extra credit for final exam

1.  The man that was killed by the subway, Ki Suk Han, was pushed onto the tracks after trying to calm down a panhandler who was harassing other pedestrians and was unable to lift himself back onto the platform. The photographer was able to take the photo because he was "using his camera flash to warn the train's operator."
2. The photographer said he took the photo maybe to be noticed positively, but it really only brought him negative attention.
3. Personally, I think the photographer should've at least tried to pull the man out of the tracks instead of taking the picture. 
4. No, because he could've attempted to grab the guys arm with someone else and pull him out. And if he failed at this, than at least he tried. Trying is better than just standing there and watching the poor man die. I understand he was probably panicked, but still…
5. I don't agree or disagree with the newspaper running the photo. I think it's important that the public know about what happened, so maybe it can be prevented next time.
6. To a photojournalist, its more important to them to capture the images of life as it happens, even if it's probably not the right thing to do.
7. I'm not really sure about this question, but I think that the photographer could involve themselves in a life or death situation as long as they were trying to help reduce the chance of it becoming more of a death event. A life is more important than a photo.
8. No, because sometimes it important for people to know about these things so we can prevent them from happening in the future.
9. The first one because it really shows how some feel a photograph is more important than saving a life.

Final Exam Review

1. Captions:

A circus monkey crouches away from his trainer, Tom Jones, outside of a building. Jones was about to take the little guy's bike away as punishment after he swatted at him during valuable training hours. 

Gloria Munoz, one of many protestors, marches through the streets of Mexico City with a large red cloth draping over her and the others. The protesters were walking in memory of 43 students who went missing under the police's watch two years ago.

2. Rules of Photography

1. Rule of thirds- positioning and shooting the subject of your photo so they fall in one of the imaginary intersections made by three invisible lines falling over the picture horizontally and vertically. 
2. Balancing Elements- when your picture is balanced through the subject, colors, or shapes on both halves of your picture.
3. Leading Lines- lines in your photo that lead the onlookers attention toward the subject.
4. Symmetry and Patterns (repetition)- a series of the objects of the subject that appear the same and seem to be repeating. ex: shooting a picture forwards from the end of a line/row of people.
5. Viewpoint- the angle in which you shoot your photograph from.
6. Background- don't just focus on the subject when shooting your pictures, make sure to pay attention to the background as not to draw attention away from the subject. Using a simple background will help the focus draw towards the subject.
7. Create depth- by adjusting aperture you can change the depth of field, or how much of your photo is in focus.
8. Framing- Using objects to create a frame around the subject of your photo, subsequently drawing more attention towards it. 
9. Cropping- most commonly done in photoshop, cropping is a way to make the image smaller or able to fit in a certain provided space. 
10. Mergers and avoiding them- busy backgrounds or objects in the background of a photo that unintentionally interact with the subject of the photo.

3. Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO

• aperture- the amount of light let into the photo. It controls the depth of field.
• shutter speed- determines how long the shutter stays open to allow light in
• ISO- how sensitive the photo is to light

4. Manipulating photos in photoshop

• acceptable- changing the lighting/levels, and making small, minuscule changes that are approved by the subject
• not acceptable- making large changes to a persons appearance, changing an image to make it technically/informationally/politically incorrect, adding objects into the image that weren't in the original photo

5. Portrait Types

• environmental- a portrait executed in the subjects usual environment.
• self portrait- a self taken photo of or representing the photographer
• casual portrait- a common type of portrait used to focus on the subject without anything around them to distract/take away our attention from them

6. Photographic terms-

• Exposure- lighting; how much light is exposed to the picture
• Depth of field- having to do with aperture: how much of the photo is focused.
• focal length- the calculation of an optical distance from the point where light rays converge to form a sharp image of an object to the digital center at the focal plane in the camera.

7. types of magazine covers- 

• Early- consisted of a title and  the publication date with maybe an illustration
• poster- one picture or illustration that often didn't go with the main story. headline and words don't cover the photo.
• married to type- pictures with added cover lines
• forest of words- intense photography with a large amount of cover lines

magazine covers

my self portrait and portrait

self portrait

portrait

Fashion

1. the model's lips were made bigger and more even, Her neck was made longer, her eyes were brought down, her neck was made skinnier, eyes were made bigger, cheeks/outline of her face became slimmer, the contour on her face was morphed a bit, and they made her face more ovular.

2.

• shoulders made more defined
• eyes made bigger
• slimming of facial features
• stomach was made skinnier 
• backs of thighs were slimmers down
• legs were made longer
• calves and feet were slimmed
• neck made longer and skinnier
• skin was made lighter
• bottom half of her body was brought down to make it slimmer

3.

• her butt was made smaller
• her legs were slimmed down immensely
• her arms were morphed into looking super skinny
• her stomach/waist was made really small
• her chest was morphed as well
• they drew more hair on her head
• her head was made smaller
• her skin tone was changed

4. No, it is not acceptable to change a person's appearance like this in a photo. By doing this, you are basically creating an entirely new person. You are creating a false example of what people should look like. And we wonder why society is so messed up… this is why.

5. There are circumstances where it could be even more ethically wrong to manipulate something like this. I think photos could always be manipulated even more, and it would be even worse if you didn't have permission from the individual you are photographing to completely change their appearance.

6. A slight change, like maybe highlighting their features a bit would be considered okay. But as son as you change the shape of their body noticeably is when  it's considered wrong.

7. Fashion photography is simply made in order to sell something, whether it be a pair of shoes or a clothing brand. so in order to sell their products, they must make their models look desirable so people around the world will want to look like them, causing them to by their products.

Photojournalism is telling a story through photos.

8. each photo is a representation of society's definition and single image of what people should look like. They take average looking people and turn them into something desirable so people will want to be like them which is extremely wrong.

9. So we know what's wrong and what's right. Completely hanging these women's appearances is completely and utterly wrong. the final manipulated product technically isn't even the photo the photographer shot.

10. None of these videos are about guys, because society mainly targets women and tells hem that they have to fit into this tiny area of their definition of perfect in order to be pretty. This isn't really the case with men.

magazines part 2

      Over the years, magazine covers have changed drastically. In earlier magazine cover, most consisted of only a tile and the publication date, with maybe an illustration. people tended to make them look more like book covers at this time. Next form the 1890s to the 1960s, the poster cover started coming into play. Then, pictures started becoming married to type, which means that people started adding cover lines which are basically just series and series of sub-headlines. Lastly, in modern time, we have started to make covers that use intense photography with a large amount of cover lines.

my favorite cover

favorite

Finalist

The New York Times Magazine, November 24, The Flight Risk

Photographer: Martin Schoeller
Designer: Arem Duplessis
"For this cover story on the U.S. women’s ski-jumping team, we featured the Olympic hopeful Sarah Hendrickson as photographed by Martin Schoeller. Schoeller captures the competitive spirit of Hendrickson, who wears her competition gear, in her body posture and intense gaze."

- See more at: http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine-cover-contest/past-winners-finalists/2014-winners-finalists#sthash.X4VsQ9yY.dpuf

The main reason why I like this cover is the contrast of colors and the simplicity of it. The red of Hendrickson's suit and the blue of her ski mask stand out massively against the grey background. Not to mention the lighting and exposure is perfectly executed. When looking at the photo you can feel the immense level of intensity in Hendrickson's eyes. As the description stated, the photographer captured her competitive spirit being channeled through her intense gaze. The white font contrasts nicely with what she's wearing, and doesn't try to steal our attention away from the olympian. This cover is simple, but effective. It's the overall element of simplicity displayed throughout that makes it so wonderful.

best covers

1. formal

2. formal

3. environmental

4. informal

5. formal

6. informal

7. formal

8. formal

9. formal

10. formal

11. formal

12. informal

13. informal

14. formal

15. formal

16. environmental
17. formal

magazine tips

when designing my magazine cover I should think about:

1. trying not to judge my cover on screen.
2. if the cover is popping out from its background, don't weaken it by fussing with it.
3. making sure there is a dominant element
4. sparking curiosity within viewers
5. making the image appealing/irresistible to readers

prompt shoot 2

cold

electric

purple

american soldier

1A) I had trouble picking just one image that was the most powerful, so I chose four of them. The ones i chose were 7, 18, 36, and 47 because of the emotion on the subjects faces.


1B)

Set #1 At home in Denver- images #1 through #7
Set #2 at basic training- images #8 through #48
Set #3 in Iraq- images #49 through #70
Set #4 back in Denver- images #71 through #82



1C) The most powerful set was probably set #2 at basic training because there was so much emotion and determination displayed in the photos.

3A) Present tense

3B) the captions help to provide information and tell whats going on in the photo.

4)

Getting ready to board the plane, Ian looks back one last time at what he's leaving behind. The troops were traveling to Iraq that day in order to fight for their country.


The night prior to Ian's deployment, he embraces his friends Buddha and Cody one last time. Ian's short stay at home was filled with tears and hugs.


At basic training camp, doctor Moe inspects and dresses Ian's foot injury. Ian had twisted his ankle during training the day prior.

rule of photography part 2

1. rule of thirds

2. balancing elements

3. leading lines

4. symmetry and patterns (repetition)

5. viewpoint

6. background

7. create depth

8. framing

9. cropping

10. avoiding mergers

self portraits and portraits

best tips for portraits:

1. Experiment with Lighting

Another element of randomness that you can introduce to your portraits is the way that you light them. There are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to using light in portraits.

Side-lighting can create mood, backlighting and silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful.

2. Introduce Movement

Portraits can be so static – but what if you added some movement into them? This can be achieved in a few ways:

• by making your subject move
• by keeping your subject still but having an element in the scene around them move
• by moving your camera (or it’s lens to achieve a zoom burst)

The key with the above three methods is to use a slow enough shutter speed to capture the movement.

The alternative is to have your subject obviously move fast but to use a shutter speed so fast that it ‘freezes’ their movement.

3. Frame Your Subject

Framing is a technique where by you draw attention to one element of an image by framing it with another element of the image.

Framing gives an image depth and draws the eye to a point of interest in the image.

You could do it by placing your subject in a window or doorway, have them look through a small gap or even use their hands around their face.

Types of portraits:

Environmental portrait- 

I enjoy this photo because it's sort of confusing, but wonderfully taken. It makes you wonder what he's doing in the middle of a train track with a train not far away from. 

I think this photo is really interesting. The girl looks really distressed and the "empty every night" bucket and caution tap add to it. I really love the feeling you get when looking at this photo.

Photography self portrait: 

The creativity of this photo is amazing. I love the idea and the lighting in this photo. I think it's really great.

This is another creative self portrait. I like that she's like this portrait on the wall in a self-portrait. The idea is magnificent and the rule of thirds is displayed wonderfully.

Casual portrait:

Though I do no agree with smoking, I think this photo is really pretty despite that fact. I like how the aperture blurred out the background so we can focus on the subject.

I think this photo is really pretty, and i really like how the photographer shot from the side of her inside of head on. I think it adds more interest.

My plan for the self portrait and portrait photo shoot is to get my god sister Wesley, who is nine, and sit her on a window sill so she is looking at her reflection in the window. I would maybe make her face appear dirty so the photo is more interesting, and i would shoot this at my house. To make the shot successful i would shoot from many different angles to ensure i get a good shot.

ISO

ISO 200

ISO 3200

1. using a higher ISO at a basketball or night football game will allow more light to be present in the photo, making it brighter.

2. Try to use the lowest ISO you can when possible because it will offer the most detail.

3. you should use a higher ISO when you need more light.

Aperture settings available: 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22

shutter speed settings available: 1 sec, 1/60 sec, 1/4000 sec

ISO settings available: 100 to 25600

shutter speed

high shutter speed

low shutter speed

1. This is sort of hard to do, because it really depends on the amount of light shining at each specific place. 

a) shutter speed of 1/500

b) shutter speed of 1/300

c) shutter speed of 1/125

d) shutter speed of 1/1000

e) shutter speed of 1/250

f) shutter speed of 1/420

If it's dark out you most likely need to be at the lowest shutter speed possible without needing a tripod so that would be 1/60.

a) shutter speed of 1/60

b) shutter speed of 1/60 

c) shutter speed of 1/125

d) shutter speed of 1/60

e) shutter speed of 1/125

f) shutter speed of 1/100.

2. Three settings your camera has regarding shutter speed are "Auto" mode, "Aperture Priority", "Shutter Priority", and you could also use "Manual" mode. 

"Auto" mode- both your shutter speed and aperture will be set automatically.

"Aperture Priority"- you wil set the aperture and the camera will select the shutter speed for you.

"Shutter Priority"- you set the shutter speed and the camera selects the aperture automatically.

"Manual" mode- you will select both the shutter speed and aperture on your own.

aperture

F2.8 aperture

F16 aperture 

1. The human eye.

2. The smaller the aperture (ex: F16), the less light let into the photo, therefore making the depth of field larger. And the larger the aperture (ex: F2.8), the more light let into the photo, which makes the depth of field smaller.

3. The larger the aperture is (ex: F2.8), the less depth of field you will have, meaning more of the background will be blurred out and the foreground will be smaller. And the smaller the aperture is (ex: F16)  the more depth of field you will have, which blurs less of the background and makes the foreground bigger.

Love and Loss

1. Scrolling through these photos was absolute heart-wrenching. I could feel the pang of sadness in my chest growing the farther I looked at Angelo and Jennifer's story.

2. Angelo's comment is 100% accurate. Photography captures one's life stories that make up who they are in a series of images.

3. I want to believe that I would be able to shoot photos like this if I were put into this situation, and I think that I could in order to make something really beautiful, but I feel lie it would be really hard. I think it would remind me that the subject is slowly dying.

4. If I could write a letter to Angelo, I would start off by giving him my condolences, even though I don't know him or his wife, but it's almost as if I did when looking through the photographs. Then i would proceed to talk about his project and how tragically beautiful and true it was.

abandoned theme parks

1. Takakanonuma Greenland, Hobara, Japan

2.

3. - withered buildings/houses

    - abandoned roads

    - abandoned trains in Galveston

    - Austin Western Railroad
    - a lighthouse


4.

5. This is a photo by David Salinas that he took on an abandoned train car located in Galveston, Texas. It would be so lovely to shoot some photos here for various reasons. Personally, I think abandoned things are awesome. I love the looks of them and how you get this creepy feeling, and I would love to go somewhere like this and take pictures. The whole vintage, destroyed, and withered look really excites me, and I am so jealous that this guy got to photograph a place like this.

6. To get a photo like this I would need my parents to drive me to Galveston. I have my own camera, so I wouldn't have to worry about that. Some things I would need are money, food, and my camera and camera bag, different lenses, and maybe an overnight bag. i would have to pay for gas and food, and also a hotel room if I'm staying the night. As far as travel plans go, I think I would travel down there, shoot the pictures i need, and then possibly spend the night. I may have to have permission to take photos at this abandoned railroad, but I'm not sure. I'd have to do more research.

Africa

1. After reading and viewing the photos taken by Nick Brandt, I am left quite astounded by his work. The photos were beautifully taken, and the truth behind them was unreal. It's sad to think that us humans are wiping them out from existence.

3. This is by far my favorite photo of Nick Brandt's. I think it was beautifully taken, and it leaves me breathless when I look at it. I think the head on angle is perfect, and I love that you can see every single detail on the elephant. It's simple, but complex at the same time.

4. Brandt used lines, simplicity, and balance in this photo.

5. Nick uses a Pentax 67|| with two fixed lenses. The film he uses does;t contain any telephoto or zoom lenses. This is important because he believes in being close to animal's in order to capture their personality.

6. He wanted to show these animals in a state of being.

7. To capture animals in a state of being before they no longer are.

8. "I'm not interested in creating work that is simply documentary or filled with action and drama, which has been the norm in the photography of animals in the wild. What I am interested in is showing the animals simply in the state of Being. In the state of Being before they are no longer are. Before, in the wild at least, they cease to exist. This world is under terrible threat, all of it caused by us. To me, every creature, human or nonhuman, has an equal right to live, and this feeling, this belief that every animal and I are equal, affects me every time I frame an animal in my camera. The photos are my elegy to these beautiful creatures, to this wrenchingly beautiful world that is steadily, tragically vanishing before our eyes."

Captions

i'm not very funny, but i tried...

Displaying the classic "hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil", senior citizens Gary, Hank, Mimi, and Harold upgrade this saying into a more modern version. Mimi graciously flipped off the camera, which added "screw evil" to this well known phrase.

Expressing her blunt opinion to fellow grocery shoppers, seventy-eight year old Barbara Shepard has no problem admitting her hate for everyone. The old lady showed off her inner teenager at the local market,  and helped prove that us adolescents aren't alone in our hatred for those around us.

Overtaken by envy, senior citizen Lorraine Johnson gossips to her friend as senior Bonny Benton proves that you're never too old for a swing set. Bonny didn't care and stated that, "Lorraine's just jealous because her bottom's to big to fit in the swing."

Great Black and White Photographers part 3

When looking at Ralph Eugene Meatyard's photos, the creepy feeling I get when looking at them is what caught my eye. He blurs out he subject or parts of the subject, and it's weird. Meatyard's photos are different and make you feel something, and I really like that about them. 

I see a curious child hurdling off the ledge of a window and towards the ground.

I smell the dried grass littering the floor. 

I hear the sharp intakes of breath as the little boy on the ground witnesses this moment.

I taste the bitter air and dirty red bricks.

I feel the anticipation. Is he going to land safely or fall?

I see a crumbling and peeling wall, no longer new.

I smell the rotting and mug of it's breaking surface.

I hear it cracking and damaging further.

I taste the dirt and ancient substances covering it like a blanket.

I feel it falling apart.

To show the world what an amazingly talented photographer Ralph Eugene Meatyard is I would hang up poster with his pictures on it around town or school, because that would be the easiest way to get his work out there.

Photo Mural Project

1. Some themes that we could take for a series of panels around school are spirit/dress up days, shoes, or really just anything.

2. i think we should open it up to regular cameras, because the quality will be better.

3. We could put to mural on a wall in one of the hallways.

Academic Shoot Reflection and Critique

1. The main challenge I faced was finding something to shoot for balance.

2. Throughout the photo shoot, I was focused most on finding the right angles to shoot things from.

3. If I could do this shoot again, I would like to take a different balance photo, and a different simplicity one if I could find something better because those two weren't my favorites.

4. I would keep the perspectives and angles I used the same.

5. I think the easiest rule to achieve would be the rule of thirds just because it's so simple and you basically have to position your camera differently.

6. The hardest rule to capture would be balance, just because there's not really must to shoot for that unless two people are interacting.

7. I'm pretty clear on all the rules, but I would like to work on balance more if any since it's sort of difficult to shoot when everyone is doing their own thing. I think just looking for those interactions will help a lot.



Critique


http://reagansphotoblog.blogspot.com


1. I really liked all of the angles Reagan used to shoot her photos, and I think they follow the rules nicely/ My favorite was her lines photo.

2. I think that she should try to fill the frame a little more, but otherwise they looked really lovely.

Academic Shoot

Balance

I think I followed the balance rule alright. It was just kind of hard to find something to shoot for it. The subject of this photo is the two girls obviously, but to be more specific their hands working on the art project and their faces. Looking at this photo I think it's sort of easy to see what the subject is. 

Framing

I believe that I followed the rule of framing nicely. The subject of this photo is Jamie who's being framed by the bottom of a chair in the library, and i think it's quite evident that she's the center of focus.

Lines

The rule of lines is expressed through the bookshelves and books on the sides and behind Melina. There's so many lines in this photo that lead our focus to Melina and the book she's reading that I think i followed this rule pretty well. It is clear that she's the subject.

Rule of Thirds

In this photo of Emma, the rule of thirds is carried out through her hand color her art piece. I believe the rule of thirds was shown well in this photo, and our eyes are most likely drawn to her hand, aka the subject, before anything else.

Simplicity

The rule of simplicity is easy to follow if you can find the right thing to shoot. I think I displayed the rule alright. I know it's not the most interesting photo, but I like that you can sort of feel the exhaustion the boy has when looking at it. The first thing my eyes go to is the top of his hat and his shoulders, so I guess that's the subject, and I think it's easy to tell.

Merger

This photo is a merger photo, at least I hope it is. I actually really like this photo and I think it's one of my favorites because of all the colors. Normally I don't prefer business, but I like it in this photo. The subject is the girls hand, and I think it's easy to tell.

Unusual and Interesting Photos

1. I find Christian's work to be interesting, but I don't think it's absolutely amazing. But it's cool to look at.

2. At first I thought maybe he duplicated them, but then it said no post-processing so I'm really not sure.

3. I think the Frost Tower in downtown Austin would be cool to take photos like this of, and it's close so it would be easy to have access to it.

Academic Shoot Preview part 2

My favorite photo was the one titled "Melancholy". Int he photo a student is conducting a science experiment and is mixing green and blue colored substances to create a purple colored substance in a beaker.

1. I picked this photo because I really enjoyed how they focused on the action the male student was doing, and how the background was blurred out with the aperture setting.

2. The photographer used filling the frame and the lines created by his fingers and the substances could be considered as leading lines. They also used the element of simplicity to make the photo more interesting.

Academic Shoot Preview

The Story

This photo displays the students from a school feeding the homeless. The girl who is the main subject is preparing a meal for the homeless women in front of her, and you can tell the homeless are very fortunate for the teenagers.

Action and Emotion

The action of this photo is the water shooting everywhere from whatever the girl did to the cup, and the emotion is written all across their faces. The are happy, surprised, and delightful.

Fill the Frame

There is really no empty space in this photo. Every aspect is filled, but not in an overwhelming way. We can see what is going on, and it draws more interest towards the subjects.