31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #31

Finally we are at the last day of the 31 days project. What a journey it has been. It really opened my eyes to the small and beautiful things all around me everyday. There is a picture in everything, you just have the see it through your 'lens-eyes' to open your eyes and see what makes each picture one worth taking.

This photograph is taken at the Shootcase Pinhole Photo Booth event on the NWU Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa. The students could write with chalk what film photography means to them on the black photo booth. It was in preparation of the World Wide Pinhole Photography day to raise awareness under the students of this fun medium to tae pictures in. Check out some of the photos documenting the event earlier on the blog.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #30

The photograph of day 30 is taken on the rooftop on the NWU Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa. I took a picture of my boots while sitting. The wind blew my hair in front of the lens on the lefthand side. I took the picture with my 50mm fixed lens which has a small focus. I focused on the boots and for this reason my hair is burry and almost look like a light leak.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #29

This photograph is taken in a wood next to the Mooi River in Potchefstroom, South Africa. I used the freelensing technique. This is the reason for the blueish lens flairs. I took the photograph with my fixed 50mm lens but because of the freelensing technique, I could take a macro picture. This is also the reason for the small focus and the blurry round frame seen in the bottom lefthand side.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #28

The photograph of day 28 is a picture of SW Theron, one of my friends. This photograph is very grainy. I think it is because I took it in a dark room with only a lamp for the light source. The photo also has a greenish overlay which I think might be because of a greenish object inside the room from which the light reflected. This is what I love about film, you cannot control the outcome as with digital. It always surprises you when developed.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #27

The photograph of day 27 is taken in a clothing boutique, Marilyns, in Brooklyn Mall, South Africa. This was also a quick snapshot for the shop assistant kept an eye on me like a hawk :) I used a warming filer which creates the feel of reading a book next to the fire place snuggled up in a blanket. The warming filter also enhanced the old feel of the books. 

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #26

The photo is taken at Minora Blade at a Nursery in Potchefstroom. We usually do our print work, for my degree in Graphic Design, here. The shop is filled with random antiques and old broken objects which I love to photograph. I like to take pictures from random angles which makes the photograph more interesting Some may feel that the photograph is off balance or have to turn their head to see the photo, but it depends on personal taste. 

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #25

Day 25's photo is taken in a play park next to the Potchefstroom Dam, South Africa. I love the rusty play horse, showing some of the color through where it is scratched off. I also love the perspective of the photograph, leading the eye into the scene. I didn't use a warming color filter in this photo  which enhances the cool feel of the tree's shadow.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #24

This photograph is taken at TriBecca in Brooklyn Design Square, South Africa.  It is the coolest coffee shop ever, transforming you from South Africa to a shop in the streets of Paris. I love the broken wooden tables with the red chairs and photographs covering the walls.

The background in this photograph is a bit too dark but I love the contrasting red chairs and the scene in front that is blurry and emphasizes the the fell of the coffee shop.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #23

The photograph of day 23 is taken at Warterkloof Shopping Center, South Africa. The picture consists some of the tables outside of a coffee shop. I am not allowed to take pictures inside of clothing stores or restaurants, because they are affraid that I might steal their design (and for that reason it is why I use a 50year old film camera, yeah right). So I hid behind a pillar, framed the shot and pressed the shutter. Usually I frame for a few minutes to take the perfect picture because it is film and I am allowed to take just one photo, not ten and choose which looks best as with digital photography. I am quite surprised at how clear and sharp this photo came out.



31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #22

This is definitely my favourite photo of the 31 days. It is taken in a wood next to the Mooi Rivier in Potchefstroom, South Africa. I love the lens flair and the orange color overlay. The focus is on the branch with the sun right behind it. One of the reasons I love film is that you can shoot right into the sun without the photo being totally washed out or over exposed by the light. I used a brownish warming filter to enhance the warmth of the sun.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #21

The photograph of day 21 is taken on the NWU Potchefstroom campus, South Africa. The two girls in the photograph is my friends Alexa Swart and Iske Conradie. It was autumn in South Africa at that time and the whole campus was buried under warm colored leaves. They are two free-spitited girls and playing in the heaps of leaves captured a way of seeing life from out of their point of view. 

The photograph did come out a bit too dark, although my shutter was set to a forth of a second and my appature set all the way up to 16. Maybe it was just a bit too dark in die shadows of the trees. What I love about this photo is that Iske's hand, the girl on the righthand side, forms a kind of dove-like form, the only bright white spot in the photograph. I also love the movement of their hands. 

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #20

Looking at this photo I feel like a child again. The photograph of day 20 is taken in Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria, South Africa. I love the red light reflecting in the steel, emphasizing the color of the nicker balls even more.  

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #19

The photograph is taken in a play park at the Mooi Rivier in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The dappled shadows on the merri-go-round is what intrigued me to take the photo. The guy in the photograph is SW Theron, who usually joins in on the photographic adventures. In this photograph it was his time to be in front of instead of behind the camera.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #18

This photograph is taken in a wood next to the Mooi Rivir in Pochefstrroom, South Africa. I love the angle of this photograph, emphasizing the hight of the tree, leading the eye up into the air. I also love the complementing colors of red and green leaves. The leaves almost start to look like colorful butterflies swarming in the air.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #17

This photo also came out a bit too dark. It is a photo of an old fashioned steel clock taken by lamp light in my bedroom in Potchefstroom. I used the fisheye as well as freelensed in this photograph. The reason that I used more than one lens on top of another might be the reason for it being a bit too dark.

I like the reflections of light from the steel clock and the greenish color in this photograph. It would have been great if the numbers on the clock was visible.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #16

On 18 April 2012 Shootcase hosted a pinhole photography photo booth on the NWU Potchefstroom Campus in preparation for World Wide Pinhole Day on 30 April 2012. For more information on this day visit http://www.pinholeday.org/ 

I built a photo booth from a refrigerator box and painted it black. I also built my own pinhole camera from a matchbox to take the portraits with. There is a step by step post earlier on the blog on how to build your own pinhole camera from a matchbox. Check it out and enjoy the fun of pinhole photography. 

In this photograph I took a picture of the writing on the photo booth on the lefthand side. I allowed the students to write with chalk on the photo booth about what film photography means to them.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #15

This photograph came out a bit too dark. It was taken at night by lamp light. The picture consists of oil color and paint brushes lying on a piece of cloth.  

I used the brownish warming filter in this photograph, but maby the photo would have worked better without the filter, letting through a bit more light. But I'm not sure.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #14

This photo is taken in a wood next to the Mooi River, Potchefstroom. I wanted to capture the shadows the trees casted over the autumn colored leaves. I used a brownish warming filter to enhance the warm autumn colors of the leaves. 

In the righthand corner there are shoes lying in the leaves. I wanted this to be my focal point with the shadows of the trees leading the eye to it, but unfortunately the shoes is not that visible between the bed of leaves.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #13

The photograph of day 13 is taken in our garden in Pretoria. The girl in the picture is my sister, Marelize Jansen van Vuuren, clothed in her autumn wear :) I used a yellow filter to take this photograph, enhancing the color of the autumn leaves lying on the bench in the foreground. 

Once again the focus is on an object in the foreground leading the eye to the blurry figure in the background. In this photo it worked better than in the photograph of day 11.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day #12

Photograph 12 is taken on the NWU Potchefstroom Campus. I like the perspective n this photograph. The lines leading the eye to the focus on the chain and lock. I also love the texture of the paint tearing off.

I took the photo using a warming filter which contrasts with the blueish color of the wood and steel. These two colors creates a nice atmosphere. The warming filter also enhances the brownish dust on the wood.