Assignments Which I am Most Proud of.

I am most proud of y culture clash assignment. I am proud of this because of the time and effort that I put into it and the look of the final result. I used over twenty pictures, some of which are so small you won't notice them until you look at the picture for a very long time. I learned very useful photoshop shortcuts, and I also learned how the dulled brush can make objects fade together and look mote surreal. I loved creating a surreal landscape. The theme of clashing cultures was a great way to get ideas. My only critique of this assignment is: is wish we could get some photos from google. The Ning is great, but when there are so few assignments which are repeated every quarter, the amount of genuinely different photos to choose from is quite low. I think I could have created more of what I wanted if I was able to have more choice.

Culture Clash

Memorable Experience.

     My most memorable experience in this class was the free choice project. During the free choice assignment I finally got to photograph what I wanted. I think we covered all the photo cliches except for landscape photography. I really enjoyed being able to go back to what I like to photograph. As I said in my first post, nature is my favorite subject. I would take more pictures of animals, but I don't have a zoom lens. Also, during free choice I did more night photography, under a full moon. This is the most memorable experience from this class. I prefer to be working out of the classroom, and the weekly photo assignment allowed me to do this. With the free choice assignment, I felt really in my element.

     This assignment impacted my learning because I was able to get feedback on the photos which I love to take. I helped me to learn what things the class said they liked, and which photos compositions I should try to avoid in the future. This also may have been my favorite aspect of the course, the feedback. I love getting feedback, positive and negative. The passing of the photos after each assignment gave me that feedback. Although I kind of wish I could have got more comments about why people like things.  It would have been great if I could have done more nature, landscapes, or night photography as assignments for this course.

Free choice Assignment

Who Am I / link to Who Am I Video

      Ever since I was very young, I have had a passion for the water. I especially like to sail. I started sailing when I was eight, at a summer camp. I crave the wonderful feeling of silently moving through the water, being propelled only by the wind. I have been very lucky to have grown up on the water. I look out on the ocean every day and never forget how much I love it. The ocean has a special calming quality which allows me to relax. Although it may not be possible I would like to always live near the water. I would also like to sail in High School.

Link Here

Culture Clash

Purpose:

• To create a Clash of Cultures by creating your own Photo montage, combining images from Beijing, China and Yarmouth, Maine, USA;

• To further develop your Photoshop knowledge and skills;
• To create a “surreal” landscape by montaging a variety of photographs;

To know, use, and understand the Four Collage Techniques to in your Photo Montage: Juxtaposition/fragmentation, Point of View, Scale Change, Overlapping

During the creation of my culture clash project I learned how to work efficiently in photoshop, select good photos, and some new photoshop techniques. I learned that command T is transform, and command D is deselect. I also saw the many effects which can be put on a photo, such as gradients and patterns. While I was working on this project I really had to think about what photos would work well with the background and each other. Some pictures on the ning were nice, but just didn’t have the point of view I wanted, so they could not be used in my project. This was also a major difficulty, finding photos that worked that is. Because in the Ning there are very few landscapes, and many photographs are very similar because of overlapping assignments.

Free Choice Photography

This is my favorite photo I took for this assignment. Yes, I know I split the background, and it may be a little too dark. However, What I went through to get this photo makes it special to me. It was a full moon, with only a few wispy clouds in the sky. The wind was dead calm. The only sound was the occasional gargle of water in rocks, or the gentle rustle of leaves. The time was almost 11:00. I had already spent about 45 minutes crawling around, framing shot with the moon and the water, pressing the shutter, waiting, (a long time), then finally seeing the photo, which nine times out of ten was either blurry or underexposed. This is the type of photography I love. It includes nature, water, and low light. As you may already be able to tell, I am not the best at low light photography. I have a general idea of the Iso, aperture and exposure and what they do, but I just turn the settings until the photo looks right. What drives me to keep taking pictures like this is the pure serenity of the moment which I want to capture. I love being the only moving thing on a silent, beautiful night by the ocean. In fact, the photography is just an excuse for me to get out there. Absorbing the silence of nature is a kind of meditation for me. It allows me to relax my thoughts and collect myself.

Culture Clash Planning

• Juxtaposition/fragmentation

Two things which are placed close together for the effect of contrast

• Point of View

The angle and distance at which something is looked at from

• Scale Change

A change in scale in a single piece of work.

• Overlapping

When two images overlap one another partially obscuring one.

Inspiring Digital Artists, Jason Seiler

Purpose

• To become familiar with 5 accomplished digital artists;
• To see what is possible in the world of digital art.