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Week 26

This week in photography I completed 2 mini projects. My first project was working on editing pictures in my camera roll on my iPhone in VSCO, and then printing them out on the Fujifilm polo rid printer. This was really cool, as I have a Polaroidaorid camera, but always forget to bring it places to take pictures, so it was really fun to print out pictures from my phone that I would have otherwise loved to have on film. I also found the mechanism of the printer to be really interesting, as it literally just exposes the Polaroid film inside the printer - that way you can take/edit a nice photo on your phone (that the limited settings of a polo rid camera wouldn’t necessarily allow), and print it on to polo rid film. I also enjoyed adding contrast and making my pictures look more vintage-y than usual to fit the theme of them being on polo rid film.

My second project was a shooting project that I completed on my DSLR camera. I chose to focus on shooting pictures of the details of people’s outfits or their accessories, as I think detail is really important and can be really striking when caught on camera. It was fun to go around school and find people with interesting ruffles or ties on their outfits, as I think fashion can be a really powerful statement of individuality, so highlighting the little parts of people’s outfits was a fun experience for me. I also enjoyed editing the photos to bring out the color and draw people’s attention more towards the pattern or accessory, to help compliment the theme of this project. I’m also really happy with the result of the collage, as I think it worked out well and I like the business of all the different patters!

I am looking forward for our last week of photography next week (although I’m sad that the year is almost over), as I think that these mini projects open up a lot of room for creativity which I am excited about!

[ellamarks-blog]

Week 25

This week in class we learned about mobile photography. We learned how to use features of the built in iPhone camera, adjusting the exposure and layout of the photos when shooting and then editing the photos with an app called Snapseed. This was interesting as iPhone photography is something that I’m really familiar with, but it was interesting to learn how to edit with different apps than I am used to and to learn more about the software already on your phone, such as how to adjust the focus and exposure before you take the photo, which was something that I did not previously know how to do. We also worked on a creative shooting exercise of 25, where we were prompted to shoot 25 photos on our DSLR cameras or our phones that either had the same theme or subject, or were shot 25 steps apart. For this project, I chose to shoot photos of Martina in the redwood grove (choosing the same subject prompt). I did not edit these photos in snapseed as I wanted to practice editing photos that you could see more of a difference between the edited and original photo, but the shooting exercise in itself was good practice for me to see how to focus and adjust the exposure on the iPhone camera. I’m excited to start another project next week (and if I have time work on the double exposure portraits from a few weeks ago)!

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Week 24

This week we prepared for the end of year photography book and for the end of semester exhibit. I’m really happy with how my photos turned out, and am proud of my presentation. I chose to theme my photographs for the exhibit around color and location. Throughout the semester, regardless of what project we were working on in class, I have always found the most captivating photographs to be those with striking color. Whether it be vibrant and bright, monotone, or dark and saturated, I find that the color of a picture is what first catches my eye, and I wanted to harness that in this exhibit. In order to do so, I intentionally edited my photos to exemplify their color, yet I was careful not to overdo it so they did not look overprocessed, as I did not want to lose the true essence of the photographs. I chose to display photographs from a trip I went on to Guatemala this past summer, for two reasons. First, I found that the culture and places that I visited on the trip were very colorful, and each area of the country felt that it held a different color scheme, which I thought was really interesting and made each destination memorable in a different way. Secondly, my experience in Guatemala was incredible, for a large part due to the kindness and warmth of the people there, and the raw beauty of the land, and I wanted to showcase this in my exhibit through the colors of these photographs. I also chose two of these photographs to put in the book, as I think they are really interesting and I am proud of them. Next week we will work on a creative shooting exercise and I will finish my double exposure portraits from last week, which I am looking forward to!

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Week 23

In photography this week we worked on the Action Sequence Project. To do this, we photographed with our Digital DSLR cameras using sport mode, so we could have “continuous shooting” mode on, and take many frames in a short amount of time with a fast shutter speed. We then took these photos and edited them in LightRoom and Photoshop to create a gif, a still sequence, and an action sequence. We used masking techniques to create the still and action sequences, photoshopping the same person into the same photo in different positions. For the gif, we learned how to create an animation in photoshop, adjusting the timing and position of the frames to show continual motion. This project was interesting, however I felt that the editing was a bit tedious. That being said, I learned a lot, and I think if I were to go create another action sequence, that I would find it to go much faster and be less frustrating of a process. I’m excited to continue working in photoshop next week when we begin the Double Exposure Portrait project!

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Week 22

This week in photography we finally edited our professional portraits into magazine covers. It was fun to get to work with photoshop and research different magazine covers and learn about the different layouts and magazines. I chose to make a more simplistic cover, mimicking the magazine Darling, which is a magazine that prides itself in not altering the bodies of the women in their photos. Their mission statement that begins with “darling, you are a work of art,” and they use their magazine to promote healthy body images and the natural beauty of being feminine. It was really fun for me to look through their photos and emulate their style, as well as learn about their brand. I am happy with how my covers turned out! The red one is my favorite. I attached both the magazine covers and examples of the other portraits we took.

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Week 21

We started light painting this week in photography! It was interesting to experiment with long exposure shots. We took some pictures that just focused on the artistic light, and some where we would flash the person operating the lights, so as to bring them into the shot as well. It will be interesting to continue experimenting with this next week, both shooting again and editing the pictures to make them even crazier and more artistic. 

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Week 20

This week in photography we started part one of a two part project series. This included spending a few days taking professional portraits, that we will eventually edit and use to make magazine covers. I was in a group with Martina and Teddy, and we took portraits both infront of the screen in the photography room, and out around the school to have a variety of backgrounds. We learned to have even lighting, to take the portraits vertically, and to use props to make the photos more interesting. I’m happy with how my portraits came out, and am excited to use them for the magazine project! Next week we will move on to light painting, which I am also excited for!

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Week 19

This week in photography we worked on two projects. First, we worked on a Land Art project, where we arranged naturally occurring materials around the school in interesting patters, to then photograph and edit them. Next, we furthered our knowledge of photoshop in creating a surreal collage. I had a good time doing this, and felt that I learned more about photoshop in the process. It was interesting working with more parts and layers in the collage than I am usually used to when just editing a single photo. I’m excited to see what things we move on to next week!

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Week 18

This week in photography we worked further with LightRoom and really began to develop our Photoshop skills, working with masking and adding in new backgrounds and face swapping. I was out sick earlier in the week so I don’t have as many edited photos for this post, but working through the controls in Photoshop and seeing how much you could change the photos was really interesting! I’m really happy with how this one photo of my friend Allison worked out, as I changed the background from being black to something more colorful. I’m excited to see what we do further with this after break.

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Week 17

This week in photography we had the opportunity to photograph 30 or more pictures with the DSLR cameras, and then edit them in LightRoom and Photoshop to try and mimic a specific kind of art. I originally wanted to try and make my photos fit into the theme of Romanticism. Romanticism highlights the beauty of the individual and nature, and I really wanted to focus on showcasing the individual emotions of the subjects of my photos, so while shooting, I would ask them questions about things that I know are special to them. Once going back to edit the photos, however, I realized that they didn’t quite fit the theme. I was really happy with how the pictures turned out, however they were too simplistic to be classified as under romantic photos. Instead of trying to over edit the photos, I ended up just placing different prints of the same person next to each other in a grid to show the development and difference in emotion as the shooting session, and the story they were telling me, went on. I think I learned a lot about shooting and editing portraits for this project, but would like to experiment more with different backgrounds in the future. 

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Week 16

This week we began our first project with digital photography! We used DSLR cameras and focused the project on abstraction. We shot about 30 photos around campus and then edited them using LightRoom software. We focused on making sure that our photos were non-representational, meaning that there was not a conventional or recognizable subject (person, place, or thing) in the photo. We instead focused on having our photos driven by a specific idea, such as the color, texture, pattern, or perspective of the image. I’ve enjoyed working with digital photography as the immediacy of being able to view the images right after they are taken allows for me to be able to adjust my camera settings accordingly, opening the door to many different versions of the same photo, which is something that was not really possible with the film cameras.

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Week 15

I finally enlarged the photos from my 6th roll of film, specifically some portraits of my sister, Alea. It was interesting to come back and see the negatives with fresh eyes after weeks of not working in the dark room, as normally I will enlarge my prints within the same week that they are shot. We also began studying for the technical exam, reviewing the mechanical features of the camera, exposure techniques, lenses, film, and darkroom processes. I’ve really enjoyed working with film but am excited to move on to digital photography!

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Week 14

This week in photography we got to exhibit our photos from the first semester of class. I was really proud of my work and happy to see it matted and on display. I also shot my last roll of film, experimenting more with lenses and different subject material. I worked specifically with the super-telephoto lens, taking pictures of my sister and her friends at soccer practice. I’m excited to enlarge them next week and see how they turn out!

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Week 13

In class this week I was able to enlarge the prints from my lenses project and America project. I am happy with how they turned out! The photos from the lenses project are interesting, as the depth or zoom that the new lenses allowed really enhanced the photos. The photos from my America project also turned out well, and adding contrast when enlarging them proved successful in helping to combat the lighting that was off due to the smoke. We are also preparing prints for the winter exhibit this week, so it will be fun to choose which prints I will be able to display. 

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Week 12

This week in photography I was able to develop the film from both the lenses project and my America project. This was an interesting experience because I had twice as many photos to process and develop as normal, so it was different having to choose from 72 frames instead of 36. The photos turned out well, from my lenses project especially, it was interesting to see how the different lenses can have a very different yet sometimes subtle affect on the prints. I am especially happy with how the photos taken with the Macro lense turned out, as the level of detail in those prints specifically is very intriguing to me. When photographing with the lenses I was not used to and then seeing the results, I was reminded that when I am working with something new that I need to be really careful to make sure that all my settings are correct, as there were some prints that were out of focus, that I believe could have ben in focus if I had been more careful when shooting. The photos from my America project were also really interesting, and it was super fun to be able to shoot in the city. The only downside to these photos is that they were taken when it was smoky outside, leading to some different lighting than normal, but I am hoping that by adding contrast to these prints will help fix this problem. Overall I was really happy with how both of these rolls of film turned out, and am excited to enlarge the prints next week!

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Week 11

We were assigned our first off campus project this week, and I’m so excited about it! Our prompt was to shoot photos that encapsulate what America is, and to do this, I was able to bring home a Manual SLR film camera with a Telephoto Macro lens for the long weekend, and I am very excited to shoot photos for this project. I will be in San Franciso this weekend, so I am looking forward to hopefully having the opportunity to photograph the difference between people, places, and landscapes within the small 7x7 mile city limit. San Francsico is a very diverse area that I think really represents my idea of America, and I hope to be able to capture this in my film. 

[ellamarks-blog]

In photography this week we worked with lenses, using our Manual SLR film camera to experiment with the different effects wide angle, telephoto, and zoom lenses would have on our photos. Personally, I thought it was really interesting to work with the Telephoto Macro lens, as it allowed for a really sharp focus and shallow depth of field, making it work well with close-ups and portraits, my favorite kind of photos to take. It was also interesting to work with the fish-eye lens, which allowed for a very wide angle view, adding a dimension to my photos not previously seen before. I’m really excited to develop these photos and see how they turn out, and then use that knowledge to work with lenses in a more artistic way in the future.