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.