Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Creativity Exercise

Last night I was talking to friend and fellow Bay Area Photo Club member Larry Patrick and he talked about his post regarding Making Art vs Taking Pictures. Larry's post is about, among other things, "forcing" yourself to take artistic photos in whatever situation you find yourself (sorry for the paraphrasing Larry - go see Larry's post for a more accurate description of what he is talking about). Larry's post inspired me to give myself the challenge of taking five photos without moving away from my desk (literally I didn't even get out of my chair since I happened to have had my camera with me) at work (which is where I was sitting when I read his post). I really only ended up with the following three photos but honestly, given the constraints I put on myself and the fact that I couldn't get completely into it because I was really supposed to be working, I was very satisfied with the results of the assignment. Anyway...talking to Larry last night reminded me that I never posted the results of my efforts (until now).

Title: "Hole Punch"


Title: "Push Pin"


Title: "Ruler"


Look around where you are currently reading this and think about how you would approach this assignment (or more accurately the assignment posted by Larry). The results can be surprisingly satisfying.

My camera (Canon 40D) had my Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens attached and given the assignment that is what I used. :-)

5 comments:

Larry said...

Good job on the creative assignment. It has inspired me to try something of my own. Stay tuned...

Brian Bastinelli said...

What a cool idea. I have given myself little assignments at work before with limitiations of lines or textures etc. But I have never limited myself to a particular area.

I am going to try this, it sounds like fun.

Have a great Christmas Barry!

Barry Armer said...

Thanks Larry and Brian!

I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

Merry Christmas!
Barry

Anonymous said...

Barry, I just got a lensbaby. Is that what you are using here?

Barry Armer said...

Dear Here's Looking,

No this is my Canon 50mm f/1.4. Using f/1.4 makes the focal plane pretty darn small (but not just a select spot like my Lensbaby does).

You'll have fun with the Lensbaby!

Cheers!
Barry