Artist Statement

Photography is a fun class. When I first came in I didn’t know anything about photography. I just took snapshots and called it a photo. When working with Photoshop I knew the basics like changing the picture to black and white or changing the contrast but that’s it. Photoshop can tricky but overall I found it to be fun and interesting. I enjoyed the first semester of the class because we got a chance to take pictures of things we passed by everyday and never realized how interesting they can actually look.

In my portfolio you will find pictures that cover different compositional tricks such as the rule of thirds, framing, simplicity, macro, and more. Most of my pictures were taken on my school campus. In some pictures that’s obvious while in others you can’t tell. Another cool thing in it is the pictures with special effects. If I still didn’t know much about photography I would think my portfolio is really cool and interesting but now that I know more about photography I realize that my portfolio lacks creativity because I could have done so much more.

One thing I thought was the most interesting was to see how my feelings came out in some pictures. An area of improvement was enhancing backgrounds of pictures. I now know how to make the emphasis look like it’s in a completely different place but still have it look real and not like it was all done on Photoshop. An area that I can still improve on is thinking outside of the box when it comes to photography. I’m the type of person who can get my creative thoughts or feelings through music or writing so having to show it in a picture is fun but at the same time more of a challenge. I could improve in the future by continuing to try; eventually I will get better at it.

Overall I really enjoyed this class and making my portfolio. It’s something I wouldn’t mind continuing on my spare time if I don’t have this class again. I know a lot more about Photoshop compared to when I first came to this class but I would really like to learn a lot more.

Social Issue: Anorexia

My picture is of a girl leaning over the toilet in obvious pain because she is crying. she seems to be exhausted. the words read almost perfect wich tells us that she is putting herself through pain to be perfect. she has a small grin on her face which says that she thinks this is a good idea. i put red around the picture to represent danger. My social issue is anorexia which is beyond dangerous but some people dont care.
The reason i put almost perfect is because people now a days think its important t be skinny. media represents the perfect girl as beautiful and skinny and i dont agree with that, i happen to think its a very big issue. she s crying because she is hurting her body and because she feels unaccepted because she doesnt feel as beautiful as others. she has a small smile on her face because she thinks she is making herself a little more perfect so she thinks its ok.

Scary Effects

My favorite picture to work on was the alien. the effects are more drastic. i like the fact that photoshop makes it look more realistic as well as fun because you know its not real. We used tools like dodging and burning which makes parts of the picture pop out or creates effects like scars. i also likes the stamp tool to make one part match another part. i thought the easiest thing to learn was putting a picture on top of the other and dropping the opacity to make the picture have a completely different texture. i really enjoyed learning these new tricks because we can use them later to have fun with our pictures and be more creative.

Formal Critique on Parkeharrison

Formal Critique
In the middle of a lake there is a man kneeling down on a small bridge over the water. It looks as if he is heading out towards the open water and building the bridge as he goes along. He holds bricks on his back and a hammer in his hands showing that he is working hard to build that bridge.
The bridge is the leading line bringing us into the picture and to the emphasis. There is nothing in the background but open water so the simplicity makes the emphasis strong. The lighting is not strong but it is good because it makes the picture look more serious. The message I got from it was he was building a bridge to his future.
I really liked this picture but I think it would have been better if it showed something that he was trying to get to.

Photoshop

we have been playing with photoshop and learned alot of new tricks. i liked it because it made the pictures more fun to look at instead of having plain pictures. one i think i would use the most is Fix. you can take away blemishes and red eyes; things you dont want in a picture.

Contact Sheet

Compositional Trick #8 Fill in Flash

fill in flash is used to help see your emphasis but still allows the shadows to stay in the pictures. You can uses the fill in flash by turning on your flash. When your emphasis is in a shadow with a bright background you use fill in flass to see your subject.

Compositional Trick #7 Drawing with Light

Photography mean "drawing with light". Dramatic lighting adds rare beauty and causes dramatic effect. It can also show emotion in the picture.

Compositional Trick #6 Framing

Framing is something that surrounds the emphasis in the photograph so the eye looks directly at the subject.

Compositional Trick #5 Extreme Angles

People are use to seeing things in the anlge that they see everyday. They look at things straight ahead. looking from a different point of veiw makes the picture more interesting. For example, look at an object for a birds or worms point of view.

Compositionall Trick #4 Simplicity

Simplicity helps the veiwer focus on the emphasis. Sometimes a picture can have too many objects and make the picture clusterd. Having the background nic e and simple makes the emphasis stand out.

Compositional Trick #3 Macro

Macro is GREAT to use to campture little but beautiful details. Macro requires you to get very very close to your emphasis. It captures your main subject and blurs out the further things in the picture. You can use it to capture one part of something or you can use it to capture the texture of something.

Compositional Trick #2 Leading Lines

Leading Lines are objects or shadows in the picture that lead the eye to your main emphasis. The Leading Lines bring you into the picture and around the picture. If the photograph does not have a main emphasis the leading lines can still pull you deeply into the picture. They also make the emphasis seem alot stronger.

Compositional Trick #1 Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is a method used to separate a snapshot from a photograph. Your emphasis should be on a point of a tick-tack-toe grid on your picture. It makes the picture look more interesting and lets you notice other things in the picture.. If your emphasis is right in the middle thats all you see and you dont notice other details. By using the rule of thirs in a picture you tend to look at the whole picture longer because if the subject is in the middle you just stare at that and eventually get bored looking at it.