Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Nature Photography Final Portfolio


Taking a walk outside is the perfect way to get away from the stress of the world and relax and appreciate the beauty of nature. As one walks along a trail, a path, sand, or rocks, they often look down from time to time to examine where their foot will hit next. When out in nature, one mostly sees what’s at eye level and sometimes an aerial view of what’s directly below them. But what about a bug that’s crawling along the rocks? What does it see? How often do we get down on the ground and look at the view from there? The landscape can completely change when one looks at it from very low to the ground. A forest full of trees is beautiful, but what about the leaves scattered on the ground? Or that unique-shaped rock covered in moss? When one is just looking down at their feet, they only get an aerial view of what’s below them. Sometimes it doesn’t look like much, but if the perspective is changed, it can open your eyes to a whole new view.
My project aims to capture that whole new view. I wanted to place my camera low to the ground and capture what’s on the ground level. Some of my photographs capture a wider landscape of the area while others focus more on the closer details. In order to examine what’s beneath our feet, I wanted a range of both wider shots and closer in. In addition to capturing these low to the ground shots, I also wanted to use a shallow depth of field. In many of my images, the line of focus is often towards the middle of the photograph in order to draw the viewer in. I wanted to keep the focus simple and shallow depth of field helped to keep it uncluttered.
Through these images, I hope that people will take a closer look at the beauty in nature that can be found on the ground. It’s easy to forget to look at the little details beneath our feet.