Photo Challenge, Week 1

The challenge: Take 1 picture a day, for 30 days (in this case, the month of November), according to an assigned set of rules. Post the pictures with #nov30dpc on facebook. Learn something along the way from others and yourself.

Day 1: Self-Portrait (Panasonic FZ200, f/8.0, 1/50, ISO 400)

I'm not really a fan of this genre. Especially when it means running back and forth with a timer on my camera and a tripod. But despite all my insecurities, I ended up having fun. Luckily I live close enough to a college with photography classes that I could pretend I was a student working on a class project - which I kind of was. Lesson take-away: A remote clicker for my camera would be really helpful!

Day 2: Rule of Thirds (Panasonic FZ200, f/4.5, 1/8 sec, ISO1000)
I've known and used the horizontal rule of thirds since 4H photography days... but decided to challenge myself to work with the vertical thirds and play with lines. This one is of the stained glass rosette window in the balcony of Hope's Dimnent Chapel. 

Day 3: Black and White (Panasonic FZ200, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec, ISO100)
My modern, design-oriented black & white husband will tell you my mind only works in color, so this was a bit more challenging for me. Here's my first attempts at viewing the world through texture and contrast... and controlling blurred background through the use of aperture!

Day 4: Texture! (Panasonic FZ200, f/4, 1/640 sec, ISO100)
I wandered the streets of Holland looking for more texture. It didn't take long to find some - I just had to look down! Though I was glad I got to use color again to show variations...

Day 5: High Angle (Panasonic FZ200, f/7.1, 1/6 sec, ISO1600)
After searching Holland looking up for a "high angle" photo opportunity, I finally gave up and headed home... only to realize the stairs at our apartments provided a perfect shot! I just had to climb up, lean over and take (20 or so) shots to get one I liked the most. I learned today that high ISO means grainy photos, so aperture and ISO are now both in play for manipulation.

Day 6: Low Angle (Panasonic FZ200, f/3.2, 1/8 sec, ISO 1000)
I didn't want to take the regular "looking up at the branches of a tree" picture, so tried something a bit different. Despite my aversion to black and white, I decided this one popped more in monotones than in color. This is looking up at the organ in Dimnent Chapel's balcony at Hope College.

Day 7: Silhouette (Panasonic FZ200, f/4, 1/400 sec, ISO 160)
Two girls braved the windy beach with me to take these shots. It was my first chance to really just practice taking pictures of people - and they were super-compliant and fun to work with! The first one reminds me of my gymnastics days...

Also, my awesome husband helped create a watermark for my pictures for when I put them up on the internet! Kind of excited ;)