Leanna Castaldo Final

E/Motion in Nature Final Statement 

     For my final project I would like to photographed motion in nature in a way that shows emotion in nature. I was able to explore the shapes, patterns and colors that appear in nature and do so in a way that allows each of my images to appear abstract. In this project I also took advantage of photographing during different times of day as well as in different weather conditions. I found that the best times of day to photograph is during golden hour, because it brings out a vibrance in objects that appear muted in other light, and when it is overcast out, because I found that the clouds in the sky diffused the light in a way that everything was evenly light and allowed me to experiment with longer shutter speeds. Combining this strategy with photographing reflections in water, experimenting with different focus lengths, and capturing a moment through objects, I was able to create abstract images that I was not expecting. In the beginning of this project I found it really difficult to envision the end product, and as I was taking photos I was focusing more on how individual ones would look printed. It wasn’t until I stepped back and create images without worrying about the end product, that I was able to put together a cohesive group of strong images. This is the photo project that I am the proudest of and that has taken me the most out of my comfort zone.