Portraits

1. Seek to convey an idea about a person by combining portraiture with a sense of place.
2. The first order of business is to engage your subject. 
3. Tip #3: Use Both Auto and Manual Focus

Self#1- I like how he used nature to create a scene of destruction, but he by remaking it out of paper and toys, makes it seem more comical and childish than destructive.

Self#2- I like how this person used a reflection to take a shot of himself, he also edited the photo to make it so you could see him taking the picture and holding up a glass ball.

Casual#1- I like how in this photo, the girl is having an average day, just casually swinging, but it shows you that you'll be happy if you let yourself have fun sometimes. That is why I chose it.

I picked this because the guy on the left looks like Mr. Doerr, but he is certain that it is not him. It is also a nice casual photo of 2 guys right next to their car feeling great

Environmental#1- I like this photo because I am a musician, and this shows a musician in their natural state, performing!

Environmental#2- I chose this because I like sports and an athlete's environment is the sport they love. I also like it because it froze the subjects motoin

Formal#1- I chose this because he is in a tuxedo that looks like the one I wear for band, it shows that formal photos are for things ranging from band photos to prom.

Formal#2- I like this photo because my brother wants to be in the military when he gets older and I personally like the navy. 

For my next portrait project, I will take a picture of my friend Amanda, playing her trumpet, in the band hall. I will stay after school and take an environmental shot of her playing her trumpet, with other people playing instruments in the background.

Rules of Photography 2

Balance

Cropping 

Depth

Framing 

Patterns

Lines

Rule of thirds

Background/Simplicity

Viewpoint

Merger

Understanding exposure

F4- 1/125 sec The background is a bit less blurry, but still is not recognizable subject is clear
F5.6 - 1/60 sec The background is very blurry, but barely recognizable subject is clear
F8 - 1/60 sec The background is still blurry, but recognizable subject is clear
F11 - 1/30 sec The background is much less blurry, very recognizable subject is clear
F16 - 1/30 sec The background is easily recognizable, but a little fuzzy subject is clear
F22 - 1/8 sec The background is clear, subject is clear, but a little fuzzy
The slow shutter speed is causing the subjects to be blurred a bit
About 1/10 is the slowest hand holding shutter speed
I did great on the tests, got 100 on both

ISO

1. You can get shots that are better lit and shots that won't blur.
2. Normally in well lit situations you should use a low ISO, the lowest in very lit conditions.
3. Increase the ISO when the lighting is not enough to get a well lit shot, but you need it not blurred.

Shutter Speed

Fast

Slow

Day- Dunking booth, Food eating contest, Diamond performance
Night- Rock climbing wall, Working a booth, DJ/MC in the circle
2. You can either set a fast shutter speed for well lit areas, a slower shutter speed for dimmer areas with less motion, or a long shutter speed to show motion blur or very dim conditions.

Aperture

F2.8

F16

1. The eye
2. the smaller the Aperture the higher the F-stop, the higher the Aperture the smaller the f-stop.

3. The larger the aperture, the larger the depth of field. Only a little is in focus with a small aperture.

Caption Writing

Curtis Reagan steals a kiss from Lois Lane in Times Square in New York City. Reagan romantically stole a kiss from Lane after the announcement of the U.S. winning World War II in the 1940's.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos hold their hands in a fist in the air during the 1968 Olympics. The two held their hands high patriotically to show that the U.S. was not only the Olympic champion, but the real world champion.

Chris Fields holds a dying infant in his arms after the Oklahoma bombing on Thursday. He lovingly held the infant for the last few seconds of life and then was able to save many others from the same fate.

The Hindenburg bursts into flames on Tuesday the 17th. It violently is engulfed with fire and has fallen to the ground short after that.

Alfred Wagner and his gang  fight their way into a Club on Wednesday, June 30th. They were caught surprisingly by the press onslaught, and started a riot shortly after.

Mural photos

Great Black And White Photographers Part 3

1.) While I was doing part two, my eye was caught by Clarence John Laughlin's photos, because of the major differences in value, even in a black and white picture. His pictures that I picked went from very dark in some spots, to very bright in others.
2.) The senses I feel in his pictures, Picture 1
I see the dust collecting on the wood stairs. The bright light shines in my eyes, as I admire the complex designs on the stair sides. I look down the spiral to the ground, two floors below and see the wooden floor, flat and motionless, contrasting the spinning feeling of the spiral staircase.
I smell the rusty handrail. The smell of mildew penetrates my nose, but as I get closer to the wall, the fresh sent of new cut wood is present. Not as prominent as the old, musty smell, but still there nonetheless.
I hear the thud every step I take on the wooden stair. It assures me that I am alone for no other sound is present. I tap the railing to check its stability and it makes a quiet ting.
I taste the mustiness in the air. The same taste that always comes when you are in somewhere that is so old you can taste the age. The spiraling stairs cause me to start feeling woozy, and the musty taste is soon replaced by a taste of my lunch, a ham and cheese sandwich, finished less than ten minutes prior.
I feel the cold, hard metal handrail, strong and unmoving. I struggle going down the stairs as I feel them hard and unforgiving if I were to fall. I begin to feel dizzy, as the staircase seems to spin forever.
Picture 2
I see the archway formed by the trees. It looks almost like a tunnel, with a light glowing at the end, yet the holes caused by the leaves and branches shed light throughout. I also see that the trees which I thought led to a glorious future, just leads to another forest, nearly impossible to navigate through.
I smell the fresh scent of oak. It tingles my nostrils, along with the smell of grass just growing in. Other springtime smells are easy to decipher in the wonder of scents, along with something fruity. All of the sudden, the scent of a diesel engine fills the air.
I hear the grass muffle my every step. Then two birds start a conversation as a chipmunk squeaks when it finds an acorn. The soothing sounds of the forest then are blocked out by the sound of a bulldozer, taking out everything in its path.
I taste the change of a normal spring day in the forest to the bitter taste of exhaust. I cough from the fumes and start to cough up blood. The iron taste in my mouth tastes almost like a sweet relief from the pipe exhaust onslaught previous.
I feel the cool grass as I fall onto it. After I struggle to regain my balance I fall again. I can feel the vibration of the dirt as the bulldozer slowly moves closer to my body. Pain surges through my legs and up my spine, as I realize the bulldozer came for me.

To share my ideas with the word, I would like to create posters and blogs, if not another webpage as well.

Mural preview

To show a unique Akins story, I could take photos of all the different Akins clubs. I could use go around after school and shoot. Students want to hear about this to know what they can spend their time doing. Phone cameras would be convenient, but SLR cameras would be able to produce better pictures. I believe a mixture of both types but more SLR pictures would work best.

Nick Brandt Photography

This was my favorite picture in the slideshow of Nick Brandt's photography. I like it because it emphasizes the lioness being majestic, and the photographer puts her in the bottom left corner, using the rule of thirds, as well as the clouds blocking the sun in the top right to add balance to the picture.

To take these pictures he used a Pentax 67II. He takes the photos like this to try and capture their spirit in his work. His hope is to show the animals in a state of "being", that they soon may never occur again. He said this about his pictures, "Why the animals of Africa in particular? And more particularly still, East Africa? There is perhaps something more profoundly iconic, mythical, mythological even, about the animals of East Africa... There is something deeply deeply, emotionally stirring and affecting about the plains of Africa - the vast green rolling plains punctuated by by the graphically perfect acacia trees."

Academic Shoot Reflection

When I was shooting, I realized that it is harder than it seems. People do not stand how you want them too, and it others get in the way. I tried to focus on keeping the subject in focus, so for a few shots I had to turn to manual focus instead of auto. If I were to do this again, I would try to keep my full subject in the picture, without leaving too much headroom. I would keep the same subjects and placements, because if I just moved the angle a bit the picture would've turned out better. I believer that balance will be the easiest rule to achieve next time we do this, and framing will be the hardest. I understand these rules very clearly now.

Academics Shoot

Balance

I balanced the two people closest to the camera fairly well. It is somewhat clear that they are the subjects but the others distract from the picture. To make this better I could've waited for the teacher to exit the frame.

 Avoid Mergers

I took a bad picture on purpose to show a merger. I cut off the top of the teacher and another student to get more of one student. The subject is mostly clear, for she is the only one not cut off. To fix this, I should lift the camera up a little.

 Framing

I framed the girl in the blue inbetween the two boys, and she is the subject. It is a little distracting with the other people there and in the way. To fix this I should have moved to the left and zoomed in.

 Lines

There are two lines in this picture. You can easily see the two lines and the girl stands out as the subject. If I had moved over to the left and turned the camera it would've made a better picture.

 Rule of Thirds

I placed the subject in the bottom and her rifle in the top right corner. She is easily defined as the subject, but if I had moved back to get the whole rifle, the picture would've been better.

 Simplicity

This picture demonstrates simplicity with a very colorless background and a clearly defined subject. To make this picture better I should give less head room and move the frame down.

Academic Shoot Preview

The Story

In this photo, there is a large group of students gathered around a flagpole at sunrise. They are holding hands, showing reverence as they bow their heads. This makes me think it is to remember someone who has died.

Action and emotion 

This photo shows a science experiment being completed, and the result is a massive explosion causing water to fly all over! The girls are exited and amazed to see the result.

Filling the Frame

This picture fills the frame with the large amount of homeless people and volunteers lining back. It shows the farthest forward person almost from head to toe, to give only a little excess space at the top of the picture

Favorite Photo

This photo is my favorite because it sums up what is my junior year of high school. I have so much stuff to study for it almost seems unbearable. This photo has good asymmetrical balance and avoids mergers. The person in the middle is framed by the outer bookshelves, and set in the bottom third so you can see all the books to study laid out over the top third.

I would like to take pictures in the library, chemistry and speech classes. These I believe will have great shots, waiting to be captured. I could go to Mr. Bilinski's or Mr. Valles classes. To get amazing shots, I will change my point of view until I can add as many of the rules of photography as possible.

Elements of art and Principles of Design in Photography

Lines are marks made by a pointed tool: brush, pencil, pen, etc. Lines can vary in width, direction, curvature, length, or color.

I chose this piece because of the lines showed by the tikis.

I chose this photograph because of the distinct lines made by the railing, side and the floor.

Shapes are formed wherever the ends of a continuous line meet. Geometric shapes such as circles, triangles or squares have perfect. Organic shapes are associated with things from the natural world

I chose this painting because of all the same shapes of soup cans.

I chose this photograph because of the more geometric shape on the organic shape.

Color is the light reflected off an object and you see it as a color. Black and white may be thought of as colors but, in fact, they are not. White light is the presence of all color; black is the absence of reflected light and therefore the absence of color.

I chose this because it uses similar colors throughout

I chose this because the colors gradually change as the distance increases. 

Value, or tone, refers to dark and light; the value scale refers to black and white with all gradations of gray in between. 

I chose this because it shows the value going from dark to light.

I chose this because of the subtle slow differences in value

Form describes objects that are three-dimensional, having length, width, and height.

I chose this because it is easy to see width, length, and height of the bar.

This I chose to show width, length, and height of the cube.

Texture refers to the surface quality, both simulated and actual, of artwork.

I chose this to show texture of the cave

This shows the texture of rock face very well.

Space refers to distances or areas around, between, or within components of a piece. 

This shows space between each of the three major parts of the picture

This shows space between the ice cream

Balance is the comfortable or pleasing arrangement of things in art. There are three different types of balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial. 

This shows asymmetrical balance, and symmetrical balance vertically.

This shows symmetrical balance, horizontally and vertically.

Contrast is created by using elements that conflict with one another. Often, contrast is created using complementary colors or extremely light and dark values. Contrast creates interest in a piece and often draws the eye to certain areas. 

This contrasts a bright sunset to a darkened cityscape

This contrasts the light colored water to dark colored rocks

Emphasis in the focal area of an artwork gives it importance. An artist may stress some elements of the design over others. The eye of the viewer will focus on the area of emphasis or center of interest first, then take in the rest of the composition.

This emphasizes the blue sky in the picture.

This emphasizes the flowers in his hands, because its colored.

Movement in an artwork means the artist is taking viewers on a trip through the work by means of lines, edges, shapes, and colors often leading to the focal area. Movement is a visual flow through the composition.

This shows the movement of the wave

This shows water movement

Patterns are made in art when the same shapes or elements are repeated again and again. Pattern uses the elements of art in planned or random repetitions to enhance surfaces of paintings or sculptures.

There are patterns on the people

The wall is a pattern

Rhythm is the repetition of shapes, lines, and forms. Rhythm is a movement in which some elements recurs regularly. Like a dance, it will have a flow of objects that will seem to be like the beat of music.

The elephants lining the picture show rhythm

The rays of light show rhythm on the bottom

Unity means that all elements in an artwork are in harmony. Unity brings together a composition with similar units.

Unity happens in this picture because it is all less bright colors and there isn't drastic changes

This picture has unity because it has the yellow signs all the way across the screen.