Extra Credit

The man, Ki Suk Han, was pushed onto the subway tracks by a panhandler. He struggled to get himself off of the tracks as a train was approaching. The photographer, Umar Abassi, tried to get the attention of the conductor to stop the train by using his cameras flash, thus taking the photographs of Han. I think Abassi should have helped Han instead of trying to get the conductor's attention. The best thing Abassi could've done was to at least try to help Han. Even if failed, it would've been better than taking pictures. I still think it was okay to use the photograph on the front page of the New York Post because they still told Han's story, although the photo was gruesome and shouldn't have been taken in the first place. I think capturing images of life is more important to photojournalists because their job is to get stories. In a way, although the photos are often controversial, they get that person's story told with their photos. They should involve themselves in the events taking place if someones life is at stake. Abassi should just ignore the comments. If he involves himself, he could just end up making everything worse.

Magazine Cover Images

Portraits and Self Portraits

Portrait

Self Portrait

My Favorite Cover

Finalist

Variety, October 14, 2014, Bill Murray

"This Bill Murray portrait by Martin Schoeller was a play off of Bill's current project, "St. Vincent." Makeshift veils, red gowns and getting Bill to pray really played well to his personality and the movie that was coming out later that month."

This photo has a solid grey background which keeps the eyes focused on the subject, Bill Murray. The veil type thingy on his head creates a sort of frame as it  keeps the eyes focused on Murray as well. 

Cold, Purple, Electric Prompt Shoot

COLD

ELECTRIC

PURPLE

Self Portrait and Portraits Pt. 1

3. 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.

Candids: Being Unobtrusive

You may want to make photographs of people going about their business—vendors in a market, a crowd at a sports event, the line at a theater. You don't want them to appear aware of the camera. Many times people will see you, then ignore you because they have to concentrate on what they are doing. You want the viewers of the image to feel that they are getting an unguarded, fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the scene. 

I chose this photo as one of my casual portrait choices because, in my opinion, it doesn't appear posed, it just looks as though the guy just looked up and his photo was taken. The background is very simple and it appears the photographer used the rule of thirds which adds to the photo. 

This photo is very simple overall, having no knowledge of what specifically categorizes a portrait as casual, I would say this one seems pretty casual as the young women is very simply posed with a bright smile. 

I chose this photo for my environmental photo because you can see infer from the photograph of a young man and woman that appears to have been taken quite awhile ago by the man that his wife has passed away, leaving him and his many children, seen in the photographs to the right of the man. The environment around the subject creates a sad mood in the photo.

This woman is surrounded by art utensils and paintings. The environment around her added a glimpse into to her life as an artist and added more detail to the photograph.

This photo is this woman's way of expressing self. In my opinion, I think it is a metaphor for how she hides/covers herself, never showing her true self. 

This photo has a very strong meaning behind it. The photographer hides her face with the picture, not showing her true self. More specifically, she covers it with a photograph of Marilyn Monroe applying makeup, suggesting that people expect and strive for perfection. 

I think I would like to take a portrait of Morgan because she always expresses herself through her hair color and her clothes. I think she would have a very interesting and unique idea for what she would want her photos to be. For my photo, I will most likely take it outdoors but in a more secluded area that's very calm. I enjoy the quiet and when I lived in Seattle, WA, I spent most of my time in the forest exploring so it's where I do most of my thinking, even now. 

Love and Loss

1) As I began scrolling through the photos, I felt an immediate rush of joy after seeing this wonderfully happy couple, but as I continued to scroll, the sadness and meaning behind the photos were very clear to me.

2) I think the photographers comment means that this wasn't who his wife was, but it is what happened. 

3) I don't think I could even remotely do what this photographer did. I would be far too emotional. 

4) If I were to write Angelo a letter, I would ask him how he handled the emotions he was feeling then to be able to capture such heartbreaking and emotional moments in his life. 

Rules of Photography Pt. 2

      

Halsey- Rule of Thirds

Balance

Leading Lines

Symmetry

Viewpoint

Background

Depth

Framing

Cropping

Mergers

AFRICA

    I'm extremely amazed by how long and how patiently Brandt waited to get those photos. It seems like it was definitely worth the wait. Brandt was able to capture all of these animals in their natural habitat at the perfect moment. 

This photo of the male and female lions nuzzling heads is my favorite photo of Brandt's because I think it really captures the natural state of the lions. Although they are portrayed as very dangerous, they are still happy caring creatures. This photo demonstrates simplicity because the background is empty and there is nothing to distract from the subject of the photo. 

Brandt uses a Pentax 67 with only two fixed lenses without zoom or telephoto lenses because Brandt believes that you can't capture the animal's personality unless you are up close and personal with it. He takes these photos because he wasn't to capture photos the wild animals before they go extinct because of the threats to nature caused by humans.  Brandt's hope is to memorialize the animals and show that animals and people are equal in this world. "The photos are my elegy to these beautiful creatures, to this wrenchingly beautiful world that is steadily, tragically vanishing before our eyes"

Aperture, Shutter Speed, & ISO

Apperture

f/2.8

f/16

1) The aperture in a camera is like the pupil in a human eye.

2)

3) Aperture impacts the depth of field, because the larger the aperture, the blurrier the background is.

 Shutter Speed

High Shutter Speed

Slow Shutter Speed

2) Auto Mode- Shutter speed and aperture are automatically selected by the camera
Shutter Priority Mode- you set the shutter speed, but the camera automatically sets the aperture
Manual Mode- you manually set aperture and shutter speed

             Taylor Swift is casually shopping at her local Randall's, searching for the perfect tomato, when she is stopped by a younger woman, coincidentally named Taylor Swift as well, who asks if she can  take a picture of the woman and her sweater. 

               Luke, Ashton, Michaela, & Calum rest their feet after 70 years on tour, nonstop, with their band, 17 Years of Winter. The band hadn't taken a break since 2015 after the release of their second album, which made #1 in Antarctica, Good Sounds, Good Feels. 

                Sheila Leapore is celebrating her 100th birthday by lighting up a celebratory cigarette. Sheila did everything to try and stay connected to her youth, including following the "cool" trend of smoking cigarettes. She made it to her 107th birthday following these new trends like hitting the whip, before she whipped to hard. 

Mural Project & Great Black & White Photographers Pt. 3

Mural Project 

1) A cool theme for the project could be student life and we could take photos of students just doing things they do on a normal day like at lunch, or in band class, or art. 

2) I think we could use the cameras for people that don't have phones, if there are any.

3) It would be cool to put the mural at the front of the school wear everyone would be able to see our photos. 

Great Black & White Photographers Pt. 3

1) I really like the angles that Abbott was using when taking these photos. She made the subjects of her photos look abstract and extraordinary just by changing the perspective of the photo. 

2)

From Berenice Abbott's book, Changing New York 

In the first photo, I see people walking down the street pushing past each other as they try to make it to work on time. Cars speed past me down the street. Everyone is rushing about. I smell the exhaust from the cars. The smell fills the air, causing everyone within a 10 foot vicinity of the cars to cough. I hear people in their cars shouting as the pedestrians hold up traffic. I taste the ice cold air as I take a deep breath in. I feel the people pushing past me, causing me to constantly bump into the buildings, scraping my hands with their rough walls. 

In the second photo, I see people crossing the bridge, constantly stopping to admire the view. I smell salty water as I cross the bridge slowly, attempting to shield myself from the cold wind coming toward me. I hear absolutely nothing except the water below splashing the base of the bridge and the footsteps of those around me. I taste a raindrop as it falls from the sky as I take a deep breath. I feel the freezing winds rushing past me. 

3) I would like to make a blog to share my thoughts of Abbott and her amazing photos. 

Academic Shoot Reflection & Critique

1) One of the challenges I  had while taking pictures was that I had trouble finding an interesting subject.

2) I thought about whether or not the pictures were in focus pretty much the entire shoot. I had to take my time when shooting so I could make sure that all of my photos were in focus. 

3) I would definitely focus on a lot of different rules since most of my photos were just rule of thirds.

4) I would still take my time to make sure that the photos came out focused.

5) I think the easiest rule to use is the rule of thirds.

6) In my opinion, its hardest to take a simple picture because there is so much going on at our school that it's hard to find something simple.

7) I have a pretty good understanding of all of the basic rules of photography, but I could go back and look at old assignments to review how to use the rules.



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http://aurorasphotojournalismblog.blogspot.com

Academic Shoot

1) His hands balance each other out. 

2) The subject of this photo is the guy's hands as he is coloring a picture of a cell. 

3) I think the subject is clear. 

1) I used the rule of thirds when I took this photo.

2) The subject of this photo is the guy in the left side of the photo.

3) I think the subject of this photo is clear.

1) When taking this photo, I used rule of thirds & leading lines.

2) The subject of this photo is the girl's fingers on the guitar strings as she plays a note. 

3) The subject of this photo is clear. 

Unusual & Interesting Photos Pt. 3

1) Telling a story through facial expressions, making something ordinary seem extraordinary, and perspective.

2)

3)

4) I think the photographer definitely found an eye-catching moment that seemed completely ordinary, yet extraordinary.

5) I think perspective will effect my photos the most. 

Unusual & Interesting Photos Pt. 1

1) My immediate reaction to his work was kind of surprised. I didn't know what to expect when clicking the link, so when the picture of the Eiffel Tower popped up, I was really confused and surprised.

2) I think he made this photos by taking multiple photos of the monuments at different angles and layer them over each other and made them slightly opaque in a photo editing application. 

3) I think it would be interesting to take a photo like this at the Space Needle in Seattle, WA. Since it is in a completely different state, it would not be easy get access to it. 

Academics/ Community Service

The Story

      In this photo, you can see that these girls are participating in an experiment in class. You can see how they didn't know what the chemical reaction would be by their facial expressions and body language. 

Action and Emotion

The students are having fun with their teacher. The boy is messing up the teachers hair and both the teacher and girl are laughing. They all seem happy. 

Filling the Frame

The frame is filled, mainly, with the books surrounding the girl.

My favorite photo from the Academic & Community Service section is of a girl dropping pink paint into a speaker and the sound cause the paint to fly up and splatter. I picked this photo because when I was looking through the photos, that photo caught my eye with the color and the interesting action going on. The photographer used rule of thirds when taking the photo.

I think I could take pictures like these ones in the library or in a science class. I would like to maybe take pictures in Ms. Spiro's biology class if they are doing an experiment that day. I would also like to get pictures of the kids drawing the school that are always in the hallway. I will have to make sure that the lighting is even and highlights the subject. I'l also use the rules of composition ( rule of thirds, framing, balance, lines, avoiding mergers and simplicity).

Photo Manipulation and Ethics

     The story, Ethics in the age of digital manipulation, talks about situations where photographers altered their photos and the consequences of their actions. Most of the photographers lost their jobs and their credibility. I don't think this is ethical, because in some cases, if you alter the photo, you alter the story. For example, when the image of the missile test launch was altered from having three launched missiles and one failed missile to four successful missiles. When the photographer changed the photo, he made it so all four missiles launched, which wasn't true.

Most Unethical

I think this photo is the most unethical because if the university wanted a more diverse cover for the admissions  application, then they should use a different photo. They didn't have to edit Shabazz into the photo.

Least Unethical

I think this photo is the least unethical because changing the looks of the women's teeth doesn't change anything other than that. It doesn't effect their story or anything like that. 

Great Black & White Photographers Pt. 2

Berenice Abbott

    Berenice Abbott was born July 17th, 1898 in Springfield, Ohio. In 1917, Abbott enrolled in Ohio State University. She quickly decided that she did not enjoy it, so in 1918, Abbott moved to New York.  She had several jobs including being a waitress and a yarn dyer. Abbott became interested in sculpture and decided to move to Paris to pursue a career. Man Ray opened a portrait studio. Man Ray hired Abbott as a darkroom assistant. Abbott became interested in photography, so Man Ray taught her how to use a camera. Her photos came out good, so Abbott decided to start selling them and began paying Man Ray to use his supplies. Abbott soon quit her job with Man Ray and opened her own portrait studio. She moved back to New York in February of 1929 and opened a portrait studio. Some of Abbott's portraits were published in magazines like Vanity Fair. She documented New York changing over a span of almost 10 years and the photographers were published in the book Changing New York. Abbott published a book titled A Guide to Better Photography. In 1948, Abbott took scientific images for the American  High School Biology textbook. Later, these photos were featured, almost exclusively, when the Physical Science Study Committee of Educational Services published a new physics book. Abbott was a founding member of the House of Photography, which was a company dedicated to discovering new photography equipment and gadgets. In the 1950's, Abbott bought and settled in a house in Maine and later published a book of her photographs of Maine, titled A Portrait of Maine. She died December 9th, 1991 in Maine. 

Post Shoot Reflection

METAL

Lines

BOWIE

Simplicity

SQUARE

Rule of Thirds

HAPPY 

Simplicity

I had trouble taking the Bowie photo because I wanted to get a picture of the engravings on campus, but since they're engravings, the lighting made it difficult to see the bulldog and the school name. 

Most of the time, I was thinking about lighting and focus. I think the Bowie photo is well lit, because I did end up finding an engraving that was filled in with color. I think my happy photo is focused nicely, because the background is blurred and the subject is in focus. 

I think I would take my happy photo differently so there would not be a line coming out of Gia's head. 

I really like my square photo, so I think I would take that photo the same way.

No, I wouldn't want to do this prompt again because I want to do a variety of photos that mean different things to me.

http://joelsphotojournalismblog.blogspot.com/

I really like his metal & merger photos. I think they are well lit and focused. I also really like the angle the merger photo was taken. I think his Bowie photos subject was a little washed out. At fist I couldn't tell what it was a picture of.