Academic Shoot refection and critique

1. The challenges that I found in this shoot is finding the photo rules naturally and not forcing them. I really like the look of photos that have the rules but you can tell that they were not forced. I had some trouble finding that while taking photos for this shoot.
2. I found myself mostly thinking about holding the capture button half way to focus the camera on the subject that I wanted to capture. I have a big pet peeve when even one little thing in the picture is out of focus, I go a little bit crazy.
3. If I had the chance to do this photo shoot again, I would definitely try harder to be more creative with my photos and the way I take the photo. Also making sure that the subject is very clear to everyone else who is viewing.
4. I would definitely focus the camera again because I think that is so important to a great photo.
5. I think it will be easy to find lines because I found it really easy to pick out things in the school that looks like they are leading to somewhere.
6. Framing is one of the harder rules for me to capture. Framing is easy to force but I like it to look natural to the point where you would just think it just happened like that. Definitely the hardest one.
7. I'm still not clear on how to take simplicity, does the background always have to be blank?

Academic Shoot and Reflection

Balance
I followed this rule nicely but I do think I could have gotten a better shot of them doing the same thing with a background one color or one wall. I did take a photo facing them but I did not like how they turned out. The subject  of this photo is of the two students who are working on an art assignment, making conversation and overall having a fun time while doing work. I asked people around me to see what they first saw in the photo without me telling them what the subject is, and they all said people doing art. 

Simplicity
I followed this rule of simplicity very well but I do think I could have done a better job of  canceling out the background to really focus on Callie and what she is doing in her Geography class. The subject of this photo is Callie in Geography taking a test on landforms and trying not to get distracted by her classmates and effecting her grade.

Lines
In following this rule, I think I followed it to the T. Having the classmates of  a geography class all doing the same activity of taking a test. In a regular class, everyone is usually doing something different, but here everyone is the same in what has their attention. To other people viewing this photo, I think that people will understand what is going on in this photo. They will see that everyone is focused on one subject and listening to their teacher for instructions. 

Framing
Looking at this photo, I think that I could have gotten a better framing picture. Framing was very hard for me to accomplish because it is not easy for me to find. The subject of this photo is the tape measure around the students neck is framing him and what he is doing in class. I honestly do not think that people will completely understand this photo when first seeing it. This photo just so happened to be a picture that has sort of framing because I had a hard time finding framing. 

Rule of thirds
I followed this rule pretty nicely although I could have made sure that there was no one in the background to distract the subject of the photo. The subject of this photo is a student in class working on a project and not letting anyone else in the class distract her from her work. Yes I think that this photo's subject is clear to other viewers because you can see the environment that she is in and you see her with her work. 

Unusual and Interesting Photos

1. My reactions to his photos were that they were certainly different and fun to look at. I found them really interesting to look at because I have never personally seen anything like that. I love how the backgrounds of his photos are plain so you are focusing in on the landmark.
2. I think that he took a photo of the landmark, took it back to his computer, uploaded it to photoshop, cleared out the background and overlaid the photo multiple times to get his final product.
3. I would go to the Capital in downtown Austin because it is easy to visit the outside of the building because I have been there multiple times.

Academic Shoot Preview Assignment 2

On page 21, the picture I chose was the one of the boy nailing a board to another post and he is wearing a camo jacket. 

1. I chose this photo because it makes me think that the boy is helping out with his community which is really pleasing to see. 

2. The photo rules that are seen in this photo are the wooden boards are framing the boy's face and the posts are leading up to the hammer hammering in the nail. Also, the photographer avoided having the wooden board that he is holding look like it's coming out of his head. 

Part 2

1. I could take photos like the ones shown in classrooms that are doing action and not sitting down and listening to a lecture. There are already enough photos of that so I would like to capture something different. 

2. I would like to take photos in Theater classrooms and electives. Elective classes seem to always be doing something fun so I would like to display that. 

3. I would like to stand on the top of chairs to get a bird's eye view for my photo and rule of thirds. Having a photo that falls into the rule of thirds, it is a lot more interesting. 

Academic Shoot Preview Assignment

The story:

Photographer: Samantha Jung

While students helping people in need, it tells a story. The photographer Samantha Jung captured a moment showing the school/ community giving back. The story that is seen in this photo is the citizens of Port Coquitlam who don't necessarily  have a lot of money coming to the food line to fill up on warm foods.

Action and Emotion:

Photographer: Casey Simmons

Students conducting a science experiment in what may be chemistry, Casey Simmons caught the action shot of the substance of bubbles exploding from the beaker. The girls' facial expressions in this photo show that they have been surprised in what happened in the experiment. 

Filling the Frame:

Dylan Gray
This photo represents filling the frame because the students and the science experiment are the main focus and nothing is in the background to distract the viewer. 

Photo Manipulation and Ethics

A. The main points of the story is the people who are photoshopping are being careless and not really thinking about what they are doing. The one photo where he/she photoshopped the women out of the picture is just wrong. Women can do just as much as men.

B. The people who are photoshopping the original photos don't realize how many lives they are effecting just by a few clicks. On the National Geographic Magazine, they just moved the pyramids to fit the magazine and to make the cover look more appealing. No harm was done except some misleading.

This is very unethical because whoever manipulated this photo made the soldier look like a horrible person when he is trying to save the man and his child from harm. Changing the content in this photo is/ was an awful thing to do.

In this photo, all they did was lighten the photo. The content and composition have not been changed, therefore, no harm, no foul. 

Post shoot reflection

1. I found that square and metal were the hardest to shoot because trying to find something not just square or metal, is a lot harder than it looks. At the same time, you are trying to think outside of the box, making it more complicating.
2. I thought about focus a lot and by doing so, I held down on the button half way so the camera could automatically focus in on the subject.
3. If I had the chance to do this photo shoot again, I would have some of the backgrounds plain and not having something there to distract the focus from the subject.
4. I would still use some of the photo rules that I learned from my last year Journalism class like leading lines, worm's eye view, etc.
5. In my happy photo, it looked like the tree was the girls hair, which is no bueno.
6. No I am not interested in shooting the same prompt because I do not want to shoot the same type of photo but in a different format.




Link to student's blog:
http://mxlsphotos.blogspot.com

I really love how simple and clean the photos are. They aren't over complicated and they look really professional even if it is just a simple photo. Great job on achieving simplicity!

The one thing Melina could improve one would be, working on Rule of Thirds. A lot of the photos are centered which sort of makes the photo plain.