Elements of Art - Shape

Edits: Increased exposure to +0.30, shadows to +30, and decreased highlights to -40.

Edits: Increased exposure to +0.20 and whites to +25

Both pictures deal with shape - a two dimensional figure formed by a closed line. The first photo has the shape of the flowers, and the second photo is the shape of the leaves and stems.

Elements of Art - Lines

Edits: Increased exposure to +0.25, contrast to +10, shadows +13

Lines can be found everywhere in nature. The lines in the photo are formed by the leaves of the plant.

Top 5 Rankings Lens Blog Empowering the Poor

1. Picture #24 - Rice cooking on gas burners
2.Picture #3 - Fishing net in water
3.Picture #8 - Children running on the beach
4. Picture #6 - 2 women sitting together near a lamp
5. Picture #4 - Men playing cards together

Multimedia Festival Poster #2

This was our first multimedia festival poster. We took a picture of a mural in the E Wing and used it as our background. The poster looks attractive because the man in the background playing the saxophone underlines the "multimedia-ness" of the event. Our mistake, however, was that the way we used the picture as a background made it look like we designed the mural when in fact we did not. The background also draws some attention away from the actual text of the poster.

Our second poster is better because it is more original. We designed the background with an original photo we took instead of using an already painted mural for it. We also made the information on the poster (such as the address) more accurate. I think the text also stands out a bit more and the poster in general is a lot more pleasing to look at. This poster is also better considering we faced more time pressure than for the first poster.

Movie Monday - The Photo League

1. What was The Photo League's credo?
   The Photo League's credo was that the camera was more than a means of recording reality; it had the potential to change the world.
2. What organization did The Photo League separate from?
   
   It separated from Workers International Relief. The Photo League was originally known as the Worker's Camera League.
3. What was the workshop?
   "The Workshop" was a documentary photography workshop in which Sid Grossman taught advanced technique classes.
4. Who taught "the workshop?"
   Sid Grossman
5. If you were to devote one year of your life to one project, what project is worth your time and energy?
   I would visit the baseball stadium of every baseball team in the MLB, AAA, AA, etc. and take photos of the lives of these professional and minor league baseball players.
6. What was The Harlem Document?
   The Harlem Document was a collection of portraits of African-Americans and documented all aspects of life in Harlem during the 1930's.
7. Who started The Harlem Document?
   A photo leaguer named Aaron Siskind.
8. A photographer discusses a photograph where "the children looked like they came out of a __________ painting. Who was the painter? 
   Caravaggio
9. Why did the photograph mentioned in #8 look like it was by the painter? 
   The photograph looks similar because the sun illuminates the face of the boy on the very right.
10. Who was Lewis Hine? (name two significant contributions)
    Lewis Hine was an American photographer who inspired the Photo League’s collective portraits of urban life. He was a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee and he also worked for the Red Cross during the Depression to photograph the drought relief in the American South.
11. Who was Weegee?
    Weegee is a nickname for Arthur Felling, who was known for his black and white street photography and his quirky personality.
12. How did The League change when The Nazis took power?
    European immigrants (for example Laudi Jacobi, Erica Cocfer and Lizet Model) fleeing the Nazis immigrated to New York, where they joined the Photo League.
13. How did The League change during WWII?
    The Photo League took a more political stance by using their cameras in support of the war. Feature groups documented war production, parades and parties. Because many male Photo Leaguers joined the U.S. military forces fighting overseas, female members assumed a much larger role in keeping the League running.
14. How did Siskind change after WWII?
    Before, Siskind's style was documentary and realism photography, but after the war he switched to abstract expressionism.
15. What was the Saturday Evening post?
    The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine that started publishing in 1897.
16. Who was Barbara Morgan? What did she photograph?
    Barbara Morgan was a photographer from Kansas who took many photos of modern dancers. She was also a co-founder of the photography magazine Aperture.
17. What eventually undermined the Photo League?
    The Photo League was placed on a government list of communist and fascist organizations.
18. What was the "Growing Menace" mentioned in the film?
    Communism
19. Who agreed to serve as President when The League was under investigation?
    W. Eugene Smith
20. What happened to the league?
    The Photo League eventually disbanded in 1951 after Angela Calomiris testified that it was a front for the Communist Party.

Multimedia Fest Poster

Concert Poster Recreation - Lana Del Rey

This is a recreation of Lana Del Rey's Open Road Tour poster.

Period 2 - Semester Final

1. What is your favorite photo from this Lens slideshow? Provide three reasons that it is your favorite.
   My favorite photo is the last one of the slideshow, the one of the red deer with a bird on its shoulder seen through the morning mist.
   One reason I like this photo is because I like the shape of the silhouette of the deer. The symmetrical shape of the antlers also appeals to me. Another reason I like this photo the most is because it seems very serene and natural; the deer is just standing there and presumably staring at the camera, seemingly unaware of the bird on its shoulder. Third, I like how the photo is framed, with tree branches on the top and dark grass/brush on the bottom. I also chose this picture for how the mixture of dark and light colors draws my attention to the deer.
   
2. Which photo is the best from the slideshow? Provide three reasons.
   The best photo is the second photo of the slideshow. It uses shallow depth of field extremely well, focusing on the distress of the mother and her children while also showing the chaos ensuing behind them. I also think it is framed extremely well, with the family in the center, a man on the left side, and an arm on the right side. Lastly, I think the photographer did a masterful job capturing the emotions of the Syrian refugees. You can see the fear and uncertainty in some of the people's faces and empathize with their ordeal.
   
3. What is your best work this semester? Include the blog link. Give three reasons why this is your best work. If you had more time, how would you do to improve the project.
   My best work this semester was in the Masters of Photography project. It involved a lot of research because initially I knew nothing about Carleton Watkins. This is my best work because: 1. I learned a lot about Watkins and stereoscopic photography, and I became better at it myself, 2. My photos of the church in New Orleans looks very, very similar to Watkins's photos of the church of Mission Dolores, and 3. I was able to work with my group members efficiently so that all of us could present high quality work by the due date.
   If I had more time, I would go back and take more photos of everything because Watkins's range of subjects that he photographed is extremely vast. I would also go to a national park such as Yosemite and take photos of landmarks that Watkins photographed as well.
   
4. You chose three rules of composition. What are your three rules?
   1. Rule of Thirds
   2. Leading Lines
   3. Background
   
5. Select one of your own photos that illustrates your ability to apply at least two of the three rules. Insert the photo into the post and label the picture. Clearly include the two rules of composition that you are using.
   Photo of Briant Shen, taken September 29: 
   
   
   This photo shows background and rule of thirds. Briant is located on the right third of the grid and the wings of the mural are portrayed so that they look like they are sprouting from Briant's back.
   
6. I have three rules of composition. I have explained one already. What is my first rule?
   Get Closer (to the subject)
   
7. What are the benefits of working in groups? Provide a list with five benefits.
   1. Easier to communicate with someone sitting right next to you rather than someone sitting across the room
   2. Much easier to ask them to pose for a photo you are taking
   3. Meet new people and make new friends
   4. They can help you if you have any trouble
   5. Learn about their rules of composition as well as your own.
   
8. What are the difficulties of working in groups? List five difficulties.
   1. Sometimes they procrastinate or don't listen to you.
   2. Harder to make decisions because there are more opinions to consider
   3. Easier to get distracted
   4. You are responsible for everyone in your group, not just yourself.
   5. Sometimes you feel bored talking to the same people over and over again.
   
9. What is your favorite project produced by another person in this class? Provide the link to their work.
   I like Estell's Self Portrait project because I think it's interesting and a little funny how she is taking a self portrait of herself taking a self portrait.

A little history

10. You studied a master photographer and reproduced his or her work. Who was the photographer? What did the photographer contribute to the field of photographer? List one significant contribution.
My master photographer is Carleton Watkins. He introduced stereoscopic photography (the art of taking two photos of the same subject from slightly different angles to portray a three dimensional appearance) to society and also helped make Yosemite a national park with his stereoscopic photographs of the natural landmarks there.

11. What is Dorothea Lange's most popular photo? (Does the photo have a name?) Where was the photo taken? When? What agency employed Dorothea when she took the photo?Her most popular photo is titled "Migrant Mother." It was taken in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California. She was employed at the time by the Resettlement Administration.

12. When did Life Magazine begin publishing?
Life Magazine began publishing on January 4, 1883.

13. When was Elvis born?
Elvis was born on January 8, 1935.

14. Robert Capa was a founding member of what organization? When did it start?
Capa was a founding member of Magnum Photos, which started in 1947.

Album Cover Recreation

For this assignment, I decided to recreate the album cover of Bob Marley's Legend.

I took this picture myself and I cropped it in Camera Raw as well as increased contrast to +100 and exposure to +0.25. I added Garamond font text in Photoshop to make it look like the album cover.

Masters of Photography Project Reflection

1. How do you think your project represents your work as a student?
I think this project shows that I take sort of a unique approach to photography, and that I use what I have to complete photography projects. I don't take the best pictures, but I think I did a good enough job to show other people Carleton Watkins's photography style.

2. How has your understanding of photography changed during this school year?
Before, I thought photography was mostly about editing in Photoshop, but I learned throughout the first half of the year that there is more than that. For example, there are a bunch of rules of composition that photographers use, and there are many, many different styles of photography.

3. What are some of the benefits of working in a group?
Working in a group  is definitely helpful when we have questions because we can just ask our group members. We all help each other out, and it's pretty cool talking to Estell, Briant, and Tommy.

4. What are some of the disadvantages of working in a group?
Sometimes people do their own stuff instead of working on projects, but that's not really a huge issue in my opinion. Maybe they worked ahead or they're working on it at home, so I don't really care about what they do unless they don't finish their project or if they ask me a question.

5. Now that you have had more time to reflect, is there anything that you would have done differently with your recent project?
I wish I took more pictures of nature because that was definitely a huge focus of Carleton Watkins. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to go to a natural park such as Yosemite and take pictures, so I had to improvise and work with what I had.

6. Is there anything else that you want to include? 
I loved doing this project, and I was truly inspired by Carleton Watkins's work. I completely understand why he is considered a master photographer now.

Masters of Photography - Carleton Watkins

Carleton Watkins (1829-1916) is considered a master photographer for his work documenting nature with stereoscopic cameras and mammoth glass plates. His work convinced Congress to pass a bill to name Yosemite as a national park, protecting Yosemite Valley from land developers. He was also among the first photographers to document the American West, moving to California in the middle of the 19th century gold rush. Watkins took photos up and down the West Coast, although staying mainly in California, from the mid 1850's to the early 1890's.

Initially, I chose Carleton Watkins because I liked how his photos portrayed the beauty of undisturbed nature. I was inspired by Carleton Watkins to understand what stereoscopic photography is. Stereoscopic views are a pair of photos of the same object that are taken from slightly different angles. When theses two photos are viewed together, they give the impression that the subject of the photos is 3D. Later in the project, I discovered that Watkins also emphasized the angle at which we view objects. which is partly the reason why he made stereoviews.


Before:

After:

This photo was inspired by Watkins's photo of a box of peaches. I didn't have that many peaches, but what I did have was a persimmon tree, so I substituted persimmons for peaches in this photo.
For edits, I had to crop out the box first, and then I made it black and white. I had to change shadows, vibrance, and blacks to -100. I also edited the clarity and highlights to +100 to make the lines between the persimmons sharper, to match the original photo by Watkins.


Watkins Photo of Peaches

Before:

After:

Watkins's stereoscopic photos of Chy Lung was taken in San Francisco. I took these photos of a building I saw in New Orleans. I edited my photos to make them black and white by changing saturation and vibrance to -100, contrast to -70, and blacks to -50.
Watkins Photo of Chy Lung & Co

Second Portrait

Subject: Travis

Location: Outside E Wing

Camera Raw Edits: -100 Vibrance, 

-0.20 exposure

Subject: Travis

Location: Outside E Wing

Camera Raw Edits: -10 Shadows, -15 Blacks

Composition Review - 3 Rules

Before:

After:

The after photo shows my 3 rules of composition, the rule of thirds, leading lines, and background. I cropped the photo so that the rock and the leaf are roughly placed at the intersections of the thirds grid. Although there are no "defined" lines, the border of the right can serve the same linear purpose. You can also see a stage further in the background. This photo also uses shallow depth of field very nicely, but that isn't one of my rules of composition.

Example of Rule of Thirds

Example of Leading Lines

Examples of Background

In the Lens blog Revisiting Unhealed Wounds in Chechnya, I decided that picture 4 (shown here) best demonstrated my three rules because the grave markers in the foreground and the group of people are roughly placed on the intersections of the rule of thirds grid. The short wall/fence serves as a leading line to draw attention to subject of the photo, which is the group of people reciting the Quran. The background is dense with fog, but you can still see tens of grave markers in the distance, as well as electricity poles, a paved road, and green flags.

First Portrait

Subject: Briant Shen

Location: Mural outside E-Wing

Camera Raw Edits: Increased exposure to +0.40 and decreased blacks to -50. 

Subject: Rose flower

Location: Outside main office

Camera Raw Edits: None

Self Portrait

Tired Monday morning...

Shallow Depth of Field

This photo shows a shallow depth of field. The foreground and subject of the photo are in focus, whereas the background is out of focus. I adjusted the shadows a little bit on Camera Raw to draw more light onto Briant's face.

3rd Photography Assignment, 1st Rule of Composition

My first rule of composition is the rule of thirds, in which the subject of the photo isn't centered, but rather slightly off set. It also captures the face of Mother Earth on the mural, which is pretty cool.


My 3 Rules of Composition are:

1. Rule of Thirds
2. Leading Lines
3. Background

2nd Photo Assignment, My Second Rule

My second rule of composition is the concept of leading lines. This photo uses lines to draw attention to the subject of the photo, which are the green stairs that stand out compared to the white walls and brown poles.

1st Photo Assignment, 3rd Rule of Composition

My third rule of composition is the rule of backgrounds. The background is used to bring focus to the subject of the image.