Assignment 5 Journal

Sorry this is so late; I'm not really sure what happened.

So this was very over exposed on some images, but not all of them, so I'm really not sure what happened and has continued to happen with my camera, but I don't think I'll use it again until I get it checked out or something. Anyway, I thought this would be really hard, because I don't really focus on contrast when shooting, but once I started it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. However, several of my favorite images were very overexposed, so I didn't get to print my best ones. I really liked the little plant one though, with the dark shadows. I definitely like way constrasty more than low contrast, so I pretty much don't like any of the low contrast ones very much. But still, it was fun to see how the filter can really change and allow places open up and have detail, or vice versa. I think the one that this shows up best in was the vines on the wall, because it was like no contrast at all, and then I managed to get some pretty good blacks with a high filter. The bowl one wasn't quite as strong, and I had a different one, a rock wall, that was much better, but impossible to print because it was overexposed so I had to deal with the bowl. It was difficult because I couldn't get a high enough filter to get it contrasty enough and keep the quality of the rest of the image good, so although one of them is pretty low contrast, the other didn't get dark and bright enough for me. This assignment wasn't my favorite, but it was pretty interesting and I think I would've been able to see the effects more if I had a few more better images that were very contrasty or not contrasty at all to play with. But, I think it worked out okay anyway.

Assignment 6? Journal

Fish Out of Water.

So I wasn't a big fan of this assignment. I thought it was cool the first time I looked at images similar to this, but then I got tired of them and it became too much of a cliche for me. So before I even started shooting I was bored with it. And because of that, I wasn't very creative. Just sticking stuff with others things that didn't belong with them, or just your basic 'out of place' image. After a few images I thought it would be cool if I didn't set stuff up and just found things naturally that were like this, and that would be a little more interesting to me than coming up with ideas of juxtapositions or stuff like that. I got a few images I liked, but then I hit a wall. There weren't that many images that were interesting and fit this assignment that I could find and liked. So, I went back to setting stuff up. But, not as silly as before. I set up more natural-looking things. Like the National Geographic image that was how I found it, just a little manipulated to make it look more interesting. I really liked that image idea, although the actual image wasn't fantastic. The other image I really liked was the mug in the teacup setup. I'm not sure why I liked this, but I thought it felt and looked really interesting and I was really proud that I came up with that idea. My other images weren't that great, to me. The dinner setup on the toilet was interesting and very different. My mom suggested that one saying "Nobody would eat dinner on the toilet". You would be correct mother. At first I didn't like it, but I didn't have any other ideas so I decided to shoot a few images of that, and ended up taking quite a few because you would be surprised at how difficult it is to shoot a plate on a toilet seat and be able to see that it's a toilet seat and not just some white thing. Anyway, these turned out okay I think, but I didn't love most of my images or shooting this assignment.

Assignment 1 Journal

So this assignment was difficult because all of my better images were ones that I didn't shoot on both rolls. And I am very bad about printing images I don't like. The ones I used weren't in amazing focus so when they were enlarged it just looked horrible. I think I'm trying to focus on things too closely, which is how i like to shoot most of the time, but i need to change that a little to get the best images possible out of my film camera. But I loved loved the small images because it was in great focus and you couldn't see all the little things wrong with it. Printing the 2 images 6 times was very difficult to keep them as similar as possible because I needed to change filters and time a lot and it took a while, but i think they are pretty good and close now. Comparing the two rolls, I didn't see much difference at all, except perhaps a small difference in contrast. I had forgotten how much more time film takes, and how different the images look and how you have to work with them and keep trying until you fight the perfect print. But I'd also forgotten how much i love just being in the darkroom, and forgetting everything else I need to worry about, and just focusing on my images. It's great and I'm excited to be back!

Minor White

Minor lived from July 9, 1908 to June 24, 1976. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and went to the University of Minnesota where he majored in botany and minored in english. It was only after he moved to Portland, Oregon that he began his career as a photographer. He also served in WW11 in military intelligence. He then moved to New York and studied photography at Columbia, finding his own style, with many excellent photographers around him such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams. He was especially influenced by Stieglitz's idea of "equivalents".

The "equivalents" that White focused on were normally normal, mundane, things that he made more interesting by great light. He also taught at many places such as the California School of Fine Arts in San Fransisco. He taught for most of the rest of his life. In 1970, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. White was a closeted bisexual man, and this shows in much of his work. He was tormented by this socially unacceptable feeling towards men. His post-war work shows much more maturity and a spiritual search for peace and simplicity. His images of male nudes were not acceptable at this time, but they are often considered his best, and masterpieces of that genre. The ones that I picked weren't the nude ones, but some of them were the more mundane subjects with great light and some were very interesting subjects that didn't need that great light.


I like the contrast on this one from the black fence to the white snow. I also like the aspect, that its not straight-on for any of the objects here, but its showing them all in an interesting way.

I love the clouds in this one. And I love how the little house/cottage is really small, but your eyes are immediately drawn to it. I like its darkness against the white clouds and snow.

I love the clouds in this one too, more than the last one. And I love the shadow of something you don't see, but you can tell what it is. And its sharp. And I know these first three are really similar, but I really liked them all.

This image reminds me of a man who's late to work. Just the running, and I just feel like it could me a man who didn't have enough time to put his jacket on, and thats the thing he's dragging behind him. I like the different color here.

I really like the story this man is telling. With his balding white hair and his wrinkles and the way he sits and holds himself. And the hand stretched out and the mouth and eyes in a way that I'm not quite sure what he's doing, but its very interesting.

Self Evaluation

So I think I learned a lot this year in photo, not just about the technical stuff. I think I started looking at things differently, and looking at everything. I also starting seeing that although the first few ways to shoot something might not work, you can still find a great image there somewhere. I think I learned a few more creative and not obvious ways of looking at things. I also learned that if you start shooting something that you think with fail and not turn into anything, if you keep shooting it and keeping an open mind, a picture will come. The problem is when you just keep shooting the same thing the same way. You won't get anywhere with that. I was willing to shoot ways I didn't think would work, but either they worked or they gave me an idea for something else, no matter what, something good came out if it. Its hard to make yourself take the time though and look at previous shots and see how you could focus differently, or change the light or angle because there are so many factors. But sometimes changing one thing will fix another. I mean some things you just won't get a good picture out of, period. But many others the picture is there, you just have to hunt for it. And I think I started doing that and although I didn't reshoot much, while I was shooting I was looking back and changing things and thinking before I just clicked the button several times. And that really worked for me. I think the next thing for me will me to start shooting more scenes and less close-ups, which I think I will try to work on in film. But I loved digital and this whole term and a half. Thanks Slade!

Final Project

My dad hates his cell phone, because he gets called a lot from work. Anyway I like this one because of the focus. And it really makes sense to me because whenever his phone rings he cringes and I just like that he picked this for his hate.

My dad loves chocolate. I really like the angle on this one because I shot this several times but this is the one that I liked the best.

My mom loves her wedding ring. I didn't really like the choice just because I thought it would be hard to shoot, but it turned out okay and I didn't want to ask her to change what she loved.

I know this one might seem a little too warm, but this is really how I wanted it to feel. This angle is a little more common, more like my first image this whole project was based on, but I kind of like it. This is my mom because she hates nuts.

This is Tracy hating clip on earrings because she says they hurt. I like the light on this and the shadow on her cheek. I actually really like this one.

This one isn't quite as bright and saturated in color as I sometimes like, but I think its funny. Tracy loves rubik's cubes. It just seems like her. I think this one is pretty good.

This is my cousin who hates combs. She will never brush her hair, and I think this really fits her because her hair is so unbrushed that it was hard to get this comb out of her hair after this. I had a hard time getting a good composition and I still don't really like this one.

This is my cousin's stuffed horse. She loves stuffed animals and horses. I really like this one, and it reminds me of the original picture this project was based on because the light is right at the front with dark in the background. This one just makes sense to me because of my cousin.

This is my sister who loves chocolate. This one I think is kinda weird, but I couldn't get one that wasn't creepy but wasn't her just holding a bar of chocolate. I don't know, it was just difficult to get it interesting and make sense. I really like this like though.

My sister HATES nail filers. It was funny when we were shooting this because it really bothers her and she could barely stand just letting it touch her skin. But she has always been this way, and I think this is a good one for her. I don't really like this image though, because its not too interesting, though I do like the focus.

So I am really bad at coming up with final project ideas, but I actually liked this idea, although it didn't turn out as well as I would've hoped. I think it was interesting for me to see what my family chose. Although I think I could've done it for a smaller project, because I didn't need this many shots. But I'm glad I did it, although I don't think I could go any further into it. Anyway, I wish I could've gotten a little more out of this, although I do like my results.

Final Project 2.0

So, the previous post of my final project is, in fact, not exactly final. Because: 1) I'm a coward. 2) I am worried about the time-issue, and want to get good images. 3) Other reasons I can't think of at the moment. Anyhow, before Slade suggested this project, he suggested doing one relating to an image I took a while ago. It's of Hannah's hands holding a rose. He said to take pictures of 10 people holding something that they think is their icon, or their favorite thing that they can hold in their hand. I was thinking about this and I thought I might like to do something similar, but with 5 people instead of 10 and do some sort of opposites. I don't know if this will work, but I was thinking something like something they constantly use vs. something they never use, or something they can relate to or represents them vs. something they see as useless or stupid. I don't know. I haven't thought this through. But I really want/need suggestions and I would really like to do this if I can get a clear, good opposite or something like that. Hope this makes a little sense.