Assignment #7 - Panoramas

So this is in my background and I think its exactly what you think of when you think of a panorama. Which is why i don't like it too much, it just seems like every other little pano path. So, this works, but its nothing great. But it was good practice for shooting panos.

I do like this one. I kind of like it in black and white too since its almost there and the black and white just makes it seems all together. I like how this looks, I don't know it just seems kind of cool and interesting to me. I like how I found out I could do this with panos, it helped with getting more ideas for later.

So I was shooting panos and it started snowing and I love snow so I decided to try to shoot it. It is very difficult to shoot snow as it turns out. But I thought a pano might look cool, and I think this does. It required me bending over backwards but I do like it. I think its cool and not what you first think of when you think of a pano.

So this was the from the first pano shooting session i did. I like the idea, but i wish the background was better. It wasn't a great idea or super interesting, but I think its cool and i love nutcrackers so i like it.

Panos were fun, and hard. I think they will get much better with experience and as I get more ideas of cool panos rather than just what first comes to mind. So I hope these first ones are okay, and I do think I learned some and hopefully next time they'll be better and more creative!

Thanksgiving

My cousin's baby Charlie! How cute he is :)

Our dinner. I like the movement and stationary at the same time.

Pecan pie. Its a little soft becuase the light was bad and I didn't have my tripod and it was yellow and whatnot, but I think it still looks pretty good.

Our beautiful turkey.

This pumpkin pie my cousin's wife made and she decorated it so amazing.

Two different ways of focusing our big table. I couldn't decide which one I liked better.

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER.

Uncooked turkey, not quite as yummy looking as the golden brown cooked one.

Cooking the stuffing. It looks good huh?

Sorry this is late but I had a great Thanksgiving and took lots of pictures and they aren't great but I wanted to show everybody. Plus its extra credit :).

Thanksgiving

Who is excited for Thanksgiving?? I AM!!! So I just finished my last final and I don't know about you guys but I am excited for the break. I am going to Wyoming to my aunt and uncle's ranch and its going to be a blast!!! I love how there is so much food and we always have more desserts than anything else. But this year I'm supposed to bake something.. we'll see how that turns out. But I'm going to try to shoot the Thanksgiving assignment thing and I'm really excited. I didn't get to do the Halloween one so I wanted to do this one. Anyway sorry for blogging so much about random crap that nobody reads anyway :).

Joe Rosenthal

So this is the one he is most known for, from Iwo Jima. This is cropped a little, which I'm not really happy about because I wanted/ like the original one. But its better than the ones that are cropped a ton, I think. This is an amazing photo that Slade says some people think helped change the war. That is amazing from one photograph.

I like this because its like an overview of the destruction. I don't know, its all dark without any pure white, and I like that in war images.

I love that he captured this image. They have the flag and are happy about it, but then the guy still has to stand watch with his gun. This shows how that always have to be attentive 24/7.

This image in just interesting to me. There are so many things to look at, even though at the time it probably didn't seem like much was going on. There isn't actually a lot of action, there is just so many different places in focus here, which sometimes I love and sometimes I hate. I love it here.

Celebration!!! Finally! I like that the flag is almost all the way out and flat.

Did you know Slade met this guy before he died? Eddie Adams (a photographer I really like, and the best printer) introduced them because he was friends with both of them. That is cool Slade. And he said Joe was pretty cool, so thats good. We were talking about him the day before Veterans Day and watched an interview so I thought I should blog a little about him, and show other photographs he's taken.

Mini Final - Favorite 6

So I know a lot of people will disagree with me about these 6 pictures being my best, especially Slade. But, these are the 6 I wanted up here. (Although it was really hard for me to choose.) So here goes.

I love this one and I think it shows me growing as a photographer. That might seem weird, but I really believe that. Because, almost all of my other images are close-up, which I love. But its important to have different images, not all close-up. And especially for this assignmet of analogous/complimentary colors, it was difficult for me to take farther away images. And even though this one isn't really far away, I tried it farther than normal, because this was the better composition. And I feel thats what I've been learning a lot about this term: focusing and decided while taking the picture. Meaning I have to slow down and move the camera around and decide where its best when I'm taking it the first time, instead of going back and having to reshoot. This takes time when shooting, but ultimately saves time, and a perfect picture if you can't go back. I also feel like this one perfectly fit the requirements for this assignment, which is essential before exploring creative ways to fulfill the assignment. The light in this one isn't fantastic but it helps the image a little bit with dark creases and the poles on the wall. Its hard to tell on here, but the focus is pretty good on the leaves of the pillow.

So I just talked about this one for my portraits assignment, but I'm going to talk about it again. Just because its that good. I feel like portraits can be really easy to get away with, because you see a person, snap a picture, and there you go; the assignment is done. Thats what I was trying to avoid this time. I wanted my subject to interact with the camera, not necessarily look at it, but interact. And I wanted to get an emotion. I wanted the subject to be screaming at the viewer "Hey this is what I'm feeling!". I feel like this is the only one of my portrait images in the assignment and maybe ever that accomplished this. She isn't crying or doing something dramatic to tell you how she feels, she's just looking at you. Right at you. And she's letting you look right at her. She's vulnerable here; her heart is out in the open just waiting for somebody to break it. (If you're in theater, this might make more sense.) I love her eyes. Her eyes are open wide, letting you look into them. She's not judging you, hoping you won't judge her. Her expression is content. Not ecstatic, just everyday happiness at having her favorite sister take her picture. And you can tell that not from a giant fake smile, but because this is how she looks when she's happy. I guess I could be a little unfair while looking at this image because I know her well, but I feel like others could get this same emotion I'm getting while looking at it, and thats what I really strive for in my photographs, although a lot of them don't succeed. I also like that her finger is there. It tells me she wasn't posing for the picture, just in a normal position. And this position may have been awkward, but it doesn't appear so to me in this image. It just looks natural. And I love that. This is also fundamentally strong with good focus on her eyes/eyelashes/ eyebrows and okay light.

This is a very dramatic picture, which is what its supposed to be. It was set up, but it doesn't look weird and out of place to me. It looks like it could've just been like that. The light here is nice, just how I wanted it with my fancy lamp. And it is focused well on the edge of the mask. Obviously this is for the complimentary color assignment, which it definitely fulfills. I feel like this is very interesting and tells a story. Although it may not be the same story for everybody, you can imagine 100 different ways and reasons this image came to be like this. The red is from my Halloween costume and the mask is from a theater party. Did you know that? You didn't need to; its not important. What's important is that I get a feeling here and I feel like this image has an important story to tell if you look at it and let your imagination tell it. I feel this was important to put up here because although it may not be one of my most technically strong images, it is interesting to me and shows that images set up can be just as great as candid images. This diversity was also a big part of this term for me. I experimented with so many different ways to shoot and things to shoot and it goes on and on. This is one of my more "fun" shots I think. Its not all analytical or whatnot its just pleasing I think, and could let you imagine things without thinking too hard intellectually.

I feel like this also shows a little of what I learned this term. It takes a random object lying around the house and makes it an image. I don't think I could do this in previous years. I don't think I could take this and see something photographically interesting in it. I feel like I'm developing an eye for seeing things I never saw before. And I think this comes from having no ideas or liking one object but not knowing how to photograph it so just sitting in my room turning and turning it and moving my camera around and getting closer and farther and changing the light and adding things or taking them out of the frame. Just doing anything to that object until I finally decide how I want it. Which happened for the next image too. What really interested me at first in this object was the texture and color. And while the texture does add to it, I don't think this image emphasizes that. What I see in this image is the rich orange color, which was even richer on my camera, and great light. I love love love the dark black strip and the different shades of orange. I wish I focus on the nails more, because I think thats where my eyes keep going back to, and I think it would be nicer if that was the most in focus. But at the time, thats not what I wanted. Which I guess goes to show that art could change how it affects you, not because the image changes, but because you change. And something you might find interesting now could bore later and something you don't understand now could fascinate you later. I love how art will be around long enough for you to change your mind about it, if you give it the chance.

Cool. I think. This composition took me forever to find but it was worth it because I am extremely happy with this. I don't know how I would change the composition for the better, for what I wanted from this image. The light wasn't working from the other lamp I was shining on it, so I was like maybe if I just turn it on I won't have to use the lamp. That ended up working as well as contributing fantastically to the image. I love how the light is in the middle, and the gets really dark on the bottom 2 corners. I also love the dark strip on the cover, but then gets lighter as the light is allowed to shine through. I kept on trying to have the lamp sideways or crazy angles trying to get the purples (since this was for monochromatic) without getting the inside of the lamp. But then I realized I was being stupid, and not getting anything to work, and I should just start over. And then I got this. This image is basically what I did for every image, except this one took longer. I looked at it and changed everything and decided what I wanted. And I would take some without changing much, and yadayada ending with almost all of the images I liked being the last I took of that object, and the ones I liked the most overall often took the longest time, such as this one. But they were worth it because they give the feeling I've been looking for. I love how this one is a pretty simple, but the focus on the cover gives it a little extra interesting stuff to look at without overwhelming the image.

Simple. Thats what comes to mind immediately. And simple is often good, as I feel it is in this image. Thats mainly why I wanted to post this one. It shows the simplest image that just has good focus and lighting so it turns into a good image. And although its simple, its meaningful. You don't have to cram in a ton of stuff to make a photogragh interesting. To make a photograph interesting you have to have heart. You have to show feeling. You have to see with your emotions and heart, not with your eyes and brain. You have to crack open and be vulnerable. This might seem silly with just this little pebble button things, but I truly believe this. They are just sitting there, letting you stare at them as long as you want. They aren't hiding or judging; they are letting you judge them. I love the light in this image, although there are not shadows or anything it just seems to give it a little spark. Its difficult to explain exactly why I feel something or the formula for doing it or what I was thinking when I was shooting this. I didn't try ti get an emotion; I was trying to take a picture of the number 10. And this just ended up being one I felt had feeling. I can't tell you why or how, and I'm sure I won't do it again like this, it just comes sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. And its different for different people, you guys might think I'm crazy for saying all this, but I really do feel this.

Sorry if these didn't make sense or were repetitive, it was difficult to get what I was thinking and write it down. And sorry if it was cheesy or whatever or not what I was supposed to write, but this is just what I started thinking of when told to write a paragraph for each image. And I know these might not be my fundamentally best, or other people's favorite, but they were important to me and I feel that they showed my work and improvement this term really well. And I really do feel like I've improved. Fall Photo '09 was great!

Assignment #6 - Portraits

So this is me, reflected from my computer screen. I thought it was really cool looking, and it didn't seem like me to me. I wasn't exactly acting like somebody else or whatnot, I just thought it was different from how I normally looked to people, so I thought it fit the requirement and was an interesting picture.

I love this one. Well, actually I would if it was in focus. But she was moving, which I didn't expect so it was too slow of a shutter speed, and it blurred. I would've rathered it sharp. But, it is focused on her if she was staying still. I didn't tell her to do this or anything, I told her to sit there and I was going to tell her something else, but then she got sick of me shooting her and did this. I loved this, because it is all her. She does this all the time, and I know how she's feeling. If only it was in focus, it might be my favorite image of this assignment. The light isn't great here, but it works.


I absolutely love this image. I was shooting and shooting Samantha and none of them were working for me. Then she just looked up and I knew it was the image I was looking for. I told her not to move an inch while I focused and made it perfect. I just love her eyes and mouth. You can tell she's happy even though her mouth isn't in a fake smile. She just seems OPEN. And thats what I was looking for. Her heart, soul, is what I feel in this image. Although it might not mean as much to other people, I feel like this is my sister. Simple as that.

This is a little like the other one with her face in her hands, but I feel there is a difference. Besides being close, this one shows a different emotion. The earlier one was more "UGHHH. I don't have enough time and my eyes her and I'm tired and stressed, etc". Whereas this one is "I just want to go drink hot chocolate and read a book by the fire while its snowing outside because I just need a little break." This also isn't as in focus as I'd like but somehow I think the hair looks really cool and strangely in weird focus.

So I love the focus on this one, and the light is pretty cool too. Except, the thing about it is that its just what a portrait is, technically. Its not really great, it just is a portrait. So it doesn't really speak to me. Its not extraordinary, it seems like a normal portrait, which isn't what I wanted and not what I was striving to accomplish. It works for me, just doesn't stretch anything or go beyond what I've done before. It doesn't have the heart or soul that other one did.

So this is me, not being me. Because I am definitely not paranoid about being sick; I never take any precautions. And this is what my uncle gave me for my birthday when I turned 14 ad I have a full drawer dedicated to all this cleaning stuff. He was joking, but it actually came in handy. I like how it is me, but not. I don't relaly like the colors; they seem all dull because the light isn't good. I like how my eyes are looking to the side, like I'm looking at something thats freaking me out. I do like the composition.

So I used my blank mask from theater to also not be me. I like this one because of the emotion you get from the mask. This is in a mirror, obviously since you can see the camera. But it didn't seem like cheating to me. I feel like although I project the emotion onto the mask, its not my emotion. It's the mask's. I don't know why, maybe because of the way I'm holding my head or something, this image just really intruiges(sp?) me. I just keep looking at it trying to figure out what I feel, but I can't. And I love that. This image is a mystery for me, while also completely understanding the basics of what is going on here.

I don't really like this one, mainly because its not in great focus, the light is bad, and you can see my finger taking the photograph. Although I didn't mind that in the above image, that was different. That showed me taking the photograph; this one just hints at it weirdly. But I do love how the eyes are looking down. I was trying to get this feeling of looking away or something; I don't know, I don't really remember. But this one didn't work as well as I was hoping.

I always like looking at portraits after I take them, but they're never my favorite to take. Me and my sister always take them of each other, which works out well, but thats the only person. Everybody else gets mad and are like "No I hate my picture being taken!" So I never get willing subjects and they always try to do weird model things and won't let me take time, which is necessary for portraits. So to fulfill the requirement I did take photographs of another person, but they were very sad and no good enough to upload. So, anyway, although some of these are similar, I do like them, mostly. Not my best assignment, but not too bad either, I don't think. I feel like I did push my limits and got Samantha to crack open a little, and that image gave emotion that was much needed. So, hope you guys like them and tell me what you think!

RANDOM SHOT

So I shot this for 50 free shots. I'm not sure why I like this exactly, but I did and wanted to upload it. I like the light being in th middle of the seat, and the little metal type doodad latch thingy mabobber whatchamacallit casting a shadow thats in focus. I also like the little dots on the green swing that you can see. And I like the gravel thats not in focus but you can tell what it is. I also like that the angle isn't the one people normally take. But, it isn't a super in focus or super interesting image. So it didn't get in the 8 posted. Poor swing. This is in my backyard and there used to be two big kid swings but then i changed this one to a litle kid swing so my cousins could swing because I was babysitting. So the 8 month old one loved this one and sat there not scared at all having a blast. Then his older brother, like 3 years old was incredibly scared and wouldn't move. He would sit there but was such a baby he would cry if i pushed him. He's a wimp. But yeah, thats the story that goes along with this image.

Portraits.......

So portraits. These can be really fun, I think. But they can also be annoying. Because I have a problem with getting people to let me photograph them. I ask them and they're all "No, I don't like my picture being taken." So its difficult. And they can take awhile getting the person to cooperate. And yada yada. They take more effort, I think. But then, they take less. I don't know, I'm in a weird mood. This doesn't work. Okay I just wanted to blog about portraits. I will post them by.. Tuesday??

Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon! He can photograph people, thats for sure. I saw the link on Slade's and didn't think much of it or go to it, but then I saw Emma blogged about loving the site. So I decided it might be worth my time. I only looked at the wild west ones, but I loved them. They are just on a different level than some other photographers have of the same basic idea. All of these people really tell a story, which is why each on is interesting. I especially loves the two side by side of people in the same situation and you can tell they have similarities and differences. Anyway, I didn't want to blog too much, just wanted to mention that I think he's really good. So if you weren't going to look at the link, look at it!! You will be impressed.

Avedon is pretty much the bomb. ---Thats all you need to know about him. It says everything Emma wrote about in 6 words.

Assignment #5 50 Free Shoots

I don't love this one, but I think the angle is interesting. The focus is good on the rocks right where the pole goes into them. The light is okay, but not fantastic.


The focus on this is good on the little rusted hole, but thats about it. Which bothers me because it seems like other places are annoyingly out of focus. So yeah this isn't one I really like. I do light the light though.


I like this composition and the angle so you can sort of tell it is a slide, but its not obviously a slide. I like the lights and darks here and the focus.


This one is interesting I think. I didn't want a boring composition, so I tried to make it interesting and different. This is the best one. There was another one that I really likes but the background was all blown out and bad. I like the light in the swing.


I like that this one because the thing that its focus is right in front, and nothing else is in focus. But, the little circle thing is really dark and I couldn't get it ligher so you could see a lot of detail in there. I like the angle here.


I like that this one is funny. I like the rich brown too. And the basil sign is in focus. I like the white flecks and the angle and focus. It was just sitting there and I was like that could be good. Not as good as I was hoping, but okay.


I love fire hydrants. I love shooting them and focusing on the peeled paint. However, on this one I like the focus on the chain thing. I like the light here with the shadows. I love the shadows. I also really like the composition.


This is similar to the other one. The highlight on the side bothers me, but I edited a lot to make it better and now its a little fake, but better. This is analogous, coming from our last assignment.

I didn't like the freedom on this assignment. Its harder to come up with interesting photographs when there are so restrictions. Its also not an assignment you can just fulfill the requirements for; you just needed to shoot good photographs. I didn't have as much time as I wanted, and I wasn't able to shoot fary from my house and get different images. I do kind of like how mine are all a theme of a playground though.

Eddie Adams

I decided to do some research on Eddie Adams because he is my favorite printer, and he was the topic of discussion today in photo. (his nozzle needed to be checked) And Slade said he was a war photographer, which I love so I was really interested.

So I love this because it really shows what it was like. It shows that these women and children were right there next to the soldiers fighting. It was so horrible, they had to cover their ears they were so close. These people are so vulnerable.I also like how your eye goes to the woman, showing that the affect on the people was much more important than the actual soldiers fighting.

This is the one I talk about later, being really famous. You can the the man's face and how its contorted because he is about to die. You can also see the pain on the soldier's face who is looking. But the man holding the gun seems relaxed, except his arm muscles. It doesn't seem difficult for him to shoot this man, which is just so horrible. This also shows the emptiness of the streets, with only one man behind them.

I love how dark the darks are here. You can see the main man getting helped, but there are other people you can see behind them that could be dead or sleeping in this trench. The man helping looks to have hurt eyes, but is still trying to help because they need all the help they can get. This shows the horrible conditions in this war. The focus shows all the wrinkles in the clothes and the veins in the hands and whatnot.

I love the angle this was shot at. I love the hand being out of focus, so that the more important things could be in focus. I don't know if this man is dead, but I assume he is. Which is why these other men, or some of them being very young boys, are looking at him. This is horrible that these young kids have to see these awful things during this war. They all seem observant, not freaked out like they should be. I also love the sky in this, how it goes from dark lighter.

I love the pain on this woman's face. And the desperation and hopelessness of the boy's. He doesn't seem to expect anything different than what is happening, which looks to me like death or possibly sleeping. I like how its dark in the lower left and lighter in the upper right.

These picture just says it all I think. You can see these boys' and girls' expressions. Horrifying expressions of pain and fear. I love that in the middle is the naked one who seems the most affected here. The dark sky shows the mood, I believe.

Okay, so he died in 2004 of Lou Gehrig's desease. He took pictures of people like Fidel Castro, Mother Theresa, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But he mostly took pictures of the Vietnam War, and that is what he got his Pulitzer Prize for. The Vietnam War allowed photographers to get the closest they'd gotten before then and since then. They got right in the middle of stuff, which I think is extremely admirable, and a little crazy. He was known to be a perfectionist, and therefore never published a book because he never got it good enough for him. But, there is a book out now, called Eddie Adams: Vietnam. His most famous photograph was one of a man being shot. He was dragged out of a building by a soldier and had a gun to his face. Normally, this is to interrogate the man, so Adams wasn't surprised at all, and wanted the image so he followed them. But then, the soldier just shot the man. This shocked Adams, but he got several shots, including the one right when the bullet hit the man's head. Adams is extremely well-known for this picture that circulated the globe when he came out.

Assignment #4 - Complimentary/ Analogous Colors

I really like this ball, but I don't like how its all green in the background and white spots. It takes away from it and doesn't make the blue and green in the ball stand out as much. But I like the focus on the ball, you can even see the dust on the top. But the other ball bothers me a little, but there was a limited amount of different ways to shoot it, and as much as I tried I couldn't get the other ball out of the way.


I really like this one. Slade mentioned he didn't like the corner of the eye being chopped off, but I don't really mind it. I didn't notice it until he said it, and I can see it bothering him, but its okay with me. I love how rich the colors are and the light on the mask and the folds in the red.


This is just cute. Its definitely analagous, and who couldn't like it?? I specifically focused on the beak because I liked the texture and thought it was more interesting and important that the yellow fur stuff. The light isn't particularly fabulous on this one, but I think its pretty good.

This one isn't it focus as well as it should be, which makes me angry. But oh well. Its not very creative, but I like how the whole frame is full of the same thing in different focused points and angles and what not. Also the light is pretty good.

I love the light in here. You can see it shining right inbetween the candles, and their shadows. I like this one because I wasn't going to shoot it, and I didn't think of it, there were just candles sitting on the table and I moved them and realized the tablecloth was green and I figured why not. And they turned out better than I was expecting. I always love that.

I normally go for closer up shots, rather than ones farther back like this one. Especially for these color assignments since its hard to get a big area with the right colors. But this just worked. I love that it just worked with great analogous colors. Also, the focus makes it seem so comfortable and soft, which it really is. This is exactly how the bed looks and it feels as soft as it looks. Its my sister's and when she saw it she said she got tired. I like that this image had that affect.

I've gotten the most compliments from this one and this is the one on the wall which I find funny because I don't love this one that much. I jusy saw blue and my orange towel and put them on top of each other and the light was good. I didn't do much at all. So this one isn't my favorite, but I guess its a popular one for some reason.

So I was supposed to shoot this same one but with better light, but that never happened because I tried and they just didn't end up as good composition wise as this one, even though I tried. So I chose composition over light here. I feel like it could've been really good, had I found the perfect composition and light. However, this is okay.

I really am not a fan of this one. I just saw them and realized they were analogous and decided to shoot them just to get going and ready for the assignment. But Slade liked it, and what Slade likes Slade gets. So here you go Slade. They are in focus though, I made sure of that. And this was the best light I could come up with here.

So I just stuck sticky-notes on a sheet of paper for this one, figuring it would be analogous. It is, but isn't very interesting. It's in focus, and pretty good light, but nothing saying wow thats cool. So this one isn't fantastic, just a criteria fulfiller.

So. This assignment.. it was okay. I didn't really love it or dislike it. But it just wasnt too exciting for me. I didn't feel like I learned much or stretched much, I just fulfilled the assignment, which isn't the point. However, I do feel like I'm paying for attention to light and moving it around and finding where I want it. I'm also taking the time to focus on different parts of the image, and choose where I like it best. And if I can't decide easily then, I take both and decide later, on the computer. Also, I am deciding how I want it composed and changing it then if I don't like it, rather than seeing if it miraculously looks better later. All in all, I feel as if I'm slowing down, takind more time per image, and although that makes me take way less images, they are all better than the fast ones I take, so its okay. The slowing down improves my images and allows me to only take ones I think I will like because I actually think about each one.