Three Favorite Photos From My September Photo Challenge!

For the month of September, I followed a September photo challenge. Here are my three favorite photographs!

This image was taken for day 2 (something you love) of the September photo challenge. When day 2 came around, it was Labor Day weekend, and my dad decided it would be a great idea to spend the entire weekend WiFi-less, with our data not working, with our hyper dog in a small cabin. What sounded like a miserable way to spend Labor Day, actually turned out to be okay. I finished the entirety of my homework in the three hour car ride there, so I spent the weekend playing cards and taking pictures. I chose this picture because I love that kind of family time, where it's not even that you are doing anything grand or wild to begin with, but everyone is just having fun because they're there. In the picture, my sister is blowing bubbles at my dog to make him expend some of his pent up energy, and the wide expanse of land and mountain behind her is fogged over to make her and my dog, Scout, the focal point of the image. The depth creates a feeling of awe, and yet the camera is focused on the dog and the girl, much like I was at the time.

This image was taken for day 3 (something unusual) of the September photo challenge. I took it in the Luray Caverns over Labor Day weekend. The Luray Caverns shows an panoply of stalagmites (coming up from the ground) and stalactites (hanging from the ceiling). At first glance, this image appears to show symmetrically balanced stalagmites and stalactites, when in reality the image only contains stalactites. They're hanging over crystal clear water, and because of the lighting in the cave, you can see their reflections almost perfectly. Every time I look at this photo I am in awe of nature's ability to capture something so perfect, and at the same time, my ability to see it and save it through a camera's lens. I feel that the image accurately captures the illusion and depth of the reflection that one would see in real life, and I love that one picture, a few pixels, can represent something so striking and real.

The above image was taken for day 26 (delicious) of my September photo challenge. We went to this new restaurant as a family, and since we had not been, my mom wanted a picture of the food. When it originally came originally, we had completely forgotten to take a photo, but as my dad cut through it I remembered. It was a mad dash to snap a picture before my parents continued to eat the burger. This environment created one of my favorite images for the September photo challenge. I love the focus on the food, with each layer of the burger seen as it's cut down the middle. In contrast, I also love the rushed motion of my dad's hand grabbing the potato chips, giving a lively feeling to the photo. I think the overall color scheme, although unintentional, gives a very homely vibe, and shows a relaxed family environment. At first I thought that this prompt would be rather plain, because everyone takes pictures of their food right? Every Instagram user does at least once, if not often. But I think the image become more than your typical aesthetic food photo; it became a moment caught in time by chance, something that could've easily slipped by as it was not staged.

Thanks for reading about my three favorite photographs! I'll be back next week with another blog post!