Final: Artist Statement

Not only have I learned a lot taking photography class, but I have had a lot of fun. I have always been an artist in regards to painting and drawing. This class exposed me to another form of art that people take for granted. My voice has became more known to me throughout the year as well.  I have gotten the pleasure to learn how to use my camera. Near the beginning of the year, we learned a lot about ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. Pictures above is an image from my aperture shoot. My voice of nature and simplicity shines through in this image. It also displays the element of close and far. 

I was able to learn a lot about how to take a good picture. By using elements such as color, texture, and line, I was able to take awesome pictures such as this one. In another early photoshoot, we focused on these elements. We also talked about the rule of thirds and don't center. This creates a more captivating image which allows for the viewer's eyes to travel. On the other hand, we talked about things to note such as avoiding distractions. 

Pictured is an image from the first photoshoot of the year as a class. It is not a great picture. It has no voice and the majority of the picture is gray. On the other hand, it has a lot of texture, which personally I love. This picture also contains leading lines, but it's not great. The good news is that I improved a lot as an artist throughout the year, as well as found my own voice.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It has lots of texture, it is natural, and at the same time it is still simple. I would say that it is a strength of mine to capture texture and simplicity, mostly because it is my kind of beautiful. My weakness would be capturing people. Although I got some good portraits images, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm good at it. I would say that I have had weaknesses and strengths in every photoshoot I've done throughout the year. pictured on my blog are the cream of the crop. Not all of my pictures are as great, but I suppose it is part of learning the ropes. I really did enjoy taking this photography class. It gave me a great opportunity to learn more about myself.

Portraits

I've never enjoyed taking pictures of people, but this photoshoot was a lot of fun. It was a good excuse to take pictures of people who don't necessarily like having their pictures taken. This is a picture of my beautiful mom on Mother's Day. I disobeyed a lot of the rules for this photoshoot. Instead, I centered my focus point to make sure it was the focus. For my subject matter, I chose people who are closest to me. This includes my boyfriend, grandparents, parents, and my dogs of course! My voice was put into this photoshoot by having the majority of the images taken in and around trees, flowers, and just nature in general. This assignment helped me view my world differently by making me notice all of the little creases and wrinkles that are on people's faces that make them beautiful and unique. My weakness was the concept of the photoshoot. Like recently stated, I am not a big fan of photographing people. On the other hand, I think a few of my images turned out really great. If I could change this assignment, I would make it stretch over a longer period of time. This is one of those shoots that can be weather dependent, of even just straight time consuming. Lastly, thank you mom for coming to watch me play soccer on Mother's Day! I love you!

Panorama

For this panorama photoshoot, I focused on a new topic. I decided to take images of baseball and everything related to it. The assignment was to reflect on some memory, so I dug my roots. My entire extended family are die hard baseball fans. I was also given the opportunity to revisit the Louisville slugger museum during the shoot's time frame. Being a panorama, I don't think there was much that I as an artist had to do in order to make the images look awesome. I did edit the linked picture to make it more dramatic. The new image now reminds me of a flashback to all of my brothers ball games. I really enjoyed heading out to these baseball fields for the first time in a long time. I used to spend hours here, and it was a good time to reflect on these experiences. It was easy for me to find subject matter for this assignment. It was also easy for me to get some awesome pictures because of where I was able to travel. I wouldn't change anything about this assignment because I really enjoyed it. I hope that everyone had the same great experience that I did.

Art in the Park

Differing from the others, this photoshoot reaches out farther than class. The assignment was to take pictures around hamilton county of places that are special to us. From my neighborhood park to Potter's Bridge, I had quiet a large variety of pictures that fit my voice. I set my scene using great depth of field for the majority of my images, which is different for me. I also used a lot of leading lines rather than my usual rule of thirds, Actually, my second favorite image from the shoot broke the rule of thirds. My voice was easy to display through nature scenes throughout the photoshoot. It helped that we could take pictures of a wide variety of things. This assignment helped me to notice the things I used to do when I was younger. I really got to reflect on my childhood while taking these pictures. My weakness was time. Although I am happy with my pictures, I think I could have gotten some incredible photos if I wasn't so busy. Overall, I truly did enjoy this shoot, and I don't think there is anything I would change.

Noun: Nature

For this particular photoshoot, we were to take images to represent a noun of our choice. My noun happened to be nature. Because my noun was nature, I took pictures of the 6 categories of sky, water, ground, trees, plants, and flowers. For each category, I took 5 different pictures for a total of 30. I went to places such as Morse Reservoir, my neighborhood pond, and my backyard. Although I didn't go very far, I got some really awesome photos. I used a lot of leading lines in this shoot. By using leading lines, rule of thirds, and a variety of distances, I was able to step away from this project with some really great pictures. My voice was really able to shine through as an artist because I was able to pick my subject. This photoshoots lead me to find little hideouts in my neighborhood that I didn't know was there which I'm happy about. I was pretty strong through out this photoshoot. When I am able to take pictures of whatever I want, I think that my pictures are way better. My weakness was maybe the small amount of time I had to do this photoshoot. The past two weekends I have traveled for soccer, so I didn't have much free time.

Foodie

This week, we had an in-class photoshoot of food! Of course, I took lots of pictures around the classroom of food. There were 8 total stations set up with various types of food. For example. one  table was covered in candy while another had vegetables. Setting up my scene was the most difficult part of the photoshoot. As an artist, I was to focus on both the scene and the lighting I applied to it. Mrs. Hahn taught us to set up our objects in the shape of a pyramid to make it most interesting. As always, I focused on using the rule of thirds. I enjoyed working with reflective food such as the frosting on this doughnut and water droplets on vegetables. I used my voice with the simplicity of the images I took. Now when I look at food, I see the interesting shapes and angles that would make for a great photo. I didn't have many strengths. One problem with this photoshoot, in my opinion, is that everyone takes pictures of the same subject. This makes it extremely difficult to show my voice through my images. My weakness was setting up the scene. I was pretty bad at making the food look yummy when I piled it up. If I could change this photoshoot, I would make more stations with less food and different lighting at each to create more of a variety.

Juxtaposition Photoshoot

Using contrasting images, I was able to create juxtaposition between concepts. I had a but of an advantage for this photoshoot. My friend took this photo class last year, so she told me about this photoshoot, so I was able to get a head start over the summer. No matter when the images were taken, I had a lot of fun with it. I was able to take photos from my family's farm to inside my own house. I found it was easy to find contrasting concepts if you knew what to look for. I really focused on using contrasting colors in this shoot to add an extra opposite element. I really like the collage that is posted because the colors are also contrasting one another. I used a lot of light against dark as well as irony with my pictures. I used my voice as an artist by showing pictures of nature throughout the most pictures. I feel like my strength is recognizing juxtaposition within everyday objects that some people may never notice. A few of my pictures would be considered my weakness because honestly, only 60-75% of my final images actually had good composition. If I could change anything about this photoshoot, I would make it longer so people have time to travel to places that can help them to represent their individual concept.

Man Ray Parody

For the first photoshoot of the new semester, we did an artist parody shirt. Everyone in the class got to choose a different photographer to create a presentation for, as well as take 30 images that somehow reflect the artist's style. Man Ray is a photographer that takes images of strange objects with dramatic lighting, because of this, I took most of my images in my basement where I could really focus on getting the feeling of drama using his lighting technique. By using objects around my house as well as photoshop, I was able to capture Man Ray's style throughout my photoshoot. While taking my images, I also focused on the basic rules of composition. By using the rule of thirds, I was able to make my objets even more dramatic. Like I said before, I found strange objects around my home with interesting textures and photoshopped them together. For example, in the image above I took a dramatic picture of my hand and photoshopped water droplets in the background. The final image created turned out to be especially dramatic as well as interesting. I used my voice throughout the shoot by adding bits of color that man ray would not normally use. This assignment helped me to pick out weird objects, even if I see them everyday. I feel like I was very strong throughout this project. I should have added some more information about Man Ray in my powerpoint, but other than that, I would say everything was pretty strong. If I had an opportunity to change this assignment, I would not change it because it was a great learning experience.

ISO Lighting

For this ISO/Lighting photoshoot, I took images of christmas lightings at nighttime, random objects indoors (in class), and my family's farm in the daytime. Because of the time of the year, it was easy to find lights which looked awesome at night. My family's farm is very close to my heart and I love it there, so it was easy to take pictures I love there, keeping the rules of composition in mind of course. I used leading likes and complementary colors regularly. The farm used to be a cattle farm, so it is full of large, beautiful barns that are super fun to explore. My voice shows through because there are a lot of textures I used in this shoot as well as simple pictures of the outdoors. With or without this photoshoot, I would have been out there, but this project made me see little things I've never noticed before like the dead flowers in this image. After all, one man's trash is another man's treasure. My strengths in this assignment were the indoor and the daytime photos. On the other end, I can't keep still long enough for the nighttime images because I don't have a tripod and the shutter speed must be slow. If I could change anything in this photoshoot, I would probably not limit it to 10 pictures of all three lighting situations. Instead, I would limit 30 images total, but need a minimum of 5 images of each lighting. Personally, I had a more difficult time showing myself as an artist in the indoor section.

Shutter Speed

I enjoyed this photoshoot very much. It allowed me lots of freedom with what I took images of as well as new ways of taking images with slower and faster shutter speeds. As normal, I took lots of images outdoors of nature. This is because i spend many hours of my free time outside, and I love it. In this shoot, I also went downtown to focus on images with lights which was really neat and new to me. By putting leaves on a flowing creek, I was able to capture images like the one you see with a faster shutter speed. Because it is autumn, I took many pictures of the vivid leaves. I of course used the rule of thirds throughout my shoot as well. This assignment made me look for objects in motion. I think of how beautiful running water-if its a sink or a waterfall- would be frozen in time. I would say my weakness in this shoot would be the panning images. I found it difficult to follow an object as it is moving without making the entire image blurry. My strong suit was the freeze motion because I was able to capture things that you may not normally see such as water or a flag frozen in time. I think this shoot is a good learning experience for everyone, so therefore, there is nothing I would want to change about it.

Depth of Field Photoshoot

Lately, we have been experimenting with our cameras. In this specific photoshoot, we were told to experiment with higher and lower apertures. This image has a shallow depth of field because the closer object is in focus and the background is blurry. I decided to go to a local park to take my pictures because I enjoy taking pictures of the outdoors because thats where I enjoy spending time. It was also a good place to go because there was logs of space for great depth of field. When taking my images, I always focus on using rule of thirds and avoid distractions. This shoot helped me to see the different layers of distance. My strength in the photoshoot was the shallow depth of field rather than the great depth of field. I wouldn't change this assignment. I feel it is useful because it allows students to get more comfortable with their cameras.

Purple Photoshoot

In photography class, each student was to take 30 images of whatever color they got assigned. Surely enough, I was assigned the color purple which also happened to be the most difficult color. Not very many things are purple. I mostly focused on flowers in this photoshoot, but i also took advantage of the purple objects in my house. I really played with the lighting a lot in the photoshoot because it will make each picture unique from one another because the are all similar since they are purple. I used the rules of composition to make my images better by never centering the point of interest. I also used a lot of leading lines in this photoshoot. Again, I used a lot of flowers because they are one of the only things that are purple. I also used purple construction paper in the background of almost all of my images. I difficulty my voice as an artist by also displaying other colors in my photos to enhance the purple color. This assignment made my eyes more drawn to purple because during the photoshoot, I kept my eyes open for the color to photograph. I actually did enjoy experimenting with a single color with lighting and angles to make the object look awesome. I felt like the lighting i used was really enhancing in most of my pictures. If I was to change anything about this assignment, I would assign a variety of colors such as cool or warm colors to the students rather than one color. It is extremely difficult to find 30 quality images t take of a color such as purple when very little is purple. Other than the difficulty, I because a better photographer with this photoshoot because I got to play around with the settings on my camera and the lighting of my subject.

Philosophy

What is the purpose of the camera? The camera was first used for documenting scientific findings rather than drawing the findings. The camera and the production of it's images help people to remember and prove events or objects. I feel that people abuse the camera by lying via photoshop and other evidence. One used to look at an image and believe it to be an accurate representation, but now it is very hard to tell what is true and what is false. I think it is cool what we can forever see our memories. It is whomever's choice to of how to use their camera, but it makes me uncomfortable not knowing if it is real.

Photography in the Future

(from google images)

In the future of photography, I think that photoshop will be completely automatic. Maybe even so much so that you have to look in a mirror rather than a camera to see the real truth. In today's world, while I think people should be able to post whatever they want, people lie on social media and portray a false image of themselves and others using photoshop and/or not telling the full truth. I feel that as common as cameras are and taking images, it is difficult to call yourself an artist. An image must mean something to be considered art in my opinion. Keeping it simple and having a voice will allow artists to be artists, even as technology advances.

Rules of Compostion Shoot

This is my favorite image from my first "Rues of Composition" photoshoot. In the photoshoot, I was experimenting and practicing the basic rules of composition. I mostly took pictures of nature because it is something I enjoy as well as something that is easy to take pictures of. I went to the woods on a walk to take my photos. When setting up my scenes, I focused of the rule of thirds as much as I could by avoiding the middle. When venturing through the woods, I looked for the beauty in everyday things that isn't always recognized. My voice as a photographer was shown through this photoshoot with the bright, happy colors. It also brought me outside to view things that I haven't even seen before. I think one of my strengths is texture or pictures that are up close. I wouldn't change anything about this photoshoot.

Genius???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

1.) Wolfgang is an extremely talented artist. I feel that he didn't do anything wrong. By fooling the art world, I feel the worst thing that he has done is that he took the money of wealthy people, which they don'd desperately need. The artwork is still beautiful, even if it isn't "name brand".

2.) Ones role in this work with that much talent is up to the individual. They should not be pressured into living a life they don't enjoy just because they have a gift.

3.) If I was a gifted genius like Wolfgang, I would most likely do the same thing that he did. He made a lot of money off of the paintings he created. One thing that I would do different is put my own name on the paintings. I would also add a little something extra to all of the artwork so I couldn't get punished for forgery. Lastly, I feel that Wolfgang would not have got the name that he has for himself if he was to create his own artwork. More people are most likely to hear about an amazing artist who could trick art critiques into believing their art is the work of Picasso rather that a random artist off the streets.

My Favorite Image

This is a piece by Ansel Adams. It strikes me because it has a great sense of space. Just looking at it, I have a sense of freedom. The point of interest are obviously the large rocks and natural land forms. This image draws me in because of the path which uses leading lines to draw your eyes to the focus. This picture influences my voice as a photographer to incorporate a sense of feeling in my photos. If I was Ansel Adams, there is nothing i would change about this image.