Category: Story Telling

In this prompt, I wanted to tell the story of a stranger and his best friend. I really love the saying “man’s best friend”, because I think sometimes it can be so accurate it’s really uncanny. In my picture of a stranger in a kayak in Half Moon Bay, I really wanted to capture to loyalty of this dog, going as far as to run after his best friend even though he’s in the water. I really enjoyed taking this photograph, as I felt it perfectly encapsulated the story of this man and his dog.

The first idea that came to mind when I heard the prompt “aging” was the circle of life. I came to this goat farm to see it for myself, where I saw tons of baby goats, some as young as a day old, as well as older goats, like the one pictured. I used black and white on this photograph because I felt that it represented most people’s attitudes toward aging – most people try to avoid it and seem younger – but I think it’s just a natural process that is bound to happen. I chose this picture because I think its closed eyes really do well to represent that it is at peace with its life, which I hope everyone achieves at some point.

When I heard the first prompt for this month would be “shadow”, I wanted to work with how shadows made effects and textures on different surfaces. So, I went to a forest area with lots of trees that let some light in, but not too much. After walking around for around ten minutes, I found a spot that I thought highlighted different values of shadow and light and took pictures in this spot. In my photo, the different lights are shown in the subject’s hair and face, with two large shadows and some light in between. In addition, I contrasted the shadowy foreground with a brighter background because I wanted to put more emphasis on the shadow.

When I heard the prompt “New Beginnings”, I immediately began to think the circle of life: the balance between birth and death – I think it is strangely beautiful when life comes full circle, and the old, wilted flower drops the seeds of the next generation. The picture I took is very dark and moody and almost the entire photograph except for the orange of the flower, representing the hope that comes with death. I incorporated the important elements of art and principles of design, such as leading lines and the rule of thirds.

The “Hometown” prompt was very interesting to me because it made me think about what in my hometown (Los Altos) really defined the town as a whole. I chose this spot because I think it is very reflective of the transformations that Los Altos is going through.

The prompt for this photo blog was “Love Story”, so I took a picture about a platonic love with man’s best friend. Pets are extremely important to many people, including myself, and the dog in this photo is my aunt’s dog, Tchai.

For this challenge, I wanted to do something that was both emotionally warm but also physically warm as well. So, I went out while it was very sunny and hot outside, and took pictures of my house, as it is a very warm and inviting place in my mind. I used rule of thirds for the tree and doorway, and there is a lot of shape and form within the photo as well. I thought there were a lot of cool little details like the umbrella in the doorway or the halloween decorations.