Help on photography assignment

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fifthdawn

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For my finals in photography, my topic of choice is "Squirrel vision"

I need to capture what it would be like to view the world from a squirrels eye. The difficulty lies in having the image look as if its from a point of view of a small animal rather than just a scene shot.

The assignment needs 5-10 prints. My prof suggested I watch the making of Lord of the Ring since the hobits and many of the small and big characters arn't computer edited but techniques with manipulating surroundings environment to give the visual effect of size.

I know for sure I want a shot of a kid crouching down offering a nut to the camera since this gives the idea that the kid is aware of another existing thing, in this case the camera which represent the squirrel.

Another shot I plan to shoot is one thats hiding behind a tree or bench spying on some humans. The tree or bench legs should give the illusion that the person is much further away and is being spyed on.

Last idea I have is a closeup shot of an empty chip bag so it looks like the squirrels been roaming around for chips. I haven't taken the shots yet, but I would assume the difficulty lies in making it seem like something is actually looking inside rather than a close up shot of a bag of chips.


Well, I don't have enough shots to finish my assignment so I'm asking for some help on ideas or if you're bored enough and want to play around with you're camera you can upload some photos. Thanks in advance.
 

RichardS

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Do you have a macro or fish eye lens? You could do a cool study using those. You could also try shooting with an ultra-wide angle lens (<24mm depending on the sensor size) and take photos of places around your campus from the ground level. You'll want the reviewer to recognize the background, but maybe have some grass or something in the foreground either out of focus or in focus, mix it up. It would also be cool if you had a ladder and positioned yourself in a tree.

To take to the next level, you could observe (or stage) different college life activities (eating, boozing, laying around, reading, studying, romancing, etc.) through the eyes of the squirrel.

If you wanted to be humorous, your last image could be a macro detail of the underside of a car tire.
 

sammi

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You could also do a shot of a squirrel running vertically up a tree trunk.
 

fifthdawn

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Thanks for suggestions. Its a 50mm lens and since its part of the course, I'm not allow to switch out lens. I can take shots, I just can't have detailed shots closer than about 10 inches or closer, it'll be out of focus.
 

RichardS

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That's too bad about the lens. Is this a b/w class or digital? How fast is the lens when you shoot it wide open (aka max f stop)? When you shoot it wide open, can you get certain things in focus and other things out of focus?
 

brookeekoorb

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I was going to suggest both the macro or fisheye.. but see that you can use them.. I love my 50mm so I'm positve you'll get some great captures within that lens

Also on the same note as a kid offering peanuts, you could use a wireless remote timer on your camera if you have one and set a pile of peanuts near a squirrel populated area and bait the camera and get an eye level to squirrel snack time ;)

Use a ladder and run the camera at branch level overlooking the world from a higher point a view from a tree..

If you have a dog or use of one ;) Dogs love a good squirrel chase! My dog goes bananas for them! I live in the city next to a HUGE park and see the poor squirrels terrorized daily by fido! Shot at ground level or if your feeling brave looking down the trunk of a tree..

Shots from under a car or the tires.. a little morbid but hey lets be honest here.. that ends the cycle of life of most of the little fuzzies (sorry, promise I'm a animal lover!)

I'm guessing photoshop is not a loud on the project? How many pics do you need for the storyboard? You can easily do this in a day :) Good luck! Please share when your done!! :) Would LOVE to see what you get!!

RichardS said:
If you wanted to be humorous, your last image could be a macro detail of the underside of a car tire.

lol glad to see I'm not the only one who suggested it! :D
 

fifthdawn

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Nope cant photoshop lol. Its a b/w photo class so I actually have to develope the film. Its anywhere from 5-10 prints, but I think for this assignment, less print would work better. If I use alot of prints, I risk having some print not portraying a squirrels vision and that'll throw off my theme when you look at every print as a whole.

The fstop goes from f/1.4? to f/22. Yea, I'm going to have to do a bit of climbing.
 
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