Mural Project

My group's theme is the Texas flag. When looking at my images individually it's hard to image how they would pertain to the Texas flag. But when my groups members' photos and my photos come together we will arrange them to make out the Texas flag. The part of the flag that I got to take photos were blue and red.

 

Self Portrait and Portraits l

TIPS
Experimenting with Lighting:
there are many things you could do when it comes to using light in portraits; there are endless possibilities.
Lighting possibilities, such as side-lighting, can create mood and backlighting. Also, silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful.

Introduce a Prop:
You can included a prop of some kind into your shots. It can create a better point of interest that will enhance your shot.
You have the risk of taking away the focus from your main subject. It can add a sense of story and place to the image that takes it in a new direction though. It also gives the person you're photographing an extra layer of depth that they would gave had without the prop.

Take Unfocused Shots:
As photographers. there is a 'sharp focus' rule drilled into our brains as an ultimate objective to achieve in our work. The sharp focus can feel a bit overrated; sometimes lack of focus can create shots with real emotion, mood and interest.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PORTRAITS

Environmental Portrait

 I really liked this photo because of how elegant the Queen's guard is and how simple the image is. I picked it because it includes the rule of third because the guard is standing off to one side of the shot.

I really liked this photo because of how the ocean around the girl was captured, with pristine and beautiful waters. I picked the photo because of how the water around the girl kind of frames her. The horizon of the water also follows the rule of thirds.

Photography Self Portrait

I really like this image because of the expression it conveys, it manages to capture this girl's inner thoughts, or just her inner self. I picked the photo because of the balance the girl has cross the image.

 I really like this photo because the painting dripping of  the person can represent so many things. The expression the person has conveyed is very deep and distant, almost sad. as if that's what she really feels even of the only thing you can see is the happiness (the colorful paint). I picked this image because of the background which is just a simple green color that matches the paint. The image also includes cropping with the girl being close up.

Casual Portrait

I really liked this photo because of the story it sort of tells. It shows us a little girl reading some fairytales which can inflict any type of emotion in the girl (it's just cute in general). I picked this photo because it fills the frame and includes a bit of a viewpoint angle.

I liked this photo because of the action that has been captured. A mother has picked up her little girl and the whole family is clearly having a fun time. I picked the picture because of the depth that has been presented here. There is a field behind this family that is blurred out and clearly looks like its far away, which is how the depth is created. There has also been some elements of balance because not only are the people evenly spread out across the image, both females of this family are sitting up and higher up on the image. In the meantime, the males are sitting farther down, almost laying down in the image, so that;s how some balance has been created horizontally.

I plan to take photos of family and of myself. Family members such as my sister and other relatives, such as my close cousins who I see often. I will probably take these photos outside where lighting will be better than indoors. I will probably want my subjects interact with nature which could include trees (I would probably go to a park). I will want to use my rules of photography, especially rule of thirds, balance, leading lines and cropping, to get a successful shot.

American Soldier

A. I believe the most powerful image printed in the Denver Post was the one titled "FOUR-MAN STACK" that was published the week of Sept. 12, 2009. I feel this is a very powerful image because the image includes four soldiers, but the thing is these soldiers look nothing like men, they're boys. This is seems very powerful to me because these boys chose to be a part of the army, mostly because they're innocent. I feel that if the same image was taken but years later, these boys would no longer have shiny faces or kiddy faces. I assume there would instead be sad, ashy faces that have seen more than any youngster should see.
For me this image is very touching and powerful for children have taken part of wars and there's nothing anyone can do for they chose this path.

B. The image work together to show the chronological events of Ian's journey, which includes many bumps and twists. Each image has details to it that when multiple pictures are put together they create something. Each image has something of importance, kind of like a main point or event of a story.

C. Captions enhance the photographs because they give us background info that can't be told from the image such as emotion, possibly thoughts. Also, whoever said that a picture is worth a thousand words, well they weren't wrong, but we don't know what those thousand words are so the captions are there to give us details on the whats, the hows, the whos, etc.

D. When Ian Fisher was to turn 18 he would enlist in the Army. His final day before leaving home with a recruiter, Fisher shared a final hug with friends.

In Fort Benning, in Georgia, was where Military basic training was to begin. It actually began with officers making the new recruits dig through a pile of duffel bags to try to find their own within two minutes. this was done simply to see who would quit in a short period of time, and teach those that don't a lesson.

Later on, Fisher began feeling like a real soldier after being issued M-16s, still being rather childish by making shooting noises. The recruits were already presented with a simulated explosive practice, where Fisher faced obstacles, including a situation where only half of the squad  survived, leaving just Fisher and a few others.

While Fisher had an 11 month leave from the Army, before going back to Iraq, Fisher spent those month speaking with his father. His father spoke to him about the medicine he's been taking, concerned that there may be a problem, Fisher simply brushed it. Eventually before Fisher knew, the medicine progressed to substance abuse. Fisher turned to extra outside help, a counselor, so that he could stop before the military found out and he got kicked out. In the end, Fisher ended up getting pushed down a rank because of the drug abuse.

In Iraq, Fisher was in the role of driving the vehicles, Humvee. Fisher had to be able to make it to home base, Camp Echo within 15 minutes, just in case of emergencies, Fisher was also instructed to drive the vehicle aggressively at all times, another precaution. Camp Echo offered a gym, phone service, arcade, and video games.

Eventually, Fisher ended up marrying his latest girlfriend, Devin, on August 24, 2009.

E. In the photos where Ian is main subject the captions are written in present tense.

F. Analyzing the captions:

1. There 2 sentences, on average.
2. The info provided in the first sentence of the captions is who, what, where, when, why, and how. These details pertaining to the image.
3. The info provided in the second sentence of the captions is usually extra information that adds to the effects or understanding of the image.
4. If there happens to be a third sentence, these sentences usually include a quote
5. A few captions do include quotes.
6. There are no captions with four sentences. It is possible that I have a missed that does have a fourth sentence.

G. I do think that it is possible to tell a complete story with just photos and captions because if someone can capture a great picture that shows emotion and expressions, and if captions can be written right, then (cliché as it may be) anything can be possible in the art of story telling through photography.

H. Even if you can create a story with photos and captions, it is impossible to completely cover the entire narrative with just photos and captions. Whenever you write a story you also have very important and deep details, such as thoughts, that can't be as well conveyed in just photos and captions.