Period 3 - Semester Final

1) My favorite photo from this Lens slideshow is photo #9 of the deer and the bird. The reason to this is because the photo was captured perfectly, with the deer and the bird resting on its body perfectly still and in focus (also due to the fact that this is what you can call a rare occurrence, with a bird actually nesting on a deer's body). Another reason why I like it is because the shadow of the deer gives the photo animosity, especially since we cannot actually see the deer's face. And finally, the last reason why I like it is due to the setting the deer and the bird are in, as the shrubbery and the trees on the top and bottom of the photo add to the mysterious effect, as well as the eerie fog completely veiling the deer in the photo.

2) The best photo from this Lens slideshow is photo #1 of the missile. The reason to this is because of the event the photo was capturing, and because of how well it was captured. Not everyone will ever see an airstrike occurring, and this photo portrays it quite nicely. It was also very precisely captured since missiles fire at high speeds, and the ability of the photographer to capture this moment in time also adds to the wow factor of the photo. Finally, the main reason as to why this photo is the best is because of the situation it is symbolizing right now. We are at war with ISIS, and this photo gives the general public a little picture of what the war is like, in this case showing an airstrike in action.

3)  My best work this semester was the photo taken when we were assigned to recreate an album cover (located here: Album Cover Recreation). I think this is my best work because my photo matches up very well with the album cover I was imitating, as well as all the factors included in the photo. We both had a dog, we wore similar clothes, our settings were similar, and we had similar facial expressions. And lastly, the lighting in both original and recreated album covers were both mildly similar, making the recreation, in my opinion, the best work this semester.

4) My 3 rules of composition are: balance, background, and rule of thirds.

5) 

A flower located in my backyard taken for the Second Photo Assignment, My Second Rule located here

     I believe this photo that I have selected demonstrates two of my three rules of composition: background and rule of thirds. The background to the flower is blurred out, isolating the flower and bringing it out. Also, the flower is located on the first 1/3 of the photo, applying to the rule of thirds.

6) One of Mr. Farley's 3 rules of composition is the rule of "Getting Closer" to your subject to produce a better photo. 

7) The benefits of working in groups: 

1. If you do not know something, you can ask your group members
2. If you need help, you can also ask your group members to assist you
3. It helps distribute the work, that way you do not need to do every part of an assignment on your own
4. If you are doing something wrong, your group members can help you catch your mistake
5. Helping your group members can bring gratification

8) The difficulties of working in groups:

1. Group members may not agree with an idea
2. It is hard to find time where all group members are available
3. Sometimes, group members may do something wrong, and it is the other members' job to correct them
4. Group members may not want to do work, and instead get carried
5. Helping group members can be a struggle sometimes

9) My favorite work product produced by another student in this class is a Jason Stiltz's photo of a pine cone portraying one of his three rules of composition, the rule of shallow depth of field, shown here.

10) The photographer we studied this semester was Eadweard Muybridge. He contributed the idea of stop motion photography which was like the slow-motion camera back in their times. When people were unable to observe how a horse ran so fast due to the motion being faster than the human eye can see, he invented the idea of stop motion photography to capture the legs of the horse while it was running so people could observe how a horse's legs touched the ground as it ran. 

11) Dorothea Lange's most popular photo was her photo titled "Migrant Mother", taken back in March of 1936 at a pea-picker's camp at Nipomo Mesa, California. The agency that employed Dorothea when she took the photo was the Resettlement Administration (at the time, later called the Farm Security Administration). 

12) The co-founders of Life Magazine were actually John Ames Mitchell and Andrew Miller, with the first issue being published on January 4th, 1883. 

13) Robert Capa co-founded Magnum Photos in Paris with David Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and William Vandivert in 1947. 

14) Robert Capa's photo known as "Falling Soldier" was believed to be taken on September 5th, 1936 at the battle site of Cerro Muriano, but after recent research it was proved to be taken in the town of Espejo about 30 miles away. The reason to this uncertainty was due to the debate of the authenticity of this photo, with some people believing that the photo might have been staged (although it is proved to be an actual documentary photograph).

Album Cover Recreation

The album cover I'm recreating is the cover from "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" by Neil Young, ranked 210 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time. 

(album cover retrieved from: http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/list/98b310386437c0cced4f0b63108501c26f7b5973.JPG)

Masters of Photography Project Reflection

Questions: 

1. How do you think your project represents your work as a student?

2. How has your understanding of photography changed during this school year?

3. What are some of the benefits of working in a group?

4. What are some of the disadvantages of working in a group?

5. Now that you have had more time to reflect, is there anything that you would have done differently with your recent project?

6. Is there anything else that you want to include? 

Reflection: 

1) As  a student, I think the quality of the project shows how much work I have put into it, and the better it looks the more effort that was put into it to make it well done.

2) Since the beginning of the school year, I have learned more about the rules of photography to make photos look nicer, and that there are actually many different ways to style photos, rather than to just take one single photo and edit it. 

3) When working in a group, if questions come up, having the ability to ask a group member helps solve the problem faster than if we were to go up to ask the teacher. Also, since we have a common objective to complete, we can help each other along the way. 

4) When working in a group, there may be conflicting opinions between group members, thus creating conflict between them and may make working together a bigger challenge than before.

5) If we were not limited to only 5 photos, I would have gone out to different places and taken a bigger variety of photos to post to my blog.

6)