Portraits

This is a "wildcard" photo that I took by placing Kendall on the right side of the frame and zooming in. I chose this image because it is crisp, in focus, and instead of having his whole face in the portrait like most photos, I decided to cut out half of it. This was a fairly easy photo to shoot. I didn't have much in the background, making it simple to blur, and all I had to tell Kendall was to stand still and look forward. The only challenge while taking this photo was getting the camera to stay still. I didn't have a tripod, so all I was able to do was hold the camera as steady as possible and hope for the best. To make this a stronger picture, I would place the model in direct sunlight or shade, so no weird shadows appeared on his face.

The photo above is a wildcard photo of Cesar. My favorite part of this photo is that the wind is blowing a few pages over without Cesar having to touch them. Working with Cesar was simple. All that I had to do was tell him what to do and he would stay there untill I was done. One challenge that I faced was making sure people weren't in the background. This area of the campus was a very popular place to take photos and people were constantly walking around, but I was lucky enough to snap a few photos with a clear background. If I took this photo again, I would have not cropped so low on the top of his head.

This sitting photo is also of Cesar. I chose this photo because was taken on a cloudy day, giving the photo a "soft" feel to it. The one challenge that I faced was making sure that the background wan't too distracting. If the red leaves behind Cesar were in focus, they would add too much to the photo. I solved this problem by moving away from Cesar, zooming in, and lowering my aperture. Although the blurred background was one of my successes while taking this photo, if I were to take it again I would move Cesar to a background that was one solid color.

By getting down at a low angle, I was successfully able to make Kendall look strong and powerful. Before getting this picture, I had been snapping shots in the shade. Although this make Kendall have one continuous shadow over his face, the background was extremely washed out. I easily solved this problem by moving into the sun and taking the same photo. If I were to take it again, I would have tried to get a shallow depth of field. This would create an effect that would focus more on the model.

This last photo is my favorite picture of Kendall leaning against a wall. I like this photo because similar to the sitting down picture, this was taken in cloudy weather, creating a soft feel to the photo. This was one of the first photos that I took, and I had no trouble placing Kendall against a wall, telling him to turn his head, and clicking a single button on a camera. The photo was slightly washed out, so I used photoshop to slightly amplify each individual color. 

Zombie

If there were to be a "zombie apocalypse", I would save the things in the pictures below:

 



The first item that I would save is my ipod. I imagine that it would be very quiet and lonely when the zombies take over, so this would serve as entertainment and a calming factor. I took this photo by using the "macro" setting on the camera. The ipod was almost touching the lens, giving the photo the interesting zoomed in look.



The second thing that I would take with me is my friend, Alexandra. If I had to choose one person to be stuck with, it would be her. But most importantly, she would be able to ward off all of the zombies. At first, I had difficulty getting the correct lighting, but after moving around a few times, I was able to find the perfect spot. The background was still a little washed out, but I was able to correct it (ending up with the photo above) in Photoshop.



This photo above is a profile of my cat. I have raised him from a three day old kitten, and would want to save him if there was ever a zombie apocalypse. The most difficult part about taking this picture was stopping the motion. Photographing animals is tricky because they move so fast, and after taking over fifty pictures with an extremely high shutter speed, I was able to capture the one above.




Lastly, I would take a deck of cards. Similar to the ipod, the cards would serve as a form of entertainment. I took this picture by zooming in on the cards with a low aperture (creating the blurred out background) and had no extreme difficulties.



This last photo is a zombie version of me. I created this photo by copy and pasting bits and pieces of an "operation" to my face. I blended the skin together, lightened my eyes, and then darkened the whole picture. I also used the "burn" tool to darken around my eyes and the lines on my face. The most difficult part of making this photo was blending the operation flesh to my skin. I ended up blending the two using the eraser tool on a very low opacity. This let some of my actual skin show through the operation.


Inner Child

I chose to two pictures above of Cesar because both images clearly captured his different emotions, with just his facial expressions.

I chose these pictures of Alexandra because they were unique expressions that she usually doesn't show. She was also able to add humor to her emotions.


Alexandra and Cesar were both easy partners to work with. Like always, Alexandra was extremely outgoing with all of her facial expressions, which made for some crazy pictures. In the beginning, Cesar was not comfortable making weird faces in front of the camera, but after a few tries, he loosened up and was able to create different faces to fit the requirements. As a photographer, a challenge that I faced was making sure the background wasn't washed out. On the first day of shooting, I took pictures of Alexandra in direct sunlight. Although the color on her face turned out, I noticed that the background of the trees and sky was way too washed out. I simply took new photos of her the next day in the shade, solving the problem. I had a few other challenges, but overall, I had many successes. I had expressive models who were able to bring across almost any emotion, my pictures are crisp and focused, and the models are centered in the same position for each photo.

As a model for Alexandra and Cesar, I felt that I had a responsibility to bring the same enthusiasm and enegy that they did for my photos. When I was a model for Alexandra, she was clear with her instructions and we didn't have any problems. When I was a model for Cesar, I got the feeling that he didn't know what he was doing. Even though he was the photographer, I had to tell him step by step what to do; it seemed like he didn't even know what project he was doing. This taught me that whenever I am taking pictures of a model, I need to communicate and be clear with my instructions.

In order to be a good portrait photographer, I believe that you neeed to be able to communicate and be assertive. If not, the model will not know what to do, and it could come across in the final product. As we take more portrait pictures, I am excited to take them, but also model for them. I rarely get the chance to be a model for pictures (beside from class), so this will be fun to show a new side of me. The only thing that I am concerned about is working with different models. I often have a precise image in my head of what I want my final product to turn out like, and if the image is different, I get frustrated. In order take pictures that show the best of my abilities, I need to be able to effectively instruct the model on what to do and focus on the task at hand.

Framing

This photo was taken under the man-made structures at UCSD. The sun was starting to go down, so in order to get the right coloring, I had to lower to shutter speed. This allowed more light into the camera, resulting in a brighter image. I also tilted the camera in order to get a more unique angle; this made for a more interesting image.

The photo above is an example of the natural framing that trees can provide. The trees in this photo arched down around the subject but in order to make it look like they were "framing" her, I had to take the picture from a lower angle. Also, unlike the first picture, I had to use a high shutter speed in order to capture the motion and not let too much light in.

In order to capture the photo above I had to use a very high shutter speed (to capture the motion) and a low aperture (to get a blurred background). Animal photography is difficult because you can't tell them exactly what to do, but after taking many quick pictures, I was able to get the image above.



I believe that my strongest shot from above is the last one (architectural framing). The framing is easily noticeable and creates and effect that makes the cat stand out in the photo. Also, all of the colors in the photo correspond with eachother and generate a calm feeling.

The most challenging element of this assignment was finding different frames to use. I didn't want my photos to use the same frames that many other people in the class have used, so I decided to go out to the canyon, my backyard, and UCSD to find unique frames. I eventually got enough pictures to fill our requirements, overcoming the challenge.

Panning

This picture was taken right before it got dark, so I needed to let more light into the camera. To do this, I had to have an extremely low shutter speed. One challenge with taking this picture was getting the subject's face in focus. I overcame this challenge by panning the camera at the exact speed that the subject was walking at.

I took this photo while using a tripod, which was useful to keep the panning straight. The shutter speed in this photo is higher than the previous photo; I couldn't let too much light in. A challenge in taking this photo was getting the lighting right. If the subject or the camera were in direct sunlight, the photo would be very washed out. I overcame this challenge by placing both the subject and the camera in the shade, which resulted in the photo above.

Unlike the two photos above, this photo was taken with two subjects. In order to get only the subject in front in focus, I had to pan to just her speed, and not the speed of the subject in the back. Similar to the photo above, I had to make sure that the subjects as well as the camera were completely shaded. One difficulty that I had while taking pictures was getting the people to run at the perfect speed while panning at that same speed. I overcame this difficulty by taking many pictures and choosing the best of them.

This photo was taken of Mr. Pedersen riding his bike back and forth across the school parking lot. I used a tripod in order  to keep the photo straight and a high shutter speed of 1/125. A difficulty was making sure that the photo was not washed out. I could have turned up the shutter speed, but the background wouldn't have been as blurry. I solved this problem by using the "multiply" setting in Photoshop, ending up with the product above.



Magical Realism; The FLOAT Project

 

 

My inspiration for the photo was a picture that I found while surfing the Internet. My goal was to make it look like Emily, the model, was not jumping onto the wall, but was stuck to the wall by her feet and hands. Although it took more than a few shots to get this picture, I don't believe that there were any technical difficulties. The only artist challenge that I had to face was getting just the right angle to make it look like she was stuck to the wall. I finally resolved this issue by lying on ground and taking a picture looking up.

 

 

My inspiration and goal for this photo was to try to make it look like the subjects were floating in the air, with nothing supporting them. A technical challenge in taking this picture was Photoshopping the photo. The picture that I had taken without the subjects (and chairs that they were lying on) was much lighter that the photo with the subjects. In Photoshop, I had to blend the backgrounds of the two photos, while erasing the chairs altogether. Although I had a few technical difficulties, I didn't have any artist challenges.

My inspiration for this picture was the photo that Mr. Pedersen had shown us when the project was starting. My goal was to recreate some of the aspects of the photo (such as the flying water), while adding my own touch to it. A technical challenge was getting the water to hit the subject at the perfect time and the perfect spot. Luckily, we were able to take just a few pictures and get the right one, before getting the model too wet. A artistic challenge that I had to face was getting a new background for my photos. I didn't want all of my pictures to look like every other student's in the class, so I brought my camera down to the canyon and took my pictures there.

Creative Controls

Part 1:

1. Which Aperture makes a wider hole in the lens for light to come through? F/3.5
2. Which Aperture lets more light into the camera to hit the image sensor? F/5.6
3. Which Aperture keeps more of the foreground and background in focus? F/11
4. Which Shutter Speed is faster?  1/200 second
5. Which Shutter Speed keeps the door in the camera open for more time? 1/30 second
6. Which Shutter Speed is best for stopping action? 1/200 second

Part 2:

AV 4.5

AV 5.6



 AV 8

 

With the three pictures above, I adjusted just the Aperture, using Aperture Priority. The first image shows a picutre taken at F/4.5, the second at F/5.6, and the thirds at F/8. The difference between the three photos is is their depth of field. As shown above, a lower Aperture has a shallow depth of field, but when the Aperture is increased, more of the background comes in focus, as shown in the last photo.

 

TV 1/10

TV 1/60

 TV 1/500

The three photos above show the different products when the exposure time is increased and decreased and the subject is not moving. In the first picture, the exposure was open for too long, letting too much light in and resulting in a washed out picture. As the shutter speed increases, less light is let in, resutling in a darker picture.

 

TV 1/10

TV 1/60

TV 1/500

These photos demonstrate the product when the shutter speed is changed and the subject is moving. The top photo shows a shutter speed of 1/10, the middle shows 1/60, and the bottom shows 1/500. As shown above, a lower shutter speed (1/10) makes the moving object blurry. On the other hand, a high shutter speed (1/500) almost completely stops the motion of the object.

 

 

 TV 1/10

TV 1/60

 TV 1/500

The three photos above show the different results when the shutter speed is changed and the camera is panning. As shown in the first photo, when the shutter speed is low (1/10),

the whole photo is blurry and it gives the apearance that the subject is moving very fast. In the middle photo, the shutter speed is increased and only part of the photo is blurry (the boots). In the last picture, when the shutter speed is increased even more, the motion of the subject is frozen completely.

 

 

 Part 3:

 

1. Depth of field is how much of the photo is in focus and how much is blurry. With a shallow depth of field, the object in the front is in focus, while the background is blurry. With a deep depth of field, the whole photo is in focus.

 

2. If you were taking a picture of a flower and wanted the leaves in the background the be blurry, you would want to use a wide Aperture. Filling the frame would help you create this effect.

 

3. Different shutter speeds effected the lighting of my photos as well as the blur. A low shutter speed (1/10) creates a washed out blurry photo, while a high shutter speed (1/500) creates a darker photo where the motion is stopped.