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.

MERGERS

  All of the faces and bodies of the people in this photo are blending together and it is hard to tell one from the other.

BALANCE

In this photo, the left and right tower are about the same size and shape, so they balance each other out. 

SIMPLICITY

This photo is an example of simplicity because there is nothing going on in the background or taking away the attention from the tower. 

RULE OF THIRDS

This photo is a good example of rule of thirds because both the Empire State building and the Twin Towers are lined up with the imaginary grid.

                                    

LINES

In this picture, the lines on the tower lead the focus to the hole where the plane crashed into the tower. The lines take the focus towards the smoke pouring out of the windows as well.

FRAMING

Photo by Steve McCurry

In this photo, the hole in the wall of the building frames the firefighter climbing the latter. The shadow on the wall keep sit dark so the color doesn't draw attention away from the firefighter.

The Camera

        The camera obscura effect was achieved by creating a tiny hole in one wall of a completely dark room. Light was focused through the hole and the outside scene was projected upside down on the wall opposite of the hole. This was the first camera. Isaac Newton and Christian Huygens brought the world one step closer to creating the modern camera in the 17th century. They created a lens after they perfected the understanding of optics and making quality glass lenses. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce invented the first camera when he added film with a dark box and a glass lens. The first picture he took, in 1827, took over 8 hours to expose. Modern cameras still work the same as the originals. Light passes through the lens, into the camera, and exposes the film to make a photograph. Digital cameras capture photographs with an electronic sensor called CCD. They are stored on a reusable computer memory.

Camera Modes

          When the camera is in auto mode, it makes the camera control the flash and exposure. When the camera is in program mode, you can control the flash and a few other things, but it's mainly just point and shoot. Portrait mode tries to blur out the background using aperture, which is the fastest available lens setting. Sports mode freezes motion and uses the highest shutter speed possible. 

The Half Press

           The half press button helps control the focus on the subject and has a faster response (less lag).

Controlling Flash

          

          This symbol means that the flash is off. The mood can be more dramatic when natural light is used. 

          This symbol means that the flash will automatically go off if the camera thinks the photograph needs more light.

Introduction to Exposure

         If there is too much light in a picture, the picture will be washed out. If there is not enough light in a picture, the picture will be too dark. 

The Universal Stop

        A "stop" is a relative measurement of light. It is used in every aspect of photography.  The planet is one stop brighter when there are two suns instead of one, and two stops brighter when there are four suns instead of two. 

Shutters and Aperture

    

       When there is a longer shutter speed, there is more light. When there is a shorter speed, there is less light. The aperture controls the light/brightness of the picture. Smaller F-stop numbers mean larger openings, and larger openings mean more light. You can increase the amount of light in a picture by making the aperture larger.

Great Black & White Photographers

Ansel Adams

Bridalveil Fall

Walker Evans

Main Street, Saratoga Sprigs, New York

Berenice Abbott

Canyon: Broadway and Exchange Place

First Day Pictures

Free Choice

          For my free choice picture, I chose to take a picture of this flower that I saw at the base of one of the trees in the courtyard. I thought it was a really interesting looking flower and the color really caught my eye. I like this picture because, in my opinion, I think the lighting was good and I thought I used the rule of thirds well.

My Partner

 My First Memory of Bowie

       My first memory of Bowie was in the walkway leading to the courtyard/school. I came to school with some friends of mine that are seniors. When walking through, there were a lot of students handing out donuts and fish tags. I remember thinking about how huge the school is and how it seems so much bigger once all of the students are here (I came a week early to tour the school and it didn't seem too huge).

Something Living