5 Websites

1) The Oldest Living Things in the World

http://www.rachelsussman.com/oltw/

This website was created by Rachel Sussman, who travels the world with biologists to take pictures of organisms that are over 2000 years old. She thinks of the organisms as if they're people that she's taking portrait photographs of. On this website, there are many different organisms that are very old, in their natural environments. The photographs are from many different continents, and they all vary in age. I learned what some very old organisms look like, and not to judge an organism only by its appearance, because all of these organisms have been on this planet longer than we have. I also learned another purpose for taking photographs, which is to use it for biology to capture the lifespan of a particular photograph. 

This is my favorite photograph:

I picked this photograph because I like how the stromatolites form a pattern of repetition, and I like how the photograph was angled, so you could see the foreground and background. The rules of photography that I see in this photograph are: repetition, and creating depth. This photo was taken by Rachel Sussman in Australia. 

2) 6 Types of Photos Every Photographer Should Know How to Make
http://petapixel.com/2014/12/01/6-types-photos-know-make/

This website explains different skills in photography that can enhance your photographs and make them more interesting. The website teaches you how to make a fake tilt and shift photo, how to make a forced perspective photo, how to make a long exposure landscape photo, how to make a digital infrared photo, how to make a double exposure portrait photo, and how to make a 360 degree polar panorama. You make a fake tilt and shift photo by applying a gradient blur to the photo in Photoshop. you make a forced perspective photo by placing the subject in a way to which they look like they're merged with an object. You make a long exposure landscape photo by using a Neutral Density filter which blocks light, a tripod, and crop the photo to a square. You make a digital infrared photo by using an IR filter or applying the infrared affect in photoshop. You make a double exposure portrait photo by using a multiple exposure mode that allows you to combine two photos. You make a 360 degree polar panorama by taking multiple pictures that you stitch together in Photoshop's Photomerge. I learned many techniques to make my photographs more interesting on this website. 

This is my favorite photo: 

I like this photo because I like how creative the photo is, and how it looks like an optical illusion. The rules of photography that were followed are: leading lines, creating depth, and viewpoint. This photo was taken by Kenzie Suanders. 

3) 10 Photography Resolutions for the New Year
http://petapixel.com/2014/12/31/10-photography-resolutions-new-year/

This website shows several ways to make your photography better and how to become a more confident photographer. Some things that are mentioned are: get better with photoshop; stop believing that your photographs aren't good; and to take more photos of loved ones/people that you know, that way your photos can mean more to you, and possibly turn out better. The website also says to use your photographs "for better," meaning to donate your photographs to charity. Another thing that was mentioned was to print out your photographs so that you can see them on a bigger scale, and to keep them for memories. I learned to not be so negative about my photos. 

This is my favorite photo:

I like this photo because I like how the meaning, to me, seems to be lonely, yet determined. The rules that are followed are: leading lines, and creating depth. This photograph was taken by Jenna Martin.  

4) The Disorienting Beauty of Spiral Staircases in Old Abandoned Buildings
http://petapixel.com/2014/12/19/disorienting-beauty-spiral-staircases-old-abandoned-buildings/

This website many different photographs of spiral staircases in old abandoned buildings. Christian Richter, the photographer, is an architecture photographer, and he enjoys finding the beauty in spiral staircases. All of his photos are taken from the top of the staircase, looking down, for he finds that they look both "beautiful and disorienting," when taken from that viewpoint. Each of the photographs are unique, and show a different kind of beautiful staircase. I learned from this website how to find the beauty in simple things. 

This is my favorite photo:

I like this photo because I like how the leaves on the staircase help enhance the beauty of the spiral staircase in an old building. This photo follows repetition, viewpoint, and leading lines. This photograph is by Christian Richter. 

5) 7 Tips to Shooting Great Portrait Photographs
http://blog.phowd.com/2014/09/7-tips-shooting-great-portrait-photographs/

This website teaches you how to make your portrait photography look better and how to make it be more interesting. The tips include breaking the ice, bringing the model out of their comfort zone, having the subject look of camera, using negative space, breaking the rules of photography, and tilting the horizon line. I think the most useful tip is to break the ice with the model because that way the photos won't look as forced and as boring. However, I do believe that bringing the model out of their comfort zone is very important also, in order to have the photographs more unique and interesting. From this website, I learned how to improve my technique on portrait photographs. 

This is my favorite photo: 

I like this photo because I like how the subject isn't looking directly at the camera, and I like how the photographer played with the model's expression. The rules that are followed are rule of thirds, simplicity, cropping, and viewpoint. This photo was taken by Rajib Mukherjee.