Photo Diary: Jan 9-15, 2024
Creative 2 | Daniel Lucas
Project Overview
I was assigned to complete a photo diary consisting of 1 photo each day over the course of 7 days (January 9th - 15th) for my Creative 2 class. I decided to go with the overall theme of capturing photos from the view of my dorm room window at night.
Day 1
(January 9th - 8:49pm)
"Apartment Lights" Daniel Lucas 2024
For my first shot I wanted to showcase the apartment complex off in the distant view from my window. I find the different lights observable at night make for an interesting subject, contrasted with the darkness of night create what I find to be a surreal and abstract image. I used a lampost for a rule of thirds composition which helps create balance in an otherwise unbalanced image due to the lack of defineable objects.
Day 2
(January 10th - 7:35pm)
"Nest for Cars" Daniel Lucas 2024
The main view from my window is the parking lot for a home depot which is always filled with cars even at night so I chose to make it one of my days subjects. For this shot I wanted to showcase lots of depth while also use it as a chance to practice taking photos at night and get the settings down. So while not necessarily being the most compelling image it allowed me to learn a lot.
Day 3
(January 11th - 6:02pm)
"Winter Trek" Daniel Lucas 2024
The sidewalk right across from my window tends to be very busy which made for many great photo opportunities that I used to my advantage throughout the days. For this day I followed people with my camera as they walked waiting for the best moment to take a shot with this image being the best result. I took the photo as soon as they walked into frame which created a rule of thirds composition. I like how small the person looks in comparison to the large amount of snow acting almost like negative space yet still adding detail.
Day 4
(January 12th - 8:22pm)
"Parking Lot Standoff" Daniel Lucas 2024
Another parking lot shot I took while scanning around out my window with my camera, the white car with its bright lights caught my eye and I thought the way it was facing the other car across from it was an interesting shot. I balanced the left front light of the white car with a rule of thirds composition as while as making sure to capture lots of depth.
Day 5
(January 13th - 6:37pm)
"Unaware Meta" Daniel Lucas 2024
Once again watching the sidewalk with my camera as pedestrians walked by I was able to capture this interesting and meta shot of a couple who had stopped walking to take photos of each other in front of the snow. I didnt have much time to take the shots and capture the moment so I went with having the main subjects be centered which I feel turned out good in the end with the girl and stroller adding some depth to the photo.
Day 6
(January 14th - 9:32pm)
"Branched Street" Daniel Lucas 2024
Outside my window stands two large trees, that's branches became a challenge for my theme of the project as they would often get in the way of good shots. I decided I would make these trees and their branches the main theme of one of my days shot rather then continue to try and work around them. I allowed the branches to sprawl out all over the shot while having the trunk of the tree on the right vertical axis of a rule of thirds composition to have an image that feels chaotic yet still has a sense of balance.
Day 7
(January 15th - 4:33pm)
"The Warmth of Love" Daniel Lucas 2024
For the final day I once again went with using the sidewalk as my main focus. I wanted this shot to be earlier in the day as the sun started to go down so it could end up being brighter and stand out more compared to the rest of the photos and the results couldnt be more perfect as I was able to capture a very wholesome moment between a couple holding hands and smiling as they walked. The simplicity of the shot allows the focus to remain on the couple and the emotions they display.
Closing Synopsis
I orginally decided to go with a theme of night shots taken from my window as it allowed me to , being blunt, be lazy and stay in the comfort of my room away from the harsh winter conditions. However, I started to discover that by choosing to limit myself to only taking shots from my window it forced me to get creative and really observe what I could see as I could only view so much. Taking shots at night in the dark also proved to be difficult as you really have to work with your cameras settings to get good shots so I was forced to lots of research online and experimentation to get things looking right. So while I went into this project with the intent of just getting it done easily with a simple theme I actually ended up giving myself a challange that I really enjoyed working through and I feel resulted in some great shots. Just choosing to stick to a theme at all helped to make the project more interesting and created a more cohesive end result. I thought taking my daily shots would end up feeling like a chore but it was actually something I looked forward to doing each day and was excited to see them all together at the end. Each day I would clear space off my desk so I could sit on it and watch out the window and figure out what I wanted to take photos of which I found to be very calming and helped to come down from the stresses of each day . So I guess the biggest challenge I faced during this project was my own personal laziness, however it was something I quickly overcame and was replaced by a willingness to be challenged by the own limitations I had set for myself.
