What is more important in self-portraiture – envisioning who you are (i.e. your “true self”) or envisioning who you wish to be (i.e. your “best self”)? Why?

I think that your true self should be your best self. If, you are being your own true person then that should be the absolute best version of you. And that's what you should photograph. You should photograph your true and best self; they should be the same person. I just believe that being your true self is your best self and that's what you should show people. However, if you feel like your true self isn't your best self, then i think that you should just photograph your true self. If you photograph your best self people are not seeing you for who you really are. But, if you photograph your true self, people are seeing you for exactly who you are. I believe that if you just photograph your best self, you're in a way lying to the viewer, because that's not truly you. But if you photograph your true self, then you are being honest with the viewer.

"Smile and Say ‘No Photoshop’ "

The main points of the article were that too many magazines are editing photos to look too unrealistic. They make celebrities look one way in one magazine then another way in a different magazine. That’s how you can tell how much they can really do with photo editing programs. Some photographers want to stop this practice of editing photos too unrealistically. They want more “real” photos. Most people don’t want to see some girl who is too thin; especially when it’s not real. People want to see what they really look like, not what they look like edited and photoshopped. I agree with the idea of this article. I think that photographers, magazines, and photo editors should cut down and maybe even eventually eliminate the use of photo editing. Especially since most magazines use it to make the people look unrealistically beautiful. People are striving to look like the people they see in magazines, and if it’s unattainable and fake it can cause some serious problems. For example, you edit a photo and make someone look thinner than they really are for a magazine. Some girl is going to see that and think that’s what she has to look like and she’s going to do whatever she can to look like that. It can indirectly, or directly, causes eating disorders. That may be extreme, but it does happen. I think that Photoshop should be used to edit minor things. For example, maybe you want to look a little tanner, or get rid of the pimple, or make your skin look a little softer. I think that is okay. But when you do it to make people look very unrealistic I don’t think that’s right. People reading magazines strive to look like celebrities do in magazines, if you don’t edit them too much they can look like them. But when you make and edit celebrities look too beautiful or unrealistic, its just not good. Therefore, I believe that using Photoshop to edit little things is okay, but correcting a lot of things is not okay.

Reflect on your understanding of these three assignments:
A) POV, B) Macro/Minutiae, C) Motion

1.What is your interpretation of the purpose of each of these three assignments?
A) I think that the purpose of the point of view assignment was to show us how to take different angles of our subjects. Instead of just taking pictures of subjects straight on, which is boring, we learned how to take them at different angles, which makes photos look a lot more interesting.

B) I think that the purpose of the macro/minutiae assignment was to show us that if we get up close things can look a lot more interesting. Also, if we put things related to each other in a grid it can make things look a lot more interesting, especially if they are related to each other. Taking pictures of things close up and at an angle makes the pictures you take a lot more interesting than just taking a picture straight on. I think that the purpose of this assignment was to show us another way to take interesting photos.

C) I think that the purpose of the motion assignment was to teach us how to take pictures of objects in motion. It isn’t always easy to take pictures of things in motion, things come out too blurry or you miss your subject. I think that we were supposed to learn how to successfully take a picture or sequence of pictures of subjects in motion so that we can become better photographers.

2.What do you think the most important thing was you learned from each assignment?
A) I think that the most important thing that I learned was how to take pictures from many different angles. I also learned how to take pictures from interesting angles, not just straight on or boring ones. And I learned how to make pictures look more interesting.

B) I think that the most important thing I learned from the macro/minutiae assignment was how to take good pictures up close, using my macro setting. And learning how to arrange them well in a grid was also an important thing to me.

C) I think that the most important thing that I learned from the motion assignment was how to take good photos of things in motion and also how to take good pictures of things while I’m in motion. I also learned how to take pictures of my subject that has blur in the right places instead of in the wrong places.

3.Why do you suppose these three projects were assigned in this particular order?
I think that these projects were assigned in this order so that we can use them within each other. For example, I used point of view in my macro/minutiae project and motion. I tried to get different and interesting angles of my subjects. I also used macro/minutiae in the motion project a little bit. I tried getting really up close to my subject and used my macro setting. I also used landscape in some of the pictures that I took fro the motion project.

4.How do you feel you did on each project? Be specific about areas in which you think you did well and not as well.
A) I think that for the point of view assignment that I could have picked a more interesting subject. Having three different angles of a palm tree really isn’t too interesting. However, I do think that I picked good angles of the palm tree.

B) I think that I did well on the macro/minutiae project. I really enjoyed doing it. But some of the pictures that I took for the project came out blurry because I forgot to put my macro setting on. So I wish that I would’ve remembered because some of the foods that I took pictures of came out blurry because of this and I wish that I could’ve used them.

C) I think that I did well on the motion project. I feel like I picked a good picture to use and upload onto flickr. I think that my picture is a good example of motion. But I wish that I could’ve done a more interesting picture. I don’t think that a person jumping is a very interesting picture.

5.What was one thing you wish you would have done that you didn’t, and why didn’t it happen? (you may comment on any of the three projects or all three)
I wish that for a three subjects that I would’ve put a lot more thought into what I wanted to take pictures of. I put some thought into it; I just wish that I could have put some more. I also wish that I could have picked more interesting subjects for the point of view and motion assignments. I also wish that I could have gotten some better angles for all three of the projects.

6.Which was your favorite of the three projects and why?
My favorite project was the macro/minutiae project. I really liked the topic I chose which was food. It was just a lot of fun taking pictures of different types of food really up close. I thought that it was really cool and my pictures turned out cool. I also liked how we made a grid to put all of our pictures in. I thought that was cool and I enjoyed doing it. I liked how we had a “theme” to tie all of our pictures together in a grid. That’s why the macro/minutiae project was my favorite.

7.Has one or more of these topics had an impact on your photography? How?
I think that all of these topics has impacted my photography. I now take pictures at different angles instead of the usual ones I used to do. I try taking pictures of things up close to see how it would turn out. And I now know how to take pictures of things in motion so when I take pictures of that, my pictures come out a lot better than they did before.

"God is in the details."

Consider the quote: "God is in the details."

What is your interpretation of this quote?

How can we see God in the details every day?

How might we use our cameras in order to discover and preserve these details?

I think that this quote is talking about how every little thing counts. All the tiny details in count. And I think that it also means that God is in these details. He is involved with our daily lives, even with the little things like getting gas. God is present in our day-to-day lives. We can see God in everything. Maybe that light turned green right when we arrived, or maybe you found some money lying on the ground when you needed some lunch money. God works in all ways and he is present everywhere. We might use our cameras to discover and preserve these details by just taking pictures of them. But not just regular pictures, pictures that actually mean something to us and show these details in the way the photographer wants.

"Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame. When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts." -- Gary Winogrand.

What does this quote mean? Consider the quote in context of our work with framing and composition.

I think that this quote means that when you take a picture you're thinking about what can go in the frame you're taking it in. You're thinking about the composition, what can go in the photo to make it good, successful and meaningful. That's what you should be thinking about when you are about to take a picture or taking a picture. You need to think about color, lighting, balance etc. before taking your photo. These all makeup a good composition, which is what makes a good photo. But, maybe there are things that you wanted in the photo that didn't make it in. Or maybe other people see your photo totally differently than you. I think that's what he means when he says "When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts." Everyone is going to see a photo a different. And you're probably not always going to get everything you want from and in a photo.

Lighting Critique Response

I think that I did pretty well on the lighting assignment. I think that my photo succeeded as a diffuse lighting photo. I think that my other photos that were not critiqued were good lighting photos too. The feedback that I received was positive and I think that some of it was deserved. I think that it was deserved because it really was a good example of diffuse lighting and it showed the depth in the photo and my photo had good balance. But I personally think that there was too much going on in my photo. I did not really like how there were houses in the background and power lines; they distracted the viewer from the main focus point which was the tree. I thought people were going to say that my photo was to distracting because that's what I thought but I don’t think anyone said that. My perception of my photo did change a little bit. I did not really think too much about the snow in the photo but people liked it. They thought that it showed depth and I had not even thought about that. They also thought that my photo had good balance and I did not even think about balance when I was taking the photo. I was just thinking and hoping that it would be a good diffuse photo. However, I was thought that it would be really cool if I got snow in the photo and I did, but I did not think it was a big deal. I just thought that it would look cool. People, in class, thought of things that I did not even consider when I was taking the photograph. I think that the critique was very helpful and it made me see things that I probably would not have ever noticed. I liked doing the critique and I think that we should do them for some more assignments. It was very helpful. I enjoyed doing it and seeing everyone else's photos and critiquing them. Overall, I think that my photo did well and this assignment was good.

Technical and Emotive Quality

When you first look at a photograph and make an initial judgment of it as being 'great', is it because it is technically great or because it makes you feel something? In other words, are you reacting to its technical quality or its emotive quality? Explain in detail.

I think that when I react to a photograph I react to it being technically great and it making me feel something. Most technically good photographs should make you feel something; even if it's not a huge feeling, you still feel a little something. I think that myself, and other people too, react to its technical and emotive quality. But this also depends on the person, and the photograph. Maybe some people see a picture of the inside well lit building and just think "oh that is a good photograph because of the angle and lightning". Maybe some people see the same photo think "oh wow this photograph makes me feel really warm and happy". And others think of both responses. And that's how I think. When I look at a photograph I see the technical things, the angle and lighting and such, but I also get a feeling from the photograph, like a creepy or happy type feeling.