Photo Essay~ 1

This week we are being challenged to create a Photo Essay. Our teacher is allowing us to choose a theme or topic for our essays, and now we are supposed to go and take pictures of our topics. For those of you who don't know what a photo essay is, its a combination of photography and journalism all wrapped in one that depicts a story through the objects within the photo, and the emotion portrayed through the photo. The topic/theme I'm using for my Photo Essay is Texas, hope it turns out well, wish me luck!!

Black and White plus One.

My Example

This past week in Photojournalism we learned the technique known as Black and White plus One. The use of the technique is having a black and white photo with one glimpse of color in the photo. The photo above is my example of this technique. The color seen in the photo is the actual color of her eyes. We were able to expose that color through the use of Photoshop. Knowing how to utilize this technique will not only increase our knowledge regarding photography, but also makes for awesome, and unique photos!

Iconic Photos.

Hello my fellow bloggies! Our recent assignment dealt with some of the most iconic photos in history. Each student was assigned an iconic photo, and with that photo we were to research several aspects of the photo, but mainly find the reason why it is considered iconic!

The photo above is the iconic photo I was assigned. The photo resembles Berliners dancing and singing a top the Berlin Wall, and marked the event of the fall of the Berlin Wall, on November 9, 1961. The photographer who took this photo was Thomas Kienzle. The photos truly captures the happy, blissful emotions of the Germans who are celebrating their unity, and captures a truly iconic moment in history.

The photo above is known as the Migrant Mother. This photo was taken in 1936 during the Great Depression. The women in this photo is a mother of seven children, and her and her family live on a pea farm. This photo, when released, truly shocked the nation because it exposed that people in America were starving, even those who lived on a farm. This photo has been the symbolic picture of the Great Depression.

The photo above is know as either V-J Day, or The Kiss. It was taken by Alfred Izen who was working for life magazine at the time. The photo became symbolic to the celebration of the end of WWII. The photo expresses romanticism, and true happiness. The setting of this iconic photo is New York City's Time Square.

Tips Seven-Ten...

Example of the tip Be A Director.

Example of the tip Flash Range

Example of the tip Lighting 

Example of the tip Rule Of Thirds

This week, in my Photo J class, we learned four tips that assist with increasing the quality of our pictures! The first one we learned was Rule of Thirds, which requires the photographer to shift their subject to the side of the frame, but you want to make sure that your subject is running into the open space, rather then running out of the picture with the space behind them. The second tip was Know your Flash Range, which forces the photographer to find the correct amount of range from their subject so the flash is beneficial to the photo. The third tip we learned this week was Watch the Lighting, in order to use this tip the photographer needs to think about the things surrounding the subject, and if there is something that will create a shadow on their subject, the solution is always just to move!! The fourth, and final tip we learned during out journey involving Kodak's Top Ten Tips is Be A Picture Director. This tip can be demonstrated by the photographer when they think about how they will arrange their subjects, which typically doesn't involve just a straight row. After we learned about these last four tips, we were sent out to capture photos that we feel represent those tips, and the photos above are my examples of our new techniques! Over the last couple of weeks my class has been exposed to Ten Tips that assist us in our journey to becoming better photographers, and I hope help you as much as they helped us!!

Tips Four-Six...

 This is my example for the tip Fill the Frame.

 This is my example for the tip Focus.

This is my example for the tip Vertical

So this week we learned about another three tips from Kodak's Top Ten Tips! The three tips we learned this week were, Fill in the Frame, Turn Vertical, and Focus. When utilizing the Fill the Frame technique, we learned that you get a lot more detail, light, color, and shape in your image, also you eliminate any background distractions. By turning your lens vertically, we learned that it gives a better angle of the photo, and it allows you to get more detail in the photo. The tip regarding Focus is used when you have something in the background and the foreground, but you only want to focus on your subject in the foreground. After we learned these three tips we were sent to take some pics! We took a total of twelve pictures, 3 good pictures and one bad pic, for each technique. We were then told to pick three of our favorite photos from the twelve we took, and post them on here! The images above resemble my effort at utilizing the three tips I've described above to capture moments!!

First Three Tips.

This is my example of the tip Flash Outdoors. 

This is my example of the tip Getting on Eye level. 

This is my example of the tip Plain Background. 

This week in my PhotoJ class we learned about #1-3 of the Top 10 Tips from Kodak. The first tip we learned was to Get Down On Eye Level. By using this technique we were told that it makes the image more intimate, makes it sharper, and usually creates a better background. Speaking of background, the next tip that was introduced to us was Plain Background. Ways that you can achieve that tip is to zoom in on your subject, utilize photoshop, don't shoot into the sun, and to keep color in mind! The last tip we learned in our lesson this week was Flash Outdoors. Although most people think that using a flash outdoors isn't necessary, sometimes it is! You can use this helpful tip when it is very bright outside because when its bright, most of your subjects faces will be a tad bit shadowed. After we understood how to use the three tips, we were sent on a mission to get a total of 12 photos, 3 good example photos for each tip, and 1 bad example photo for each tip. The photos directly above this are my favorite of the example photos I took on my mission!!

 I hope that these tips assist you with capturing memorable moments;)

Photo Walk...

My examples of some techniques we learned!

The photo above is my example of leading lines. I like the colors, and the lighting. 

The photo above is my example of Filling the Frame. I like the intensity in her expression, and made it black and white to increase her intense stair. 

The photo above is my example of framing. I utilized my setting, and used the angled poster boards to create a natural frame of Ty. 

Over the past couple days in photojournalism, we have been exposed to various techniques regarding capturing good pictures. We were introduced to techniques such as: Anticipating the moment, which requires the photographer to be aware of there event and surrounding to they are capable to capture the moment, Find different angles, like birds eye view and worms eye view, Rule of thirds, which requires things to be set off slightly to the right or left, Fill the frame, which is when the photographer zooms, with as little background as possible (no distractions, just the subject), Framing, which is using the natural setting of the photo to frame your subject, Repetition, which a repeat of something, and Mugshot, which you want to make a story. With our new knowledge of techniques regarding capturing photos, we were sent out to take photos using the things we have learned from our lesson. The photos above are the top three photos I took, that I believed fit the mold of some of the techniques I mentioned above! Hope you enjoy looking at the photos as much as i enjoyed taking them!!!