Six Weeks Project, Statement

First, I am highly disappointed in my progress from this year, or rather, my lack thereof. Working two jobs, I have hardly any time to shoot anything. My photography skills are lacking - if it wasn't for me being a trainer, I probably wouldn't even remember how to use a camera half the time, and it's becoming increasingly frustrating/exhausting to me. However, I have LEARNED a lot from the mistakes I've made. There's a lot of them, so that's where I've gone with my blogs this year. My experience at JEA was also fairly useful, and I wrote what I learned and have applied to my photography since.  Hopefully I'll be able to shoot more next semester, being that I'll only have one job by then.  I intend to really step it up next semester in this class. I've come up with a few ideas that I want to work on.

• "The Night Circus" photo illustrations (My big, ongoing project for the semester)
• "Fairy field"
• "Metamorphosis" self portrait
• Trenton/Kelsoe photo story
• Remake the Wacky Weather self portrait
• "Animal" portraits - people painted like animals (lion, tiger, zebra, etc.)
• 
  

Basketball, JV Girls vs Spring Hill

ISO: 1250  f/5.6  SS: 1/200

This was the JV Girls game against Spring Hill.  It was TERRIFYING for me because there was NO. GEAR. AT. ALL. We had to deal with two flashes instead of three, hence the awful shadows.  It was very frustrating, especially since it was my first game for the year, AND I didn't know the new set up, AND the gear was missing, AND, AND, AND... But these turned out to be some of my best photos so far. Not that these are really that good either. I didn't compose correctly. I thought they were better than they actually turned out. So I'm frustrated.

Note to All Photographers: I WILL kill you if you ever take all the gear on a game day again. I WILL.

However, I did do a fantastic job of capturing emotions/reactions in these photos. Now that I know what I'm doing, I'll definitely get it right next time. I was just so stressed with trying to deal with the gear fiasco that I couldn't hardly focus on the game until nearly half time.  If nothing else, I at least got useable photos. So I'll get it right next time!

Jr Photog Proficiency Tests

Photo by Sabrina Larson

These photos were taken during a proficiency test.  For this particular photo, I asked Sabrina to take a portrait with no other instruction. She could use any subject she wanted, any place, any lighting, etc.  Sabrina decided to take me out to the theatre building and have me lean on the railing. She had to pose me, set her camera, and she had three tries to expose properly.

Photo by Sabrina Larson.

For this photo, I decided to just test to make sure they could actually take a headshot. I wanted to make sure that they took something away from the headshot lesson you gave. Clearly they did, except for the plain background choice, but I didn't worry about that because the exposure and composition were correct.

What I got out of these proficiency tests was just what I did and didn't know MYSELF! I had to go look up the Sunny 16 rule before I could even expect them to know it! I know it now, of course, but I didn't that day. I also realized again that I have no idea how to use flash. At all. I'm horrible at using the flash. I don't know what any of the settings mean. I can change the power, but that's about the extent of it. The 7D's still confuse me. I don't understand the focus at all on that dang camera. So it looks like I need a little training on the gear myself.  It made me realize that I really, really do love photography, though! It kills me to be in front of the camera, but I looove teaching other people. I love watching other people get it right. It's so awesome. :)

Self Portrait Attempt... And Failure.

ISO: 200  f/4.0  SS: 1/320

These self portraits were a total failure. I was inspired by the "weird weather in Texas" photo assignment. I knew we had fake snow in the classroom, so I took it and tried to take a picture of myself "playing" in the snow, with a very green background. This would've been the best photo, had it been in focus where it was supposed to. Self portraits are SO hard to focus though, especially when you don't have anything to place in your spot.  The focus is more on my hands, I think. Regardless, I need to be more prepared. I didn't have a tripod, so I used my fence post instead.

Something that would be useful is finding a way to know where to focus without being behind the camera. Maybe put a mark where I was standing when it was in focus or something.  I was slightly under exposed too. I should've used a flash on this photo. Probably would've stopped the action of the "snow" better.

JEA - The Lost Art of the Photo Story

This was my absolute favorite workshop to attend. I got SO much out of it and how to approach my photo assignments.  It also gave me a lot of ideas for photos to do myself. The photo stories that they presented were both very, very sad! VERY sad! But I really appreciated what I learned there, and I think it would be incredibly helpful to share this with Jr. Photogs next year.

What I Learned in The Lost Art of the Photo Story

"The greatest myth in photography is that every photo tells a story."

Things To Ask Yourself:

• Does every column/chapter in a story tell a story? Of course it does.
• Is there one story in a story, or many?
• Where does the story begin? End?

Photo stories are not about structure. They:

• are interactive
• engage the participants.
• change their participants, not always for the better, but often.

"If you're going to be in someone's life, KNOW you're going to be in someone's life."

Photo stories are not objective. Good photo stories are about RELATIONSHIPS! No drive-by photography. Good photo stories introduce us to characters, they have a conflict/hurdles to jump, and they have a resolution.

In order to take a good photo story, you need to build trust with the subjects. They capture emotions. They make you feel something/feel a connection with the subjects. Trust makes intimate pictures/intimate words.

Ultimately, photo stories take TIME. You need to make time to be with these people and connect with these people.

How Do You Approach a Possible Subject?

• Be kind, compassionate, and understanding.
• "Being shy is disarming."
• Express why you're interested.
• Accept that not everyone will want to participate.
• Understand that you're asking to actually be in someone's life, not just to take their picture.

JEA - Light It Up & Portfolio 2.0

I got some really good advice from these two workshops and I wanted to share it here. :) Casey and I have been considering making workshops for the juniors next semester based on this information.  We would get together with Rush/Caroline to see what else they learned and have a few workshops over a month or two. We'll have to see how to do it ourselves first, but that's the idea!

What I Learned from Light It Up! Workshop

• About Ambient Light: Use the ambient light to your advantage! Use it for fill light! Golden hour is a great time and the best time to take photos using only ambient lighting. It creates nice colors, flattering shadows, and interesting lighting.
• White Balance:  Arrive at your setting early and check which white balance looks best or creates the feeling you want to achieve. It doesn't matter if its "technically right." Whatever looks best to you!
• Theatre Lighting:  A tip to take clean, focused photos when you have a really slow shutter speed is put your camera against the door frame and push against it firmly so it won't move.  Look for Rembrandt lighting - triangles of light under one eye. It's very flattering!
• "Shape the Light" - Look for "twinkles" in the eyes! If there's no twinkle, you're looking a "zombie eyes!" You always want light in your subjects eyes! You don't want harsh shadows on people, they aren't flattering! In a dark hallway, point the flash at a white wall instead of at the ceiling! It creates a much more flattering, soft side lighting.
• Gym Lighting - In a gym, he suggest using a large studio light instead of the little flashes. While clearly that's impossible for some of us, it created REALLY great lighting in the photos he showed! If there was any way we could do that, it'd be awesome.

What I Learned In Portfolio 2.0

"A portfolio is a living, breathing beast!"

Questions You Should Ask Yourself:

• Do you know your strongest image?
• Do your images look the same?
• What is the story? The theme?
• What is the purpose? College, job, etc.?

For art colleges, you may be looking more at a thematic, artsy portfolio.  In photojournalism, you'll be looking at the widest variety of your BEST photojournalistic images.

Photo Placement: Lasting impressions are important. You want the viewer to remember your photos, so always START your portfolio with your absolute strongest image. Put your weakest in the middle somewhere, and then put your second strongest image LAST. You're only as good as your weakest image, so use your strongest images and make it count! ALWAYS use the absolute minimum amount of photos allowed! It's better to have a strong, small portfolio than have a strong portfolio that was ruined by an out of place image or several weaker ones only put in to use space.

Variety: Use different subjects, camera angles and points of view. Demonstrate your own style and the best of your skills. DON'T use random collections! Things to watch are: colors vs black and white, feature/sports/etc., and mood.

Ask MANY people before presenting your portfolio! Use a trained eye rather than someone who doesn't understand the technical parts of photography. Take their advice into consideration, but realize that you have the final say. Use criticism to your advantage!

Time Exposure Fountain

ISO: 1600  f/9.0  SS: 4.0

I have always, always, always wanted to take a rushing water time exposure. This wasn't like my dream shooting experience or anything, but it was a challenge. We spent nearly 30 minutes taking photo of this fountain!  I was, for one, really proud that I figured out how to expose for how dark it was over there. I think that shadows are really cool and harsh and it creates a really creepy, mysterious look!  I wish I lived near it so I could use it for some kind of photo illustration.  I need to find somewhere in town to do this, but it gave me an idea! There's a spot at Spring Lake Park where there's an opening with a tree and a street light. I would love to try to make a "magical" type photo using colorful gels to make a "fairy field" type photo. I don't know how I'd pull that off yet, but I know I like the harsh shadows and the side lit look. I'm going to try it when it gets warmer!

ANYWAY, about this photo. I wish the light would've been dim enough so I could've kept the shutter open longer and gotten more motion. I love that you can see the reflection in the water. It helps the mysterious feeling. It definitely help you see how lighting can create a different feeling.

High Key

ISO: 400  f/8.0  SS: 1/250

Learning high key with the new studio equipment!  Casey was trying to set up for a basketball photo and asked Kenzie and I to model for her.  We realized we could make microphones out of coffee mugs, but anyway!  We learned that I'm too white to even take a picture on the lowest setting with a large softbox. But basically, we spent an hour trying to set up a picture for a bunch of black guys with two white girls.  It was incredibly difficult, but we eventually figured that if we just flashed them at the lowest power, considering I was horribly over exposed, it should've been decent for all of them. We used two lights against the background to create a perfectly white background.  I don't actually know how the photo turned out later, but I learned it's incredibly easy to do high key photos!

Basketball Headshots

ISO: 160  f/4.0  SS: 1/80

You helped me with these, but I was pretty glad I got the experience.  We set up two lights - one in front, to the right and a bit above, and the second one was behind them to create a rem light. I didn't realize how important it was to watch the background, especially when it's such a dark background, but you were really specific about keeping the Texas seal and the basketball hoop in view to create the story.  Since then, I've payed way more attention to my backgrounds. The only challenges that came from this was when Aaron Jones came over because the camera was set for the darker skin tone. The difference was only one stop, being f/5.6, and we changed the power on the flash. That was something I took note of. This assignment was best for learning the flash for me, because honestly, using the 580' and 430's still confuses me. I hate using off camera flash for that reason.

So, note to self: I need to relearn how to use the flash.

Skylines

ISO: 100  f/22  SS: 13.0

ISO: 100  f/22.0  SS: 13.0

At JEA, Casey and I realized that we had a really great view from the seventh floor! I was inspired by a workshop I went to , to try different things with Time Exposure. It was just getting dark, and I realized that the colors were fading, so I thought I might try time exposure to capture as much color as possible.

What was actually a very dark sky turned into a beautiful sunset photo with a lovely silhouetted city.
I had to try this shot several times, and I had to figure out how to improvise putting the camera on a still surface. I ended up having to move the hotel furniture just to get this shot, and setting the lens on top of my makeup bag so I could get the angle I wanted! One of my favorite things is that if you zoom into the parking garage, you can actually see car lights from cars that drove through.

Funny thing, these photos were taken about ten minutes apart, after they turned the lights on, on the skyscraper.  I focused more on trying to get the building as the center of interest, rather than the sky. I tried time exposure so that the sky was still visible, and the shapes of the buildings were still visible. I was really pretty happy with the way it turned out. It's not anything exceptional, but considering the only view I COULD have was the one from my window, I think I made due.

Jenny's Senior Photos - Makeup for Oct. 24

ISO: 400  f/2.8  SS: 1/250

Jen, Casey and I had gone out to eat and somehow ended up wanting to take Senior photos. So we spent the afternoon getting ready and went out at sunset to take photos!

This was an experience for me to work on my posing and coming up with ideas of what to do with my subjects.  That was something that I DEFINITELY needed help with! I want to be a portrait photographer and I have problems thinking of poses! So I took this as an opportunity to practice. :)

I also had to use this experience to learn how to adapt to changing situations. You can't tell in this photo, but the sun was in the background, and I really wanted to try to use that to my advantage. The wind was also making it difficult because it kept blowing her hair in her face. It was frustrating, but I'm SO pleased with the outcome. Now, if only I hadn't cut off her toe in this photo.

Race for the Cure - Makeup for Oct. 22

ISO: 100  f/5.6  SS: 1/1600

This was Race for the Cure! :) This was the very beginning of the race. I'm pretty proud of these ones because I had my settings wrong just moments before this.  I was freaking out knowing that I was about to miss this shot, and I was able to get my settings changed and set JUST in time take take this photo! :) That definitely reinforces that I don't even have to think about this anymore. It's automatic, which I find great.

It was also pretty hard because the racers were all in the middle, between people. It made it much harder for me to get the shot, but I kept a clear head and made do, and get the product I was hoping for! :)

I missed Owl City for this...

ISO:  1600  f/2.8  SS: 1/400

I was upset with this class, greatly, because I got a chance to go see one of my favorite bands, Owl City, and I had to turn it down so I could go take pictures of a math models class using Skittles to learn probability. And I was deeply upset. DEEPLY. UPSET.

This was successful.  It was boring. It was basic. But I did have to figure out how to get these photos without flash because the teacher didn't want me to use it. I had to get my ISO WAAAYYY up, but it did work... I don't really know how to reflect over this one because it's a pretty basic assignment. It made me realize that I may need to start finding ways to make even the boring assignments more interesting! But how...?

Pink Out Failure (Makeup for Oct. 16)

ISO: 800  f/4.5  SS: 1/100

Don't ask my why I was taking photos of a pep rally at 1/100th of a second.

I don't know. I was clearly not paying attention to my settings, and that was bad, I know! But in my defense, my flash only wanted to go off about half the time, so when it wasn't, I had to make do somehow.  But I DID figure out how to make do! A way-too-slow shutter speed for too much action, but for something like this, it worked.  And it got the picture at least partially exposed properly, so that's what matters. It's useable, despite the issues.

But I will kick my own butt if I ever do this again.

Making The Tiniest Drop of Water EVER (Makeup for Oct. 12)

ISO: 6400 f/4.5  SS: 1/200

In Harris's Chem II class, they were making the tiniest little drop of water. They got two bottles of hydrogen and one of oxygen, mixed them, and then set it on fire. And this is the result!

I had a bit of difficulty exposing this photo because, stupid me, I forgot to bring a flash with me. I really need to relearn how to use flash because the flash and I are having a struggle with each other lately... But anyhow, the fire kind of helped me out here. My fairly dark room had to be lit up somehow, and the fire sure did the trick!

I know I need to bring a flash into the Math & Science building classrooms now.

And I did figure out how to properly expose for fiery explosions.

KITTYYYY! (Makeup for Oct. 10)

ISO: 6400  f/2.8  SS: 1/80

OKAY, DON'T GET MAD ABOUT MY SETTINGS, BECAUSE THEY WORKED.

This is a tack sharp image that was properly exposed out of camera, so don't get mad at me!

Anyway, I really like this photo, just because I think it catches my cat in her natural habitat.

Parked on my blanket so I can't use it.  I had a hard time exposing this photo because it was inside and it was dark, and I didn't want to use the flash for fear I would wake up the kitten before I could use it. But I made it work! :)  I figured out that a super high ISO makes a very grainy photo, and I figured out how to fix it (for the most part). A little softening will at least make it less noticeable.

Vivani Time Exposure "Ad"

ISO: 100  f/4.5  SS: 5 sec.

First Product

I saw an image that involved time exposure using a ticking watch.  I decided I wanted to try to recreate that image, but as I was editing the image, I got this idea in my mind of creating a "light" watch. 

I had difficulty initially getting the ticker to look right.  I eventually figured out the correct lighting, by covering all light except the light coming in near the bottom of the watch.

After that, I took a hundred different shots to figure out which area the ticker looked most interesting.

I learned how to use photoshop, too! But I thought it was pretty easy to get this image.  It was just a matter of keeping it exposed properly. But after a few lessons on Photoshop (the layers were KILLING me!), I finally made it happen. I don't know if it's award winning, but it's a start in the right direction.

Water Drops, Senior Year

ISO: 100  SS: 1/250  f/8  Lens 28-75mm

Water drops were WAY more successful for me this year! Look at this beautiful water drop. It's perfection! I definitely had to relearn how to do these, but teaching the juniors how to set up it up was definitely helpful.  I figured out that bringing up the clarity in Lightroom made the water look more... watery! And bringing up the vibrance sure did make the colors seems MUCH prettier! It took a little while to get the flash right, but we finally decided 1/64 power, and it turned out great. :)

It Would Make Sense If It Were Pretty...

ISO: 400  SS: 1/500  f/4.0  Macro Lens

There was no amount of editing that could make me actually LIKE these photos, but this is the best of them.  I found some dead berries in the court yard, and so... It was just kind of spur of the moment.

Unfortunately, the focus wasn't where I wanted it, and I just. I just don't like these.

I'm a photojournalist. I'm not a big nature photographer. So this is something I need to learn! Watch my focus point, and don't be in a hurry. SET UP THE SHOT! And take my time to make it a photo worth looking at.

Town That Dreads Sundown Concept

Our concept is in the photo! First, we want to light the room just enough to see inside the building. Then light the victim brighter so we can actually see his expression.  We want to light the building very dimly so that the silhouette of the killer pops off the photo just a bit more. Backlight the killer so that he's just a silhouette with him holding up a gun.  YEAH.

First Try at Tennis!

ISO: 400   f/4.5   SS: 1/3200

This was my first attempt at shooting tennis!  They aren't perfect, definitely, but I thought it was pretty good.  I definitely had a problem exposing properly out there, walking from one end of the court to the other. There was sun on one side and shade on the other, but this was one of the ones I got right! :) I wish the subject wasn't so centered, but as far as exposure and such, I think I did a pretty good job.

Bad Way to Start the Year

 ISO: 1000  f/2.8   SS: 1/250

This photo is one of my better football photos, but it's still not that great.  First of all, my shutter speed was way too slow. 1/250? Really, Katie? Really? Ugh. Next, the feet. The feet are missing. Oh my god, the feet are missing.  I think it was because they were running toward me and I was zoomed in too far. I 'm really bad about that. I need to learn to give myself some room in sports photos, because I make this mistake a lot. It gets to be really frustrating...  Grr! Next game I shoot, I WILL! WILL! WILL! GET. THIS. RIGHT! GRR!

FINAL BLOG FOR THE YEAR! :)

This was one of my first sport events aside from football.

I wasn't entirely sure about how to shoot swim, so Ruth had me down on my knees at the end of the lanes and on the sides and it was pretty hard for me, actually.  I was really worried I wouldn't have good timing, but this assignment helped me practice my timing.

This was one of my creative ideas.  It was a really simple idea, but my mom got me a Titanic replica necklace, so I decided to create a picture that symbolized the most important moment in the movie involving this necklace.  We all know what that scene is!  But I was really happy with the outcome of this picture.  I also learned how to use some of the basic features of Lightroom with this project.  I figured out the skin smoother and learned how to brighten the jewel without messing with anything else.

This is personally my favorite image I've ever taken, simply because it was my first GOOD image. I remember jumping up and down and screaming, and calling Casey over to go "LOOK! LOOK! I GOT IT! I GOT ONE!"  And that was my first ever football game, I was so excited!  Obviously, this was a growth/technique image.  I learned how to use the camera in a setting where I was on my own, mostly.  I had to figure out the settings and how to shoot football games, what makes a good football image, etc.

This was probably my third football game.  This was a difficult game to shoot for me because of the black jerseys and the dark sky.  Again, it was a growth/technique experience.  I was pretty upset about this picture because I had to chop it down because I cut off his feet, but it still turned out alright.  I think it's a good story telling photo, as football photos go.

I just really like this image. I think it was from my first game, again.  It was one of the good images I caught from the first game, but I was proud of it because I feel like it captures a key moment in the game, and it makes you wonder what happened after this moment.  I probably would've liked it more without the referee, but it was alright.

This was one of my most elaborate photo set ups all year.  I had to set up a black background, set up an umbrella behind me and set up two other lights to create lighting on my face.  Figuring out the settings to capture the lighting I was looking for was really difficult.  I don't remember now what the settings were, but it was really a good experience for me trying to figure out how to set timers, create certain types of lighting and then it still didn't turn out QUITE right, but I wasn't at all disappointed.

This was a difficult picture to take!  We had to set up the flashes, find the right settings, and then hope and pray the water would fall where it was supposed to be!  Using the macro lens was interesting, though.  It was cool so see how it captured the littlest details, like the background in the water drop.  It gave me a different outlook, and it was a lot of work to get even one good water drop picture.  Timing was SO difficult! It was definitely one of the learning experiences in this class.

This image helped me learn how to use Lightroom, mostly.  Allison spent about an hour showing me where to highlight things, how to brighten the eyes, what places to darken, what filters I could use to make this image look really good.  I was really happy when we were finished.  I would've liked it more without having almost cutting off her fingers, but it wasn't so horrible.  This was also an image I took near the beginning of the year, nearly two weeks after we started school.  I went out to Calico Rock with Casey and we took pictures of everything and anything.  This was one of the only really good pictures I got, but I tried.  I had to figure out all the settings on my own, and it was hard. But I got it, and managed to get this image.  It was an experience to say the least.

THIS. PICTURE. WAS SO DIFFICULT TO GET FOR ME.  I went out on my own into the dark room to learn how to get a picture of the powder coming off the brush.  I took two flashes and had to figure out the best position to capture the dust and all the settings to light it correctly.  It took me a good hour to get it right, but I finally got it.  This was my AH-HA moments with the flashes, for sure.  I finally understood how to use the darn things. :P haha. Once I finally got a hold of the picture, this was a Photoshop lesson.  I learned how to change all the colors and such, but that's not really that important.

Spring Show 2012, this was a heck of a problem for Casey and I.  We had the 7's and for whatever reason, EVERY single thing that could've gone wrong with those cameras that night did go wrong.  It was crazy!  We went through almost every setting on the camera, only to realize... Well, maybe we should've turned it to Manual first, but once we figured that out, it was no problem.  This was my first time REALLY shooting Drill Team, so it was weird.  I couldn't figure out the timing until nearly the very end of the show.  I eventually got it pretty well, but it was really hard.

Self Reflection

My very first good image was the first football picture with #13 and #42 tackling the other team's player.  That was the proudest moment of my life, I swear!  The self portrait of me with the camera was the next most important to me.  It took a LOT of work to set that up, and when I finally got the image I wanted, it was a really great moment for me.  I thought it really captured myself in the image.  There are a lot of images that mean a lot to me, but those two were the most important.

What made me want to stay in Photography is that it's what I love to do.  It's one of the things in the world that makes me happy, and it's something I'm good at, and something I've devoted myself to.  This class and Publications and sometimes the people in it drive me NUTS some days, but you learn to love it and it becomes something you never want to leave.  I plan on going to college and major in Photography.  I love it, and I want to be a professional Photographer.  But, when I'm finished, I plan on going into the Peace Corps. and using that knowledge to get images that may be able to capture something that will put a world totally different than ours into perspective and make a difference.  After that, I think I'd like to make my own in-home studio, start my own business... Of course, far away from Texarkana! There's no future for it here, but maybe in Colorado there aren't so many wanna-be's. ;D  Let's hope.

Kittens, 4wks

ISO: 1600  f/5.6  SS: 1/80  Lens: 28-135mm

My sweet little kittens are getting bigger! They're walking around and their ears are perked up, so.. :)

Anyhow, I really liked these pictures. However, I once again ended up with not being able to figure out how to turn off the automatic.. changes.. So! They turned out well enough, though. I just need to learn how to turn off the automatic adjustments!

Makeup Blog 3 - Abigail

ISO: 500  f/4.0  SS: 1/125

Abigail was soo cute! My friend, also named Katie, wanted me to take pictures of her little girl, and so here she is. :) We were just taking pictures of her in the park, playing on the slides and just being Abigail. Katie's husband, Dustin, picked her up to play with her and I thought the shot was adorable. 

Cropped, exposure up

Makeup Blog 2 - Soccer Group Pictures

ISO: 400  f/9.0  SS: 1/250  Lens: EF24-105mm

Taking the Varsity/JV Soccer pictures was actually really easy! The guys cooperated really well!

They really just kind of set themselves up. I just had to do a little moving around with two or three people, and then it was easy. :) It made me smile because Hannah told me the pictures were really good! So, that made my day. Anyway.

Cropped, exposure up, blacks up.

Makeup Blog 1 - Kittens! :) 3 weeks old!

ISO: 6400  f/4.0 SS: 1/60  Lens: 70mm

I'm couldn't figure out how to use the lens at all! It just kept automatically changing the settings on me, so... I just started pressing the button. They turned out well, aside from being really grainy from the HUGE ISO!  I'm not going to lie, I did a lot wrong, mostly because of the fact that I was just staring at it going "WHY DO YOU KEEP CHANGING MY SETTINGS?" The kittens were even looking at me like I was psycho. SO I gave up and THIS IS THE RESULT.

Note to self: Next time, try to figure out what was actually wrong.

Cropped, Black and White filter, upped blacks, upped Recovery.

Golden Hour - Six Weeks Project

ISO: 200  f/2.8  SS: 1/200  Lens: 28-75mm

THIS IS MY SIX WEEKS PROJECT :) It's my pretty little feather.  I thought it was kind of cool because of the contrast of the blue feather and the brighter tones around it.  I don't know if I actually did this right, but... here it is anyway. :)

I couldn't do the idea I had because it was too cold, but this turned out fine anyway.

So yeahhh. :)

MAKEUP FOR FEB. 15

ISO: 200  f/3.2  SS: 1/125  Lens: 17-50mm

Flash

Assignment was to illustrate Krista Petty working on stuff for T-Bots. It was really kind of hard because the lighting in the room was HORRIBLE! But I was able to get it, at least, with a little upped exposure while editing.  It's okay.

MAKEUP FOR FEB. 13

 ISO: 800  f/2.8  SS: 1/800  Lens: 28-75mm

 ISO: 800 f/2.8  SS: 1/800

The assignment was to take a picture showing Gabriella Bermea, who is always tired because she has a social life but still keeps her grades up.  We put some dark makeup under her eyes to make her look tired, and then had the photography girls stand behind her to show her social life.  Then she has schoolbooks in her hands, so show the grades and such. Yeah!

Cropped, a bit of fill light. It's all good. :)

Rachel & Mr. Zach Dilemma

ISO: 800  f/4  SS: 1/125  Lens: 17-50mm

The assignment was to take pictures of Rachel with Mr. Zach and a bunch of kids around her. BUT, Mr. Zach refused to be in the picture, so I did what I could.  Fill light up, exposure up, cropped slightly.

I definitely need to watch the bright backgrounds vs. the dark subjects. Oops.

Time exposure, fail. :/

ISO: 200  f/32  SS: 2.5  Lens: 28-75mm

Well, what COULD'VE been a good photo is messed up by the f/stop. GRRRR.

There's dust spots all over.

Next time, watch the f/stop. :/

Poof!

ISO: 100  f/5.6  SS: 1/250  Lens: EF28-75mm

IIIIII took pictures of powder. :) Mhm. I did. And then I got on Photoshop and added colors because I haven't got a random prism sitting around. Maybe I'll do that someday. But anyway, THIS is what I have for now.

This was kind of fun to set up.

I had to figure out where the flash needed to be and the power, which ended up being 1/128, set right up above it, just barely out of the shot.

I had to tape the brush in a water bottle and it took about a hundred tries, but I finally got one I liked!

SOOO here it is.

I learned how to make powder pictures. And I'm super proud. :)

Sherman JV Basketball

ISO: 1600  f/2.8  SS: 1/250  Lens: 17-50mm

Okay, SO. This game kinda wasn't so great for me because I was told to turn on flash off, and then I got told to turn the other two off too. So... I only got the last quarter of the game, but ya' know.

I got defense shots!

Cropped, exposure up, fill light up

First Basketball Game - SUCCESS!

ISO: 1600  f/4.0  SS: 1/250  Lens:  EF2-105mm

Cropped, exposure up, fill light, color correct

ISO: 1600  f/4.0  SS: 1/250  Lens: EF24-105mm

Cropped, exposure up, fill light, color correct

I took photos of my first basketball game! I was shooting JV vs. Royce City. :)

Aside from, I think, the flash being pointed in the WAAYYY wrong direction (which I didn't do, I just left it from 9th grade), I was really happy with these pictures! My timing was pretty great and I got a lot of basket photos. I didn't get a whole lot of defense photos, but hey. My first game was pretty good. SUUCCEESSS! :)

MAKEUP FOR JAN. 26 - Golden Hour (Not Failures, but not good!)

ISO: 200  f/2.8  SS: 1/200  Lens: 28-75mm

ISO: 200 f/2.8  SS: 1/200  Lens: 28-75mm

ISO: 200  f/2.8  SS: 1/200  Lens: 28-75

Golden Hour Gold Rose photos. Not my best idea. I basically just stuck this gold rose in the ground or picked it up and just took a bunch of pictures. They're PRETTY, but... didn't really get the whole "Golden Hour" thing.

I just shouldn't use a GOLD object for golden hour.

Cropped, blacks brought up on all.