Ali R. Photography, Image # 39, Untitled

This scene intrigued me a lot.  The combination of the layered walls, shadows of the tree, part of the building and the balcony was impossible to resist.  Of course, the composition is set to create an image that needs a bit of time to find in this location, Westwood, California. (www.alfaphotography.com)

Ali R. Photography, Image # 38, Untitled

Opportunities in photography are sometimes like the moments that it captures, fleeting.  This image was taken during the construction of the new wing at LACMA.  As you can tell from the blog, I like form, color and simple composition the most.  The idea is to show the viewers that beauty could be created from the mundane moments and places in our contemporary environment.  But having curiosity and daring to look at our surroundings with open eyes and minds are totally necessary. (www.alfaphotography.com) 

Ali R. Photography, Image # 37, Untitled

Sometimes cheap lenses allow you to take pictures that good lenses would not.  In this case, a cheaper, earlier camera had such deep depth of field that these two walls from the opposing side of a street at UCLA campus seem to be on the same plain.  In reality they are perhaps 100 yards away from each other.  With better lenses, and better cameras, one need to know more of the traditional rules to control the depth of field, such as the relationship between the iris and the shutter speed and or the size of the lens.  Obviously, longer lenses have less or shallower depth of field, versus the wide angle lenses that have a deeper one. (www.alfaphotography.com)

Ali R. Photography, Image # 36, A Rose of Esfahan

This seems a departure from what you have seen so far, but it really is not.  I called it "A Rose of Esfahan."  In the West they might write it as Isfahan, or Isphahan.  Persians pronounce it with a short "A" sound.  It is created by moving the camera physically with a very slow shutter speed.  Nothing new, but the result is more interesting than directly capturing a rose.

In practicing photography, sometimes we see the objects in our environment as they are, sometimes we become a bit more creative and observe them in unusual angles, sizes, orientations, etc., and sometimes we create images by moving the camera.  It is also possible to use the shutter speed to change the "real" into something unfamiliar. These are all exercises in creation of new images that challenge viewers perception of what photography has been, is, or ought to be. (www.alfaphotography.com)

Ali R. Photography, Image # 35, Pastiche

Good pictures are sometimes literally under one's nose.  I was driving in San Francisco when I stopped the car unexpectedly.  I could see the potential for an interesting image on the wall of an apartment building.  The wall was vast, and on it the house painters had left paint samples for the owner to make a decision.  I composed this with a piece of sidewalk included to highlight the authenticity of the subject.  Framing the four color would have probably been nice too, but it would have also raised more question about its realness.  (www.alfaphotography.com)