Surreal Practice Tutorials

In the desert tutorial, we had to use different techniques such as using layer masks and creating a layer specifically for a drop shadow in order to use it as a shadow for the lamp post. We also created a gradient on the ground so that it would look more saturated. Then we added two images to the sky to make it look a bit more out of the ordinary Both of the tutorials will help me in my surreal project because it will allow me to create the dreamy and surreal effects that I will need to achieve for my surreal project. They also helped me get used to using the layer masks, which is something that i don't usually use, which are very helpful.

Art Show: Personal Quilt

The personal quilt was an assignment influenced by an artist by the name of Faith Ringgold who, through art, told stories about life. That was the objective of this project. Using Photoshop, I have created past, inside, outside, and future squares, that when put together make up a visual representation of my life. I tried to be as honest as I could with representing myself through the quilt squares. In all of the quilts I incorporated different symbols that I find dear to me; some symbols are obvious, such as trees, whereas others are less conspicuous, such as the rain. Because I am a very reserved person, the hardest thing for me is allowing people to see some of the things that really make up who I am. However, I think that that’s part of the overall experience. I thought of this project as more as a reflection of who I was, who I am now and who I want to be.

Graduation Program

After looking at the other students' graduation covers, I think that what makes my design strong is the unification of the lettering and the background of the cover. Although I think it adds something to the cover, I should not have added borders.
Graphic design is definitely harder than it seems to be at face value. Because I stick to things that I'm comfortable with and things that I like, it was hard to break away completely from it and try to make something that someone else would like. When that happens, it's hard to create work of art. That, however, is one of the main points of graphic design. It is to create something for someone else so they can use it. The affect graphic design has on society is monumental. It affects everything from advertisements, logos, and may even stretch as far as commercials.

Student Handbook

I think I had a good concept with the background design, and the idea of the torn paper laying on top of it. However, I do not feel like the two ideas balance out; it feels like they do not fit. I don't feel like I'm very good with graphic design. Thus, I felt like I struggled the most that my "client" would like. I believe that I did a lot better on my Graduation cover, maybe because I related to it more than I could to the Student Handbook covers.

Personal Quilt

All of my ideas for the quilt square came from the emotions I felt while creating each quilt square. Each square felt like it came with a different feeling because each one of them represents a different aspect of me. I am happy with the decisions that I made for my quilt.

I feel like my first square is kind of empty, which I guess is OK because it was the first square I completed and was still trying to figure out how the rest of the squares were going to fit together. I also feel like I could have done better on my last square because it doesn’t feel as unified as the other three. It also feels like my future square is a bit confusing. Although I know which career I would like to follow, I don’t exactly know where I want my future to go, which is representative of the confusing state of my future square. I do know that in my future I would love to travel to different parts of the world. The cultures and languages of the outside world are fascinating and beautiful, and I would love to experience as much of that as I can. I also include a piece of art that I completed last year. I really like the patterns and I wanted to include in my square that art is a big part of me and that I want it in my future. Lastly, in my future square I pictures of me and my niece and nephew to show that as they grow I will hopefully be there to see them.

The hardest thing about the project was to figure out how to come up with four different squares while also making sure that they are unified when put together in the end. One of the things I did in order to make sure that my squares would be unified was that I kept all of the squares open while I worked on the other ones which allowed me to see how the current square was going and to see how it would fit with all the other ones.

The main two symbols that I wanted to use in my quilt squares are trees and rain. I always find beauty in trees and have always been a fan of being in the outdoors. Because every time I go somewhere with a lot of trees and where the predominant color is green, I consider such areas to be peaceful and serene. I also like to think of trees as being a good representation for freedom. Their branches could be arms and the leaves could be fingers reaching for the sky. For that reason, I used the tree brushes to unify my quilt squares. I also used rain to symbolize something that would make all the bad things just wash away. I have always loved the rain; every time I remember the past the sound of the rain is always there. Even though the trees are obvious, the rain is a little bit more obscure because it is harder to see.

I tried to be as honest as I could with representing myself through the quilt squares. Although I had a bit of trouble starting off, I think it became easier to express myself visually. Because I am a very reserved person, the hardest thing for me is allowing people to see some of the things that really make up who I am. However, I think that that’s part of the overall experience. I thought of this project as more as a reflection of who I was, who I am now and who I want to be.

Artist Statement

In this portfolio, there are many assignments that will be found that have been created over the course of the first semester. The projects from the beginning of the school year are more along the lines of learning how to take good photographs using compositional tricks. These tricks are very helpful when trying to arrange a good and successful composition. Towards the end of the first semester, the projects begin to shift from pure photography to using Photoshop to alter either the subject of the photo or the photograph itself.

Over the course of the semester, I have learned various techniques that would help me become a better photographer and user of Photoshop. The compositional tricks are something that is deeply embedded into my mind and now they are things that are constantly remiding me of how to take better photos. The compositional tricks have not only helped me in Digital Photo, but have also helped me in my other art class, Studio Art. The main objectives these tricks help create are: a good composition, a sense of unity, and as well as movement within an artwork. Thus, the tricks not only make themselves known to me in Photo class, but also when I’m drawing up a new project in my other class as well.

Although the compositional tricks are something that really helped me, one of the tricks, however, was something that I had difficulty trying to achieve. The extreme angle “bird’s eye” trick is something that I had trouble attaining because it was something completely new to me. It’s definitely a trick that would help me create a really cool composition. It will also allow me to take a photograph that is creative and refreshing because there normally aren’t many photographs that I have seen taken from such angle.

One of my favorite projects from this class was the Social Issue assignment. We had to imitate the artist Barbara Kruger while conveying our own social issue. I feel like this project is my most successful. It is one of the few projects that I took photos for at home and it is also the only one where I tried something that I normally wouldn’t. In order to create this photograph, I had to use black paint to completely cover the hand and leave some splatters on my face. I had originally intended to have the bathtub filled in with black water, but the photographs didn’t come out as well as I would have liked. Although creating this project was a different experience for me, I feel that this project is my most successful because I created something out of the ordinary.

Now that I look back on my portfolio I feel like I could go back and probably take better pictures to suit the theme of each project, such as the Alien, or some of the compositional tricks, such as leading lines. My skills in Photoshop have definitely improved and they are something that I will continue to build on. Although, I feel like I could have done different things that would have made some of my projects better, I do feel like my portfolio is prety successful.

Personal Words

The lyrics I chose for this project is from a song entitled Red Cape by Priscilla Ahn.

"But I've got a long red cape that caught in the engine of a plane that's flying way too low. Yesterday a hurricane had blown away my long red cape and I feel satisfied. I'm in peace, I feel sweetly released from all that couldn't let go. If I knew what to do then I guess I'd finally feel anew. But I can't wear my red cape, cause I would be repeating a mistake. I just gotta let it go."

Aside from being a very catchy song and essentially one of my favorites, I chose these lyrics because I interpret them as a metaphor for having to let go of being a child and becoming an independent individual. Right now I'm at the point in my life where I have to make decisions that will affect my life in the next couple of years. As of now, I consider the hurricane to be the stress caused by having to do my college applications and other things related to school that are forcing me to grow up. Therefore, I have to give up my red cape, which is something that I'm completely okay with because it's something that I have to do sooner or later in order to grow up and be independent.

Social Issue: "So This is Freedom"

In the photograph, there is a girl that looks like is gasping for air. There is an ominous black hand that is grabbing her throat and she also has some black paint on her face. The predominant colors of the entire piece are black, which and gray, with an accent of red on the side borders and a few of the words. The only word that is white is the word “freedom” which was used to put more emphasis on it with the black and white. The photo also has a sense of movement because the black hand and the black on the face lead towards an upward direction, which leads to the words and ending with “freedom.”

In creating my social issue, I wanted to convey how there are forces that oppress us, but sometimes we either don’t realize that we’re being suppressed or we can’t do anything with it. The oppression is represented by the black and that is grabbing the throat of the girl, and the remnants of the black hand show that the girl has struggled with the hand. There are few times when I have felt that I have been held back and haven’t been able to fully be myself or feel that I have been limited to what is available to me. One of the way this issue affects me is by my education. Although I know that schools are required to teach according to the national standards, I feel that I am limited to what I can learn because there is no room to step out of the box. There is no time to think; instead, we rely on assignments that do not allow us to expound on our own thoughts. So, in a way, the issue was my way of expressing my feelings towards all of the things that I feel limit from being my full potential.

Scary Effects

My favorite project from the two is my alien. I feel that i could have done better with the vampire, especially with the blood around the mouth; I feel like i exaggerated the amount of blood i put. Although I feel like i could do some things to make the alien look better, i'm happy with how the project turned out. Some of the new tools that i used on the alien project was the pen and the clone stamp tool. The pen tool is pretty much self-explanatory, but i did have trouble trying to get a smooth line the first couple of times. I didn't really have any trouble with the clone stamp. The clone stamp is going to be really helpful in the future because with it i am able to edit out things that i do not want to be in a photograph. The careers that come to mind that would use tools like these are the photographers that work on photos that go in magazines, a professional photographers for models, or someone that works with advertisements.

Critique

Off into the middle of the ocean, there is a desolate man building a bridge to the barely visible shoreline far off into the distance. With the hammer in his left hand and the planks of wood strapped into his back, the man is determined to make his way across the dreary sea. The pathway helps emphasize the man and the concentric rings of water help keep the man as the focal point. There are a lot of grays in the photograph, which makes the photograph give a somber mood. The vast sea also helps feed the empty feeling that is portrayed.
This photograph could help symbolize the idea that everyone is trying to cut out a path for themselves in life. Another interpretation could be to show that the man is different and unique from everyone else, because if everyone was the same, and they were setting the foundations of their life, they would be there with the man. The man is by himself making the path for his life, showing how unique everyone's life is. The man is not yet finished building the bridge, and that signifies that one will always be working towards making their life stable. The fact that the path the man is building isn't straight could represent the twists and turns that life has.

Photographic Effects

Out of all of the photoshop tricks that we have learned the past few days, I really liked Cross-Process. It gives the photograph a really cool effect that makes it seem like something surreal because of the high saturation levels.

I would like to work on the blow out process a little bit more, only because I didn't choose a good photo for the trick and wasn't very successful with it the first time.

I really liked the adjustments layers. Though I was absent when we went over them in class, they are still something that I would like to get more familiar with. Because I was just experimenting with the adjustment layers, I think that if I keep playing around with them, I'll begin to get a grasp on how to use them.

Portraits

The portrait I took that I thought was most successful is the artistic photo, even though it wasn't as clear as I would like it to be. There wasn't enough light in that hallway, so it was hard to keep the camera from shaking. I wanted to convey a mood or feeling of a sense of defeat or something along those lines. To create the artistic photo, I went into that dark hallway to see how the lighting would affect the outcome of the photo.

The prop that I decided to use for my partner was the grand piano in the choir room. I thought that a photo with the piano would have been nice, but was then presented with the challenge of how to keep my partner in the picture. The photo turned out alright, extreme angles was the only compositional trick that would work in my favor, though I would have wanted to use macro somehow.

I think that the main thing that makes my surprise photo unique is the mood it conveys. My partner's face is illuminated by the light from the window, which emphasizes her pensive expression, but the rest of her body is in shadows. The photo is also in black and white, so with those two elements combined, it creates a dreary mood.

Contact Sheet

Out of the eight compositional tricks that we have learned, I believe that the Macro compositional trick is my favorite. I've always liked using macro; I liked being able to zoom in on small objects to make them the subject of a photo.

I think that I will start using leading lines in my photograph from day to day. Now that I know what they are, I see them everywhere, which means that there's bound to be some sort of leading lines in the photographs that I will take in the future.

Extreme Angles was a little bit harder for me to achieve, and it's probably my least favorite because of that. I just have to keep trying and get used to how abstract it's supposed to look from the extreme angles.

Out of all the photos that I took using compositional tricks, I have to say that my favorite is the frame one. It just appealed to me because of the contrast between the hand inside the frame with the light sky in the background. I also like my light photo because I have a thing for hands; I believe that they have some really cool features that would show a lot of contrast with light and dark.

Compositional Trick #8 Fill in Flash

The compositional Trick "Fill in Flash" affected my photos by filling in the shadows that were present before with light. Fill in flash will be used in the future when the camera detects a sufficient amount of light from the photo, but the actual subject may be in the shadows due to the angle the person is in relation to the sun, or maybe even something as simple as a hat covering the features of the faces. In the future, I will use fill in flash when the facial features are in shadows and when the backgrounds are so bright, the camera focuses on the light behind the subject.

Compositional Trick #7 Drawing with Light

When working with light, the photographs have more contrast within them; that helps create a dramatic contrast in the photo. That sets photos with light apart from the others in the sense that the other photos don't have the same interesting contrast between light and dark.
When I look at my photo, I get a calm and almost puzzled feeling. The shadows created with the hands seem to be a little bit random and because of their crossed pattern, it creates a sense of confusion. I get the calm feeling because, though there are areas of pure black and white, the light hits the body in such a way that has a lot of gray tones that give off the calm feeling.

Compositional Trick # 6 Framing

Framing helps composition by allowing the photograph to focus on what is being emphasized; it's like a neon sign telling the viewer "look here!" but a little more subtly.

I like the frame on my first photo because it is surrounded by the chain-link fence, and there is this blank space that acts as a frame. I have a fascination with hands; I think that they have beautiful features when it comes to value, so i decided to stick my parters hand in that open space. Aside from the actual frame of the fence, I think that the conrast between the darkness of the hand and the brlightness from the background helps created the effect of a frame. Although i liked the idea for my second frame photo, I think that the actual photo could have been better. The frame blends together with the person and I think it is a little on the weak side because of it.

Compostitional Trick # 5 Extreme Angles

Extreme angles is a good compositional trick because it gives the viewer a different perspective on seemingly normal objects. So, for example, instead of looking at a person straight on, extreme angles will allow the viewer to see the person as if they're laying on the ground, or towering above them.

I think that my first photo is a half decent example for the low extreme angle, but I misunderstood the way I was supposed to take the photograph of the bird's eye extreme angle; I realized that it doesn't necesarily mean that the picture has to be taken from way up high.

Compositional Trick # 4 Simplicity

Simplicity in a photo helps strengthen the composition by making the photo seem a lot less chaotic and confusing for the viewer. Though some may mistaken simplicity as boring or a simple subject, it means quite the contrary. Simplicity is just where the photographer eliminatest the excess noise in the background so that the emphasis is on the object that is being simplified. Simplicity is an effective trick; if used correctly, it can create beautiful photographs with good a composition.
In my photographs, I simplified the little sprout growing out of the ground by using macro and making the camera blur out everything in the background; in the other, i simplified the tree's seed pot by turning the photo into black in white so that the shadow of the object pops out and the actual seed pot pops out.

Compositional Trick #3 Macro

Macro allows the photographer to zoom in on miniature objects so that it creates a more interesting photo. It will allow the viewer to see things that would normally be overlooked. It is good for a photographer to know about macro because they could use other compositional tricks such as leading lines and rule of thirds to create a nice photo.

Compositional Trick #2 Leading Lines

Leading lines are used to direct the viewer to the point of emphasis. Leading lines can also be used to lead the viewer into and around the photograph. In this case, I used the leading lines to focus on the square and its shadow, but because of the other lines in the photo, it draws the viewer to different parts of the photograph.

Compsitional Trick #1 Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a method used to arrange a good composition. It creates a focal point so that the photograph has an emphasis and does not leave the viewer wondering what the subject of the photo is. I would use the rule of thirds to create a focal point so that the photo would turn out better than not using the rule of thirds. Without using the rule of thirds, the picture would be a mere snapshot rather than a photograph.