Unit 6 Activity 2

 Photo by Rafiq Iskandar

 Photo by Noboyuki Taguchi

Photo by Robin Anne

Here are images from other photographers using different methods of distortion made with either the lens or added in photoshop. The first image is a thing called "little planet". It is a 360 degree panorama that is stitched and edited in photoshop. With a special stitching effect, it makes a complete circle that makes it look like a small "planet". The second image was taken with a fisheye lens. This is really neat, because it makes straight, solid lines curved. It makes the building look like it is turning inside towards itself. The third image was edited in photoshop, most like with the liquify filter. This ones is neat because it makes straight lines take shape into funky lines and distortions. It takes a normal looking street and turns it into a new, abstract place.

Unit 6 Activity 1

This activity asks us to use different distortion methods in photoshop and with our cameras. The top image I took about a year ago; I saw an article about moving the lens while taking a picture, which gives the image a tunnel vision-esque look. The second image I tried to do a sabattier effect in photoshop, which was much easier than I thought it would be, and it also came out quite well. The third image I was messing around with blending and decided to try blending two separate panoramas. The outcome came out better than I thought it would have. The fourth image I changed the hues and saturation. I really like this one, it keeps the real textures, but has an unnatural coloring. The final image I used filters to manipulate the photograph. It's hard to tell when it is so small, but I did a spongify filter and watercolor filter. It really looks like a painting with it's silhouettes and sky.

Unit 5 Landscape Assignment

These are photos from two separate landscape photoshoots. The first picture was taken at Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona. The bottom two were taken around and at Sedona, Arizona. The top panorama was also the first one I have ever made. I really like the top image because of its great depth of field and the long road leading all the way to the horizon. It has a good mix of positive and negative space as well. For the second day I tried using the HDR method in Photoshop. I really like how it came out; the colors of the autumn leaves and the bushes with their flowers, along with all the detail and shadows in the nature, really make the image pop out. The final photo I took in Sedona. I really like how the panoramic came out, and the sky and mountains have a good complimentary color balance.

Unit 5 Activity 5

The photograph above was taken by me sometime last year. It utilizes foreground subject matter, and focuses on that. The background in this landscape is not as important as the subject. It does however, almost put the focus onto the foreground and makes it stand out from the background. It also contrasts with the subject quite well.

Unit 5 Activity 4

These are some older pictures that I took. One is of tall buildings, the other is of tall trees.

Here are two more landscapes that I took, one open, the other closed. The top image is the open landscape. It spans as far as the eye can see, with no frame around any single subject. It feels very open. The closed landscape is quite different, it has a lot going one, and the road is framed by all of the trees. The road also shows a leading line and contrasts with the nature around it. It is a much smaller area than the open landscape and has much more to take in.

Unit 5 Activity 3

Painting by Bob Ross

Photo by Nasim Mansurov

This activity explains the differences between a painting and a photograph of a landscape. I tried to get two similar landscapes, both have tall trees and mountains, a lake, and shades of green and orange-yellows. The main difference between a photograph and a painting is the detail. A painting lacks detail when compared to a picture, but it makes up for that in color. You can pick up on colors and shades in a painting, unlike an average photo, where these factors depend on the lighting. With a painting, you can also create your own place, with the clouds and trees exactly where you want. A photograph has to work with what's there. On the other hand, A photograph of a landscape has much more vastness and reality; you can feel how large and beautiful the area is in a photograph.

Unit 5 Activity 2

Photo by Bruce Percy

The photo above shows the Taj Mahal, a beautiful piece of architecture built hundreds of years ago. This building seems to represent the  great capability of mankind; everything we can accomplish and how breathtaking it can be. However, this is contrasted by all the smog that seems to fog the air around the Taj Mahal. This is pollution, not fog. It is ironic, this amazing building built by humans shrouded in the disgusting smog that man also created. This picture shows two extremes of what we created, the good and its counterpart and byproduct. Unless you know that the "fog" is not fog, but pollution, the message of this image can be hard to see, but once you realize, the message shown is very powerful.

Photo by Bruce Percy

This picture is of three young women in Ethiopia. Two appear to be praying, while the third is walking away. It feels almost as if she is leaving her religion. The girls are all dressed the same, and the composition of the picture makes it appear to be the progression of praying to walking away. I don't feel the photographer meant to portrait this, but to me, this is how the image is conveyed.

Unit 5 Activity 1

Photo by Walker Evans

Objectively, this picture is a graveyard, focusing on one large cross-shaped tombstone, with a rural-like city shown in the background. Subjectively, however, I feel that Evans is representing life and death. The city is life, and the cemetery is death. It shows how close both are, and how that death is "just around the corner". The town also seems sort of dull and quite. Life is symbolized as walking through a  unitarian town, going to different-but-similar buildings, until turning the corner and reaching the cemetery, and dying. Evans uses a landscape to convey point of view through composition and subject matter. This image could definitely be considered art, because it is symbolic and makes the viewer think.

Motion assignment

For this project I decided to use very different subjects. I feel that a variety of motion is shown in each as well. The picture of the bike has a unique first-person-view on the moving bicycle and shows motion quite nicely. I feel that the second image of a girl shaking her hair shows motion stopped in time, that could not be seen by the naked eye. It pauses her, showing the flow of every hair. The final image I tried some new techniques. I set a backdrop and, with a tripod, used a few second shutter speed while the subject expanded and contracted her hand. What came out was much more unique than I would have expected. It doesn't show a natural motion, but makes an abstract sort-of  movement. I would definitely say the image is almost surrealistic.

Low Lighting Project

For this assignment I thought I would try some new things. Over the weekend I went out to my backyard and tried taking pictures of star trails. This was fairly difficult and required me to check on the images frequently and make sure all the settings on my camera were just right. I am pretty pleased with the outcome and would like to try again in a natural area with no city lights. For my final picture, I thought instead of a simple street I'd take a picture of a roundabout-like intersection. I really like outcome; it has a nice symmetry about it and also has unique curves of light.

Unit 4 Activity 4

Photo by Jack Fusco

Using a slow shutter speed allows for a lot of motion to be recorded in a picture. In this picture, you can see the complete travel of stars overnight. Taking a picture like this can be very tough, you must keep a camera nearly perfectly still for an entire night. To make sure that the image isn't over-exposed, you have to use an extremely small aperture size. With this aperture, you also get a very large depth of field, capturing detail of the entire picture.

Unit 4 Activity 2

Photo by Gus Mills

Using a fast shutter speed is great for getting a really solid detail and little to no blur in an image. If the subject is moving quickly, the photo seems to literally freeze time. In reality, the cheetah and prey in the picture above are probably moving quite fast, however, we do not get to see this. When using a fast shutter speed, you have to compensate for lighting by using a larger aperture size and changing the ISO speed. When using a large aperture, the image tends to have a shallow depth of field. The problem with increasing the ISO is that it can make the image much granier. 

Unit 4 Activity 1

Photo by Henry Cartier-Bresson

Henry Cartier-Bresson says that a photograph must be taken during the "climax" of the scene. There is a decisive moment which shows the subject's emotion best, and everything falls into place. This image was taken just as Cartier-Bresson walked into the room unexpectedly. The people each have unique, one-of-a-kind expressions showing them just seeing somebody walk into their home. If he had taken the photograph seconds later, the subjects would have probably had completely different expressions, much less human than the ones they have in the photo. The expressions shown are true.

Unit 3 Activity 4

 Photo by Antti Lehtinen

Photo by Daniel Poe

A great depth of field is useful for landscapes and other things which take in a lot of detail. It shows lines and rhythm in the image. A great depth of field is useful when subjects are also very far in the background. It helps show the scenery as well.

 Photo by Michael Zhang

Photo by Rudi Hulshof

A shallow depth of field is useful for a couple different reason. It can focus in on the subject and blur out any distraction things in the background. It also gives a clear, defined subject, and can capture detail much better. Using a shallow depth of field can also add story and lead the subject to a blurry, mysterious background. Shallow depths are also useful for focusing in onto a small subject.

Unit 3 Activity 3

 Photo by Jeremy Cowart

Photo by Brent Stirton

A light source in a picture gives a good gradient of lighting in an image. It shows exactly how a subject is lit, and gives a focal point as well. However, sometimes a light source coming from in front of a camera and behind a subject can drown out the subjects color and crispness.

Unit 3 Activity 2

Photo by Ira Kravchuk 

Multiple light sources are often used in portrait photography. It puts a soft lighting onto the subject and lights them evenly. this makes the image much more smooth, and well, soft. It removes unsightly textures or blemishes as well. 

Photo by Brent Stirton

A single light source gives the image a hard lighting. One section of the subject is light very well, while everything else is eclipsed. This adds roundness to a face or object. It makes the subject more organic. The hard lighting gives it shape and accentuates texture.

Unit 3 Activity 1

 photo by Michael Kanashkevich

Photo by Aaron Lockart

 Here are a couple examples of soft lighting. Soft lighting works well for portrait photography and getting every detail well lit. It shows everything evenly and leaves little out. However, sometimes it can make a subject look flat and without any roundness or edges. without shadows, you cannot see much form and specific detail.

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Photos by Jeremy Cowart

These images show hard lighting. Hard lighting usually only has one light source that focuses on a single section of the subject. Hard lighting really gives character to a face or shows detail and texture of a subject. The shadows can also give the image a bit of mysteriousness. Hard lighting can sometimes leave out important pieces of a subject, however. If you do not intend to have large shadows, hard lighting can ruin a picture.

Unit 2 Activity 3

These photographs (both taken by Mitchel Kanashkevich) show great use of the rule of thirds. The subject is put into these spots because it is the most aesthetically pleasing area. Not only is it good to have a subject in one area of the rule of thirds, but for it to flow smoothly into two or more of these spots, as shown in the second picture.

These two images (top by Brent Stirton, bottom by Rainer Pfingst) do not follow the rule of thirds. It is not always necessary to put images into the rule of thirds, it would make photography much more boring if that was the only way to have a "good" photograph. Centering your subject, creating leading lines, having varying depths-of-visions, and many more elements of a photograph can make it work well.

Unit 2 Activity 2

Part One

‘To quote out of context is the essence of the photographer’s craft. His central problem is a simple one: what shall he include, what shall he reject? The line of decision between in and out is the picture’s edge. While the draughtsman starts with the middle of the sheet, the photographer starts with the frame. The photograph’s edge defines content. It isolates unexpected juxtapositions. By surrounding two facts, it creates a relationship. e edge of the photograph dissects familiar forms, and shows their unfamiliar fragment. It creates the shapes that surround objects. The photographer edits the meanings and the patterns of the world through an imaginary frame. This frame is the beginning of his picture’s geometry. It is to the photograph as the cushion is to the billiard table.’ -John Szarkowski

The quote above talks about quoting out of context, which means to frame the subject matter in a way that can either remove distracting background matter or completely change the mood of the picture. Taken from the right angle, and image may mean a complete different meaning if it does not have any background information, much like hearing a story without knowing the background. Quoting out of context can make different forms, or a unique perspective, on regular things.

Part Two

Degas was a fairly revolutionary painter for his time. He painted images of people doing casual, everyday things. When most artwork was very dramatic, set-up, or posed, Degas showed people in their natural forms. He painted anything from cooking to bathing. His work was inspired by what was seen around him, much like most photography.

Unit 2 Activity 1

These photos (Left by Mitchell Kanashkevik, right by Brent Stirton) use very simple backgrounds to focus onto the subject more. The left picture's background is a solid color and texture, and since it water, it makes the photo very soothing. The photo on the right has a very shallow depth-of-field, creating a strong focus onto the subject, and offers no distraction.