One Thing

Photographed on 8/23/2022

Published on 3/12/2023

These photos were taken as part of the first assignment I was given in an intro to photography class. I suppose I've had a passing interest in photography for most of my life, yet it was not until I had the space for a free elective in my final semester of college that I had even considered I could take a class on the subject.

I have very fond memories of taking that class. It may even be one of my favorite classes I have ever taken, across my entire school career. The class taught me to think about and approach photography in many different ways, and our professor had demonstrated to us through the use of assignments like this one how to compose a technically "good" photograph.

For this assignment our professor asked us to take at least fifty pictures of a single object. He set the baseline to fifty in order to prepare us for taking more photos throughout the class. One thing I learned from this assignment in particular, was that sometimes our best pictures can only come from extensive experimentation. You can take fifty photos and end up with only one truly great one, it's just the nature of the game.

I chose to photograph a glass paperweight that used to belong to my grandmother. It has been in my posession since I was very young. One summer at our family's small beach condo I saw the paperweight and carried it with me everywhere. The way it caught the light, its smooth and sleek edges enamored my little mind. Simiarly, I thought it would be good to photograph for the very reasons I loved the object as a child.

However, after spending a whole day taking pictures of the glass paperweight, I was finding myself worried that I needed some more variety. I often did this with projects for the class, and in other aspects of my life, unsure that just one thing will be able to stand on its own. So I took a few pictures of some computer RAM I had laying around and a cassette tape from the now defunct Winston-Salem, NC local band: "Jimmy". I think all of the pictures turned out well in the end and I enjoyed throwing in some different objects to switch things up.

TIPS: Change the current image using the buttons on the side or the arrow keys!

Click on any photo title to view the full sized image.