EXTRA CREDIT - Finals

1. A Queen's resident, Ki Suk Han was pushed in fromt of an on-coming subway train by a man who was harassing people in the subway. The photographer began taking photos only after he tried to save the man's life.
2. He said he only took pictures because he thought the flash might warn the conductor of the on-coming train that there was someone in danger.
3. I think that what really turned out to be a horrible photo, was only taken on accident. If the photographer said that he could do all he could to help, then I believe him. Taking those pictures was only done because of the flash that would go off to warn the conductor. He was trying to save the man's life.
4. I think he could have asked the people who were taking videos of it to help him. If he couldn't lift the man by himself, a few more people could have helped.
5. I completely disagree with everything that they did. No person's death should ever be spread across the front page of a magazine for everyone to see and judge. Someone DIED and they used it as a cover story with the words "Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die". There is no respect in that, and no humanity. I have no respect for the people at that magazine.
6. I think that capturing life as it happens is more important. As their job, they have to capture photos that take our breath away. That is their goal. But in situations like this, where it is a matter of life or death, and what they are thinking about is saving a man's life or getting a great picture… that is wrong. It shouldn't be anyone's job to make that decision for someone else.
7. I think in a situation like this, it is always acceptable to involve yourself.
8. When a situation decides if someone lives or dies, ethics shouldn't matter. But when it is any other photo, they should take the pictures they see, not what they make.
9. They should have done more, and could have. Or at least delete the picture for no one to use. It is horribly wrong to have sold it for the magazine, or to have let anyone use it or see it. And it gives the situation a whole new meaning from what the photographer said it was.

Final Exam Review

Captions:

Sarah Chin and Cade Li, 18 (now Cade and Sarah Li) stand posing for their marriage
pictures in the park where they have just been secretly married.
Sarah had just turned 18, and the secret marriage was due to the fact that neither parents
agreed with the engagement. 

A young boy in a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan reaches over the barbed
wire fences to get a look at life outside of his new home after his family's
home was destroyed in a fire fight.
 The boy, his two sisters and his mother and grandmother moved to this
camp to take refuge from the people who killed the rest of his family.

Rules of Photography:

Chic Magazine

Portrait And Self Portrait

Portrait

Self Portrait

Magazines Part II

1. Early Magazine Covers

2. The Poster Cover

3. Pictures Married to Type

4. In the Forest of Words

My Favorite Cover

Favorite

Winner

Boston, May, We Will Finish the Race

Photographed by Mitch Feinberg

"After the marathon bombings, we wanted to be the magazine the city deserved and needed at that moment. The marathon was just four days before our ship date, but we scratched our cover and main feature and threw ourselves into honoring the runners and victims as best we could. The cover image is made up completely of shoes that ran this year’s marathon, and we were proud to tell their stories. We were even more proud that the sale of our May cover posters raised over $120,000 for the One Fund."

I love this picture. The fact that the magazine changed their entire cover because they wanted to respect the people who had been in the race when it was horribly interrupted, is amazing. The fact that they were running the marathon in the first place take so much time and effort. People train for months, many times years to be ready for the marathon. And for it to be interrupted the way it was is horrible. But I absolutely love the way the magazine interpreted the race and the way they made it look so amazing on the cover. 

Best Magazine Covers 2013

1. Formal

2. Informal

3. Informal

4. Environmental

5. Environmental

6. Formal

7. Environmental

8. Formal

9. Formal

10. Formal

11. Formal

12. Formal 

13. Informal

14. Formal

15. Formal

16. Environmental

17. Formal

Fashion-Evolution

1st model- Dove
Changes Made:

1. Lips enlarged
2. Neck lengthened
3. Eyes moved down
4. Hair darkened
5. Neck thinned
6. Eyes enlarged
7. Facial structure made more defined
8. Added makeup

2nd model- full body photo shoot
Changes Made:

1. Facial blemishes erased
2. Lips enlarged and changed
3. Nose thinned
4. Eyes enlarged
5. Shoulder lifted
6. Skin tone lightened
7. Chest and stomach edited down
8. Thighs thinned
9. Legs edited to look longer
10. Feet edited to be smaller
11. Arms lengthened
12. Neck raised
13. Neck thinned
14. Hair over-highlighted
15. Skin tone highlighted
16. Butt size decreased

3rd model- standing
Changed Made:

1. Butt shaved down
2. Thighs sized down
3. Arms thinned
4. Butt shaped
5. Stomach resized
6. Boobs enlarged
7. Back thinned
8. Shoulders raised
9. All of the legs shrunk
10. Arm fat decreased
11. Highlights added around arm and butt to make them stand out
12. Shadows added around legs
13. Boobs made perky
14. Hand size decreased
15. Ankles edited
16. Head shrunk
17. Butt lifted
18. Hair added
19. Hair lengthened
20. Stomach re-edited
21. Chin sharpened
22. Eye reshaped
23. Hair volumized
24. Forehead raised
25. Lighting edited
26. More shadows added

*****
1. No, it is never acceptable to completely shift the way someone looks naturally for a magazine cover or billboard. It is wrong to edit their natural selves, (even slight changes) for more money. People should see the real sides of these models and realize that how they are edited isn't what they should want to be. Most of the time the models will be edited to look "skinny" but they look more malnourished than they do fit.
2. I think that any circumstance is wrong to edit people this way.
3. I think that editing face blemishes or hair lengthening is ok, but it should be the model's choice.
4. Fashion photography will take pictures of any model that works, and edit them to make them "perfect".
Photojournalism will wait for the perfect shot.
5. All of the videos are changed from the reality of the model. Not only do 2/3 of them have pounds of layered makeup on to make their faces look "perfect", their bodies are edited past the point of recognition.
6. I think that these pictures give us a view of how some people use Photoshop and the small things we can do if we learn how.
7. I think that girls have to deal more with the hit of over-editing in modeling jobs. Most male models only get jobs if they have perfectly fit bodies. They don't need this magnitude of photoshop on their bodies. Women on the other hand are forced to deal with it because of their many some variations.

Magazine Cover

Five things you should focus on:

1. Make the title and subtitle pop from the background
2. Don't judge your cover from the picture on your computer screen
3. Use bright colors; the colors will dull when printed
4. If your background works well with your title, don't mess with it to "perfect" it
5. Make it familiar; use the same title and/or style every time to appeal to regular costumers

Electric, Cold, Purple Prompt

American Soldier

This picture, taken on December 1st, shows Ian and 1st Lt. Robert Munoz brightening up their platoon's operation center with Christmas lights and stockings. This is one of the most powerful pictures throughout the slide show because it shows that the soldiers want to create a home away from home feeling in a scary situation that most of the men have never been in. 

This is also a very powerful picture. A lot of times when someone joins the army or wants to join the army, their parents don't agree and do not support them at all. This picture shows that both of his parents are proud of what he has done. They want to be there when he comes home to finally welcome him. 

*****

Set 1: #1-9 (Home in Denver)

Set 2: #10-48 (Basic Training)

Set 3: #49-70 (Deployment to Iraq)

Set 4: #71-82 (Home in Denver)

The most powerful set of images was Set 2, when he was deployed to Iraq. The pictures gave real insight into Ian's life in Iraq on deployment. The chance that he wouldn't come home probably crossed through his mind many times. And the fact that he went through so many girls throughout this time period probably made it even harder. 

*****

The images show how Ian grew and changed under the pressures of a completely new experience.  At first he wanted to quit, but he worked through the pan and succeeded. 

Portaits

(Break the Rules of Composition) 

There are a lot of ‘rules’ out there when it comes to composition and I’ve always had a love hate relationship with them. My theory is that while they are useful to know and employ that they are also useful to know so you can purposely break them – as this can lead to eye catching results.

(Experiment with Lighting) 

Another element of randomness that you can introduce to your portraits is the way that you light them. There are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to using light in portraits. Side-lighting can create mood, backlighting and silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful. 

(Shoot Candidly) 

Photograph your subject at work, with family or doing something that they love. This will put them more at ease and you can end up getting some special shots with them reacting naturally to the situation that they are in. You might even want to grab a longer zoom lens to take you out of their immediate zone and get really paparazzi with them.

Environmental Portraits 

I picked this photo because I felt like I was in the studio with her while she was dancing. The photographer did a really great job. 

I chose this picture because of the simplicity. I feel like the simplicity of the photo accents the simplicity of the farmer's life style, and I think that was what the photographer was trying to capture.

Self portraits

I love this picture because of the depth that it gave off.
The black and white made it stand out a lot more.
It looks like the boy is very dirty and tired, and the rain seems to be giving him new strength.

I liked this picture because of the solemn expression that the subject has.
I also thought the background added to it. I was confused by the water and how
her hair doesn't seem to be very wet even though she's in water.

APERTURE

Aperture: F2.8

Aperture: F16

*****

We closely relate aperture to our eyes. 

The smaller the aperture, the more focused everything in your picture will be. (Foreground AND Background). 

If the aperture was larger, only part of your picture will be in focus while the rest will be blurry. 

Aperture impacts Depth of Field because of the size of the aperture. Depending on how big or small the aperture is, the background will be just as sharp as the main focus of the picture, or much blurrier.

*****

SHUTTER SPEED

Good light:

a) fast shutter

b) slow shutter

c) fast shutter

d) fast shutter

e) slow shutter

f) fast shutter

Dark: 

a) slow shutter

b) slow shutter

c) fast shutter

d) slow shutter

e) fast shutter

f) slow shutter

*****

Three ways to set your shutter speed:

Manually:

1. "Shutter Priority" mode - you set the shutter speed & your camera automatically sets your aperture

2. "Manual" mode - you set both the shutter speed & your aperture manually

Auto:

3. "Auto" mode - sets the aperture and the shutter speed for you

*****

ISO

With a higher ISO, you can capture better pictures in lower light conditions (like football games or any other sport).
The author said that you should always try to use the lowest ISO as possible to get the highest quality image.
The author suggested that you should increase your ISO when there is not very much light to capture the picture quickly. Without flash, the author says a higher ISO freezes motion.

*****

DSLR

Aperture settings: ( 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22 )
Shutter speed settings: ( 1, 1/60, 1/4000 ) measured in seconds
ISO settings: ( 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600 )

Love & Loss

As I looked through the course of her cancer and the pictures that her husband took of her, I felt memories come flooding back from my own experience with cancer within my family.
The first pictures seemed so happy, and normal. I can't help but wonder if these were taken right before they got the news.
When Angelo said, "These photos do not define us, but they are us." I thought that these photos were not everything that they did. He could not have sat all day waiting for his wife to do something that would look right for his project. They had a life outside of the waiting, and sadness, and doctor's appointments. But still he managed to capture everything he needed to; his wife doing the most simp of things. The normal things when none of what was happening was normal.

If I were in his situation, I would have only taken the pictures if it made a difference to her. If she wanted to document her sickness and everything that went on between the beginning and the end.

If I could write Angelo a letter, I would ask him what his reason was behind the pictures, and how he felt through the whole thing. How he stuck by her side, and how he could possibly be strong when she couldn't.

Abandoned Amusement Parks

Out of all of the amusement parks I saw, I would go to the Six Flags down in New Orleans. 

In the pictures, it seemed to be one of the creepiest of them all. And the fact that it is in the United States is even creepier. It's sad that the entire park is in that much disrepair, and I think it would have been a really cute little park if Six Flags had repaired it after the hurricane. 

5 Unusual Places

Abandoned cities/towns

Abandoned haunted houses

Abandoned prisons

Abandoned houses

Zoos

Matthew Christopher "Abandoned America"
I'm not really as interested as I am creeped out by his work.
The places are eerie, and the fact that people lived there once makes it almost
sad to be taking pictures of it.
I would expect to take pictures a lot like this one, and
some with creepier settings.
To take pictures at these places, I would probably have to get permission from
the land owners or the government depending on the area.
I would need to find the right light in the house for the right camera. 

Nick Brandt Favorites

Reactions to 'Africa' & Nick Brandt

I fell in love with Nick Brandt's pictures. The way he answered the question about his inspiration, 

"Simply, I find myself indescribably moved every time I go to these places and see these animals in these settings.
There is something profoundly iconic, mythological even, about the animals of East and southern Africa. There is also something deeply, emotionally stirring and affecting about the plains of Africa—those vast, green rolling plains punctuated by graphically perfect acacia trees under the huge skies." (Brandt, Interview)

really affected me, and made me see the pictures the way he does; a picture of the animals' soul. 

Also, when Brandt talked about his experience with the loss of wild life in the same area over 13 years, it made me think of all the things we could do to help. 

I love this photo and everything about it. The man seems to be "one with the tusks", or he could be hiding his tears for the loss of this giant elephant.
The plain background and landscape makes the picture more real, and makes it much more dramatic.
This picture shows the rule of simplicity, as the background is very plain and accents the main focus, and the rule of thirds because the man is in the bottom left box. It also shows the rule of lines. The lines of the tusks curve up to the man crouching on the ground.



Nick Brandt

Brandt uses a Pentax 67II with two fixed lenses. He doesn't use telephoto lenses because he thinks that getting close to the animals and studying them while waiting for the right picture will give him an insight into their personality.

Brandt explains why he takes his photos saying,
 " I'm not interested in creating work that is simply documentary or filled with action and drama, which has been the norm in the photography of animals in the wild. What I am interested in is showing the animals simply in the state of Being. In the state of Being before they no longer are. Before, in the wild at least, they cease to exist. (Brandt)
He also talks about Africa saying,
"This world is under terrible threat, all of it caused by us. To me, every creature, human or nonhuman, has an equal right to live, and this feeling, this belief that every animal and I are equal, affects me every time I frame an animal in my camera. The photos are my elegy to these beautiful creatures, to this wrenchingly beautiful world that is steadily, tragically vanishing before our eyes."(Brandt)

Captions

Will leads his entire family in the Irish jig he learned from birth at his son's wedding. 

Will got really into the dance, and like his smooth-headed family of men, 

pumped his fist in the air until long after the song was over.

The back door to the bar is a perfect meeting place for
the seniors with smaller rides.
The crew pulled up to the door and parked their rides on the curb.

John, Peter, Ella and Lee sit posing on a bench outside their home.
They imitated the 3 Wise monkeys, and John, Peter and Lee seemed to
be more photo-ready than Ella.

(See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, take no crap)

Great Black & White Photographers Part 3

These photos are not the fact same photos from before, but they are taken by Berenice Abott

(my original photographer).

When I first saw Abbott's photos, I knew immediately that I loved the way she set them up for the viewer. She took pictures of simple, every-day things and made it an art. She was amazing at her job and I love her work. 

      

{I SEE} I see the thin wires of clothes lines shaking in the breeze above my head.
{I SMELL} I smell the odor of clean sheets and clothes.
{I HEAR} I hear the buckets of dirtied water being poured onto the ground below the windows.
{I TASTE} I taste the bitter substance that cleans the dirty sheets.
{I FEEL} I feel the soft sweep of cloth as I walk through the lines of hanging fabrics. 

{I SEE} I see the people standing on the curbs, and walking past shop windows.
{I SMELL} I smell the fabric in the suit store in front of me.
{I HEAR} I hear the chatter of the pedestrians on the street corner.
{I TASTE} I taste the tainted air of the city.
{I FEEL} I feel the metal of the fire escapes, making a trail down the side of the apartment building.

*****
I think that making a poster of pictures that my photographer took would be a good way to show my photographers work to the school.
No one would really see it but it would be the easiest way to show it. 

Photo Mural Project

  Here at school, we could do some kind of 'student life' theme. But not actually around Bowie.
Bowie doesn't have a lot of creative options and we would end up with a better project if we weren't confined to the school grounds and fewer things to put on this Mural Project.
We would take photos of kids downtown, around the neighborhoods, and just doing what they usually do outside of their school life.

  I think that saying the pictures could only be taken on smartphones would be unfair. Not everyone has an iPhone or a phone with an average to good quality camera. I think it should be the students' choice to take the photos with a professional camera or their own phones.

  We could put the murals up around the courtyard and in the cafeteria.

 

Academic Shoot Reflection & Critique

  While taking the pictures for the Academic Shoot, I found it hard to find classrooms that were doing something interesting. A lot of the classrooms were taking tests, or the teacher was showing the students power points or lecturing.
  Keeping all of the technical aspects of photography in mind, the one that I thought about the most was holding the camera correctly.
In a dew of the photos I had to turn the camera a certain way to get the right angle and to make the shot an example of the rules.
  If I could do this assignment again, I would take a lot more photos, and take my time to get more of them clear, and a perfect example of each of the rules.
  I would take a few of my photos the same, and go into most of the same areas to take the pictures.
  The rule of thirds was definitely easiest to achieve this time, butI think that the rule of Lines will be the easiest to active in the next shoot.
 The rule of framing or simplicity will probably be the hardest to get.
  The rule of Lines is probably the most confusing to me. There are so many ways that you could get this picture, and achieve a picture with that rule that it is hard for me to tell if I'm really getting the correct shot to coincide with that rule.

*****

http://catherinesphotojournalismblog.blogspot.com

I thought that these photos were well-taken.
She did a good job at making most of the subjects obvious, and working with the rules.

I thought she could have made the subjects in some of the pictures clearer to the viewer.

Academic Shoot

Simplicity
I followed this rule pretty well. I could have cropped the picture better
to make the subject (the student studying) more obvious.
But other than that I thought the picture was well shot. 

Balance
I followed this rule very well. The two students studying side-by-side (the subjects)
balance each other out. Even though one shirt is much brighter than the other, it still works. 

Rule of Thirds
This picture could have been better shot, but I thought that the rule was obvious.
The subject of this picture is the teacher; Mr. Dammann, and he is very clearly
centered on the far right lines of the grid. 

Framing
This shot followed the rule of framing pretty well. The wood of the study
space frames the subject, (the student studying) very well.

Lines
This picture kind of followed the rule of leading lines.
The subjects are the students taking the test.
I could have gotten more in-line with the desks to make the line more obvious in the picture, but I don't think
I would have gotten as obvious of a subject. 

Part 2

International News Single - AE1
This picture is a sad depiction of the things that people in other countries deal with every day.
The photographer took a very good, very terrifying picture. These men carrying the bodies of their friend's children who were killed in a raid, cry for the loss of their lives in such an inhumane way.
This picture tells a story that the photographer had to go out of his way to find, and he took a very heart-wrenching photo. I think the judges definitely realized that when picking it. 

Sports Photojournalist of the Year - 1st Place
I absolutely love this picture. RGIII 's stance is calm, and attentive. The smoke to the left of him make it a more dramatic picture, with the United States flag in his hand that makes it even more in depth. Had it just been a player standing in wait to enter onto the field with his team, it might have made a different affect on me.
The photographer had to go into the tunnel and wait for the right time to take the picture.

Photographer of the Year - 3rd Place
I loved this picture because it hits me on a personal level.
I loved the way the photographer edited the picture to be black and white, so the viewer can focus on the soldier in the foreground, and the emotions of their family members behind them. I think the judges definitely focused on the emotion in the picture and the way it makes any viewer feel, even if they didn't have a military family member. 

Part 1

My first reaction to his work was that I didn't really like it.
It made me feel like I was spinning.
He probably took a picture of the same monument from different angles and layered them together, or turned the photos to map ether look like different angles.
Buildings like the Empire State Building would be a good one to use for this project.
To get to it, you would probably need to have a helicopter. 

My Favorite Photo

I chose a photo that depicted Junior Year. A boy sitting on the floor of a library is surrounded by books on the shelves that rise high above his head. On the floor around him, sit multiple SAT and ACT study books, some lying open to certain pages and others shut and stacked to show their glossy paper covers.

1. I chose this photo out of the Academics & Community Service section because of the angle of the picture and the way it was taken. The boy's face isn't visible, and he is focused completely on the book open in front of him. The books around him and how well he studies them could change his entire future.

2. The lines of the bookshelf and the books all point to the ground where the boy is studying intently.
The weight of the books on the top of the picture balance out the boy on the bottom half.
The entire picture is very simple, and the boy and his books are framed by the bookshelves around them.

Filling the Frame

This picture was really interesting to look at. In the middle, is the main point of the students'  focus. Even though the viewer cannot be completely sure of what it is, it seems to be very interesting to the students. On the outer edges of the picture, the students have their hands running over the substance, and each face reacted differently. 

Action and Emotion

These students are serving food to the homeless in their area.
You can see that the table separates two emotions; the willingness of the volunteers,
and the happiness of the homeless being served. 

The Story

This picture tells the story of young students who want to take time out of their morning to talk to God with their fellow students. Multiple schools did this in the morning before the first bell, including Bowie. But I liked this picture that was submitted and it showed the connection to God between students. 

Ethical or Not?

TV Guide decided to manipulate this photo by using Oprah's head (the subject of the main article) and Ann Margret's body to make it look as though that is what Oprah really looked like. I think it is unethical to give the public an un-true view of what someone actually looks like. Especially in this dramatic of a way.

I don't think that this photo was edited in an unethical way. Moving a landform or an important feature of the picture (the pyramids in this case) closer to the foreground is not wrong and I don't think it's hurting anyone by doing so.