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.

 

 

 

Patterns

 

 

 

The photo above demonstrates a pattern of berries on a small bush outside of the “Q-Hut”. Although the berries are not arranged in an order that is easy to follow, the viewer can clearly tell that the berries do indeed have a pattern. In the upper left hand corner of the photo the berries are spread out, but as they get closer to the center of the photo, the berries come together. This photo was chosen as one of my best because of its bright colors. The vibrant colors of the berries and leaves give the photo a happy and joyful feeling. 

This photo was also taken to show the natural patterns of leaves. Although the photo shows a large pile of leaves, the leaves were actually barely covering the grass. I like this photo because it displays a different image than what was actually being taken. It shows that even if something doesn’t look like its photo-worthy, but the photographer gets the right angle and lighting, the product can be surprisingly good.

This photo illustrates the man-made pattern of a fence. I like this photo because the leaves were stuck in the fence, breaking the pattern. I also like the bright blue color of the sky; making the sky look as if it were fake.

 

The photo above shows the geometrical pattern of a storm drain cover in the grass. I chose this photo as one of my best because unlike some of my other photos, this photo shows an obvious pattern. I also like it because many people would not look at a storm drain and think of a cool picture, but if one opens his eyes to the world, there are so many amazing things right in the palm of his hand.  

I believe that one skill that I am doing well at is getting neat and different angles. As I looked through my pictures, I realized that many are either purposely crooked, below, or above the subject.

For our next project, my goal is to take more photos. For this last project I barely had enough photos, and next time I need to make sure I have more than I need in order to choose the best.

One way that Mr. Pedersen can help me succeed in class is teaching us more techniques on how to use Photoshop. Although we know the basics, I would like to be able to do even more.   

Photoshop Tutorials

 

 

I created this image in Photoshop by laying a picture of my face over this picture of a tiger. Then I lowered the opacity and lined up my eyes and mouth to the tiger’s. Afterwards, I erased everything on my face but my eyes and mouth, and changed the opacity back to 100%. One problem that I ran into was that my eyes and mouth were and odd shade of purple, because the picture of me was taking in poor lighting. After searching around for what to do, I remembered to click auto tone, auto contrast, and auto color, and ended with what you see above. My favorite part of creating this image was erasing the rest of my face. Before I did this, the pictures looked like a disaster waiting to happen, but afterwards, I began to see what the final image was actually going to look like.

 

Similar to the picture above, I created this image using two pictures and Photoshop. I erased everything but my eyes and mouth, but the coloring was still a bit off. Like before, I clicked auto tone, auto contrast, and auto color, to correct the coloring of the image. My favorite part of making this particular picture was stretching out my face to fit the leopard’s face. Although it took a bit of extra time, it was worth it in the end.

 

I constructed this photo above by laying a photo of a red panda on top of my face. With a little bit of Photoshop magic, I was able to fit our faces together, and try and blend them together. My favorite and most difficult part of this project was trying to make it look “natural”. Although having half the face of a red panda will never look totally natural, I was able to lower the opacity of my eraser, so that some fur still showed through on both halves of my face.

This photo above was made the same way as the third photo. I laid an image of a tiger on top of my face, created a mask, and blended our faces together. The most challenging part of this project was lining up the tiger’s face with my own. The tiger has more scrunched up features, while mine are spread apart. This meant that I had to stretch the tiger’s face to fit mine, while trying to keep it looking natural. Similar to the photo before, my favorite part of creating this image was blending my face and the tiger’s face.

In this Photoshop tutorial, I learned how to take a normal picture, and transform it so it looks like a sketch. The final product is shown above. This tutorial had many steps, but they were all simple. To achieve the look above, I created many layers, changed their adjustments, changed the blend modes, applied filters, and moved around the layers. This tutorial was simple and easy to follow; therefore I didn’t run into any problems. My favorite part of creating this image was seeing the final product. Up until the last step, the photo did not look like it would turn out, but afterwards, it all came together and formed what you see above.

This photo was created the same way as the one before. The hardest part of this project was trying not to make the photo too washed out. Eventually, I adjusted the opacity of the layers, and was able to get the colors to pop more than they previously were. My favorite part of creating this particular image was inverting the image. It looked like the image was glowing from inside, which is an effect that I am not used to seeing.

The image above was created similarly to the two images before. This image was simple to Photoshop, so there was not a “hardest part” of the process. Similar the first sketch image (image 5), the best part of making the image was seeing the final product.

I created this image by adding a gradient map as well as an overlaying texture to the image. The hardest part of creating the image was figuring out where the gradient map was, but with some help, I was able to continue on with the project. My favorite part of creating this image was adding the texture on top of the image. That step finalized the image, and made it look even more “vintage.”

This photo was created the same way as the portrait of the blonde girl above. The hardest part of the project was trying to get the lighting correct. The original lighting of the picture was very dark, so I had to brighten the picture before starting the tutorial. Similar to the image above, the best part of creating it was adding an overlaying texture.

I completed the image above using the same steps as the two images before. The hardest part of the project was trying to find a texture that would fit the size of the image. Luckily, I changed the search options, and was able to find a texture off of Google images. The best part of creating this image was lightening the picture. After it was lightened, I was able to see the bright red of the flowers against the muted green color of the background.