Period 7 -- Critical Analysis #4

1/6/2022

Semester 1 Personal Reflection

Today you will be writing about your own work that you have made in this class.

Take some time to think about the different projects you have completed so far in class. You will pick one project that you responded to, and one project that you did not respond to. Then, you will write about your experience. Be sure to include this information in your writing:

Which project did you respond to most? Explain why. For example, if you enjoyed the self-portrait project most, explain which parts of the project resonated with you. Did this project change your way of thinking? Did it help you become a better artist? Did you learn a new skill completing this project?
Which project did you least enjoy or respond to? Explain why. What did you find challenging about this project?

Next, pick your favorite image that you have created this year, and write at least 1 paragraph analyzing the image. Describe specifics, form, and content. Finally, evaluate the image. Be sure to describe which project you shot the image for.

Next, pick your least favorite image that you have created this year, and write at least 1 paragraph analyzing the image. Describe specifics, form, and content. Finally, evaluate the image. Be sure to describe which project you shot the image for.

Your analyses must be a minimum of 4 paragraphs, with 5 sentences minimum per paragraph. Be sure to post your analysis as a comment to the correct class period blog post. Your analyses are due by MIDNIGHT tonight, 1/7/22.

19 Comments

Kevin Kessler

1/7/2022 08:45:15 am

I liked this semester a lot and all the projects. My favorite was the Self Portrait project. I liked this project a lot because I got to have my friends take my photos and I take photos of them. I also got to do something I love in the photos which was really fun. This project definitely helped me become a better photographer. I got to use a camera I usually don’t and I got to experiment with other people and get feedback from someone else.

A project I didn’t like very much was the Name Game project. I did not like this project because it was very difficult to find some letters like K in my name. I had more trouble and spent more time on thinking of what to take a picture of than actually taking the photos. This project helped me become a better photographer and helped me to look at things closer and at a different perspective. It helped me look at things I see everyday and look at them differently.

My favorite photo is my bug eye view from project 2. I like this image a lot because you can see the skates from a different perspective, the perspective of a bug in the grass. It makes the skates look a lot bigger than they are and I like that the grass is not focused. This image has no wasted space. The front is grass and the back is trees and sky and the middle are the skates. My eyes see the bottom of the photo first with the grass and slowly go up towards the sky.

My least favorite photo is the photo with dark trees with the sun coming through in project 4. I don’t like this photo because it is really dark and is not focused. It was supposed to be like this to represent a dream but I still rather have a photo that is focused and bright. I think there is a little wasted space on the left side because it is almost all dark. In this photo I did use rule of thirds because the main part of the picture is the sun shining through the dark trees and I positioned the sun on the right ⅓ of the picture.

Katie Hendrick

1/7/2022 11:48:29 am

Out of all the projects I have done in photography, I liked the dream project the most. I liked the dream project because of the amount of freedom we got. We got a lot of creative freedom in the project and I really enjoyed it. I also think dream-like photos are more fun to shoot because they don't have to be realistic. I think the creative freedom and the way dream-like photos look made me enjoy this project. Dream-like projects are extremely fun to shoot because they can be of almost anything because of how strange dreams are.
I disliked the name game project the most out of all of the projects that I have done in photography. I disliked the name game the most because there wasn’t really any freedom in the project. I also found it extremely difficult to find all of the letters of my name due to how long my name is and how few letters show up in nature naturally. I felt like it was a hard project to start out on due to the little freedom that came with the project. I found it challenging to find the photos because of how little time I already had when taking the photos on weekends.
The best photo I have taken was during the composition project of a flower. It was one of the images in the rule-of-thirds category. I really like the way that the sunlight hits the flower and I feel like I was mindful about where the sun would be positioned when this photo was taken and used it to my advantage. This image made me think about lighting more because of how well it turned out. Out of ten possible points, I would give this image a nine just because I feel like I still have a lot of room to grow and I can most definitely take a better photo than this semester. I think the usage of the rule of thirds makes the image look even better because it isn’t centered and it really catches your eye in the corner.
The worst photo I have taken was during the name game project. I took a picture of the trees for the letter E. Out of ten possible points I would give this image a three. I dislike this photo because I feel like it was not good because I think it was too overexposed and the colors were not very vibrant. I think that there needed to be more contrast in the image because the colors were really dull. I feel like I also could have found another object to take a photo of instead of the tree branches. Another thing I dislike about this photo is that the E is kind of hard to see clearly.

Cecile Tchandja

1/7/2022 01:13:56 pm

I think the project I responded to most was self-portrait because it allowed me to find different ways to use myself as a subject. I think in some parts I really enjoy taking pictures of myself because I get to see sort of a reflection of myself. It also allows me to see/perceive myself how others would, which in some ways is trippy but also really interesting. The self portrait project also allowed me to use new technology for taking pictures like the remote and tripod which made other projects easier for me in the future. Overall the self portrait project was a turning point for me in photography because it showed me a way to photograph that I really enjoy.

I think the project that I enjoyed the least last semester was the name game because it didn’t really resonate with me. That project was very broad in what we could photograph but really rigid in the material we could actually photograph. Most of the pictures I took during this project didn’t make the most sense because I felt like they needed to be done to fill the quota. In the end the final photos did not feel as cohesive as I would have liked. Overall this project was frustrating at times but it still allowed me to just get a camera in my hand and take photos.

My favorite photo that I took this year was a picture of me with a lit candle, with my hand over the candle, and my face just barely seen in the background taken for the dream project. It is a very warm picture that I feel brings you in and almost makes you feel the warmth from it. The candle is at the top of the middle part of the picture leaving room to see the beacon of light that is being emitted from the candle in the picture. Everything from the very front of the candle until you get to my face is very well lit and clear, but apart from that the image is rather darker and my face is in the background being kind of blurry. I think overall this picture was successful in what it was trying to provoke, which was that warm feeling that you get in a dream.
My least favorite picture that I took this year was taken during the name game project, it is a headboard that looks sort of like a C. The image itself is very warm toned without editing as well as being slightly askew. There is a shadow in the background that adds a little depth to the photo but does help make the headboard look any more like a “C”. Everything in this picture is in focus so the little depth that is added from the shadow is much needed. There are only 3 colors in this image, brown and beige, these 2 colors make the image look even more boxy and warm. Overall image worked well for the purpose of being a C in my project.

Cecile Tchandja

1/7/2022 01:15:40 pm

The last paragraph should be split in half, when reading the split is very clear.

jorie weeks

1/7/2022 08:45:54 am

Over the course of a couple months we have had 4 projects that were assigned along with a theme. The first one consisted of finding things in nature that looked like letters of your name. The following project could be any object you want, but from a; bugs eyes, birds eye, rule of thirds, and lastly an image using fame.Our third project was a self portrait in which we got introduced to tripods to construct a self-image. Lastly and before we went on break we had a project that consisted of using our imagination to construct the word “dream” through a picture. Through these projects I would say my favorite was the one using random objects to construct my name, because it caused me to look at my surroundings more and become a better artist. However, my least favorite project was the last project and I think this is because I was so anxious about getting out for break and that was the only thing in sight for me.

My favorite image that I had created was probably a picture taken during the search for images for project 4. This image came truly out of nowhere and was actually suggested by my dad. This photo is composed of 2 main objects that catch a person's eye; the clock and the Christmas tree. The Christmas has a warm glow to it and the clock gives the hidden meaning of time holding still for the great season that we are in. Before I had edited the picture it had a blur of white Christmas lights which was not appealing to the eye, but after editing it it was given a warm welcoming color that pulls one into such memories they may have forgotten about.

My least favorite picture I had taken through the year I would have to say is theTMI gym one. Now yes the perfection shown through the bench chairs is appealing to one eye, but it also brings memories along with it. For me I have always hated sitting on the bench no matter if it was for an injury or being called out for a water break. I chose to make the composition of this photo a black and white picture due to the feeling that I had received from looking at it. Before I had taken this photo it was composed of the light given through the big industrial gym lights hanging above.

I have taken a liking to all my photos as the year has continued, because I can see the progress very clearly. May it be through learning how to edit, mask, and etc. The growth is exceptional in my opinion and I hope to continue to learn to grow. Deciding to take this class has changed the way I view a multitude of things such as abstract objects and plain objects, these two opposites lead my mind to an endless amount of questions that I would have never asked myself before taking this class. I am also so grateful for Mrs. Cooper-Mccauley and the way her learning style is easy to grasp, but well taught.

Olivia Talley

1/7/2022 08:46:26 am

I think I had a really successful first semester in Intro to Photography. I responded best to the “Self-Portrait” project because it allowed me to express the different sides of my personality. I feel like taking photos of something like that is easier than trying to describe it in words. I was able to get really creative with it, and I enjoyed capturing myself at different angles. It took some getting used to setting up the camera for a self-portrait, but I was very pleased with how the photos turned out in the end.
The project I enjoyed the least was probably the “Name Game” because I wasn’t really allowed to describe myself with it. I felt like it was more of a scavenger hunt than an artistic collection. It did, however, teach me to look more closely at my surroundings and treat everything as a possible photography subject. I found letters in nature and around my house, which made the project a sort of adventure. Although the hunt was fun, I don’t really feel like I was able to connect with my images in any way.
I really loved the photo I took of a classic vinyl record, which was for the “Composition” project. I took all of the photos at sunset, and when I placed the record in my pool, the lighting was great for a bird’s-eye-view shot. There was a deep contrast between the black record and the clear water, which really highlighted the record as the clear subject of the photo. Shooting in nature is always really interesting because of the creativity it allows for. Although the project wasn’t self-portrait centered, I think I was still able to accurately represent my personality by capturing images of one of the things I’m passionate about.
Although I enjoyed the project as a whole, some of the photos that I created for the “Dream” project required lots of labor and produced mediocre results. It was extremely difficult to make some of my photos look dreamlike without using photoshop, so I resorted to using Vaseline over the lens of my camera to blur the image. I did end up using one of them for the final project, but it took a long time to get the exposure and lighting just right. The final image was a little overexposed, but I think it added to the dream theme even more. All of these things take practice, and I know that they will help me learn and improve my photography skills in the future.

preston biela

1/7/2022 08:46:47 am

I liked this course a lot in the first semester because it has skills that will be useful in the future. I like knowing how to operate the camera and what parts do what. I like learning about the camera and how to edit photos the correct way. Being able to edit is a very useful tool and I look forward to experimenting with it more this semester. I look forward to all the projects this semester.
My favorite project this year was probably the name game. I liked this project because it made me look at things with a different perspective. It also reminded me of a road trip game my family plays where we have to spell out our name with things that look like a certain letter. I had fun searching for the “perfect” letter. It was like a scavenger hunt.
My least favorite project was the self portrait project. I didn’t like it because it was awkward standing/sitting there taking pictures of yourself for an hour or two. I also don’t like editing pictures of myself because you have to look close. It just feels weird. I did like learning about the self timer though. It will be useful in many other projects.
My favorite picture this year has got to be one of my dog. I had fun taking the photo because I like giving her food. It makes her really happy. My least favorite image is probably one of the self portraits because it's kinda weird editing and staring at yourself. I also feel like I rushed on the self portraits because it was awkward.

Aidan Skelly

1/7/2022 01:05:38 pm

Aidan Skelly

The project I liked the most was the composition one. When we took pictures of one thing over and over I used my imagination and put my object in many different places and it was just really fun. This project changed my way of taking pictures. I got more imagination and this project was the one that made taking pictures fun. I learned how to blur backgrounds out in this project and it helped so much in the future projects.

The project I didn’t like very much was the dream one because I felt like I was taking the same pictures over and over again. This project was one of the hardest for me and I felt that the hard part was finding things that actually looked like a dream. I was taking pictures of the sky a lot and editing them. I just felt it was really hard to get a perfect picture of what a dream would look like.

My favorite image I took this year was one of a robot. It had a very depressing vibe with him looking out of the window. Something else that made it one of my favorites was the darkness it had to really pull off the vibe it had. This project was the composition one and it was most definitely my favorites of what we have done throughout this year. I have taken a lot of photos but this one definitely takes the cake as my favorite.

My least favorite image is the one I took in my neighborhood in the forest. First off this picture had the worst lighting ever. Second, this image just gave off no vibe at all. It was so boring… nothing to see, nothing to really look at but trees. This was the dream project, and I have no idea what made it look like a dream but that's what I thought at first and it was just horrible.

Ramiro Cavazos

1/7/2022 01:09:18 pm

I enjoyed the Dream project the most. The Dream project allowed for us to be pretty free with the pictures we took. The whole concept of Dreamscapes really helped to provoke my imagination. This project allowed me to have more liberty in my thinking and how to process what photos to make. The Dreams project definitely helped me think more positively about photography and more on how better to use the medium of photography as an expression of creativity.
The project I least enjoyed was Name Game. Name game felt more constricting as a project. It felt more like work due to the specificity of the project. It definitely felt more constraining and more like busy work in my opinion. I found myself taking pictures as more of a chore rather than taking pictures naturally like the Dreams Project. This project did make me learn a lot more about the ways to compose and setup pictures but it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as our other two projects.
My favorite picture of the year was the one I took in Falfurrias, Texas. The picture is simple in concept but has a great story behind it. The picture shows part of the “Main Street’ in Falfurrias. This picture shows how most of the buildings are dilapidated and abandoned. The street sign points to the subject buildings. The sign serves as a way to redirect your eyes from the negative space it's surrounded by. One of the buildings is a theatre. This abandoned theatre shows how this street was once thriving and now is left to being a rest stop for many taking the drive to McAllen, Texas.
My least favorite picture had to be one of the last name shots in the Name Game project. The shot in particular is the shot of the top of a lysol lid. The shot only has the vibrant yellow of the lysol lid and the black stone of my countertop. The image is very bland and the lighting is not impressive in the photo as it is obvious to see the flash of the camera reflected off of the plastic lid. The whole lid isn’t even in the picture and is cut out of the frame for no reason. That is why this is my crappiest photo.

Howard Hu

1/7/2022 01:12:26 pm

Over the first semester, we completed four projects. This includes name game, composition, self-portraits, and dreams. They were all meaningful and amazing projects that helped me learn useful photography skills and inspired me to capture more wonderful moments of my life. Out of all the projects, I liked the dream project the most because it allowed a lot of freedom to shoot around. The wide range of options we can take pictures on was inspirational. Even though some of them might be non-sense, it helped me to think of more creative ways to express myself.
One project that I didn’t enjoy as much as the others was the name game project. This is because it was hard to find natural letters around me, especially those complex letters in my name. Also the fact that it was the first project in this class, I spent the most time running around and discovering letter structure items. It was significantly less amount of freedom compared to other projects, so it took me way longer to collect enough photos that matched the requirements.
The photo I liked the most this semester was one of the deadpool portrait pictures I took for the composition project. I enjoy the image because it follows the rule of thirds so it gives a very pleasant feeling. The red color of the toy and the black background provides a comfortable contrast, emphasizing the main object in the photo. At the same time, the camera captured the details of the deadpool very well. You can see the dust on the toy and the full body status of the model. Overall it really looks like a professional shoots from a scene, turning the dead object realistic and active.
One of the least photos I have created this year was a self-portrait image of me sitting on the couch. First of all the picture was blurry and the focus was a little messed up. Then the scene was not cleaned enough to emphasize the presence of myself: there were many random objects in the background that distract viewers’ attention. Next, the photo did not follow the rules of photography well enough. It wasn’t a full body photo, neither a half body or face image. The bottom cut at an awkward position at my knee and the top cut at my hair which overall make the photo look unproportional.

Alex Lambert

1/7/2022 01:13:03 pm

The project that I enjoyed the most was probably the self portrait project. I liked it because it's kind of weird seeing yourself in a picture like that. It's kind of hard to explain but I thought that it was cool seeing yourself in a way you normally wouldn't. Its different than just looking in a mirror because there's more depth to it. It was the most fun to do as well.

My least favorite was the name one because there wasn't as much room for your own creativity as the others. The pictures were probably the worst ones I've taken because it was my first time using a camera. If you have a long name then the project gets really tedious because some letters are super hard to find without making them. Finding an R in nature is hard, especially when you have to do it twice. So i think it was good at making me figure out how to use my camera but aside from that i didn't like it.

My favorite image this year also comes from the self portrait project. The actual picture is just me talking to someone but I liked how well the image actually looked. It was cool because i've never seen myself when i'm talking so it was kind of a different experience for me. The actual image was pretty clean as well and I was surprised at this because some of the others from this project turned out really bad. It was balanced well and super clear and it was an accident so it's pretty cool that it turned out how it did.

My least favorite image comes from the dream project. Even though the name game images were bad, this one was worse because I knew what I was doing and got lazy. The image is a clock in front of a lamp and the idea was the lamp would reflect off of his and give the clock a red tinge kind of. What actually happened was just a blurry image and I turned it in anyway because I was rushing. It could've been cool but i didn't do it to the best of my ability so thats why its my least favorite.

Connor Cruzen

1/7/2022 01:18:01 pm

The project that I reposed to the most was project number 4, dream. This one just got to me and made me get out of my comfort zone and made me explore my imagination. This project also made me go far and yonder over San Antonio, for I could find things that fit my dreams. This was fun for me because I got to see new areas I had never seen before. And the dream project was I took some of my favorite photos during the first semester.

My least favorite was the number 2 composition because it took me so long to set up and get ideas for the project. The first problem I had was getting too big of a lego set and over estimating how long it would take to finish the lego set. And 7 hours after I started building the lego, I finally completed it, and I was outraged. And secondly, It was tough to take pictures of the lego set because it could not move quickly, and it was challenging to take different pictures and such. Indeed, I did not like this project because of my poor judgment skills on how long it takes to complete a lego set.

My favorite photo that I took this year was during the number 4 project dream. I was on a train track and saw this skull’s graffiti art. I took a photo of that, and I liked how many different colors there were on the photo. The skull was dark and somewhat creepy looking, but the grass and sunlight made the picture very cool and exciting. I think there is a story being told in this picture. That story would be there is always light inside the darkness.

My least favorite photo came from project number 2 composition. This was a photo of 2 lego characters fighting on stairs. The photo was just lazy, and not a lot of effort was put into this photo, which disappointed me because I like to put my total effort into projects like this. And the lighting in this picture was just terrible, and it did not go with each other at all with the multi-colored legos to the white stair case. And this photo was like a terrible movie; it had no detail in the photo. It was just two legos looking at each other. With this reflection, I can grow my photography skills and become better with the camera.

Kate Philbin

1/7/2022 01:18:07 pm

This first semester went really well. There were definitely some struggles along the way with shooting and making sure everything looks good. I responded to the self-portrait picture the best. It wasn’t the easiest project for me to do since I don’t like myself in pictures but it did challenge me. I changed my way of thinking when I realized that a self-portrait doesn't have to have your face in it, just some part of your body like your hand or foot. That came in handy so I didn’t have to take a picture of myself over 100 times. I got creative with the pictures that I took and where I took them for better lighting. I learned how to adjust to different lights and angles for better shots and depiction.

My favorite photo this year was our project on different frames. I got multiple shots with different objects but my favorite one was with a volleyball in mid-air crossing the net. It had vibrant colors from the ball and lights reflecting off of it. The background was blurred out a bit which made the volleyball stand out more against the net and the tan color of the court. The volleyball was in the lower-left corner of the picture with the light spot-lighting it. It was a great photo. This was also a great project. It was one of the easier projects since we mainly had one object we had to keep taking a photo for.

My least favorite photo was also in the same project as my favorite photo, the different frames. I took a photo outside with the same volleyball. It was cloudy outside and had a dark background. I didn’t have the ball placed in the right angle or position. I was trying to take in the focal point but couldn’t get the picture to clear up in the spots I wanted it to. So I ended up with the whole photo blurry and could barely make out it was even a volleyball. The white parts on the volleyball mixed in with the red and blue colors of it and made the whole ball look dark red. The background looked better than the subject of the picture. But as I kept taking pictures, I figured out ways to make things look better and stand out more. I later went back to the same spot outside and tried again. The second time went a lot better and turned out to be one of the 6 pictures I submitted for the project.

I have always loved photography and taking pictures everywhere I go. So choosing this class for 9th grade was not a hard decision. I have learned a lot in this class. I’ve learned how to get lighting better, better angles, shapes, contrast, editing, whites and blacks, colors…etc to where I’m teaching my family and friends about it. I still have some things I have to work on and improve on but this class has been so much fun so far. I’m excited for the second semester and what new things I get to learn about.

Wyatt Fincke

1/7/2022 01:24:40 pm

The project I responded to the most was the Composition Project because it was a fun project that changed the way I take pictures. I was first introduced to the rule of thirds with this project and as I took pictures during the project I realized how much it makes my photos look different and less bland. This project helped me clean up my pictures and use different angles as I became more familiar with Birdseye and Bugs eye view to take pictures. I also learned where to position my camera for the best amount of light which I feel has helped me for future assignments which is what I feel helped me the most to become better at photography. It was also a super fun project as I got to take pictures of my Flash Pop! in different places trying to bring him to life at the same time as completing the minimum. I also remember taking a lot more pictures than the required amount because of how much I loved taking pictures for this project.

The project that I least enjoyed was the dream project because it was a project that you were supposed to interpret and take pictures of what you think that means, but it was just so hard for me. As well as the requirement of pictures needed was a whopping 200 which I felt was way too much for us to take and I spent the whole night taking pictures driving around my area. I also was at a tournament for lacrosse almost the entire weekend so when I got home at night I had to take pictures with no sunlight/ natural light which cause the pictures to do not look that great. I mostly took pictures of landscape from either a shallow or deep depth of field because I didn’t know what else to take pictures of. I think the lack of my enjoyment for this project was the lack of creativity in my brain.

My favorite image that I have ever created this year was for the Composition project where I took a picture of my Flash Pop! on top of my gate and he looks like he’s on a building with a shallow depth of field. I captured the picture right at sunset too so the background isn’t too light and the red and the yellow of the Flash pop out super clean. I took the picture at bus eye view to give it the feel of him being a superhero on top of a building which I really liked. The image of the Flash is pretty centered as well which makes it very pleasing to look at and gives me a feeling of when I was a little kid, playing with action figures again. The object mostly fills the frame and leaves the extra space, except for the gate he’s standing on, to be blurry to give the effect that he is the only person standing there and he protects wherever he is looking over. I loved the picture the most out of all the pictures I’ve taken this semester, I truly do.

My least favorite image that I have ever created this year was for the Name Game project where I took a picture of a hoverboard on a yoga mat to get the letter I for my last name. When I took the picture it’s a little out of focus so the picture is blurry and I also have little to no light on the hoverboard. You can barely see the black hoverboard on the black mat which is not aesthetically pleasing to look at at all and it’s slightly off-centered so it’s not following the rule of thirds nor being centered so it’s a catastrophe. I also have no intent behind this picture like Birdseye or Bugs eye or Shallow or Deep depth of field. I never want to see this image in my life, but to be fair it was the first-ever time I picked up a camera to take these pictures, and it makes me realize how far I have come in this class.

Veronica Lobo

1/7/2022 01:31:06 pm

Out of the various projects we have done, the one I enjoyed making the most is the dream project. This is the one I enjoyed most because, although it was the one that took up the most time, it was the funnest one. I liked looking at my friends' projects and hearing their ideas. I thought it was fun since everything can be a dream or nightmare, therefore, we could take a picture of whatever we wanted. Although this doesn't mean I took a picture of random objects, I actually didn't have anything in mind at first.
The self-portrait project was the one I particularly had trouble with due to the fact that I didn't have a tripod because I didn't advise Mr. McCauley on time, however, that wasn't the reason why I was mostly stressed, I also don't like my self-portrait, therefore I didn't know how to not make my face show in the pictures, that was before I knew my hand counts as a part of my self-portrait, so I took pictures of objects and my hand would just be touching/grabbing them.
My favorite image that I have created this year is one of a stuffed bear in front of a mirror, except the only bear that shows is the one in the mirror, therefore its reflection. This image is a part of my dream project, however it's not really much of a dream image as it is a nightmare. I evaluate this image as an 8 out of 10.
My least favorite. This is a hard one, because I have lots of least favorites. But my top least favorite I think would be one where there is a banana and a mandarin making the form of a b. This image is for my name game project. First of all I don't like it because the banana had already gone bad, meaning, it was full of black and brown spots, it still had some yellow color, however it did not make the image enjoyable, it made it really unpleasant. Second of all, I dont know why I had to make that as my image, actually I do, I couldn't find anything that could make a b, but It is a really bad image.

Breana Toohey

1/7/2022 03:15:09 pm

My favorite project from this semester was Project 4: Dreams. This project was my favorite because of the freedom this project allowed. It allowed me to take pictures that were personal to my life and dreams, instead of something where everyone's photos are of similar things (such as letters). I like the creativity this project allowed me to have. I got to do some pretty cool things and experiment with fantasy-like things in this project. I enjoyed getting to use lots of crazy colors and backgrounds. This project changed my way of thinking in that before I was more just taking pictures of objects/things, but now I was creating scenes to take pictures of. This project helped me become a better artist because it allowed me to be able to experiment more. During this project, I also learned a new skill, which was how to remove objects from a picture using various methods.

My least favorite project this semester was Project 1: Name Game. This was my least favorite project because it was kind of boring and repetitive. I didn’t like that this project made it so that you had to take pictures of specific things (like an N or a B). This project was also the most difficult as it took a long time to find the letters (which frustrated me), and we were just starting out. It felt like more of a mission that you had to get done compared to an art project you were having fun with. Plus, as it was hard to find letters, sometimes you would not get as cool color contrast. Although bland, this project taught me how to operate my camera.

It is difficult to choose a favorite picture (as I have created so many great ones!), but if I had to choose I would pick a picture of me lying on the grass with a blue cloud over my head (really it is just blue powder). This image is from the dream project, and I chose it because of the color and endless possibilities it has for interpretation. I also like the artistic vibe that this image has with me having blue on my arms and legs. For this image, I am on the bottom horizontal line for the rule of thirds. The two colors in this image that stand out are the dress with flowers on it and the blue cloud or smoke that is above me. The blue smoke is definitely the main focal point of this image as most of the background is green, and it is bright blue.

My least favorite picture would be a picture of a gardening fork that is supposed to look like “B”. This was from Project 1: Name Game. The reason this was my least favorite photo was because of the lack of color contrast and bright colors. Overall, it was a very bland photo with just grays and blacks. The frame of the photo cuts off the handle of the gardening fork and also cuts off some of the finders/prongers of the gardening fork to make it resemble a B. The garden fork also takes up the whole frame. The lines on the garden fork are not that pleasing, and the light of the photo is not the best.

This class has taught me so much about photography and how to use a camera. Initially, all I knew about the camera was how to turn it on. I have also learned a lot of things about photography that I did not know before. I still need to work on my photography skills, but in just a semester I have learned so much. I have had so much fun in this class, and I am looking forward to next semester!

Kiara Dwivedi

1/7/2022 05:34:42 pm

The project I enjoyed most was Composition because I learned how to take pictures using bird’s eye and bug’s eye view. I enjoyed taking pictures from a different angle, and using my object, a barbie doll, as my model. I learned how to play around with natural light. To make my photos pleasing to the eye, I framed my image with objects around my house. Overall I think this project made me a creative artist because I could experiment with different angles and try a new point of view, like placing my barbie doll on a high shelf and looking from a bug's eye view.
The project I enjoyed the least was the Name Game project because I had to spend a lot of time looking for my name. Since this was my first project, my photos were mostly overexposed and had to be fixed in photoshop. After I found my letter, I couldn't be too creative with angles or points of view since it had to look like a letter. Once I found one, I tried to take shots of different angles, but they all looked pretty much the same. It was a bit challenging because I had to deal with several overexposed photos since I was outside with the natural light, but I suppose this made me a better photographer.
Picking a favorite photo was hard, but I eventually decided on a surrealistic photo I took for Composition. My object, a barbie doll with a white sparkly dress, was floating on a pool floatie in the middle of the pool. This photo was taken from a bird’s eye view. The photo reminds me of a hot summer day and I like the colors of the pineapple pool floatie in contrast with the blue water. I think that the reason I like this image so much is that I had fun taking it and liked how it turned out.
Lastly, my least favorite photo is of a candle on a chandelier that was supposed to be an I in Name Game. The image is blurry and severely underexposed. I also feel like it could have been more creative. The image was a bit bland and hard to see as an I since there the rest of the chandelier was in the back. There was also glare from the window, leaving the image exposed to a lot of white light in the background, but not hitting the candle. If I were to rate this image from 1-10 I would give it a 1.

Zaara Rehman

1/7/2022 06:50:33 pm

My favorite project was the dream project. This project responded to me the most because we could take a picture of anything and make it a dream. It did help me become a better artist because of the subject dream. I feel like since we had to take a picture of a dream it made you think about the different lighting and surroundings to use. When I first thought of this project I didn’t know what I would take a picture of or where but I tried to think of dream like movies which helped me with some of my pictures.

My least favorite project was the name game project. This project responded to me the least because you would take the same picture which was just letters while in the dream project you could come up with your own ideas. The name game project was also my least favorite because it was hard to find letters. I also could only find letters in only a few places so it just got repetitive. This project did help me on how to take pictures and how to adjust something on the camera.

My favorite picture I have taken so far is a picture of the Biltmore mansion reflecting off a pond for the dream project. I picked this picture because it reminds me of a dream I had once had and I feel like in a lot of kid movies they always show a castle reflecting off water. In this picture you can’t see the whole house because it is covered by trees making it look more dreamy. The lighting of the whole picture is also very soft. This was also my favorite picture to take because of how some of the colors in the trees and how the color of the grass look.

My least favorite picture I took so far was the R I found in the name game project. This was my least favorite picture because the only colors are greys and white which makes the picture bland. There also are no other surroundings to look at besides the R. The angle is also at a weird angle making the frame look off. The picture also isn’t well defined because when you look at it first it doesn't really look like an R as soon as you see it.

Jackson Uhr

1/14/2022 05:42:45 am

I enjoyed the first project the most. I liked how it made me see things in a different way. I had to look for the letters in my name in everyday objects. I loved how creative the idea was. It was the best of all the projects so far, in my opinion.
The project I enjoyed the least was the dream project. I felt like the idea was too loosely interpreted. I also did not like how I had many good ideas for the project, but I was limited by time/ resources, as well as the amount of effort I was willing to put in. I had trouble coming up with ideas for the project that would not take up my entire day just for a few photos. I just did not like the project at all.
Although I complained about the dream project, my favorite image did come from it. I had a fun time shooting the photo–even though it isn’t very good–, which was a top down view of a city from above the clouds. I had to get creative, since it’s not like I can just hop a plane and fly up above the city for a photo. I found a bird-eye view image of my hometown online and displayed it on my tv. I then fashioned a ring of makeshift clouds with cotton balls and paper clips that I had and positioned it around the camera lens. It gave the photo a cool effect, and I had lots of fun shooting it.
My least favorite photo also came from the dream project. The photo is of some ice. It’s just some ice in a cup. It has nothing to do with the theme, and I just needed it to take up space for the minimum required photos. I’m not proud of it, and it is a very bad photo.

Period 7 -- Critical Analysis #4

Semester 1 Personal Reflection

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