Taken at Leu Gardens in Winter Park, FL - I really liked the strong abstract pattern of the shadow cast by this table, along with the repetition of diagonal lines. To me, this is a very satisfying image... something I can look at for a long time and notice new patterns, or how different things in the image line up.
A couple of people have suggested that I should have moved the chair that cast the shadow in the upper left... but I like how it throws off the symmetry.
A couple of years ago I took a Photography 101 class at a local art school. It was a little more basic than I had hoped - I had already taught myself quite a bit from reading books and information online. However, there was one exercise the instructor had the class do which I think has helped me immensely in photography.
It's an exercise that teaches you about perspective - and how to use different focal lengths on your camera to make three or four very different looking images of the same object. The concept is old hat to seasoned photographers of course... but if you're fairly new to photography, give this a try:
When I did the exercise, I chose a gazebo at Leu Gardens in Winter Park, FL that had a second building behind it. It's not something that makes a very interesting photo, but worked well for the exercise. Here are the three photos I took:
In the 36mm photo you can pretty clearly tell that there are two separate structures. However, at 124mm the perspective has become very compressed and the two planters appear much closer to the gazebo. The doors to the other building also appear larger and closer. Then, at 264mm the perspective has become so compressed that the two buildings look as if they are one structure.
This compression of perspective is something I try to keep in mind when out taking photos now. When I first started, I'd zoom in on things too often, creating very flat/compressed looking images. Now I know better and usually try a few different perspectives by standing at various distances from my subject.
