Surreal Practice Tutorials

Graduation Program

After looking at the other students program covers and designs, something I think I did well on was the creativeness of my program. I wanted to try and do something that nobody else was doing and try and stay away from cliche graduation program covers. I could have done differently or better with the way I used the stamps on the front of the program and I could have used the burning affect to burn the words or something else besides the paper. Graphic design was harder than I thought it would because you cant just place words, objects, or pictures randomly, there has to be some sort of balance in your graphic design. Also you have to be as creative as possible. The most important parts or aspects of graphic design are being aware of what the client wants and what is and is not appropriate for that specific design. Another important part or aspect is the amount of time you have to work on and complete your design. Some advice to give to next year's students would be to use your brainstorming time wisely because when time is cutting close and you do not have an idea, you may not come up with something as great as you would have, if your brainstorming time was used wisely. Also be creative and do not use too many pegasuses.

Alternate Program:

Effects

The effect I like best is the emphasis picture. I like this effect because it made me obviously stand out in the photo, it helps to emphasize on a person or make an object stand out. Although it was quick and easy to do in photoshop, it helped to make the simplest pictures a little more interesting.

Frames

For this project we used frames to create artistic self-portraits.  I like all three of the pictures I posted, I could not pick just two.  So it'd be difficult to choose just one, but if I had to I would pick the picture with the sun.  I think the photo being in black and white, the way i captured the sun, and the shadows from the trees is what makes my photo artistic.  Something I could do  to make it more artistic would be to position myself in a way that would go along with the artistic feel of the photo.

Color!

Balance: Asymmetrical vs Symmetrical

For this project we were to work in a group and compose a symmetrically balanced photograph along with an asymmetrically balanced photograph.  Symmetrical balance is when an image has the exact same thing on both sides, if it were to be folded or cut in half horizontally or vertically.  Asymmetrical balance is when there are different things on both sides of the picture, although it still looks visually balanced.  I think balance is important in art because it can make something very powerful, or if not used wisely it could make the picture very boring.  

Group Collaboration

The most difficult thing for our group was trying to figure out how and where to take the picture. Also figuring out where to place everybody and what pose each person was going to do. We had to think on our toes, so if we had a little more time to think about the photo it may have come out a little different or better. Something I would do differently if I had to do group shots over again, I would find a place that would compliment our group and the amount of people we have. Find a way for our group to be original and think outside the box.

Artist Statement

In this portfolio you will fin d pictures that I have taken throughout the first semester of Digital Photography. There are compositional tricks, Halloween themed photos, to pictures that are Photoshop enhanced.
I feel that my portfolio is good considering this is the first semester of Digital Photography. I believe that I have worked hard and done the best to my ability. Through the course of this semester I have learned many things such as what the rule of thirds is, what leading lines are and how to emphasize the subject of you photographs, the macro function of a camera, how to take an extreme angle picture, how to crop a photo, how to portray emotion through a self-portrait, enhance a picture using Photoshop or make ourselves look like we have a flesh-eating disease, artistically describe a photo, and lastly to express yourself through your photographs, which are Photoshop enhanced.
Something I feel I was most successful with was working with Photoshop because now after I got the hang of whatever it was that we learned, I would be able to use that skill over and over again during the course of the semester.
One thing that I did struggle with the most was trying to put my ideas into a photo. Every project that we had I tried to portray an idea that I was determined to get and it just didn’t come out the way I planned or thought.
In the future I could improve with my projects in taking as many photos as possible. Taking more pictures from more angles and coming up with more ideas. If I take as many photos as possible at the time I might come across the “perfect picture” I was looking for. Rather than just trying to constantly get that one perfect shot.
I have seen improvement in my ability of putting more effort forth. When putting more effort into anything it tends to come out better and be a little more successful than if you had just done an average job.
Learning how to take photographs and learn about Photoshop with Ms. Cook was enjoyable. She made class a little more exciting and made everybody look forward to what was to come the next day in class. I look forward and cannot wait until next semester of Digital Photography.

Social Issue

My Social Issue is about a couple things. The first thing is about self-image, how people are judged by the way they look and not by the type of person they are. Also how others are always trying to change who someone is or what they look like. It affects me in family trying to change my appearance or doing something that they think will better me to their liking. The second issue that my picture represents is my lifestyle and the way I chose to live my life. There are certain choices I have made in life that are not wrong but my family does not think are right.

In this photo the two objects I have clenched in my hands are a curling iron and a hammer. I chose to use a curling iron to represent how people would like to “fix” me as well as my appearance. The hammer represents how they want to “fix” me and my lifestyle, but there is nothing wrong with my life or the way or choose to live it. Seeing as how with both issues something needs to be “fixed” and there is nothing to be “fixed”, I came up with the statement, “Time to fix what’s NOT BROKEN”.

Haunted Chavez

For our Haunted Chavez project we had to pick anywhere on Chavez campus and make it look haunted. My initial idea was to a friend drinking water out of the water fountain, turn the water into blood, have a bunch of my friends as ghosts going after the one drinking the water (blood). Obviously as you can see the idea I tried to keep the same, but not everything I wanted such as all the people (ghosts) in the back did not happen. A difficult decision I had to make was to finally just use what I had. A problem I ran into was trying to figure out what angle I would be taking the picture of the water fountains. Out of everything I know I did well on was turning the water from the fountain into blood. I wish I would have gone further with the idea and made changes where improvement was needed. Other than that the photo came out okay.

Critique: Parkeharrison's "Guardian"

In this somewhat dark and gloomy image a man in a suit has many branches attached to himself, as if trying to fly. He has very thick, long sticks strapped onto his feet, possibly being used as stilts, or giving him a lift to fly. As he stands on top of a bulky tree trunk he leans forward, trying to keep his balance, or preparing himself to “take off”. Obviously as the emphasis of the photo he stands out against the white, misty background. He seems like he is trying to run/fly away from his problems or life in a sense because of the branches or twigs that represent wings. I like this picture because you wonder about the message that it is sending. Also I enjoy the overall picture, with the white, misty background, with the man being the emphasis.

Scary Expressions

When I look at my zombie picture it reminds me of something out of Michael Jackson's Thriller music video. It was fun creating a monster and messing with our faces. I do not think I'd enjoying seeing something like that everyday.

When I look at my ghost photo it reminds me the movie Stay Alive. It reminds me of the movie because the background looks like a scene from the movie. This is my favorite picture out of the three.

When I look at my scary face it reminds me of a flesh eating disease. Other than it reminding me of a flesh eating disease it looks pretty cool to me.

The Scream: My Interpretation

In this dark and dismal photo, it looks like a person running away from someone else in the background of the picture. The person in the background I think can stand for something else such as problems or obstacles the person screaming may be encountering. Also from what you can see in the photo it looks like the peson running is trapped at the end of a dock and has nowhere to run. Throughout the picture there are alot of dark colors that were used to set the mood of being dark and dismal. Not many, if not any at all, were lighter or more brighter colors used, seeing as they would have set a happier mood.

Creative Me

Adjustment Layers

In this exercise we learned about Adjustment layers. Adjustment layers allow you to add adjustments to your image on separate layers instead of directly to the image itself. This comes in handy during long complicated projects. In Photoshop every tool is specifically designed to help improve your photo. However, here we took some artistic liberties and explored adjustments creatively.

Self Portraits

For our Self-Portrait project we were to take three self-portraits. They were all to be in black and white, and they were all to capture a mood of some sort. We were also challenged to be as artistic as possible, and stay as far away from normal, cliche portraits that we see on personal pages etc. as possible.One had to use the rule of thirds as the base for the composition; One had to incorporate leading lines, and one had to be taken from a more extreme angle.

The portrait I think was most successful was my Leading Line self portrait. It was successful because I pursued my idea and I liked the way it came across. Next time something I might change or try to do better is think more out of the box. Overall I enjoyed this project and am happy with the way it came out.

Contact Sheet

I feel that my contact sheet turned out pretty good.  I think something I did well was the way i organized my photographs, even though I was missing a couple.  Out of all my compositional tricks, I think the one that turned out best was my Rule Of Thirds.  Although its not up there the trick I enjoyed the most was Macro: Texture.  I liked that one best because it was fun trying to find different textures and show them artistically.

Compositional Trick #5 Cropping

Cropping is a trick that photographers do all the time, even if they don't realize it. Every time a photographer chooses to cut something out of his/her frame, before they snap the photo, that is in essence cropping. We also have learned tools on photoshop that allow us to crop an image after we have taken it. When cropping in photoshop it is possible to improve our composition or change it completely.

In order to change this to a cropped picture, we used the cropping tool in photoshop. I like this picture better than the original because it concentrates on a more specific area. It also cuts out some of the background that may have been distracting.

Compositional Trick #4 Extreme Angles

In order to get my angle, I had to stand on top of stairs that lead to our stadium bleachers. I stood on my tippy toes, trying to hover over Anthony without falling on top of him. What I like about this picture, is how easily it came together. The reason I like it is because it took me more than once before I finally got the shot I wanted. (So you know there was effort put into it) I think what I could have done better, was angled myself a little more to where I would have gotten somewhat of a side profile of Anthony, while still on top of the stairs. Photographing from an Extreme Angle does exactly that it makes your photos a little more extreme and out there.