Photographs That Didn't Make the Cut 2017

For my last post of 2017, I wanted to take a look back at my posts this year and talk about why some of the photographs posted here didn't get chosen for their designated posts. When I take photographs for my blog, I try to take as many as I can so that I have a large variety to choose from. Then I sift through those and find the best ones to narrow them down to eight photographs. Most of the time I am able to weed photographs out because I don't like certain elements of them. Here are eight instances where this has happened with an explanation of what I didn't like about the photograph.

In this photograph, I didn't like how you couldn't properly see the zebras faces.

I didn't like the angle of this photograph because it makes the whale look oddly shaped. 

This is another one that I didn't like the angle with, I wish I had taken it so that you could see the elephant's face straight on. 

This photograph looks fine on the surface, but to me it looked a little blurry and I don't like how it almost looks more like a painting than a photograph.

The lighting in this one is a bit yellow and I don't like how the one cookie is tipped over. 

The lighting in this one is a bit too bright in some spots, and I don't like how ordinarily plain this photograph is. 

This photograph was a tough choice for me because on the one hand I can see it is kind of blurry, but it makes it look foggy which adds an interesting effect. However, I wish I had zoomed in to the trees a bit more so that the railing of the boat wasn't visible. 

This is another photograph that felt a bit too plain for me, I also should have cropped it a bit so that the sweater in the bottom wasn't visible - but I already figured I wasn't going to use this photograph for its designated post. 

Winter Wonderland 2017 Photoseries

For this post, I was inspired by the snowstorms we recently got and I decided to go outside and shoot off a series of wintery photographs. With these photographs I particularly liked the ones that had some color in them besides the white of the snow - the color added a pop to an otherwise white photograph.

The two main things I would advise for taking winter photographs outside would be to bundle up so you don't freeze, and to be cautious of slippery snow or icy patches. 

Connecticut Trolley Museum Winterfest

The Connecticut Trolley Museum is a location that offers a few different things. They offer Rails to the Darkside in October (a haunted trolley ride and walkthrough attraction) and during the winter they do Winterfest and the Tunnel of Lights - a trolley ride through the woods to look at lights. The trolley runs from 5-9 pm on select nights throughout the month. Tickets are $3 for kids under 4, $10 from 4-12 years, $12 for adults, and $11 for seniors - the tickets are discounted if you are a museum member. Lines can get a bit long depending on what time you show up, but they do move along pretty fast. I will say that the trolley ride was a bit boring, but it might be fun for younger kids. The inside of the museum was lit up nicely though.

Here are my top 3 tips if you plan to go to Winterfest- 

1) Dress warm, especially if you are going to go on the trolleys!

2) There is an open wagon and a closed trolley, if you don't mind being cold, the open wagon is fine - but if you want to be a bit warmer - sit in the closed trolley.

3) It is a bit icy in some spots there - so just be cautious of where you are walking. 

Here is a link to their webpage on Winterfest if you want to check it out - www.ct-trolley.org/events/winterfest-and-the-tunnel-of-lights/

Architectural Photography

Architectural photography is where one captures images of buildings and the structure of the outside and inside of the building. I like this type of photography because it allows you to get creative with taking shots of architecture. You don't have to do just a straight on angle, you can do high angles, low angles, and you can also do close ups or long shots. Really any building works for architectural photography, but I believe that older buildings with a lot of twists and turns, and old staircases produce some really interesting photographs because you can capture that building in so many different ways.

Here are my top 3 tips for Architectural Photography-
1) Get creative with your angles. Like with the last picture, if there are twisty stairs, stand at the top of them and aim your camera downwards.
2) Some architectural photographs look great in black and white or sepia, so experiment a bit with that.
3) Lastly, explore the whole building (if you can) and snap photographs both inside and outside! With some of the photographs here I was able to capture inside and outside photographs.

Garden Barn

The Garden Barn in Vernon, Connecticut is an all things garden store. They also have a little section that you can walk in and enjoy some interesting looking plants and trees. During the holiday season, you can get your Christmas tree from this location as well as different varieties of wreaths and winter foliage. They sell seeds for vegetables, fruits, and flowers if you want to plant your own. They also sell pots for your plants, garden statues, wind chimes, etc.

Here are my top 3 tips for if you plan to visit Garden Barn-

1) If you have allergies, be careful to avoid rubbing up against the trees and bushes.

2) Also be careful around the sculptures because most of them are breakable.

3) Definitely take a walk through the yard, as you can get some nice pictures there!