compositions

Oh that kiss!

While attending Star Wars weekend, my daughter decides she shall give a kiss.

“Star Wars Weekend Fun” by Tiffany Walters
is licensed under © “All Rights Reserved 2011”

Let’s see that again a little closer…

“Oh that Kiss!” by Tiffany Walters is licensed under © “All Rights Reserved 2022”

Oh that kiss!  R2D2’s head begins to spin around and around.  C3PO looks down at his little friend and says, “R2, I believe you have a girlfriend.”  Just one kiss, started my Berriprincess’s love affair with the most adorable droid out there.  And her love didn’t fade even though her path didn’t cross with R2 again for several years.  But she drew pictures and decorated her room with her love.  She wore R2 decorated t-shirts and dresses to show her affection.  She even carried around a R2D2 purse.  Of all the droids in the galaxy, she remained devoted to her beloved even while they were worlds apart.  

Then one day,  a few years later in the early spring, Berriprincess and her brother visited a spaceport called, “Hollywood Studios” where they learned of the Millennium Falcon’s arrival.  Dare she hope that her lost love was onboard?  Wading through the crowd, they managed to find Luke and Leia, and yes, R2D2 was still with them! Berriprincess’s brother greeted these old friends and began asking Luke how he might train to be a Jedi.  While the boys were engaged, Leia tried to make polite communication with our Berriprincess.  

“Reunion” by Tiffany Walters is licensed under © “All Rights Reserved 2015″

Although the marketplace was thick with conversations around them, the world fell silent, melting away for a brief moment, as her hand reached out to find him. Nothing else in the world mattered.  They were together again!

“Together Again” Tiffany Walters is licensed under © “All Rights Reserved 2022”

by Tiffany Walters (@thelaststoryguard)

Technical Notes:  I cropped two photos to tell the story of my daughter’s love for R2D2.  It was important to remove the others from the images to center the story around the characters. In the first photo, I use the cropping tool to focus the reader on the kiss that started it all.   By cropping the second image, I was able to focus the reader’s attention on the little detail of her hand placed on R2D2 using the rule of thirds. I also used the blur and brush elements in Photoshop to remove small traces of Leia’s robe that was not easily cropped from the bottom right size of the photo.

Lost in the Sand

“Lost in the Sand” by Tina Chalfant © All Rights Reserved 2022 ____________ “There You Are” by Tina Chalfant © All Rights Reserved 2022

This photo was taken before I knew anything about photo composition (except “that looks good to me”), but that is not the whole story for why the original is framed the way it is. First, to the immediate right of the frame was a fisherman that I did not want in the photo, which is why the pelican is nearby. They are not above begging for a free meal! Second, I spent more than a few minutes inching up on my subject and had determined that I was as close as I could get without causing him to fly away.

The crop succeeds in emphasizing the focal points of the photo (the pelican and the sunrise) by using the rule of thirds, leaves out all the unnecessary beach, ocean and sky, and uncenters the subject. I tried to be aware of where the horizon line fell in the frame; leaving the brightest light slightly above the top third line so the foreground would be highlighted. In order to display the images side by side, I had to reduce the resolution to a width of 400px.

Now, if you can forget that I told you about begging the fisherman, doesn’t it look like the pelican is enjoying the sunrise?

Perspective of Shadows

I chose to crop this image as I felt that the original compostion didn’t have a focal point. I tried out a few croppings with the man on the bicycle and the shadow, but felt that with both it was too centered and busy. I chose instead to focus on the shadow of the man on the bicycle as I felt like the texture of the wall and the shadows were the most interesting part. When cropping I took into account the rule of thirds. Unfortunately, to get the image I wanted without any of the physical bicycle it does halt movement in the frame after it was cropped like mentioned in class.

Cyclist On Sidewalk By River by Anna Rye on Pexels in Public Domain