can find these anywhere, but the trick is to use the pattern in a way that makes it interesting to the viewer. And that’s just what our winners did this week. Our winner by a huge margin was Draycat “The Next Train” which featured a train conductor standing amongst repeating columns. This one really added a human element to the idea of patterns and repetition and showed not only how patterns can create an interesting subject, but having something that breaks that pattern can really help draw focus as the pattern leads your eye right to it. Our first runner up was rosserx’s “Fish”. The way the fish are set in the ice almost mimic the pattern of the scales on the fish. The black and white works well here as well, making sure that you focus on the patterns without the extra distractions. And last, but not least mgilliam’s “Vertical Blinds”. The light created a very interesting gradient on the blinds and it had a nice abstract feel to it. Overall, it was quite soothing. Well done everyone!

We’re back to more thematic assignments starting this week, and our first theme is Breakable. Now, just because we aren’t doing a composition-based assignment doesn’t mean that you get to forget about the basics. Keep ideas about composition in your mind as you take these shots and you’ll find you’re creating even better photos. As always, a quick reminder of the rules. First, your photo needs to have been taken between 24 November – 8 December 2010. Second, your post must include the words: “Assignment: Breakable” and the date the photo was taken. Finally, you EXIF should be intact, and it’s useful if you can include some of the main points like camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. Next week’s assignment will be Shopping. Love it or hate it, but the holidays are upon us and for many of us it means time to shop. Of course, even if you don’t shop for the holidays you probably have your regular shopping to do as well. So, this week we want you to take a photo that shows us shopping. Good luck!