What I saw in this project were the views that have always meant something to me, cliffs, ocean, and coastlines. But what I missed at first was how those places connect back to my life. On my first draft, the pictures looked nice but the text could have been written better. Jonathan Williams pushed me to make it mine through his story 1c, and that meant letting each show this story in a way I recognized. I also tried utilizing the balance of the trees and the sky, similar to Ryan Tarr’s cover photo in my thunder hole picture.
On the technical side, I think I’ve grown in how I frame and compose my shots. I used natural framing and rule of thirds to draw the eye, but I still see areas I could push further. Depth of field is one, experimenting with portrait mode could have isolated subjects in new ways. Lighting is another. Some photos had strong natural contrast, but if I returned at different times of day, I could capture softer tones or harsher shadows to layer more mood into the story. These are techniques I want to explore more in future projects.
What I missed most was being intentional in pairing photos and text from the start. The images have always felt personal to me, but I didn’t know how to explain it until I really thought about it. Now I see how combining strong framing with personal narrative makes the work more than just documentation. It becomes a reflection of who I am and how I see the world, not just what the camera captured.
