Best magazine covers of 2013- Cover of the Year

1. Formal

2. Informal

3. Environmental

4. Environmental

5. Informal

6. Formal

7. Informal

8. Formal

9. Formal

10. Formal

11. Formal

12. Formal

13. Informal

14. Informal

15. Formal

16. Informal

17. Formal 

Magazine tips

1. Emotionally irresistible
2. Intellectually stimulating, interesting 
3. Worth the investment of money and time 
4. The screen is never the right size
5. Vivid colors dull when printed

American Soldier slide show and captions (review)

A. The most powerful moment in the slideshow is image #7. As Ian leaves for the first time, his family has been "hit" with reality of Ian's choice to join the Army and will not be able to see him for a said amount of time. 

B. Set #1 at home in Denver- from image #1 to image #9

Set #2 at Basic Training- from image #16 to #28

Set #3 In Iraq- from image #51 to #70

Set #4 back in Denver- from image #71 to #82

Set #2 was the most powerful to see in the slideshow because seeing Ian in training shows how real this is and that you can't go back.

C. The images in the slide show work together to tell a story of a man who joins the Army right out of high school, and the process he goes through getting there, during, and after. 

A. For the photos in which Ian is the main subject, the verbs are written in present tense. 

B. The captions enhance the photographs by telling exactly what is happening and how people's feelings are affected by the acts of Ian.

Image #18

As Ian holds his bag in the air, he is desperately hoping that his commander will let them put it down soon. Ian is now aware of the consequences. 

Image #44
Ian faces the harsh reality of the army and not having the availability of going home to see his family on his own time. Ian stresses out over this news that he is given. 

Image #31
Reuniting with his family, he and his father embrace in a very long awaited hug in the airport. As the rest of his family is waiting for their time with Ian to come into turn. 

Self Portrait and Portraits Part One and Rules of Photography part two

Candids: Being Unobtrusive

You may want to make photographs of people going about their business—vendors in a market, a crowd at a sports event, the line at a theater. You don't want them to appear aware of the camera. Many times people will see you, then ignore you because they have to concentrate on what they are doing. You want the viewers of the image to feel that they are getting an unguarded, fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the scene.

17. Introduce Movement

Portraits can be so static – but what if you added some movement into them? This can be achieved in a few ways:

A mirror or some other reflective surface offers an even easier way to take a self-portrait. In most cases, the camera will be included in the scene (but this can help make a statement about your enthusiasm for photography). You can use your camera as a prop, and hold it away from your face. When you photograph into a mirror, be sure your reflection is in focus. An infrared autofocusing system will usually focus on glass if it's aimed into a mirror, and will focus at infinity if aimed at an angle. You might try focusing at an object that's the same distance as the distance from the camera to the reflection, lock in the focus, recompose the image to include yourself, and take the picture.

Source

I picked this photo for environmental portrait because I love how the photographer captured this lady who works at a carnival booth and how the colors really pop.

Source

I picked this photo because in this man's background, you can see that he is in a barbershop that I am assuming that he has been working at for a very long time and it is just good to see.

Photography Self portraits:

Source

I chose this photo because I found it intriguing to look at because how the photographer stopped the movement of the water and still have the girl in focus. 

Source

I chose this photo because I thought it was interesting how the girl is trying to create a message though the photo.

Casual self portraits

Source

I picked this photo because I thought it would be something that you would post on a social media account because this looks like it might be a senior photo.

Source

I chose this photo because this would be something you would ask a photographer to come out and take pictures for family/ friend purposes.

My plan for the portrait assignment I would like to take pictures of my aunt at the gym she works at because I feel that I can get an environment portrait shot of her doing her job. I would also like to go out of my comfort sone and take some photos in unusual spots while keeping photo rules in mind.

RULES OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Rule of thirds: Source

Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO

Photo in F2.8 aperture

Source

Photo in F16 aperture

Source

1. The part of the body that we should closely relate aperture to is the eye.

2. The smaller the aperture the larger the F-number, the higher the aperture the smaller the F-number.

3. Aperture affects the depth of field because it is the area of the image that appears sharp.

Shutter Speed

Low Shutter Speed

Source

High Shutter Speed

Source

While the sun is still out:

1. Low shutter speed for a booth in the middle of the yard near the Tree because there isn't really anything you are specifically capturing. 
2. Low shutter speed for a food booth outside under one of the big red awnings

3. High shutter speed for the Stars performance inside the gym because they are moving fast, so you would need a high shutter speed to capture their movement.
4. High shutter speed for students dancing near the center of the courtyard
 people streaming in from the front doors.
5. While there is a lot of movement going on by the front doors, I would use a low shutter speed to blur out the moment.
6. The basketball booth where students are shooting basketballs at a hoop, I would use a high shutter speed to stop the basketball in its position. 
When sun is not out:
1. Low shutter speed for a booth in the middle of the yard need the tree.
2. High shutter speed for the food booth outside under one of the big red awnings.
3. High shutter speed for the Silver Star's performance.
4. Low shutter speed for students dancing near the center of the courtyard. 
5. Low shutter speed for the people streaming in through the front doors. 
6. High shutter speed for the basketball booth.

The three settings a camera has regarding shutter speed:
1. Shutter priority: camera automatically selects the aperture.
2. Manual: you can set shutter speed and aperture yourself.
3. Aperture priority: camera calculates shutter speed.
Picture at ISO 200: Source

Picture at ISO 3200: Source

1. The advantages of shoot at a higher ISO at a sporting event like basketball or night football is you will be able to quickly capture an image. Also, you'll be able to get ultra-fast shots.
2. The author suggested to use the lowest  ISO when when there is plenty of light. The lowest ISO is usually ISO 100 or 200. By doing this you'll be able to retain the most detail and have a high quality photo.
3. The author suggested to use a high ISO when there isn't enough light. He also suggests using the setting "Auto ISO" and set it to the maximum, which is ISO 800. By doing this you'll be able to freeze motion.

Aperture settings available on a DSLR camera:

• 2.8
• 4
• 5.6
• 8
• 11
• 16
• 22

Shutter Speed settings:

• 1 sec
• 1/60 sec
• 1/4000 sec

ISO settings:

• 100
• 200
• 400
• 800
• 1600
• 3200
• 6400
• 12800
• 25600

Project Photos

1. While making my way through these photos, at first I thought it was sweet but then I saw that the wife had cancer which made me have a depressed feeling because I have lost a loved to cancer, and the process is very sad and dragging.
2. I totally agree with his statement. Your whole life is not going to be filled with a hospital scene, but that is what you sometimes have to do in life to move forward. Their loved didn't revolve around cancer, cancer sadly came with.
3. If I were put in that situation again, I don't know if I would be able to take photos of the process. I wouldn't want to remember them with cancer but I would like to have photos of them in their last moments. That would be very hard to do.
4. If I were able to write Angelo a letter, I would tell him that by doing this "project", it has created a new sense of mind by capturing those moments where you needed to be the strongest for your loved one. Taking those photos is very inspiring and touching to see and that I am very impressed with his work.

Africa and Abandoned Theme parks

Africa
When I read the story about the photographer that went to Africa to take pictures, I was very inspired. To be able to get so close with an animal and have that bond, is something special. It is amazing how the photographer could capture that moment in time.

This photo by Nick Brandt is inspiring to me because he was able to capture a moment where the "husband" is leaning on his "wife" showing that he cares for her. I found this photo to be my favorite because it shows the bond between the two animals.

The photo rules that stand out the most to me is simplicity and fill the frame. There is not anything in the background to distract the eye from the two lions. It is fill the frame because Nick did not leave any room for something else to pop in and change the subject. 

Nick uses a Pentax 6711 only with two fixed lenses. Brandt does not use telephoto lenses because he likes to be close to the animals and capture its facial features and show the animals personality.

Nicks reasons for taking these photos are that he feels moved and inspired when he goes to Africa to take these photos to create iconic moments. 

Nick's hopes for taking these photos are bringing awareness to the world and how valuable these animals are.

" I didn't see a single wild animal the entire four-hour drive. It's not that they've moved elsewhere. It's that they've been wiped out—turned into bushmeat." - Nick Brandt

Abandoned Theme parks
I would like to go to the theme park in Takakanonuma Greenland, Hobara, Japan because something about the theme park intrigued me. I guess by the rusting metal and the fog above the park, it makes it interesting. There is not much to look at but I think if I had the chance to go there and look around, there would be so much character. I would love to go and explore the little houses on the bottom and see what used to be there and what used to interest people.

Places that others might be interested in taking photos of:

Abandoned malls around United States

• Hawthorne Plaza Mall: Hawthorn, California. 
• Rolling Acres Mall: Akron, Ohio
• Cloverleaf Mall: Chesterfield, Va.
• North Towne Square Mall: Toledo, Ohio
• Crestwood Mall: St. Louis

ROLLING ACRES MALL: ARKON, OHIO

Photo by: BuzzFeed

I would like to go to this mall and take pictures because it looks like it has a lot of character and hidden surprises along the journey though the mall. By other pictures I have seen of this location, it looks very interesting and you could get a lot of photo rules like simplicity in this mall. This mall looks like it has some old and new parts to it so it would be nice to see what is in the mall and take pictures of. Photos wise, you could get a lot of lines and rustic looking photos which are my favorite.

For me to go to Arkon, Ohio, it would take me to buy a plane ticket, hotel rent, cabs and food service for me to be able to get there. The laws that I would in-counter on entering this mall would be talking to the caretaker or owner of the building to ask permission to enter and state why I need to go into the mall. For equipment, I would need a camera, battery, SIM card, charger and a case to put it back in after use.