My previous work

Emma Henderson - Dominican Republic Aug 2011

Below are some of my own photgraphs taken on a holiday to the Dominican Republic this year.

They include photographs of the beach, water and the gardens around my hotel.

I decided on these photographs because they fit around my chosen theme of nature and shows my skills up to date and what level I am currently at. I will look at these photographs and think about the effects and messages the image portrays and decide on what worked and what I could have done to improve the image.

Gardens

Firstly are some photographs taken of the hotel gardens which were beautiful. I really wanted to capture that beauty in the photos and also show my use of the day light and the shadows created. This is something I want to bring into my nature photos for theme 1.

In the first photograph I like how the palm tree is the focal point of the image and my eyes are drawn to that straight away, although I feel that the light is a bit flat and if there was more light and shadowing it would have improved the image.

I like the contrast of the straight lines of the palm trees against the winding pathways and bushes and also the shadowing in the other two photographs.

I have also used the day light to my advantage in the above photographs and it makes the colours really vibrant.

In the below images I have taken photgraphs of a water feature with the gardens framing the photo. I would like to experiment with natural water features such as puddles and lakes during my first theme.

The below two photographs are images of my favourite tree that was in the hotel gardens. I have never seen a tree like it before and I thought it was so unique.



I decided to take a more close up shot of the tree in the first image to show off the plant on the vines and I wanted to capture the natural light shining through the tree which I feel creates more depth to the photo. I then took another photograph at a distance.

Below is a close up image if a palm tree. I wanted to take a photograph up close to show the different textures of the palm tree but still have the natural light shining through. 

Hotel Beach

These next images are photographs taken on the hotel beach.

I like how I have captured the movement of the water in these photographs and I like the simplicity of the shots.

Natural Pool

The below three photographs were taken from a catermaran we were on which was on the way to Seona Island. We stopped at a Natural Pool where they had hundreds of starfish.

The water was so clear and in the first image I wanted to use another catermaran as the focal point of the photograph with the island in the background but still showing the vibrant colours of the caribbean waters.



On this trip I was having alot of problems with my camera as the screen broke. I couldn't actually see what I was taking photographs of nor could I view them after. I just had to guess and hope that the photographs turned out well.

When on the catermaran I decided it would be interesting to take photographs of the sails close up.

Because I couldn't see what my photographs looked like as I shot them it was quite difficult to see what the images would look like but I feel they turned out quite well. I am a bit disappointed with the first photograph as I got one of the boats crew members on the photograph which I feel lets the image down but the others have turned out well and I like that they are abstract and I like the angles I have used.

Seona Island

The next three photographs were taken when approaching Seona Island on the catermaran. Again, these images are really simple and I wanted to show the beauty of the island from a distance with the island itself, the water and the sky being the main focus. I think that is all the image needs.

In the above photograph I have used a yacht as the main focal point with Seona island and the sea being the frame.

The below were taken on Seona island itself and I think these are my favourite photographs I have taken. For the ones taken on the beach I tried to angle my photographs to make them more interesting and so that the edge of the island curved around and I tried to keep the watersedge towards the centre of the image to give it balance. 

When taking this photograph of the palm trees above I wanted to photograph the leaf close up but also show the plam trees as a whole and I like the way I have captured this in the image. Whilst positioning the two palm trees in the centre of the photograph I still managed to get a close up of the palm leaf and with the other palm trees in the background it has added more depth. I also managed to shoot the image to include the shadowing created by the sun light.

Here I have captured the sea in movement and I have caught the splashes in the centre of the photograph.

From looking at all of my photographs above I can see where my skills are but there is alot I need to practice on for my theme to bring it to the high standard I want and that's what I plan to do.