Unusual and Interesting Photos

1. I think that Christian's work is cool, unique, and eye catching. It kind of hurts my eyes at first, but after that its easy to tell what he's kind of doing.
2. Maybe Christian Rhum made his work by combining different photos together, using different equipment together too?
3. Some building to use for this can be the Statue of Liberty, all that needs to be done is going to New York to go see it. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Italy, so it is easy access.

Part 2

*WIP*

Part 3
1. Edgar Muller, Vincent Van Gogh, and Normal Rockwell. All of their paintings tell a story, they all show a different perspective and they all hold something important in them.
2. 

Norman Rockwell's painting looks so much like an actual picture that it just seems like it shows an amazing story, that the runaway (which is the painting's name, Runaway) and the police officer are getting along.

3. 

4. The photographer in that took this picture seems to have followed the suggestions quite well. It shows the boy waiting for a bit, maybe wondering where he will go next. It shows a different story, he kept his teddy bear, something that he hold dear to him.
5. I think that all of these photos might inspire me. I'm not 100% sure, but who knows?

Academic Shot Preview

Action and Emotion

In the picture above the two girls are doing an experiment. The experiment seems to excite and scare them at the same time when it "explodes." Water, or whatever kind of liquid it is, goes almost every direction, looking like a snow globe when its shaken.

Best Story

The girls who are handing out food are helping the homeless on their own time, because they want to. They care enough to help them even if they have to do something else. The first homeless lady in the picture seems to be grateful that she can eat another meal.

Most Interesting Stuff

Two people are wearing gloves and masks while there's this mysterious "glow" near their waists. The "glow" is more like a mist, or a fog, but it really isn't. The picture is focused on what the two people are doing, they kind of take up most of the right and left sides while the mist takes up more of the focus and center of the picture.

Academic and Community Service Picture

The picture I chose it called "Drop the Bass" by Maria Martinez. Theres a girl in the background pouring/putting paint onto a speaker as it plays music with enough bass to make the paint move. The pain practically jumps from the speak into the air and I thought that it was cool that the paint does that. One rule that comes up in this picture is balance, the paint is in the middle of the photo, the speaker is distributed almost evenly among the bottom of the picture, and the girl in the background who is putting the paint on the speaker just seems to balance the picture out too.

Classroom and Around the Campus

1. The pictures I looked at today were focussed on school activities and what happens in the picture, like the action. At Bowie, I think that some of the best places to look at the academic activity would be the gym, work out room, science rooms, color guard, and the JROTC.

2. There no real specific classrooms I would like to go to, it just depends on what that class is doing that day.

3. I, as a photographer, would try to find the "right" moment, like when the flag from the color guard is coming down and the guard is about to catch it. Once again, it just has to be the "right" time.

Great Black and White Photographers

Chosen Photo

Minor White

"Road and Poplar Trees" New York 1955

The two photos above are by Minor White and they're my top two favorites by him. The first picture I like because of the mystery of what he was taking the picture of, what it really is. For the second one (which is by far my top favorite) I really love how he was taking a picture of nature, including the clouds, ray of sun, mountains trees, and river. Just all of it together is amazing, mostly because its black and white, if it was in color the powerfulness of this wouldn't be the same, it would be much less. Black and white pictures have more meaning than color.

Minor White

Minor White was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 9, 1908. He began studying poetry and botany first before he started to take photos. 1937 is when White began to take photographing more seriously and worked for Works Progress Administration.(Portland, Oregon) He also was in World War II, after WWII White moved to New York City and got a contract with Alfred Stieglitz. White went around the United States to take pictures of different things until he passed away on June 24, 1976.

Photo Manipulation

Photo Manipulation Article

In the article that talked about what happened to people once they changed how a photo looked and what it was supposed to mean to the public,  there were a few people that changed some pictures in a way that hurt them. Some people lost their job because of an "April Fools" joke/prank, the reason why is because what they did offended a religion/country or was just plain lying to scare other people. When someone changes a picture it should be for the better good, like making someone easier to see and not making them to dark if they're African American or black, because that just offends them.

When people use photo editing to make someone, themselves, or something seem better than everyone/thing else, its not right. From personal opinion, photo editing should be used to make things easier to see, to make things lighter or darker just in a way that won't offend people. If photo editing is used to make a black person darker then it shouldn't have been done, it'll hurt that one person and others, too.

Most Unethical and Least Unethical

Most Unethical

 Above is the original picture before it was altered, a soldier is helping a man who is carrying his baby.

This is the picture that has been altered, the picture of the soldier is different. The soldier now is turned to the side and stretching his arm out telling the man to stop moving, basically telling him that if he doesn't he will shoot him. There was also a man behind the soldier kneeling down and he isn't there anymore.

 Least Unethical

The picture above is the original picture of a woman screaming over a dead body after they had been shot.

Here is the picture that has been altered, it doesn't look like anything is wrong except for the fact that everything is darker. The shadows have been enhanced, along with anything black in the picture. Comparing this to some of the other pictures that have been changed, this one isn't that bad. There is nothing here to really offend someone, or if it does it probably isn't that bad.

Post Shoot Reflection

1. When I was trying to get the four prompts (Happy, Bowie, Metal and Square) there was a problem with trying to understand what the prompt meant, how to take a picture of it, bring the prompt into the picture. Square and Metal were probably the hardest out of the four to take; with Square I kept thinking something that is a square, rather than things that made one or something that seemed "square," if that makes sense; with Metal I just stuck with an object with metal or made of metal, I could've thought of something that seemed "hardcore" and not what an object was/is made of.

2. Taking the pictures isn't that easy, theres the position the cameras in, what lens to use, what settings, focus, ect. and when I was taking the pictures I kept thinking about the focus. Focus in a picture is super important, it can give a picture a more dramatic feel, make the viewers eyes look at something in particular (usually the focus), and it can also make the picture more of a picture rather than a blur of colors. For my picture of the butterfly I made the flowers, and the butterfly, the focus and left one of Bowie's buildings to blur out.

3. If I did the assignment again I would made sure that the focus is better, because some of the pictures I didn't use were blurry, I would also use different angles so the picture would be more unique.

4. I would keep the picture of the butterfly and the picture of the flower the same, mostly because for the butterfly one I would have to find it again and that probably won't happen. The flower one I could retake and use a different angle, but I personally think that the time which I took it was good with the time of day was almost right, it was bright and not too cloudy.

5. The rules of composition that I used are not very good, I'll just go ahead and say that. The one for Happy with lines was more of a, "I'm not 100% sure what rule I used in this, it looks like line," honestly. Other than that the one with the flagpole did hit simplicity pretty well, my opinion. Of course Merger wasn't hard not to avoid so there is the shadow one, too, but it isn't the best.

6. If I could retake the prompt I would. There are so many ideas that I have now, some that I would love to try and use. For that reason, mostly, I would like to re-do this assignment sometimes, but there are some pictures that I couldn't take again and some that I could.

Photo Prompt Review

http://alyssaphotojournalismblog.blogspot.com

In the pictures that Alyssa took they had good focus and the prompts are easily shown, as well as the rules of composition. With some of the pictures she took they were dark and hard to see, like her Merger one, or what she took a picture of was overused by other people. I don't blame her because she didn't know. If she could've found different angles to take the pictures then maybe the light wouldn't be such a problem, personal opinion. In most of her pictures, like the Merger and Bowie, she could've taken it at a different angle. For the Bowie one she could've kept the focus the sign, but have Bowie in the background or something else besides the plants.

Five Prompts

 In this picture I was trying to get the Happy prompt, also using the rule of leading lines. The steps that she is sitting on are pointing to her, the lines from the rocks look like they're going towards the steps. What I could've done better is find a different place to take a happy photo instead of the stairs, there isn't really any lines that lead to her besides the stairs, there were plenty of other places-like the bricks on the ground-that I could've used instead. When taking this photo I was focussing more on the girl rather than the rule which was a bit of a mistake. If I were to retake the photo, I would use the bricks, keep her smiling and relaxed.

 This picture I was trying to get the Metal theme, the flag pole was more of an interesting object to take a picture of, rather than the bars on the gates. The gates just didn't have a position where a picture for simplicity could be taken really, too many other objects-people-would get in the way and distract the viewers eyes from the main focus. In the picture the pole isn't too up-close when leading up to the sky and the flags; the light from the sun makes one side of the sky brighter, the other darker which is just more appealing to the eyes; the way the flags are blowing in the wind make the picture a bit merger, but the flags seem to be pointing to the darker side of the sky, too. 

This picture is the theme of Squares, how? Look at the flower and how some of the petals cut off the stems, making a square or a rectangle. The background is unfocussed so the viewer can look at the flower and bee, making it almost rules of thirds. 

 This picture of the shadows of two people and the flagpole is Merger. The outline of the two people mix together with the outline of the flagpole, making it hard to tell the difference between the two(or three if you want to count the two people separately.) Since the shadows are basically the same color Merger makes sense.

The main focus is the Tiger Butterfly, but the theme is Bowie because Bowie is in the background, but its blurred out. While the viewer is looking at the butterfly they are also looks at Bowie, just not directly. In this picture the rule is balanced, there are flowers on both side, the butterfly is more in the middle than on a side which equals both sides out a little more. The right side is a little more "heavy" though.

First 6 Rules of Photographic Composition- 9/11

 For the picture above the main focus is the smoke from the building, which is being centered from the other buildings by its side. Those two other buildings, somewhat the light pole curving over it, frame the smoke, making it stand out more. The viewer can look around the photo to realize that wherever they look, the smoke and debris from the tower will be the main focus.

 This photo is for simplicity, the ruins from one of the building is in front of a slight mist(or smoke/dust) letting the ruins stand out. The rubble at the bottom of the picture is there to let the viewer look around, see what happened after the building collapsed, but the rubble still brings the viewers eyes to the ruins of the building.

The airplane is in 3rd position, gliding itself towards one of the Twin Towers. The plane has enough room to the point where the viewer can see that it will hit the tower, that gives the effect where the viewer can predict what will happen.

The helicopter in this photo kind of combines itself with the buildings, merging together. It becomes a little hard to outline the helicopter. The helicopter's blades look like they're going to hit the pole, thats why this photo is for mergers

 With a satellite view of New York, the smoke leads away and into the rivers which lead back to New York and etc. basically going in a circle. The rivers lead to other places besides New York, too, but most of those other places seem to be cut off, or off the screen. Everything is kind of leading back to where the smoke is coming from, not only because it stands out but because its also near the center of the photo.

This picture has balance between the background and the fire fighters. It represents balance in a way that just draws someones attention to just look around; look at the tree, the light in-between the buildings that seems endless, the fire fighters mourning, the papers and debris on the ground.

Camera History and Information

The Camera

1. In 500 BCE, there was a way to take pictures, but a "dark room," "camera obscure" in Latin, was needed. To get light into the room, there had to be a tiny hole to let the light in and let it-the light-focus like a camera lens. The light would be focused to one side of one of the walls.

2. Christian Huygens and Isaac Newton made a glass lens, helping the process of making the camera. 

3. Joseph Nicephore Niepce made a film for cameras, which made the "first successful photograph" to be taken. 

4. The cameras were already portable; but now it had a glass lens, dark box, was portable and it had film. All of that is like the cameras we have today, except ours are less bulky and are smaller.  There are different kinds of cameras now, some that take polaroid pictures (ones that come out immediately but take awhile to actually show) and some that take the pictures digitally. There are also specific cameras for taking videos.

5. Most cameras now have digital film which allows the pictures to be taken digitally, kind of self explanatory. They also have a CCD, an electronic sensor, that captures the images once the button is pressed.

Camera Modes

1.  Most camera have two modes, manual and program. Manual needs to have a shooting mode chosen in order for the picture to be taken. Program, or Auto, all you need to do is just press the button and BAM-you have your picture. With program you can control some of the settings, like flash.

2.  Portrait is a setting in which the lens changes to a faster one to blur out the background and foes on a specific object. It brings more attention to that object rather than whats around it.

3. Sports mode "freezes" any motion, it can create a small blur when something is moving and is not the focus, depending on what the picture is being taken of. Small things, like water droplets, are visible enough to see the shape of them.

Half Press

1. When something isn't focussed, or focussed the way you want it, press the button half way and not fully to focus the picture/object. Sometimes auto focus doesn't get what you want the picture to look like, that's when you can half press and re-focus.

Controlling Flash

1.  The symbol with a zigzagged arrow pointing down in a circle means "Flash," when there's a line crossing it, that means the flash is off. You should use this when there's not enough light in a room or where you're taking a picture. It will flash a light when you take a picture so it is lightened up and so the person viewing the picture can see what it is, and so the picture isn't all black.

2. The zigzagged arrow with the word "Auto" next to it means that the camera will determine if flash is needed to take a picture or not.

Introduction to Exposure

1.  If there is too much lighten your picture, it can be "washed out," meaning that everything kind of blends together. If there is a lighter color, and there is too much light, those colors will be overly bright and make the details in the picture go away; leaving it to look like a big mess.

2.  When there is not enough light in a picture, it will be too dark. Self-explanitory, and when something is too dark its hard to see-like a dark room. (See what I did there? Hah..)

The Universal Stop

1. For photography, there is a term called "stop," and it is used to "represent a relative change." But only in the brightness of the light.

2.  The planet would be 1 stop brighter if there were two Suns instead of one. (It would also be very very hot and we wouldn't be here.)

3.  If there were 4 Suns instead of two, the planet would be 2 stops brighter. (Plus the planet would probably not exist, either that or be very very very burned.)

Shutters and Aperture

1. Longer shutter speeds allow more light into the picture. There's also a fun little activity you can do. Grab a friend (who can use a camera with longer shutter speeds) and a cash light. Go into a dark room, have your friend start taking the picture and you turn on the flash light and move it around. Once the picture is done being taken, you'll see where you moved the flashlight BUT only the light will show. The shutter will also be needed to be open for a bit longer. (You will too but there will probably so much light, if you moved it around like a crazy person, that you couldn't really see yourself.)

2. Shorter shutter speeds have less light in the picture. 

3. Aperture controls how much light is let in. Its like the "dark room" hole in the wall thing. If you close it, less light will be let in. If you open it, more light will be let in.

4. To increase the amount of light, open the aperture more.

Black and White Photos

Minor White

Minor White
"Pacific, Devil's Slide"
California,1947

 Minor White
"Road and Poplar Trees" 

In the Vicinity of Naples and Dansville, New York, 1955

 W. Eugene Smith
"The Walk to Paradise Garden"
1946

 W. Eugene Smith
Untitled
(overview of hillside houses)
1955-56

Margret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White
"Dr. Kurt Lisso, Leipzig's city treasurer,
and his wife and daughter after taking poison
to avoid surrender to U.S. troops"
Leipzig, 1945

Margaret Bourke-White
"Hohenzollern Bridge"
Cologne, 1945

First Day Photos

These are my "First Day Photos" for Photo Journalism. The first one is a picture of the pit, the one that will remind me of my first day at school. Even though the Pit is probably overused for photos, its also the most common place that people from Bowie seem to remember. (I cannot make calls for everyone, but both of my siblings said that its something they remember very well.)

1.

2.

3.

4.

The second one is of my partners that were in my group as we walked around to take pictures for this assignment. I would totally retake this picture if I could, what I wanted to do was get a picture of their reflections in a door/window of the school. I just didn't have enough guts to ask them to move. This picture is not good, they're just standing there doing nothing except awkwardly standing there, waiting for the picture to be over with.

The third one is supposed to be a picture of a bee, for my nature picture, but it just mostly is a picture of the flower the bees are on. I was trying to get the bee to be (no pun intended) the focus of the photo.

The fourth picture is through a window on the lower floor of the school that faces the courtyard.  I just thought it was a cool way to take a picture of the courtyard, to include the frame of the window in it. The frame of the window seems to give the picture more of an "edge," or "texture." Kind of an "Old Picture" feel. This photo isn't really good, mostly because its just a picture of the area, something that most people will do. Its not really unique in a certain way; to me a good picture is one that is unique, one that others can't necessarily think of.

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