Unusual and Interesting Photos

Part 1

1. What is your reaction to his work?

I think it's a little weird at first because it looks photoshopped which I don't consider 100% photography because you are using more than just your camera a skills, but you are getting help from other sources. So it also appears  fake, which I don't like. 

2. How do you think he made these photos?

I think that he just moved his camera while taking the photo, but I also think he changed the settings of the camera to be able to split up the architecture. Because the middle in the most most clear image he may have been focused on the middle at first and then moved the camera side to side. 

3. Think about some buildings you have seen, which ones would be good to take a photo like this? Tell me about those buildings, where are they, could you get easy access to them?

A building that would be good to take a photo like this would be a skyscraper, high church bell or tower. There is a tower with a church bell at Zilker Park near town lake which I think would be perfect for this type of photo. It is tall (which is a key element) and has a complex top part (the church bell and a clock) which is going to make the photo more appealing. It is very easy to get access because they structure is in near downtown Austin and outside. 

Part 3

The three most important pictures to remember when you are out shooting are "The Runaway" , "Cafe at Night" and "Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette" 

My favorite painting was Nighthawks by Edward Hopper 

This photograph reusables the painting 

This photograph follows the rules of the painting because it is very quiet. First of all the subject and his car seem as though they are in the middle of nowhere, immediately giving the impression of peace and quiet. And then the subject point is one subject (also having a simple background) following the rule of simplicity, which plays well with the "quiet" theme. 

"Nighthawks" influenced me the most because I personally find night photography very beautiful and appealing because night gives  you the feeling as though you are the only person on this planet right now, which is insanely powerful. I also like how the subjects are a bit spread out, but not too far apart. This affected me the most because it gave me an idea of types of photos I'm going to try and capture. 

Academics and Community Service

My favorite photograph is the one titled "Political Secrets" where the woman is whispering into the man's ears with an american flag in the background.

1. I picked this photograph because it was the one that caught my attention the best. I think it's really powerful and mature taking the "academic" theme to another level. It's also mysterious fitting the title "political secrets" because you can only see half of the woman's face and then you can't see the man's face at all. Then the flag in the background gives the photo a patriotic feel.

2. This photograph follows the rule of simplicity because it has a clear and strong focus point on the woman and the man. Even though there are still things in the background (such as the flag and even a person behind the woman) they are blurred out giving the ability to fully focus on the woman and man. It also follows rule of thirds which is why I think it's so powerful, because in my opinion the placement of the subject is the most important aspect. There is also balance between the flag and then the woman and man.




1. I could take photos like the ones I saw today in classrooms that do fun activities, but I wouldn't want too much people in my photograph because to me the photograph is stronger when there are less people because the focus is larger.

2. I think I would want to go to Ms. Frazier's classroom because she's the hospitality teacher and they always play fun games which I think will result in really good photographs.

3. I would find a good focus point and then take multiple photographs of it from different angles and use different rules of photography.

Filling the Frame

This photograph fills the frame best because it actually does have framing (the black around the picture). And the boys in the middle are a good contrast against the black and then obviously the big white dust in the middle fills in well also having a great contrast. To me this is the most interesting photo because you see something happening that you usually do not see everyday which is more appealing to look at. 

Action and Emotion

This photograph has the most emotion because it shows a strong connection between the school community and the homeless, and how the country's future leaders are already doing something to improve their community. It shows hope and most of all kindness, and if you look into it, there is actually a lot of action going on because all the students are handing out the food. 

Best Story

I think this photo displays the best story because it has a lot of emotions which you can build a story on. You can tell that both the students and the teacher like each other and they have a close relationship. Because the relationship is so close both the students are probably good students and are even close with one another. It has positive vibe, and the class is enjoyable to be in. 

Photo Manipulation and Ethics

The article was about how photographers (most being very successful) misused photoshop or photo manipulation and lost their jobs and credibility. These photographers either removed, changed or added something to the picture, which gave false information and may have even offended people related to the photo. Some of these photos had to do with important world/political information such as missiles launching and cabinet members, while others dealt with everyday people such as baseball players kneeling for a hurt player or a woman crying.

I think photo manipulation can be both acceptable and unacceptable. It's unacceptable when you take an event and change the facts about it, such as adding or taking away important elements. Because the photo itself is a lie. For me this only matters if the change is very major and noticeable. But if the change isn't that noticeable or doesn't take or give anything away from the story, to me its not important.

I think this photo is the most unethical because it's displaying false information and making the soldiers seem bad, and the people desperate. Making all these changes definitely makes the photo seem more appealing and emotional because the conditions seem bad. It seems that the soldier is telling the man to either go away or stop while the man holds his little daughter in his arms. It makes an obvious "good guy" and "bad guy" scenario, which never really happened. 

I don't see anything wrong with this photo at all. The mountains were just pushed closer together to fit the magazine cover. The change doesn't make the purpose of the photo any different and doesn't alter the emotions you feel when you see the photograph. 

Great Black and White Photographers: Part 2

Yousuf Karsh 

Sources: 

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/yousuf-karsh

http://www.karsh.org/#/the_man/biography

Yousuf Karsh was born on December 23, 1908 in Madrin, Turkey. He left at age sixteen to live with his uncle in Quebec, Canada, who had a photography studio, resulting in Yousuf learning the basics of photography there. To improve his skills he became an apprentice for a well known photographer at that time; John H. Garo. He apprenticed for three years and after that opened his own portrait studio in Ottawa, hoping it would attract important individuals because of its prime location. The photograph that made him so well known as he is today was the portrait of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, making it one of the most famous portrait photographs in photography history. He sold the photo for LIFE magazine for only $100, but after that, he started receiving incredible attention, even being called "the official portrait photographer" in Canada. 

In 1946 he published his first book Faces of Destiny that contained portraits of men and women led an attack on the allied victories of Europe and the Pacific. He sometimes worked on industrial photos, such as Ford Canada Ltd. and Atlas Steel Ltd, but his obvious focus was on portraits. As more time passed, more people wanted to be photographed, some were famous figures such as Elizabeth Taylor and Albert Einstein, while other's were everyday individuals. All his portraits were shot very formally against a black background, really capturing the focus point, the person. He photographed 17,000 people over six decades. Karsh died on July 12, 2002 in Boston, Massachutes. He died being known as the photographer of the most important people in the 20th century, but not to mention, normal everyday people like you and me. Karsh wrote "I believe that it is the artist's job to accomplish at least two things—to stir the emotions of the viewer and to lay bare the soul of his subject. When my own emotions have been stirred, I hope I can succeed in stirring those of others. But it is the mind and soul of the personality before my camera that interests me most, and the greater the mind and soul, the greater my interest."

Post Shoot Reflection

Miller's Blog

I looked at Miller's photos and I found them really appealing. My favorites were the square, metal and circle pictures because they had great focus and looked at everyday things up close. I think all them followed the rule of simplicity, making the focus point really strong. One thing he could improve on is the lighting in his merger photo, the shadow is on his focus point, and then the background is brightly lit, not making the photo as powerful as it can be. There's also a lot of unnecessary things happening, making the photo confusing to look at. 


1. What challenges did you encounter while trying to get the photos of your first 4 prompts (Square, Metal, Happy, Bowie)

I had a pretty hard time finding an object that met the themes and also incorporating photography elements into it. Also because I only had 15 minutes to shoot, it restricted me from getting all the shots I wanted. 

2. What technical aspects of photography or the assignment in general (focus, framing, holding the camera, etc.) did you find yourself thinking about the most? Provide a specific example of what you did to do this correctly.

I thought about focus the most because if I think it's the most important part, because if your photo is not in focus, it automatically is not a good photo. Most of the time I would actually focus the photo myself (do it manually) because sometimes the camera wouldn't focus on the main point I wanted to shoot. Another aspect I focused on was lighting, because that can make or break a photo. It was hard getting good lighting because it was around 10 in the morning, when the sun is nice and bright, so there would be a lot of unwanted shadows in my photos. 

3. If you could do the assignment again, what would you do differently now that you know some basic rules of photography?

I would do the whole assignment completely different. I would focus more on the rules of photography, because when I was taking my photos I wasn't thinking about it that much and just thinking about the object I wanted to shoot. Then I would hold my camera more stiffly and focus better because some of my photographs came out bad because they weren't focused. 

4. What things would you do the same?

The things that I would do the same would be switching up the position of the camera (holding it vertically and horizontally) because it made my photos more interesting overall because they were all shot differently. Then I would shoot most of my photos outside because I think that outside photography is more pleasant to look at and just interesting and lively. 

5. Finally - go back and edit your blogs with the 4 photos (square, metal, happy, Bowie), tell me what rules of composition (which you just learned about) did you end up actually achieving? Did you have any?

I had multiple rules of composition, but I didn't use all of them. I used simplicity, lines, rule of thirds and balance. In two of my photos I didn't have strong rules of photography (the merger and bowie photo). Those photos I don't like at all but they met the theme so thats why I used to them. But I really like my "happy" photo because it has a strong focus point and balance, and then my "metal' photo uses simplicity and rule of thirds, and my "squares" photo uses simplicity and a little bit of rule of thirds. 

6. Are you interested in shooting those same prompts again, why?

I would really like to redo this assignment because now that I have an idea of what it's like, I think I can do a lot better and actually get good photos this time. Also while my partner was taking photos, I noticed so many more things I could photograph. I would defiantly go back to those places and try to get some good photos. I would also explore a little more, to see if I can find more interesting settings.  

Prompt Photos

Happy 

Squares 

Bowie 

Metal 

Merger 

Mergers

This photograph has a merger because the man (who is the focus point) is interacting with the background (the building on the left). This makes one part of the man (his head) appear more noticeable then the rest of his body, which is mixed in with the background. Because of this, the photo is not as powerful as it could've been and slightly unorganized. 

Framing

This is a very obvious framed picture, but I like it for that. The posters of people are framing the people on the bottom right hand corner. Something that's really important about the frame is; the frame is black and white, and then the people are in color, making the framing effect more powerful and effective. 

Balance

This is a very balanced photo because the two twins towers balance each other out, and then the smoke on top and the small buildings at the bottom balance each other out. There's a lot going on, but it works because everything is balanced and in its place, making the photo organized. If it were not for the balance, it would've seemed awkward and definitely not as powerful. 

Lines

This photo contains lines that lead up to the focus point. The lines do not seems obvious at first because they are part of the background where the buildings meet the sidewalks, but they play a huge role leading to the firemen. There are also lines right next to the firemen (the big block the fireman on the left is sitting on, and then the big piece coming out of the fireman on the right). This is a really dramatic photo in my opinion because there's so much happening in the background, but with the help of the lines its incredibly easy to find the focus of the picture. 

The Rule of Thirds

This photo follows the rule of thirds because if you draw the two lines down, and then two across, the building in the background is the focus point. Even though it seems that the main focus point in the photo is the building right in front, what the photograph is really focusing on is the world trade center ,where the collision is happening. The rule of thirds gives it a really powerful feel because it seems to blend in with background, but it pops because of its positioning. 

Simplicity

I chose this photo for simplicity because the whole point of simplicity is making your object stand out  the most among the background, meaning the background has to be really simple. In this photograph the background is blurred and is grey, and then the main focus (the man) is black making it a good contrast against the grey. Also there is not much going on, making the photo simple. 

The Camera: History and Information

1. Explain the “camera obscura” effect. How is it achieved?

The "camera obscura" effect is an optical effect which was created by the Greeks and Chinese where a small hole is made in a dark room, and then light is shone from outside through the small hole, focusing on the inside wall of the dark room. The small hole acted as a camera lens which focused on a certain part of the wall. 
 
2. What invention during the 17th Century helped man get a step closer to creating the modern camera?

The invention of high quality glasses lenses created by Issac Newton and Christian Huygens brought them one step closer to the creation of the modern camera. 

3. What were the parts of the first modern camera invented by Niepce?

The first parts of the modern camera were glass lens, film and a dark box. 

4.What do modern digital cameras have in common with Niepce’s camera?

The main function of a modern camera and Niepce's camera are still the same, the light passes through the lens and exposes the film, creating a photograph. 

5. What do digital cameras use to capture an image?

Digital cameras use electronic sensors (CCD) to capture a photograph.  

6. What is the difference between the Auto mode and the Program mode?

The difference between Auto mode and the Program mode is on Auto Mode the flash and focus is already controlled by the machine, but on the Program mode you set the flash and focus. 

7. What is the Portrait mode used for? How does it work?

Portrait mode is used for blurring out the background and focusing on the image right in front of you. It works by using the fastest available lens setting, known as the aperture. 

8. What is the Sports mode used for? (not just sports) How does it work?

Sports mode is used for freezing motion by using the highest shutter speed on the camera.

9. Why should you do a half press on the trigger button?

You should do a half press on the trigger button because it has many benefits that result in a more successful photograph including a faster camera response time, more control over the focus, and better position. 

10. What does this symbol mean? When would you use this?

This symbol means "disabled flash". You would use this mode when you don't want to use flash and focus more on the natural light.





11. What does this symbol mean? When would you use this? 

This symbol means "auto flash". This mode is usually set by default in your camera system and it will use flash when it thinks the camera needs flash.





12. What happens to your photo if there is too much light?

When there is too much light in your photograph, the photo you take will appear washed out. 

13. What happens to your photo if there is not enough light?

When there is not enough light in your photograph, the photo will appear dark. 

14. What is a “stop.”

A "stop" is a relative measure of light, you you have more stops, you have more light, if you have less stops, you have less light. 

15. How many stops brighter is the new planet if there are two suns instead of one?

The new planet is brighter by one stop because it has one more sun than the other planet. 

16. How many stops brighter is the new planet if there are four suns instead of two?

The new planet is brighter by two stops because it has two more suns than the other planet. 

17. What affect does a longer shutter speed of have?

The affect of a longer shutter speed is it exposes more light when giving the brief flash of light. 

18. What affect does a shorter shutter speed have?

The affect of a shorter shutter speed is it exposes less light when giving the brief flash of light. 

19. What does the aperture control?

The aperture controls the brightness. 

20. When adjusting the aperture, how can you increase the amount of light?

You can increase the amount light passed through the aperture by decreasing the number of the F-stops. 

Great White and Black Photography

Queen Elizabeth II

Yousuf Karsh 1951 

Still life 

Roger Fenton 1860

Humphrey Bogart 

Yousuf Karsh 1946

First Day Photos

 

(Photo of my choice)

I like this photo and it is one of my favorites out of all the ones I took, mostly because it's a really simple and generic photo, and for me "simple is better". I think it's a good photo, not entirely original but the photography elements are good. The lighting is good and even, there are some lines crossing, making an intersection in the photo making it more interesting then just having an even surface. But I wish that my photograph wasn't so centered because that makes it boring to look at. I also wish there was a pop of color somewhere. 

(Photo with my teammate in it)

(Photo of a living thing)

I like this photo because it has a really simple color scheme (red, green, and beige) and two of the colors (red and green) are complementary colors, so the green really pops. If you look at the photo, you notice the big tree in the middle, but what makes this photo unique to me is there is also something going on, on the right, making the photograph more interesting. But there are some things I don't like about this photograph is the lighting is uneven, making the colors look different in at different part. The lighting is brighter at the very top of the tree (more to the left side) and then the the side walk is brighter on the left side than right. 

(Photo that reminds me of the first day of school)