Leaves: 

For this set of photos, we placed the leaves on a lighting backboard to make the fibers on the leaves bold, highlighting the texture of the leaves. We used the technique of a lower ISO and a higher shutter speed for this effect. Then, I cropped the photos to zoom-in on the detail of the leaves, minimizing blank background.

Mandela: 

For this set of photos, I aimed to capture the aesthetics of the Mandela art.  For some of the photos, I took closeups of the art that the artists are working on. I felt like the details of the colored sand would be interesting to focus on, highlighting the texture and uniqueness of this form of art. For the other photos, I focused on a further distance and a birds-eye view to capture the entire art piece, and the round shape of the art, which is one of the key elements of Mandela.

Street:

For the street photography at Houhai, I experimented with long exposure techniques, which I have not tried before. I used a low shutter speed and a lower ISO for this effect. I also chose to take the pictures facing the window to have the lights evident with the background.