Unusual and Interesting Photos Part 3

1. natural lighting, connection between photographer and subject, being able to capture a story

4. The photographer followed the suggestion of light reflecting off the eyes. The lighting is very flattering in this photo, and the subject also seems comfortable with the photographer.

5. The style of painting that might influence me is the one Edward Hooper displayed with Nighthawk. The soft hook of the painting really makes me interested because of the simplicity and the many possibilities of what the story could be. The character of these subjects could be anything and that's what I find unique about the painting.

Unusual and Interesting Photos Part 1

1. I find Christian Rhum's work to be very interesting and unique. I've never seen anything quite like these photos in the way the image is duplicated.

2. Rhum must have used some advanced photography equipment to create these photos. Something that would take multiple photos once he changes the angle and creates only one photo.

3. The frost bank would be a good building to shoot in Rhum's style because of the visually pleasing geometric architecture. The frost bank is in Austin, Texas and I'd be able to get to it pretty easily.

Academics & Community Service

A photo of a person sitting on the ground of a library with various ACT and SAT books open in front of him. The photo is black and white.


1. I chose this photo because I relate to it very much because I went through the same thing last year. It is also very visually pleasing.

2. The use of the library shelfs at this angle creates lines. It also has balance because of each bookshelf on one side of the photo.





1. I could try and take pictures in either my Medical Microbiology class or my Environmental Science class because we do experiments that may be interesting to document in a photograph.

2. Mrs. Davis's or Mrs. Kowalik's.

3. As a photographer I will utilize the basic rules of photography and try to photograph real reactions and interesting labs.

Filling the Frame

The frame is filled in this photo by the fog created by the two masked humans, and the bodies of the people. The little background left in this photo is also pitch black.

Action and Emotion

The girls in the photo are performing a lab dealing with water. One of the girls is handling with the experiment and the other is laughing. The girl handling the experiment is startled at the massive water explosion, and the girl laughing is clearly humored by the explosion.

The Story

I believe this one tells the best story because whenever people gather around the flagpole it is usually in celebration of the memory of someone or something. I gathered that by the hand holding and heads down in reverence.

I believe this photo is the most unethical out of the ones displayed because it is sending a message that there is one female body type that is acceptable for fame and Oprah Winfrey did not have it. It is degrading to women and makes them appear as objects rather than people. There isn't one universal definition of beauty, but the photo editor of this photo makes that seem so with the alterations of this photo. It causes girls to become insecure with their bodies if every female in magazines, on TV, or in movies looked like this and, at this time at least, it seemed that if you happened to be a female with fame you had to look a certain way or you were altered to the public.

This photo is the least unethical in my opinion because the only difference is that some things were darkened. No human body seems to be altered, no altering of position, one just has darker shading. I'm not sure what the photographer was trying to achieve by changing the brightness of the photo but it doesn't make a significant enough difference to be deemed totally unethical. It was more unnecessary than unethical, in my opinion.

Photo Manipulation and Ethics

1. Whenever photographers manipulate photographs it is usually to dramatize the photo, but it usually ends up with their demise in the photography world. A lot of this photo manipulation happens in the Middle East pertaining to exentuating war photos. It is present in the Middle East, but not limited to. Wherever photo manipulation is taken place, it is usually exposed, and taken care of.

2. This type of photo editing is unethical because most of them capture important events that would go down in history. It is important that our history is real and unaltered. It is also unnecessary because I believe these photos would have been impactful without the alterations, as minute and trivial as they were. Also the Israel cabinet one exemplified sexism, and I am very opposed to such mockery towards women.

Great Black and White Photographers Part 2

Helen Levitt

Birthday: August 31, 1913

Date of death: March 29, 2009

Birth Place: Bensonhurst, New York

Levitt dropped out of high school and worked for a commercial photographer. While teaching art classes to children she became interested with chalk drawings on the sidewalk done by the children of New York at the time. In the late 1940's Levitt made two documentaries, James Agee: In the Street, and The Quiet One. She received an Academy Award nomination for The Quiet One. Most of Levitt's photos portrayed children playing, the errands and conversations of the middle-aged, and the waiting of the old. Levitt's photos treated the streets like they were a stage and those who were photographed were the actors and actresses. In the book Helen Levitt, the photographer releases her most esteemed work from her New York photos and from when she worked in Mexico city. Levitt shot mostly in poor areas because there were more children playing in the street and there was a street life that was more visually appealing. 

http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Helen-Levitt.html

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/helen-levitt-helen-levitt-new-york-streets-1938-to-1990s

Post Shoot Reflection

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

Bowie is a considerablly large school with many people in it, so it was hard trying to shoot a photo without someone making an unwanted cameo in the background. I had to shoot some photos multiple times because I would realize there was a random person in it. 

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 am new to photography so getting the camera to focus was a task, but I warmed up to it. When I first received the camera it wasn't in focus which made me a little panicky, but I quickly realized how to focus it so all was well.

3. If you could do the assignment again, what would you do differently now that you know some basic rules of photography?
I was already familiar with most of the key rules of photography prior to this assignment, but maybe in my future photography endeavors, I will try positioning my actual body and switch up some camera angles for more interesting photos.

4. What things would you do the same?
I would utilize the six rules again. 

6. I would probably like to shoot the Bowie prompt again because there are so many things that could encompass Bowie in a photo. For example, I think the photo I shot of the "Keep Out" sign represents the restrictions that are put on Bowie students such as dress code, shortening of passing periods to only 5 minutes, only seniors being able to go off for lunch, and so much more.



http://anaphototjournalismblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/prompt-1-shoot-photos.html

Bowie

In this photo I used the rule of thirds and framing from the tree's leaves. The framing makes the subject more prevalent.

Happy

In this photo I used simplicity with a plain, red background and balance of one girl on each side of the photo.

Metal 

For this photo I utilized lines and balance. The lines are shown with the metal bars and the balance one metal box on each side makes the photo more visually pleasing.

Square

The rule of thirds is utilized in this photo. This allows the photo to be more dramatic and visually pleasing than if the square would have been in the center.

Merger

This photo uses merger because there are bodies that are cut off. This is an all around bad photo because the subject is unclear and it doesn't utilize any of the basic rules.

Mergers

The merger of cutting off peoples limbs is a disadvantage in this photo. It is obvious they are fleeing the scene of chaos and destruction, but it would have been more evident and impactful if their limbs would have been in the photograph.

Framing

The smoke in the background and debris in the foreground frame our subject, the firemen. This tool of framing allows the viewers eye to go directly to the subject which allows for a more substantial and effecting picture.

Balance

Balance is being utilized in this photograph by the twin towers in the background and a sturdy, undamaged bridge in the foreground. This also adds some juxtaposition because these buildings are complete opposites in the sense that one is damaged and the other is untouched.

Lines

The use of lines in this image allows the gash in the side of the building to be much more illuminated. This exemplifies the severities of the damage during the 9/11 attacks.

Rule of Thirds

The photographer shooting the towers off centered, focused in the top right corner is utilizing the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds in this photo allows us to see the amount of smoke that is being exauhlted from the building. It also allows us to see more of the foreground of New York which creates a more visually appealing photograph.

Simplicity

The simplicity of this photo is illuminated by the lone man surrounded by the debris caused by the 9/11 attacks. The simplicity of the man standing alone holding a piece of paper creates a more dramatic feel then if it were to be multiple people because it represents the pain and confusion that each individual person felt.

The Camera

1.  Inside a completely dark room, a tiny hole is created in one wall. Through the hole light is focused, and the outside scene is projected upside down on the opposite wall.

2. High quality glass lenses

3. A glass lens, a dark box, and film.

4. Modern digital cameras and Niepce's both work the same way. Light passes through the lens, into the camera, and exposes the film. The end result is a photograph.

5. Electronic sensor called CCD.



Camera Modes

1. Auto- camera controls flash and exposure. Some cameras have it labeled at Auto or A. Some cameras only have program mode. Program- automatic-assist, just point and shoot. Unlike auto you can control flash and few other camera settings.

2. To attempt to blur out the background, the camera will use the fastest available lens setting (aperture).

3. To freeze motion, camera will use the highest shutter speed possible.


The Half Press

1. Faster camera response time, more control over focus, encourages better composition

Controlling Flash

1. No flash or disabled flash. Sometimes natural light adds more effect to a photo so you wouldn't want flash.

2. Auto-flash. In most cameras this is enabled by default and will fire automatically if the camera thinks it's needed.

Introduction to Exposure

12. The picture will be washed out with too much light.
13. The picture will come out too dark with not enough light.

The Universal Stop

14. relative measurement of light
15. 1
16. 2

Shutters and Aperture

17. longer shudder speeds = more light
18. shorter shudder speeds = less light
19. brightness is reduced as it passes through the aperture
20. setting the "Aperture Opening",also known as an F-Stop, to a larger opening

Great Black and White Photographers

Levitt

Salgado    

O'Sullivan       

Welcome to my blog