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.