Framing

photo taken by Larry Rader

This photo is balances well, because on either side there are a equal amounts of people, two flags on the edges and the sculpture in the middle. The balance in the photo is important so that your attention is not focused on one side, it's focused on the whole picture.  

Balance

photographer unknown

This photo is balances well, because on either side there are a equal amounts of people, two flags on the edges and the sculpture in the middle. The balance in the photo is important so that your attention is not focused on one side, it's focused on the whole picture.  

Lines

photographer unknown

The vertical lines on the building draw your attention to the bottom of the photo, where you can see the thick black smoke and perhaps fire within the building. Also, the lines draw your attention to the top of the photo, where you can see the workers in the building peering out and looking at the fire and smoke coming out of the building. This can give you an emotional feeling, making you think how those people must have felt looking down at the smoke. 

The Rule of Thirds

photographer unknown

This photo does a very good job of following the rule of thirds, because instead of the smoking building being smack dab in the middle of the photo, it is placed off to the side. This not only allows more space to show the smoke, by using the rule of thirds makes the photo more interesting and draws your attention to it, even if you don't realize it. 

Simplicity

Photo taken by Larry Rader

This photo shows simplicity, because even though there is detail in the building and smoke, the background is very simple and so is the subject. The simplicity of the background helps to keep your attention on the smoking building, instead of distracting the observer. 

Unusual and interesting photos

Part 1: 

1. At first I thought my eye sight was messed up. Seeing multiple of the same building, but blurred out and off centered sorta confused me at first. After checking to make sure it wasn't just my eyes, I sorta liked it. I say sorta, because I have a pet peeve about this type on photography, and I generally don't like it. I don't like things in the photo to be blurry and mulitiplied like in these photos. It is an interesting idea, just not one of my favorite.

2. I think Ruhm probably took these photos with a really slow shutter speed, so between each little "click" he turned the camera to a different angle. This caused the photo to have multiple shots of the building, causing an add effect.

3. I think a bridge would be cool to use as the focus point in a picture like this. Up north, there is a red bridge, on the way to my uncle's house. I think it would be interesting to use the bridge, and maybe in the picture turn the angle of the camera enough to where each shot of the bridge makes one big circle.



Part 2:

I found this picture by Jay Janner in the Environment Picture Story category and it won 1st place. I like this photo because it shows the destruction on the drought, but with the sun setting in the background, it gives a sense of new hope that things will get better.  The sunset in the background really caught my eye, and I like that the trees and house in the background are black, because it focuses on the sunset, while also making the dead trees pop and catch your attention as well; and I think that is also why the judges picked this photo. Janner probably had to sit there all day to find the right angle, the right lighting, and wait for the sun to start setting. It must have taken a long time, and I think it was worth it. 

This picture was in the Sports Action category with 1st place, by Bob Martin.  The angle really caught my eye, it's a very good angle in my opinion. I also really like how every part of the picture is as if Martin pressed pause on a movie. it's a very clear picture and I love it. I think the judges liked this photo because of the clearness of the photo, and how you can see every bit of the hay flying off of the bail, and how you can see every muscle in the horse's body. Martin had to be pretty darn brave to get this close to the horses and the track. He probably had to lay down on the side of the track and sit there in an uncomfortable position while the horses and the horse riders got to where he was waiting to snap the picture. 

Then, I found this picture in the Photojournalist of the Year category, with a 1st place award. This picture was taken by Ross Taylor in Port-Au-Prince. The girl peering out of the tent caught my eye. It looks like the girl is still a little bit scared to come out of the tent, but also has enough courage to peer out and see what is going on outside. I think the judges liked the simplicity of this photo, and also the sort of blank expression the girl has. She has probably been through so much that she doesn't know how to feel about what has happened. Taylor had to go all the way to Port-Au-Prince, to the destruction and sadness of the earthquake. I think that was a brave thing to do, and something that probably not all photographers would be willing to do.

Part 3:

1. Always looking for the perfect angle, taking shots of things important to us, and taking a photo showing perspective are all very important for photographers to remember when taking photos. Without a good angle, or perspective the picture can be very dull and uninteresting, and why would you want to take a picture of something that doesn't mean anything to you or a subject that doesn't interest you?

2.

Cafe at Night by Vincent Van Gogh

3.

Photograph of the same restaurant today, that Van Gogh Painted.  Photographer is unknown. 

4.  The painting I chose was "Cafe at Night" by Vincent Van Gogh, and the picture I found was actually taken by the exact same restaurant, but a different person. I think the photographer followed the suggestions pretty well, because there is a decent amount of perspective. I think they could have done a better job at getting a good angle, but they did an okay job of it.

5. I think paintings of nature influence me the most, because that is something I am interested in taking photos of. I want to be able to take those super close pictures of flowers and show the texture of them, or take photos of sunsets and sunrises, so those paintings will influence me the most.

Nation Grographic photos and Ethics in Photography

National Geographic Warm-up:

This is probably my favorite picture because it doesn't look real. It looks as if this is from another world, and I think that is really cool. I also like it because the lighting is amazing. The shadows on the rocks in the cavern is perfect and adds an amazing depth. I also love how the light being cast on the sand from the sun looks kinda blueish, adding to it looking unreal.

If I were entering a photo contest, I think I would experiment with sunsets, or sunrises, and try to maybe get my dog to lay down and pose. Something maybe like my dog laying down and the sunrise behind him, or maybe trying to get a reflection of the sunset in my dog's eyes would be pretty cool.


Photo Manipulation and Ethics:

In the article, it talks about bad ways to edit photos. It is okay to edit photos, to an extent. If you are going to be putting a photo in the newspaper or a magazine, it is best to not add or take anything away. Unless you are maybe changing the lighting or something along those lines, you shouldn't really edit it much. If you are submitting your photo somewhere and you add or take away main objects, you could get into a lot of trouble. Editing photos shouldn't be adding a building or changing it from the original to lie about what the original outcome was. Editing should be about changing minor things, but keeping the main picture the same.

I think this photo is one of the most unethical editing, because they not only changed the appearance of Oprah's body by putting her head on Ann Margaret's body, they also changed Ann Margaret's face by switching it out with Oprah's face. This is, in my opinion, a horrible thing to do. It is sending a message that Oprah's body isn't perfect, and Ann's face isn't perfect by completely taking them out and replacing them. This is the part of editing that I hate, because it is changing the appearance of people, especially women because it's not their real body. 

Even though this is unethical, I don't think it is an unethical as the rest. All Time Magazine did was darken the photo from Newsweek to make it look emotionally darker and more saddening. If they took this picture from Newsweek without permission or something, that is a different story. But editing ethics wise, I do not think this is as bad as the rest. Yes, he is darker, but the editing doesn't make him look darker, because the rest of the picture is darker too, such as the letters at the bottom of the pictures, and the edges of the picture.

Touching People

1.) I think this project was "out of the box". It was very creative for him to come up with this idea, because not many people are comfortable with touching or coming in contact with a stranger. And you can see that a lot of the people who took part in this photo shoot were not very comfortable at all.

2.) I would participate if Richard Renaldi asked me to take part in his photo shoot, because it's a one in a life time opportunity. Yes, I would feel very awkward, but to be in on of a photographers pictures would be amazing.

3.) I think another unusual photo shoot could be one where you took pictures of people in the morning. Especially girls, because some girls just wear more make up than others. I would call it "Natural Beauty", because I think we are at our most natural when we first wake up. Or maybe not when they first wake up, but before they do anything, like put makeup on or brush their hair and things like that. I am a big believer in natural beauty, and that's why i rarley wear a lot of make up.

4.) I liked looking at Richard Renaldi's photos, because they were different. In some photos the two people looked like total strangers, but in some they looked like they could have known each other for a long time, because they just looked comfortable with each other.  I also liked how Renaldi blured out the background in the photos so that you could really focus on the two strangers and how they were standing, sitting, etc.                                                      

40 greates photos taken

(Photo by Stan Honda) 

 

I picked this photo, because it made me happy. I am a strong believer in same sex marriage and homosexuals having equal rights as straight people. I absolutely hate it when people joke about things being "so gay" as if it's a bad thing. I love how the photographer set this photo up, because it's just the two women, as if nothing else matters but their happiness. There is nothing in the background or anything to distract from them and how happy they are. I think this photo is apart of the top 40 photos ever because it shows so much in just one simple picture. Why should anyone or anything stop us from being happy, same sex marriage included. Woman and a woman, man and a man, man and a woman; happiness is happiness and it doesn't matter what people think is "right" or what people believe is in the Bible, as long as you are happy.

(Photo by Vanderlei Almeida) 

 

I picked this photo because it fills me with mixed emotions. This dog loves his owner so much, that even when he is gone, the dog is still with him. This picture really shows the bond between us and our pets, and how they are more than just our pets, they are out family. This dog is so loyal to it's owner, it's willing to sit in the dirt to be near him or her. This is a really sweet picture, and that is why I like it so much. I like how the photographer used the rule of thirds, and made the main subject at the bottom of the picture; it makes it more interesting. I think this made the top 40 photos ever, because of the connection between human and pet, and because it is so simple, yet it shows so much.

(Photo by Aaron Thompson) 

I like this photo, because it captures what is going on so well. The photographer focused on the soldier giving the little boy the folded up flag, so well. I want to cry when I see this photo because it makes me think, what if that was me? What if my dad was in the army, died, and I had to accept his flag for him? I wouldn't be able to keep myself together. I think this photo made the top 40 because it shows a struggle that so many families go through, whether it's American families or families in another country. Loosing a family member, especially a father, is really hard. This boy shows strength, that not a lot of people have. This picture shows that we all need to be strong in tough situations, no matter how hard it is.

Great black and white photographers, PART 2

Arnold Newman was born in New York on March 3, 1918. He studied art at the University of Florida in 1936, for two years. Newman soon took up a job working for a photography studio, as their assistant. Newman then moved back to New York in 1946, after having his first exhibition there in 1941. At first, his photography just focused on other famous artists, but then eventually he opened up and started taking photos of more people like composers, scientists, and people in the political world.

When Newman took pictures of people he likes to make the setting something that reflected his subject's personality, or what they did. So if he was photographing a famous swimmer, he would most likely photograph him in a swimming pool or locker room. Newman became famous for this type of photography, and it was called environmental portraiture. Even though he often would take pictures in color, Newman's black and white photos are his most famous.

His most famous black and white photograph is of Igor Stravinsky, a famous piano player.

For many years, Arnold Newman taught photography at Cooper Union school of Science and Art in New York, until he passed away in the hospital on June 6, 2006.

A Portrait of Eugene Smith by Arnold Newman. 

Red, Metal, Happy

 Red...

 Metal...

Happy...

Camera history and information

 "The Camera"

1. The "camera obscura" effect basically means a dark room, and it was the the very first camera to be invented. What the philosophers did was take a dark room, and in one wall made a small hole. When they focused, whatever was outside the wall was shown on upside down on the wall opposite of the one with the hole.

2. Isacc Newton and Christian Huygens invented glass lenses in the 17th century, that helped us get another step closer to the modern camera we have today.

3. When Joseph Nicephore Niepce made the first camera, it included the glass lense by Newton and Huygens, a dark box, and film.

4. Just as the first cameras worked, modern cameras today let light through the lense, the light goes into the camera, and then exposes the film inside. Then, you have a photograph.

5. Digital cameras now use a CCD (electronic sensor), and when you take a photograph they are stored on the camera's memory card.



"Camera Modes"

6. On a camera,  Auto Mode lets the camera control the flash and the amount of exposure; Program Mode is mainly for just shooting photos, and and usually on Program Mode you can control the flash and some of the other settings.

7. Portrait Mode is used to take pictures of people, and will try to blur the background, to focus on the person.

8. Sports Mode can be used when trying to take a picture of something moving, not just sports. Say you want to take a picture of a from jumping, this setting will use the highest shutter speed so that in the picture it "freezes" time.


"Half Press" 

 9. Half press is a very useful tool when taking a picture. It helps to sorta "wake up" the camera, and get ready to take the picture. Half pressing the shoot button also helps to control the focus in the picture, and the camera will usually take the picture faster if you do a half press. A half press is just as it says, you push down the shoot button half way, wait til' it's the way you want, then press it down all the way to take the picture. 


"Controlling Flash" 

10. This means that the camera flash has been disabled and will not go off. You can use this when the lighting is already bright enough, or if there is a mirror or something reflective in the shot, and you don't want a glare.

11. This means that, if the camera feels the lighting is too dark, the flash will automatically go off. You could use this when you don't know whether or not you need the flash or not, so the camera will decide for you.


"Introduction to Exposure"

12. If there is too much light in your picture, it will look washed out.

13. If there is not enough light, the picture will look to dark, and sometimes depressing.


"The Universal Stop"

14. "Stop" is used to show a change in the brightness of light in the picture. So If you start will two bulbs, and add two more bulbs, that is one "stop".

15. The new planet is 2 stops brighter than Earth.

16. If there are four sons, that means the new planet is 4 stops brighter than Earth.


"Shutters and Aperture"

17. The longer the shutter speed is, the more light there is that is let in through the aperture.

18. The faster the shutter speed is, the amount of light let in through the aperture will go down, causing the picture to be darker.

19. The aperture controls the light that is let into the camera.

20. When you want to increase the amount of light, one way is to lower the number of the aperture, making the amount of space for light to pass through, larger, causing more light to pass through, and in turn making the lighting brighter.

The Camera

• parallax- the difference between how an object looks through the lens of the camera, and the viewfinder on the camera. 

• telephoto lense- a lense that highlights certain features about the whatever is being photographed

•  periscope- a tool used to view objects that you are not in direct sight, whether blocked by an another object, or just to high to see

• diaphragm- a thin, non transparent piece with an aperture in the center; stops light from passing through anywhere other than the aperture

• aperture- a hole in the lens of a camera, that limits the amount of light that enters the camera

•  shutter- the mechanism in a camera lens that closes the aperture of the camera when a picture is taken

• exposure- the amount of light that is let in through the aperture 

• depth of field- the distance between the object closest in the scene, and the object farthest from in the scene that appear very clear in the photo taken

• F-stop- the number that tells you how much light is being let in through the aperture 

• focal length- the distance between the lens, and the object in focus

Buttons on the back:

1.  Aperture/Exposure/Erase- this button lets you control the aperture size, amount of light that goes through the aperture, and lets you erase a picture after clicking the "view" button
2.  Live view/Movie shooting- lets you switch from Live View, and the View Finder
3.  Quick Control- gives you quick control over what is happening
4.  Menu- shows settings, options, etc. 
5. View- shows the pictures on the camera so far
6. Four forming a circle- one sets a timer, and you can also use these to look through your pictures, after pushing the "view" button
7.  Set- this button takes you to the settings
8. Display- turns on the display screen
9. Reduce- reduced certain features of the camera
10. Magnify- makes the picture you are viewing larger
11. Dioptric Adjustment Knob- switches from being focused on the nearest subject, or furthest subject

Buttons on the top:

1. Shutter- closes the shutter, and takes the picture
2. Main Dial- changes exposure, and aperture size
3. Flash- controls whether or not the flash will go off
4. Power- turns the camera on and off
5. Mode Dial- changes the mode the camera is in, sports, landscape, portrait, etc.

Great Black and White photographers

 Arnold Newman - General Dwight D. Eisenhower, New York, 1950

 Cindy Sherman - Untitled Film Still #21, 1978

 Tina Modotti - Roses, 1925

Berenice Abbot - Canyon: Broadway ad Exchange Place, c. 1935-39

First photos - best and worst

 

This is my favorite photo I took, I think this one really focuses on the three people. There isn't too many things in the background to distract from the main focus, the people, and I like that. I also like the angle I took this picture at, because it's not a crazy and intense angle, but it's just enough to add to the picture without taking away from it too. I have a pet peeve about pictures being blurry, so I also like this one because it was the most clear.

This is my least favorite photo, because I don't like how I didn't get all three people in the picture. I wanted to try to capture all three people, without making them look the same, but instead I got two and barley a third. I also feel as if they are not the center of attention in this picture, when really they are. There are too many things in this picture to focus on, so there is nothing really special about this picture.

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