Tell Us Why

I was quite glad that I have found time for myself to create a blog post. Not to mention for a lens-artist challenge. This week’s challenge is hosted by Tina. It tells us to select maximum of 10 favorite photos and explain why we chose them.

Being true to oneself when picking favorites is a tough ordeal. Whenever I am creating photo, I often find myself asking did I took the picture because I really want the image or is it because I know people would like it. It is as if there’s a battlefield inside my head. On such occasion, to get back on track, I’ll tell to myself that I might just be overthinking and what matters most is if I am enjoying the craft. Also, limiting oneself will hinder one’s creativity.

Anyhow, here are the photos.

Made this photo during sunset after snowboarding in Myoko Ski Resort. I am quite proud of this image as I was able to bring out the texture of snow while also getting details from the trees. I could say that what shown from this photo is quite close to whatever I saw with my naked eye. It is only close as I have also added thru post processing what I have felt when I was appreciating the scenery.

I have posted this on another challenge. The effort done while composing this image made me pick this as a favorite. Finding this contrast and symmetry felt like a jackpot when I was creating this photo.

Took this photo when I visited the cat island in Ehime. I love this composition because it looks like a painting or even a scene in anime. I was still getting the grasp of my mirrorless camera during this time. Coming from a point and shoot camera, I felt an accomplishment making this photo. Details are there, vibe of the scene were captured, yet a couple of things to be improve are still there to remind me of this learning moment.

Couple of years ago, I had this in my laptop welcome screen for a while. Made using my capable point and shoot camera. I do believe composition was a bit there already but not quite yet. I think including a small portion of the ground can make it better. If I remember it correctly, I left it out due to people passing by. Also, as the sun was directed towards the scene, it made the image flat. Still, a photo I am very proud of.

I believe this qualifies as photo I made since timer was used. Anyway, a photo of my wife and I enjoying the view of Mt. Fuji. Camera used here was the same with Angkor Wat photo above. Could be more dramatic if the ground can be seen… maybe. Also, a small distraction in the middle can be cropped out while composing. In any case, I would love to take another of this in the future, thus, picking this as a favorite as well.

Favoriting this photo as I was able to capture the autumn foliage ambience and the feeling I had when creating this image. I noted to myself to take picture during other seasons, however, the winter was a bit boring as there was no snow and I was a bit late during spring. There is a bit of distraction from the tree nearby which when cropped would look better overall.

I happened to passed-by this shrine in Nikko with a corridor of withered bush. The bush framed the torii gate nicely which gave a mysterious vibe. This photo made me realized that having less colors can bring the emotion out of a scenery. I do really like this picture for its simplicity and the many ideas one can imagine.

Printed this photo in A4 size and currently hangs in the wall of the living room. I love doing landscape photography and composing this kind of mountain ranges scenery is what I am always aiming for. Not really being hard to myself but this image could have been better particularly with the exposure in the foreground. This is another one that I picked as a favorite to remind me of what I really wanted to create.

I feel macro photography is easy to get into as long as you have the right gear but very difficult to master. This is one of the type of photography that I tended to overthink if I am being force into doing it or not. But right now, I couldn’t care less as I know to myself I am enjoying working on one. This photo was taken in Shirakawa Village which is actually a World Heritage Site. I have mentioned that because this flower was easily overlooked by people visiting the place. It was quite understandable ofcourse. Yet I think that it is the allure of doing macro photography as one can create composition from little things we rarely appreciate. Favoriting this as I was able to capture the details of the flower, and made the surrounding herbage bring out the spring atmosphere.

As with the mountain ranges scenery, capturing the motion in a still image is also one of my constant pursuit. This photo having that motion, and really liking the result, hence, selecting this as one of my favorite. I have also done here deliberately cutting visual elements so as to give away everything and let viewers think. I also wanted to this to be somewhat a modern approach to Ukiyo-e.

I could have shared more but staying true to the challenge, these are my 10 favorite photos. I wanted to do this kind of activity again as it made me do a review of how my photography learning is progressing so far. With that, I would like to thank the host for coming up with this challenge and also invite readers to do the same if you haven’t. I believe doing a self-critique is helpful for any craft we want to learn.

Thank you for reading my post and please let me know what you think in the comments section below.

To learn more about Lens-Artist challenge, click here.