Final Exam

1) Done
2) Done
3) Done

4) This year, because of this class, I have had the opportunity to take numerous pictures that have helped altered my view of photography. I have always thought that photography is easy and doesn't take much work to do. But I have found out how much diligence and skill it takes to take a good photo. The photo that I have taken this year that has changed my view of photography is one I took for the Irving Penn project my group did earlier in the year.  This picture truly allowed me to see the difficulties in capturing the picture that I was so intent on taking. The effort that it took to finally take this picture was definitely worth it and made the reward so much better because of how hard I worked to achieve it. This is definitely the picture that made me gain a new found respect for photographers after also seeing all of the amazing and creative pictures Irving Penn took as well.

5) Shape is a closed line that can be geometric, like squares or circles or free form and natural. They are also flat and can express length and width. In contrast, forms are three-dimensional shapes expressing length, width, and depth. Examples of forms are spheres, cylinders, pyramids, etc.

6) Pattern is the repeating of an object or symbol all over a work of art. It is a very simple concept in photography. In contrast, repetition works with pattern to give life to the work of art. The repetition of elements of design creates unity within the work of art.

7) Movement is the path a viewer's eyes take through the work of art, often to focal areas. Such movement can be directed along lines,edges, shape, and color within the work of art.  In this picture, I used the base of the purple flowers as focal points so that the viewers' eyes travel from one to the other until they reach the end. The purple stands out an commands attention as the green is just used as a background. The eyes will travel through the picture using the purple focal points to create movement.

8)Of the last three projects that we have done so far, I believe that my best work occurred in my presentation project. I think that my best pictures of those five is the one of the rock in the middle with ripples of water in front of it as well as the next one where the trees are creating a frame around the creek.I think that this is my best work because I captured different parts of the creek that people don't normally venture into. I brought out the little known beauty of the creek that most of the public doesn't see because they don't take the time to go down and sit next to the water or just observe the life in the creek. This project changed me in that I got the chance to explore the life in the creek, with the peaceful atmosphere that still creates a new adventure for me as I explore places that were previously unknown to me. I learned to appreciate everything around me and the nature that is hidden in places less frequented by the public. I also learned to always approached and look at things from a different perspective so that I can capture the best one. It is amazing how beautiful natural life is and there is a satisfaction when I capture even a fraction of that natural beauty.

Final Project: Reflections

Reflection off of a pair of sunglasses: during first period
Monday morning, cloudy weather, not much sunlight

 reflection of  my dad's eye having him face the sun off of my compact
mirror:sunny weather early afternoon

reflection off of riddhima's eye of the mural behind our classroom: taken
during first period, sunny weather 

Reflection off of the car behind our classroom: taken during first period, sunny weather

Reflection of me taking a picture off of a car behind our classroom: during
first period, cloud, dull weather

Student Website Review

Period 2: Priyanka Chary
I liked her very first photograph in her gallery because the concept is so simple yet still so innovative. I love the way the different colors slowly approach the other crayon colors making a sort of rainbow in the shape of a heart

Period 3: Jason Wu
I really like the last picture in his slideshow of the strawberry in the drink while it is fizzing. It is a really innovative concept that caught my eye when I was looking through his pictures.

Period 4: Tulika Mohanti
I really liked the third picture in her slideshow because it is very difficult to capture people's expression but she managed to do it beautifully and clearly. I love the way she has made her subject look away from the camera and how she has made it black and white making the picture more dramatic.

Final Project Shotlist

1. My first picture will be of a reflection off of a pair of sunglasses of the view in front of it.
2. My second picture will be a reflection off of my compact box of a part of someone's face
3. My third picture will be a reflection of someone's eye of the view they are looking at.
4. My fourth picture will be off of the window of a car of someone else.
5. My fifth picture will be a reflection off of the window of a car with me in front of it.

Presentation project:Travel down the Creek

Link to My Weebly Site

Spring Expo Shotlist

1. My first picture will be of someone walking down the creek path, to show a perspective that people normally see while walking down the path in the morning.
2. My second picture will be taken while I am sitting on a rock and looking at the creek head on in a new perspective.
3. My third picture will be a photo that captures the creek with all of the green plants framing the creek itself in the middle.
4. My fourth picture will be of the small wooden bridge that has been put there for the students to walk across in the mornings to get from the nearby neighborhood to the school.
5. My fifth picture will be of a person's shoes at the edge of the bridge while I am facing it from the other side.

DSW Ad

Taken and Edited By Me

Taken by Lavanya Edited by Me

Taken by Lavanya Edited by Me

Taken and Edited by Me

Taken and Edited  By Lavanya

Tye Dye Photoshoot-Aileen

Initial Picture

Camera Raw
Cropped Picture
Increased Vibrance and Saturation

Used Photoshop to extricate Aileen from the
  camera raw picture to place her in a new background

Best Picture

About Me Pages
1. Annie's Photography Blog
2. Jordan River Photography
3. Laura Turbow Photography
4. Alessandara Cave Photography
5. Megan Small Photography

My Multicultural Week Photo Story

at the beginning of multicultural week, the first stall that caught
 my eye was the MSJTV stall which was selling Krispy Kreme donuts.

These delicious goodies tempted me to buy them instantly,
 afraid that they were going to sell out as they had the day before. 

In the stall to their right, MSJ Gay Straight Alliance was selling bundt cakes
which I obviously bought as well, as I was munching happily on my donut.

As I was walking around, one of the clubs was selling a
gooey chocolate cake which looked mouthwatering.

With all of my delicious goodies in my hand, I took a step back to admire
 and observe all of the other food that I could possibly buy the next day.

MC Week Story

During multicultural week foods from all over the world are sold. From donuts to falafels there is food everyone. On Monday, I walked through the horseshoe trying to decide what to buy for a dessert. Fortunately for me, MSJTV is selling donuts from Krispy Kreme. Their signs were really colorful and they even sold out completely. But thankfully, I was able to get two donuts for three tickets just in time. Although it was slightly expensive, the sugary goodness melting in my mouth was totally worth it.

Multicultural Week Story

This week in Mission San Jose High School, we have one of the two biggest weeks of the year. Multicultural week is a yearly tradition that the school participates in. This week is loved by almost every student in the school new and old and is one of the most memorable weeks in the year. Each grade sells a certain food along with the dozens of clubs on campus. Out of the diverse selection of food, it is quite easy to find a meal for everyone. The meals from hot dogs to samosas to musubi and donuts. It's a week for all of the different cultures to come together in unity and enjoy some delicious foods while we are at it. 

Principles of Design: Variety

Edits: Cropped picture to focus on variety of
colors in the flowers and increased saturation by 42

Shutter Speed and Everything After

Shutterspeed: 1/160

Lens Blog Photo-Jessica Kam
1. I think this picture uses fast shutter speed because the picture is very clear and there are no blurred spots even though the truck on the right is moving.
2. It uses depth and simplification
3. Elements of Art: Lines- the railing and the white lines on the road  along with the straight lines from the three trucks
4. Principles of Design: the intersecting lines from the road and the trucks and the bend in the end of the road come together with a feeling of harmony between all parts of the picture

Principles of Design: Unity

Edits: I increased vibrancy by 8 and
cropped out the excess in the picture. 

Lens Blog NY Times: Best photo for unity

From the Lens slideshow for March 27,2015, we chose the twelfth picture  from Documenting the Blues in the Mississippi Delta.
 We chose this picture because we thought that a lot of the elements such as the lines from the bed and the curves from the mattress came together as a sort of unity. The straight lines of the walls and the curves of the bed create a harmony with the different elements that make up the picture. The wallpaper falling off of the walls and the space under the bed create a contrast to the straight lines, which helps the picture look more unified and less like distinct parts.

Principles of Design: Rhythm

Edits: Cropped the picture and decreased saturation by 3.

Principles of Design: Proportion

Edits: Cropped the picture to bring more attention to the flowers
that are closer to the camera and increased vibrancy by 2.

Principles of Design: Repetition

Edits: Cropped to bring more focus to the line of bikes

Principles of Design: Pattern

Edits: Cropped to bring attention to pattern, increased vibrance

Movie Monday: Gordan Parks Part 3,4

1. My definition of successful is to be happy and content.
2. I would give anything to be what I think is successful.
3. Parks gave up his family and personal life to be successful.
4. A rich businessman
5. He was advanced $10,000.
6. $500,000.
7. Parks thought that Muhammad was going  to influence him and didn't want to represent something he didn't believe in.
8. The Learning Tree was the first major motion picture written and directed by an African American.
9. Shaft was the first African American superhero who inspired other young African Americans to not be deterred by the onslaught of racism in the communities. 
10. His weapon was a roll of film and a camera.
11. Genevieve said that Gordon was always involved in a lot of trouble and she got tired of taking care of him. He held her back from her career and was never at home.
12.  Twelve Years a Slave
13. He was the son of Gordon Parks.
14.  My favorite Gordon Parks photo is American Gothic.
15. I will remember that Parks was the first African American to create a major motion picture as well as the African American superhero Shaft.

Movie Monday: Gordan Parks Part 1,2

1. The doctor placed his body in a tub filled with ice water.
2. Gordon was born in Kansas.
3. She told him that he wasn't college material.
4. He was fourteen.
5. He moved to Minnesota to live with his aunt after his mom died.
6. Yes
7. He worked for a women's clothing story.
8. Double exposure is a photography method that creates a ghost image.
9. Joseph Louis Barrow was an American professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949.
10. Gordon played the piano.
11. The purpose of the Farm Security Administration was to help combat American rural poverty.
12. His first assignment was to go to a theater and watch a movie.
13. She was an African American woman that Gordon took a picture of.
14. His inspiration for Grant Wood's American Gothic was the American Gothic House.
15. He learned how to approach people and take pictures of them
16. The FSA shut down in 1943.
17. Gordon Parks shot for Vogue magazine after he moved to New York.
18. The picture editor of Life Magazine was Wilson Hicks.
19. Park's first major story was about a Harlem gang leader named Red Jackson.
20. Gordon was influenced by Degas, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Chagall.
21. Parks took pictures of the model while she was walking at slow speed.
22. Park's concerto was performed in Venice.
23. Park's second wife was Elizabeth Campbell. She was a model. Her father worked for Ebony magazine.
24. Flavio de Silva was 12 years old when Gordon Parks met him.
25. Parks met Silva in the early 1960s.
26. Flavio lived in a shack when Parks first met him and his family.
27. Gloria Vanderbilt's son is Anderson Cooper. Her ancestors include Corneilius Vanderbilt, who made a railroad empire.
28. Vanderbilt described their relationship as spiritual and full of connection

Principles of Design: Movement

Edits: increased both saturation and vibrancy, and
then cropped the picture to focus more on the flowers
than the excess space, on camera raw.

Principles of Design: Emphasis

Edits:decreased the saturation and vibrancy so that the emphasis

 is more on the white feather than on the bricks

 that pave the ground.

Principles of Design: Balance

Edits: decreased the saturation as little so that the
picture wasn't as bright.

Elements of Art: Texture

Edits: Cropped, decreased saturation

Elements of Art:Color-green

Edits: increased vibrancy, cropped to bring focus to purple flower 

Elements of Art: Space

Elements of Art:Form

Edits: Decreased saturation to add more feeling of the dead leaves 

Elements of Art: Shapes

Edits: Cropped to bring attention to the rock 

which is the one color that pops out, decreased saturation

Elements of Art: Lines

Edits: Decreased saturation to add a dimmed effect,
cropped it to balance both he sides

Lens Blog: An Embedded Photographer Empowers the Poor

My group, after looking at the Lens blog post called, An Embedded Photographer Empowers the Poor, picked our five favorite pictures starting from the best, which are numbers 3,28,9,22, and 5.

1. Bellal Bhai fishing in the water
2. Daughters' Workplace
3. Bellal Bhai's boat
4. Students Learning
5. Wheat and Rice rations

Multimedia Fest Poster 2

I think that this poster is very creative with the use of the hand prints which signifies art as well as student's own imagination. Our group came together to brainstorm ideas and we took several pictures to try and visualize an acceptable poster for the event. This poster represents the media part of the event with the camera as well as the art with the paint and the hand prints. Compared to the previous one, this one is more colorful and attention grabbing, while at the same time, more personalized because of the picture of Aileen taking a photograph which allows people to connect with the event more.  

Movie Monday- The Photo League

1. The Photo League's credo was to share their art, ideas, and ideologies where they worked to create better pictures. 
2. It separated from the communist backed film and photo league.
3. It was an in depth study of New York's ethnic and recreational areas.
4. It was taught by Sid Grossman.
5. If I had to devote my life to one project, I would pick the Harlem document. It would tremendously help this people to uncover their lives and the poor conditions in which they lived to make others more aware and send aid.
6. It was a group of five photographers who took pictures of the lives of people in Harlem.
7. It was started by Aaron Siskind.
8. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
9. It looked like it was by the painter because of the way the sunlight hit one of the kids an dmade him seem special.
10. Lewis Hine was an investigator for a child labor committee and the official photographer of the Empire State building.
11. He was actually the photographer, Arthur Fellig, one who focused on murder and mayhem.
12. When the Nazis took over, many people mistook photographers for spies because of their cameras. They refused to hire non-americans. They used their cameras in support of the war effort.
13. They used their cameras in support of the war effort by taking photos of those going to war, what would happen to them. They became more involved.
14. Siskind changed after in that he brought the concept of abstract realism to photography.
15.  It was an American photography and journalism publication that featured some of Photo League photos.
16.  She was an American member of the photo league who focused on modern dancers in her pictures.
17. The Photo League's photographers were blacklisted due to being included in a government list that includes communist, fascist, and anti-democratic organizations.
18. It was the communist idea that could spread quickly.
19.  W. Eugen Smith did
20.  The League ended when Angela Calumns testified against them claiming that Sid Grossman recruited her into a communist ideology.
    
    

Multimedia Fest Poster 2015

Poster Assignment

Period 1-Semester Final

Final Exam, Digital Photo
January 21, 2015
Periods 1 and 2

1. My favorite photograph from this Lens slideshow is number nine, the picture of the red deer.I love pictures of silhouettes because they create a calming mood. The mist around the deer also makes it look much more majestic than if it had been a picture of the deer in normal light. From this picture I feel that I can actually experience the cool water of the mist just through the photographer's eyes.

2. I believe the best picture is picture number two of the woman and the child. It captures the human emotion flawlessly. i can clearly see the despair in the child and the worry in the woman's face. Just through the picture, we can create a story or a reason about what is happening at that time. It is also probably the most difficult picture to capture because the photographer had to pick the correct time to capture this specific emotion to truly show his audience the emotions of the people going through those and similar experiences. The photographer captured the range of emotions on the woman's face, from worry, to stress, to despair all at once which takes a lot of skill as well.

3. I believe that my best work this semester occurred during the  Master Photographers Assignment. It helped to have a picture that I could keep as a base and that I could work off of. I believe that this is my best work because I was able to incorporate our photographer, Irving Penn's elements and pictures into my own photographs that resemble his. The project helped me grow as a photographer because it made me look at everyday things such as matchboxes from a unique perspective. I especially love the picture of the woman's eye in the compact mirror which I attempted to recreate in my own project. It is my favorite picture of the five I chose simply because it is taken with such a unique perspective. If I had more time, I would try to incorporate more of my elements into the photographs so that they don't look too similar to the original ones. 

4. My three rules of composition are viewpoint, framing, and simplification.

5. This is my third composition rule photo. 

I used simplification and viewpoint by blurring out the background

 so the attention is on the flower and also taking the picture

 from the bottom as opposed to the front.

6. Your first rule is the rule of thirds. 

7.  Teamwork is really important in photography. 

• easier to come up with picture ideas
• good, honest critiquing
• more efficient in finishing projects
• make project more enjoyable so that it is not a chore thus creating better photographs
• makes it easier to talk with others about your ideas and what you think is best

8. Working in teams can also be a digression.

• distractions
• conflicting ideas
• taking the criticism negatively
• no cooperation between members
• if tasks aren't spread out equally it can cause issues

9. One of my favorite projects produced by someone else in the class is Aileen Hsu's Master Photography Assignment, especially the picture with the umbrella. I really loved the way she added her own twist to Penn's picture of the girl with the umbrella. Aileen's picture was very innovative yet still had roots in Irving Penn's work.

10. Our photographer was Irving Penn, a grand master of American fashion photography. Using his "less is more" concept, he defined a visual style to such varied objects from designer dresses to cigarette butts. In 1943, when Penn started working for Vogue, the fashion magazine, he became one of the first commercial photographers to cross the chasm that separated art and commercial photography, which has got to be one of his most significant contributions to the photography field.

11. Dorothea Lange's best-known picture is called the "Migrant Mother". It was taken in Nipomo, California in the year 1936. After taking a job in the Resettlement Administration, Lange took this picture among others.

12. The Life magazine was very first published on January 4, 1883 as a humor and general interest magazine which stopped in 1972. 

13. Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935. 

14. Robert Capa was one of the founding members of Magnum Photos, the first cooperative agency for freelance photographers, which was founded in 1947. 

Top Album Covers: AC/DC: Highway to Hell