Academic Photo Shoot Preview Assignment

The Story

The visual here tells a story about the preparation and the feelings of the students pictured here. What the substance is, how they got it, the preparation, and other things make the viewer wonder what happened and what is going to occur.

Filling the Frame

The frame is filled with interesting things happening here, teacher getting a head rub, the girl standing casually to the side, the large maniac student with his tongue out. This all contributes to a chaotic and enjoyable scene.

Action or Emotion

The action in this photo is almost blatantly obvious. Here, the rapid explosion of the liquid and the amazement
 on these students faces reflect their thrill and enjoyment of this action packed photo, well deserving of the grand prize.

The Photo I chose from the list was a photo where a student was positioned behind a whiteboard. The whiteboard itself was see through and you could easily tell what he was writing on the board, which was a complex mathematical equation.   

1. I picked this photo because it was something that interested me. The photo's usual style and the students concentrated demeanor drew me to the photo. It was something that I didn't see before.

2. The rule of thirds is apparent in the photo because the foreground is blurred, signifying that the student is the center of attention. 

Academic Photo Shoot

1. I bet that I could take some photos like that in the courtyard. The courtyard is an interesting "prop" and it may make the photos look more interesting because of this interesting photographic element.

2. I would like to visit Mr. Rodriquez's classroom. 

3. I have to set up the shot carefully and prepare so that most if not all of the details are evident. 

Photo Manipulation and Ethics

1. The main points of the story is that manipulating photos for any reason is wrong, unless it is only for making them look better, not changing the content of the photo. Most of the doctored photos where small things but they removed part of the story, and in doing so, they lied.

2. This kind of photo editing is not tolerated because it is basically lying, and that is intolerable in any means. The punishments that these photographers received is proportionate and necessary to deter other photographers from doing the same.

I think that tho is the most unethical photo because they only did this to make diversity, and it wasn't even real diversity! This was kind of racist, and the fact that they did this makes me not want to go to this university.

This was probably the most not unethical, even though it was still inappropriate. It was probably the most not unethical because it made the pyramids closer together only makes a cooler image. It is not as if they are hurting anyone.

Post Shoot Reflection

Some of the challenges I encountered was thinking about what I wanted my picture to look like. If it was going to be this way or that. When I took a picture in the library, I had to kneel down so that I could get the picture of the metal ceiling. The focus was hard to get on this picture because I didn't know whether it should be close or farther away, as the picture was uneven in the distance. Now that I am educated in the rules of photography, I would go back and take the Metal picture again. For that picture, I used a bump of metal on a chair in the courtyard. I would make it so that it used the rule of thirds. I would definitely go back to the library and take a picture there for sure. I think that that one was the best by far, but there was a lot of distractions. I would clear out the library first. Unfortunately, I did not get any of the photography rules the first time. But I am interested in shooting these prompts again.



http://kathleensphotojournalismblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/1st-prompt-shoot.html

Good:
1. The Happy and Metal photos both sam to be in focus, and that would be a hard photo to get in focus.
2. The Metal's diagonal lines make the photo interesting.


The photo with the Bowie sign, I think it would have been better if she cut off the other words more completely as they just distract us from the main point.

Composition 9/11

Balance
The buildings on both sides of the focal point, the smoke, are nicely balanced to the eye. Both sides seem even, and the smoke seems to be both in the foreground and background. 

Avoiding Merger
The stark contrast from the firefighter and the flag make the firefighter stand out. If the firefighter was wearing red he would have blended a bit to much.

Framing
The buildings on the side and the building below the focal point of the picture, the explosion  dust,  make the dust appear out of place. Without that, the other things below the dust would make a foreground distraction.

Lines
The Twin Towers make complementary lines against the background of the blue sky. The foreground of the bridge and the buildings add more interest to the Towers without confusing the viewer of the main focal point.

Simplicity
The man in the front is obviously the focal point because the background is blurred. Although you can see the clock in the background and also the police car, the man is right in the foreground and the point of attention.

Rule of Thirds
The explosion in the upper right quarter is the focal point of this photo and it just so happens that it is also in line with the rule of thirds. The explosion seems so out of lace that it is not even necessary to make it follow the rule of thirds, but it is good that it does follow the rule.

National Geographic

I chose this photo because when I saw it I said,"No way! Photoshop." I mean really, a photo with a tornado, fire, lightning, and the stars in the background? Million to one. No way. But then I realized it was National Geographic and they would (probably)not post anything fake. When I got over the initial disbelief, the photo seemed amazing, a monument to the true power of nature. The impressive array and power of this storm sends shivers up my spine just thinking about it. What culmination of events must have happened to make this photo happen? And what are the chances? It looks to me like it is a still out of a movie. Some fanatical scientist has just discovered a new super weapon and is about to unleash it, or aliens are invading and this is their arrival, this picture captures it all. If I could submit a photo for this contest, I would go back to China and go onto the Great Wall and take a picture of the landscape. The landscape near the Great Wall, at least the part I visited, was beautiful. 

Touching People

1.This project is interesting because it is asking people to do something that no one would probably be ok with, and the fact that they are symbolizes a liberal try new things approach.

2.If someone approached me and asked me to tough someone else while they took a picture, I would thin about whether or not I wanted to be associated with anything to do with this project! I would also have to look at the person I would be taking the picture with, and whether or not it would be worth taking a picture with them.

3.Maybe if you went up to a girl and a boy at random and asked them to sit such that the girl would be sitting in the boy's lap. That would probably be a interesting picture and whether or not they said yes tells you about the person.

4.The photos held a sense of awkwardness. They didn't look natural. They where obviously staged, and that just added to the sense of strangeness about the photo. I really didn't enjoy looking at them, but they where not completely bad to look at. They where something I was not used to.

The Most Powerful Photos

Here are the most powerful photos that I saw:

I picked this photo because this symbolizes the resistance movement that rose during that year in China. To me it symbolizes the standing up action of passive resistance. The tanks are a large aspect of this photo, and the repetition of the tanks makes me gravitate towards this photo. This photo made the top 40 cut probably because it sparked a change in China that to this day is still felt. 

I picked this photo because the pain and loss that this man felt because of his son dying is felt through the picture. His position and how he is kissing the stone makes this photo especially interesting. This photo probably made the top 40 cut because of the affect that 9/11 had on America. We are still influenced by that today, positively and negatively.

I picked this photo because the retire police chief was wrongly arrested and his composure in a time of great duress symbolizes the peaceful protest movement ideas. His face tells me that he understands that his sacrifice will not be forgotten. This picture looks like a still from a movie, like when the bad guy gets arrested, but instead it shows how corporate America has influenced every part of our lives, and there is no escape. This photo probably made the top 40 cut because the movement that the man was a part of brought attention to one of, if not the most, important problems in America.

Post Your Photos: First Photoshoot

These are the pictures for the first Photoshoot. There was four prompts, Happy, Bowie, Metal, and Square, not necessarily in that order.

Flipped Faces

1. What did you think about that unique idea?
This idea was interesting to say the least. The first though I had when I was this was, what is this? This idea is possibly the most unique thing I have ever seen.
2. When you first looked at the photos, did it take you a second to figure out what you were looking at?
I figured out quickly that it was someones head because of the title, but it took me a while to figure out that the picture is upside down.

3. Sometime maybe you can try something unique like this…..


Cool!

Here are my best pictures from the prompts:

My best for "Happy"

My best for "Metal"

My best for "Bowie"

My best for "Square"

Great Black and White Photographers Part Two

Great Black and White Photographers Part Two

Timothy O'Sullivan was born 1840 in New York City. He worked under Mathew Brady at his Fulton Street gallery in NYC. Later on, he moved with Brady to photograph the Civil War. He was renowned for catching jarring images of the war, and they where published in his Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War. After his stint in the war, he joined Clarence Kings geological survey of the fortieth parallel. He continued this trend of landscape photography, and in 1871, 1873, and 1874, he set out with a series of surveys of the southwest United States. He was an influential photographer of the western frontier, which he explored. O'Sullivan died January 14, 1882.

The King Survey Photographs

"The Pyramid and Domes" Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Photo taken 1871from Expedition Camp 8, looking upstream.

Sources:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/434522/Timothy-OSullivan

http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=3600

The Camera - History and Information

The Camera - History and Information

Explain the “camera obscura” effect. How is it achieved?

The camera obscure affect was a primitive method of taking pictures. Through a small hole in the wall, a image of the scene where the wall was pointed was projected onto the back wall. It was because the hole acted as a lens and refracted the light.

2. What invention during the 17th Century helped man get a step closer to creating the modern camera?

Higher quality lenses where developed and the process for making and using them was refined.

3. What were the parts of the first modern camera invented by Niepce?

Niepce added the film to the camera where the picture could be more accurately taken. 

4.What do modern digital cameras have in common with Niepce’s camera?

Modern digital cameras still record the image on a "film", but now the film is digital.

5. What do digital cameras use to capture an image?

Digital cameras use a light reactive device called a CCD. 

6. What is the difference between the Auto Mode and the Program mode?

In auto mode, the camera controls most of the settings, where in program mode, the user can control some settings.

7. What is the Portrait mode used for? How does it work?

Where blurring out the background is attempted so that the subject in the foreground is the center of attention.

8. What is the Sports mode used for? (not just sports) How does it work?

This is used when objects are moving fast. The camera uses the highest shutter speed possible.

9. Why should you do a half press on the trigger button?

The half press primes the camera for taking the picture. It will focus the image until the trigger is fully depressed.

10. What does this symbol mean?

This symbol tells the camera not to flash in any situation, regardless of whether the camera thinks the flash is necessary. It makes the focus lock and faster full press.

11.What does this symbol mean?

This symbol indicates letting the camera have discretion on whether or not to flash.

12. What happens to your photo if there is too much light?

If there is to much light, the picture will be washed out.

13. What happens to your photo if there is not enough light?

Not enough light, and the picture will be dark.

14. What is a “stop.”

The stop is a change in the light, only in increase.

15. How many stops brighter is the new planet if there are two sons instead of one?

The two suns are one stop brighter.

16. How many stops brighter is the new planet if there are four sons instead of two?

The four suns are one stop brighter than the two suns, bringing the total to two stops brighter than the single sun.

17. What affect does a longer shutter speed of have?

More light.

18. What affect does a shorter shutter speed have?

Less light.

19. What does the aperture control?

The aperture controls the size of the "pupil", where the light has to pass through before it reaches the CCD.

20. When adjusting the aperture, how can you increase the amount of light?

Larger opening in the aperture makes more light. 

Great Black and White Photographers

Great Black and White Photographers

Timothy O'Sullivan

"Harvest of Death"

Nadar

"Self Portrait"

Lee Friedlander

"Arnold Crane"

First Photo - Best and Worst

Best and Worst : Teammates Jack and Luna

This was the best photo I though I took of Jack. He is situated nearer us and Luke and his group in the back make a nice background. The light coming in the back hallway makes for a nice bright area of the picture. His hands in his pockets symbolize his casualness, while Luke's outspread arms in a "what?" gesture added a questioning element to the picture, as what was Luke questioning? What was he saying, if anything? I don't know.

Best: Jackson in the Hallway

Worst: A mistaken photo

Best: Angular imaging

This was what I thought was the worst of Luna because it was blurry. Blurs are possibly good, but in this case, I thought it was a negative thing. The background is blurred out, and even the subject, Luna, is blurred out. I think I could take a better photo because most of the other photos I took where without blur.

Worst: The largest blur