Artistic Vs. Commercial Photography

Commercial:

This photograph is commercial because of its use and how it has been edited to be featured on a magazine cover. The image was a good choice for this use due to the subject's pose, looking straight into the camera, and it is is accentuated by the headings for topics that are offered or "sold" within the magazine. I developed the magazine cover background to enhance the photo, as well as editing the photo in a number of ways.  After experimenting with different colors, I chose to add text that would match the colors that were already in the photograph, for example the white and black letters, green to match the subject's draw-string backpack, and yellow to match the tennis racket. I made the photo look more commercial and professional by smoothing the subject's skin and hair, as well as slightly enhancing the color scheme by changing the tints of colors. I even added a bar code and web site to the cover to make it more realistic.  

Artistic:

This is an artistic photograph because it is focused on displaying the subject in a creative and captivating way, rather than on selling anything. I tried multiple techniques in editing the photo to make it even more artistic. First I cropped the photo to display only the most important parts in a visually pleasing way. I enhanced the coloration of the subject's lips and hair to make them more vibrant. I also smoothed her skin to increase the overall almost dead perfection of the photograph. I then increased the contrast and added a rounded vignette to the photo to focus in on her face even more, as it is what is being displayed most importantly. (I also experimented with turning the photo to black and white various ways, but decided that I liked the colored version best.)

This second artistic photograph shows personality in a real life respect, and is intriguing in composition and subject, without trying to sell anything.This photo is a great example of the technique of rule of thirds, which in itself makes the photo more interesting and artistic. I added an orange hue to unify and enhance the feel of the photo. I also added a slight vignette to the photo to dramatize it.

Beauty in Nature

To me, beauty as it relates to is nature is capturing a natural scene or object showing all of its untouched perfection, as well as its imperfections. Sometimes an imperfection may actually dominate the scene, such as a tree that has just been toppled by a storm, and there can be beauty and emotion in that. Other times, a scene may be captured in such a naturally serene and perfect state, it can evoke a spiritual, longing emotion or almost seem unreal. Beauty in nature may also be so inviting as to pull the viewer into the scene, making them want to go there and never leave. I personally find natural photography to be more intense and have more meaning to me than most man-made scenes.

http://www.shareyourwallpaper.com/nature/mountains/show/21222/

This photograph of Mount Rainer in Washington is a great example of what beauty in nature means to me. The scene is so beautiful that it's almost surreal and it pulls you in so that you can almost imagine being there right now. My family has hiked into similar places, so it brings back memories and happy emotions for me as well.