Documentary

For my topic, I was trying to get more of the human element into the pictures. What I really was trying for/wanting was faces of Vermonters, but I still did not get any, so I ended up with hands. The top hand is mine after a day of working, and the bottom hand is my father's while he leads my horse Dancer to the pasture. I think these pictures show, in a way, how Vermont is about getting it done using your hands and skills and doing your work whether you like it or not.

Fine Art and Public Service Announcement

Fine Art:

Leaf

 Old maple tree

 Tree bark

 Wild strawberry flowers

Lawn after rain

Fine Art was about taking pictures in new ways. I tried black and white for a few photos to try something different, but then ended up trying to show the world differently. The leaf was early morning sunlight making shadows from the leaf's stem and making it look like a pencil drawing when in black and white. For the tree I wanted to show how big and grand it was. The bark was a dead tree, yet even though it was dead the patterns of its bark were amazing. The wild strawberry flowers, not focused quite right but I still find it an interesting picture. And last the lawn after rain reminded me of one of my favorite pictures earlier this year and what you find when you look. The scene doesn't have to something amazing nobody's seen before, but your perspective can make it what nobody's seen before.

Public Service Announcement:

The old Ascutney Quarry Crane

Ascutney ski area

Public service announcement was slightly difficult for my topic on Vermont. For this assignment I didn't want to take another picture of a barn and list facts or statistics on how few farms were left in Vermont. So, I tried to get creative... These were pictures were from a hike up the Brownsville Trail. The old granite quarry shows a line of work that used to employ many people in Vermont but is now a job that hardly anyone holds and there really are not many quarries left. As for the ski chair lift, Ascutney closed down a few years ago. Though skiing is a big part of Vermont's economy, apparently not enough to keep Asctuney running. But this ski area also isn't like the old rope tows people used to use to get up ski hills.

Face of Topic

This week's assignment was to take a portrait of your topic. It could be literal or not, and I was thinking of a literal portrait of a 'Vermonter' but ended up with another portrait of Vermont - as also posted last week - a barn. Though this is a special round barn where there really are not many left in the state or even the country.

What is the Obvious Photo?

My photo project for this year is trying to show 'old Vermont' and what we're missing these days or have lost. The assignment was to shoot the most obvious picture for your topic. So one of the first images that people think of about for Vermont is a barn.