This weekend I went to White Oak Lake, or what’s left of it, in Clinton Township, PA. I was told that the lake was drained so the rock wall, that somewhat acts like a dam, could be fixed. When you visit this lake you actually see how far and how high the lake used to be. People can still fish here, but it isn’t big enough for any kind of boats. Even if people did use boats for the lake, I don’t know how they would get the boats into the water since the loading dock is nowhere near the water anymore.
Anyways, it was a very cold day to go and take pictures. I thought I dressed warm enough, but the wind that comes off the water is freezing. I actually thought my fingers were going to turn blue because they were so cold. Sadly, I don’t have any gloves at school with me so I had to roll with the pain.
It was also a very cloudy day when I went to take photographs. This actually helped me make my photographs look more eerie. The more I portray this eeriness, the more I’m beginning to realize that I really like this type of style. Taking a photograph that dark just sets you into a different mood than if I were to take the photograph normally. Taking photographs this way helps bring out details that wouldn’t really be seen if taken a different way. I think this is why I enjoy this style. It shows you just how much detail you can be missing by just shooting it normally.
The one problem that I keep coming across while using this type of style is changing my ISO. I usually have my ISO on auto because I’m usually not completely sure which ISO I should be on during each shot. What I have learned from doing this the first time is that when I make my shutter speed faster, my ISO increases also which makes the photograph really grainy. I told myself that this time I would take it off of auto and change the ISO myself, but I completely forgot this time around and they came out grainy again. The photographs are still good and the graininess actually helps with the eeriness, but next time I’m going to remember to change the ISO.
