Project 4 Rationale

Why-

This shoot was fun because I got to go play drums at one of my favorite scenic spots around Wood county. I chose to do the shoot on the very top of a 30 foot cliff face over looking the Maumee river and the old bridge that used to cross it in Waterville. When the weather is nice I like to pack up my drums and head out on a country cruise and usually end up at the river to play some drums and enjoy nature. Playing on the edge of the cliff and looking out at the beautiful scenery really centers me and makes me feel connected to this crazy big rock hurling through space. The song that I chose for this assignment was STS9 "Music, Us", which is a beautiful song about how all we really need is love. Whether that would be love of music, nature, or everyone in our lives. Music is my passion, my creative outlet, my anger management, and my religion all rolled into one so this song really represents me and the photo very well. I wanted to show myself in my true element, drumming and taking in all the scenic beauty.

How-

I had to risk life and lim for this particular shoot. In the final image you see me sitting on my drum on the edge of a cliff face looking out at the bridge and river. What you don't see is that the tripod is on the very edge of a similar cliff right next to where I was sitting. So in order to set the shot up I was hanging off this cliff trying to look through the view finder to get the shot exposed right and get the shot in focus. After I had the shot in focus I used the self timer on the camera to get the shots. I tried a few different angles from this particular location but I thought that the final image I chose was the strongest. I used the rule of thirds for this shot and was very please with the outcome.

Critique-

I was very pleased with how this shoot went overall. I was able to compose three different images that were all pretty strong. The one image I wasn't able to get the right focus so I wasn't able to use any of the shots I took from that location. The other two spots I was able to get in focus and they both turned out some really strong images. But for this assignment I thought that the one where you can see my face looking out at the river was the best.