Photo of the Week | 2 – Playground

Taken February 12th, 2010. Canon XSi, 18-55mm. Playground beside school.

The focus of my shoot here was to find interesting perspectives and play more with the focusing features of my camera. I’m still inexperienced with it, and really tried to get the gist of the technical features, as well as the effects it had on photos when taken. In this photograph, I experimented with auto-focus features of the XSi, as well as different focal points and white balance settings.

I found the most interesting part of taking this photograph was both visual and conceptual contrast. Visually, the bright yellows, which I tried to heighten in Photoshop, contrasted greatly with the rusted grays and blacks that come off of the horse. That in turn contrasts with the bright metallic reflection of the handle, which becomes a central focus point in the photograph.

Conceptually, there is a contrast between setting and atmosphere. Taken on a playground, I wished to provoke an interesting thought process in the viewer through choosing such an angle and focal point. Especially, the horses head having a slightly darker tone adds to this ominous, almost eerie atmosphere. Given the context of the photograph, it adds great conceptual interest through comparing these elements together.