Tuesday, May 26, 2009

William Fox Talbot

William Fox Talbot invented the negative/positive photo process. He also helped photography become considered an actual type of art.
Here are some examples of his work.


I like this one because of the darkness in the windows, and the people who are just lounging around the house being casual, and the dress that the people are wearing. Plus I just really like old photographs because of the effect of the black and white with the sort of brown shade of it.
I like this one because there is the big boat, then a medium sized boat, then there's the small boat. It shows size in a very cool, unique way, and I like it.




I like the people working in this photograph. They are working on photo while someone is taking a photo of them. I like the concept of this photo.

Anna Atkins

Anna Atkins' father was a respected scientist who had two minerals named after him. Anna Atkins first got involved in photography when her friend, John Herschel, invented a type of photographic process and she used it for drawing scientific specimens. She used this process to show specimens like bugs and plants on paper.
Here are some examples:

























































Thursday, May 14, 2009

Alfred Stieglitz

Born in 1864, this photographer helped make photography considered a form of art. He ran New York art galleries and put up art from European artists, which introduced that European type of art. He was married to Georgia O'Keefe.


When retired from the Union army, Alfred's father made sure his son had the best education possible. The schools that Alfred attended were not challenging enough for him, so his parents moved back to Germany with him and his 5 siblings. They put Alfred in the Realgymnasium high school. His parents traveled Europe to museums and theaters often. Through his teachers, Alfred grew to like photography and traveled the Europe countryside taking pictures of the common folk.
As Alfred came to love photography, he not only became famous for his photography, but also writing about photography being an art. He was soon offered a job at a magazine named The American Amateur Photographer.

Here are a couple photos taken by Alfred Stieglitz:























I like how the tracks are left in the snow and the buildings in the background. You can barely see the last one because of the snow.


















The fog in this picture is very cool. And I also like the building in the background and how the carriage is coming around the bend.



This is my favorite photo by Alfred Stieglitz because light coming from the windows penetrates the night and the outside lights have a very cool effect on the building. Plus considering I just shot night, I can appreciate this more.


This is my second favorite photo because of the perspective of the apples to the house. I like it a lot.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Observations

Young Woman:

When my dad was taking me to his house, we were stopped at a red light and a little black car putted up beside us. Inside the car was a young woman who looked like she was in her late twenties. It was around six thirty in the evening, and the young woman had a big chocolate doughnut in her hand. Traces of it were smothered on the corners of her lips and crumbs were softly falling onto her lap. It was only then that I realized she was crying. Streaks of her mascara were running down her pink cheeks and the black dots were falling on her white shirt. I could hear the beat of a soft guitar strumming over the young lady's radio. The chocolate was a sign of a heart-brake. Violent sobs overtook her and she didn't see the red light turn. I looked back into the side mirror. I could see the young girl jump at the sound of a horn that must have jolted her back to reality a little too hard because she slammed the gas petal and zoomed forward. Within a few seconds she was out of my sight.

Church:

Almost every sunday I go to church. And every sunday the same people are in the congregation. There are the little boys and girls who run around and play tag in the back of the church, as usual. Their mothers running frantically after them trying to get them to calm down, while their fathers tilt their head up and ask God why me. There are the old men who doze off during the talks and their wives trying to wake them by nudging them in the side, as usual. There are the young, inexperienced mothers who take their screaming babies out of the room, as usual. Then there are the teenage boys trying to get the attention of the teenage girls by walking in and out of the room, past the rows with the cute girls, as usual. Eventually the moms of these boys get mad at them and tell them to stop. The girls way of getting the boys' attention is a bit more subtle. When the boys pass the sacrement out, the girls try to touch the hands of the boys when they pass it to them. There are those older teenagers who try to be cool by sneaking their phone past their parents and texting their "bfs" and "gfs" saying how lame church is and how they want to be with whoever they're texting, as usual. There are those men who are going throught their mid-life crisis and sneeze very loudly, releasing their worries with that one blow, just to regain the burdens by returning to the droning of the speakers, as usual. There are the goody-goods who look up every scripture and sing every song and listen intently to every word the people on the pulpit say, as usual. And finally, there are the kids in their early twenties who still live with their parents, because they don't want to work and are forced to go to church by their folks.

Man:

I was at Laser Quest with my friends last weekend. We approached the counter and a middle-aged man came out of the back. He was the definition of a video game nerd. He probably knew every line from every movie in the starwars trilogy. He beat every level on halo 3 and call of duty 4 without a doubt. His light brown hair was gelled back into a ponytail and his glasses had a pattern that looked like it had some sort of robot on it. His red Laser Quest uniform shirt and black pants made him look a tad bit more normal, but his buck teeth and sunken cheeks ruined any chance he had at truly being a non-nerd. I could tell he hated being behind the counter and he really really wanted to be in the laser room playing laser tag; beating everyone by a thousand points because he knew every trick and every strategy.

Boy:

I was at the movies, waiting in line to see Coraline with my dad. As the line inched along, a boy a little older than me came to stand behind me. His fat mom was coming up behind him with his little sister. They were going to see Coraline, too. His bright blue vans clashed with his dark denim jeans, just the way I wish my mom would let me dress. His straight, dark brown shag fell across his light blue eyes. He had an orange and black t shirt on with a green hoodie over the top. From the look on his face, he did not want to be at the movies with his family... he'd rather go with me. Okay maybe not me, but his friends. I could be his friend.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Propasal:

Proposal:

I would like to do my final project on old men and women. I would like to see more of what they do in their everyday life. I think it would be interesting to watch the “behaviors” of senile people. I love to wonder what experiences they've had, and see them on their weathered face. I know my grandparents are fun to watch.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Brassai

Brassai was a great photographer. Here are some examples of his work...

I like this one because the headlights of the car penetrate the darkness and you can barely see it, but there's a little mist in that photo, too, so that makes it look even cooler :))) I love how the beam of light is the main focus of the image.

















I love the shadows in this photo. I love how Brassai set this up. The woman, and the wall, I just really like it :))) And in the one with the trees, I absolutely love the shadows and the way he set this up... the composition.
























Brassai takes pictures of objects like this sign, and I like these, because I think I’m much better at shooting objects than I am portraits.


















Friday, February 20, 2009

Re-shoot







This is my re-shoot. The one on top is my original, and the bottom one is my re-shoot. The original is really really grey and I don't like how I composed it. It was straight on and I wasn't close enough. I like how my re-shoot is at an angle and really close. It was kinda flat and under exposed, but I did the best I could to fix it up. I like the texture on the pot.

p.s.

I did all the extra credit: 5 steps and 1 print!! hehehe and I shall explain why Slade gave us this assignment because he wants us to re-shoot more and learn to take the time to re-shoot and do it well, because you may turn a photo you really like into a photo that you absolutely L-O-V-E!!! Like Nat's :))

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Final Project

























On this assigment, I had a hard time at first. I couldn't think of things that rhymed with world that I could shoot. So I came up with these things: The first picture is of a mobile. It twirled (world-- twirled) in circles. The second picture is of my sock drawer. The socks are furled which means to roll up ;) . The third is of the tire swing in my backyard. It whirls around in circles if you twirl it up. The next one is a doorknob. To open a door, you must "twirl" the doorknob ;) . The next picture is of CRAZY STRAWS :))) and it twists and turns and twirls into this shape. The last picture is probably my personal favorite. It's of my sister sucking a lollipop that swirls. It's meant to be blurry and soft, because the background looks way cool if I moved the camera. This picture makes me happy :)
I liked being able to choose my project, even though it was hard trying to decide what to shoot. I couldn't decide at first. My first idea was to shoot signs. I thought that would be boring to me, so I decided on shooting things that rhyme with world. I wanted to shoot a lot of things that I wasn't able to on account of lack of time :( but I still got it done. When I first started thinking of things to take pictures of, I was thinking very shallow...ly and I was thinking of spinner tops that twirled and big poofy skirts, which would have been fun, but I didn't have any of those things, so I had to settle with these objects.
This project taught me to think outside the box... a little. It taught me to be creative and I had to think hard on about what to shoot. So it taught me to take way more time and think harder. I liked it. I also learned how to get creative with a tripod :)))

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Bright Idea

UGH, I have no idea what to do for my final portfolio... I'm thinking... either shooting things that rhyme with world, or buildings, or signs, or just writing a story with my pictures.

I think I will do things that rhyme with world... that will be fun :)
-whirled
-curled
-hurled
-burly..ed
-swirled
-twirled
-pearl...ed
-furled (to roll up)
-unfurled (to spread or open)
-transworld
-neworld

PURPLE!!!

































Purple into black and white... beautiful

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Portraits









These three pictures took a lot of time, and they're still not right. I re-shot the two of my sister two times and she was super impatient all times. That's why her eyes aren't glittering and she looks like she's about to puke. I was rushed to shoot my dad. He was watching tv, it was late, not a very good time to take picture. But for some reason, I liked this picture. I like the content of it. I liked the way my little brother was at an angle that was looking up to my dad. But that piece of hair that's sticking up and is cut out of the frame on my dad's head really bugs me.
This assignment was fun, and I enjoyed it. I liked to take pictures of people and not just
objects. I would really like to do this again, and re-shoot a lot, but I need to do these on time and not be so rushed. I liked to capture the expressions of different people. I love showing people why this person is angry, or sad, or happy, or terrified. Although I didn't do this very well on this assignment, if I ever get the opportunity to spend lots of time with portraits, I will do it much better.
P.S.
There will be 3 more photos on here tomorrow :))

Monday, February 9, 2009

Re-do Assignment 1


























Hopefully this will make up for my first assignment. I mean get me a better grade.... I really really hope so ;)))
That stupid picture of the milk pouring into the cereal... I dislike it very much because the black corner would not work with me. I wanted it to be lighter, but I guess it kinda draws more attention to the bright white stinking milk.
I like the sliced bread picture because of the darks of the crust that contrast with the soft lights of the insides.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Color Adjustments

To change from color to black and white, simply click image => adjustments => black and white. Or for easy access, press shift, control, alt, and B.

Before:



After:



Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Aspiration

These are types of photos I aspire to shoot like:














This one, on account of it shows his personality and part of who he is... a hobo-type man who may not be religious, but he is spiritual...











Aside from his geee-ORGEOUS eyes, I like this photo because of the light that's hitting his face. I like how the left side of his face blends into the darkness, and he's wearing a black shirt, so it looks like all there is, is his head and neck that are chopped off. His hair blends with the blackness, and I like the way the dark makes his face POP :P










I love how this shows his pouty face... almost. It's cute. No, I didn't just say that... this little boy being cute is not the only reason I like this photo. I like how it shows a "relationship" with his teddy bear. I also love the background. It doesn't take away from the subject, and I also like the color green. Tis' a happy color :)))












This is an example that I don't like as much. I don't like the background. The man sitting in the chair is very distracting from the message this photo is TRYING to relay.








I LOVE ROMANCE! I wish I could have a relatioship like this one... tear tear. Anyway, I don't really like this photo because it's too dark. It looks... musty... and the light spot in the right corner draws attention away from the picture.






CIRCUS FREAK!!!! Scary!!!! (shows personality)










This is the most stupid stupid stupid STUPID photo in the ENTIRE world. This would be my grandma, and I didn't take her into very good light when I shot this photo, so it's very very VERY gray. I hate this photo I hate this photo I hate this photo. Stupid stupid stupid stupid! UGH!!!! This is so dumb. Stupid grandma.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

high key/low key































I bracketed and found it very useful, but very time consuming. It was worth it, though. I can't wait until I can see what I want/need within a few frames, then choose instead of making 20 frames and picking one in the middle grey... depending on what I shoot :) Some of these pictures are grey, but I tried making them the best I could. My favorite photo is the handcuffs (my brother's King Kong handcuffs ;) I like shooting low key more than I like shooting high key, but I think high key is easier to shoot. I like low key because the way the detail is shown in the blacks and the highlights don't dominate. High key is easier for me because the detail in it is already there, and you don't really have to define it. Over all, I really liked this assignment.