Final Artist Statement

My portfolio has many projects that I’ve done throughout this whole year. The ones I feel I was most successful with were the first projects we did at the beginning of the year. For example, the rule of thirds, macro, leading lines and all those little projects we did. I was most successful in these because they were easier to understand. I struggled most with the quilt square project and the surrealism project because I did not know how I wanted my project to look like or what I was going to put in it to make it look nice and how Ms. Cook wanted it to look. I was probably over thinking it too much, like if I needed to make it perfect or something.

Hopefully in the future I could get better at all these tutorials and art stuff we did in this class. A way that I believe I could improve is by practicing these things at home on my own and reading over some tutorials. My favorite thing that we learned in this class was the tutorials we used to make ourselves look like aliens and vampires. I really enjoyed that one because I think its fun messing with the faces and making ourselves look way different than normal. It was a really fun project. I will probably use this lesson again sometime just to mess around with my pictures at home. I know the tools I will definitely use to fix my everyday pictures in my future.

Another project I really liked and enjoyed was the quilt square project because it related mostly with my life and my experiences. The project had to be about us and how different people view us on the outside and us describing our inside and future and past, by doing that it made me connect with my life like family members and experiences that I’ve been through in the past. In the project I seen improvement in was the quilt square project because that’s where I used the most tutorials we learned in many different ways. I had a great experience in this class. I did not expect to learn so much about Photoshop and cameras.

Aperture

Aperture is the opening of a photographic lens that determines how much light will go in to take a picture. Aperture is measure in f-stops and decimals. The smaller the number the bigger the lens in the camera which means more light comes in. If the number is big that means the lens whole is smaller and lets less light in the picture. In the first, top picture the lens is small, and you can tell by the picture because not much light is in it just the usual for a picture. The second, bottom picture was taken with a bigger lens and you can tell by the light hitting the flower.

ISO

ISO 5000

ISO 800

ISO 400

ISO 50

Flash

ISO helps you take a good picture with light when you are in the dark. The more ISO used the more light in your picture and the less ISO the less light and darker picture. I used flash first before using ISO in my picture and the difference is that when I used flash the Christmas lights light was not really noticeable but you did have more light. With the ISO on the Christmas lights was able to be seen better and they actually looked like they were on and you also had light on the person. The second picture I used ISO 50, which is less light that goes in your picture. In the third picture I put the ISO to 400 so now there is more light and the person in the picture does not come out dark. In the fourth picture the ISO is now in 800 so now the person and the Christmas lights are more clearly seen. Last but not least, in the final picture I put the ISO to 5000 and now everything is seen way better. My picture came out blurry but if you take a good picture it will look nice because of the ISO.

Flash

There are pros and cons for using flash in a dark picture. The pro is that you will be able to see whatever you are taking a picture of in the dark and in the day time it takes the shadows away. The con is that if you use flash the brightness will look blurry and not pretty in the dark and in the daytime it will look too bright and disappear some things from the picture you are trying to take. Flash is a good idea, in the dark, when you want to take a picture of something that is close and no light in the background. It is also a good idea, in the day time, when you don’t want shadow in your picture. The picture I chose is better with flash off because the lighting in the pumpkin looks nice. If the flash was on, the light in the pumpkin will look too bright and kind of blurry.

Metering

A light meter helps you focus on the main thing you want focused and by doing that you need to get close to the subject and then scoot back to normal and take the picture. On the first picture the focus was on the computer screen. I got close to the computer screen so the screen could be seen well instead of just bright light. On the bottom picture the focus was on the person so no w the person is the emphasis and not the computer screen. You are now able to see the person but not the computer screen. Metering can help you in the future if, for example, you are in a dark place and you want a certain object to be your emphasis.

Surrealism: :"Entering Death"

Critique: In this picture there is a supersized girl bending down opening a very tiny, small door. Inside that little door there is a desert landscape with skeletons standing on the desert. The background for this image is a brick wall and through that brick wall you can see an ocean. On the top left corner of the brick wall there is a window and inside that window you can see and ocean with skeletons in the ocean. Blood is also coming out of the window. The emphasis for this picture is the big girl standing in the middle of the whole picture. It stands out because of the big, supersized girl. The compositional trick that is used is rule of thirds because of where the window is placed, on the top left corner. I think the artists’ interpretation for this surrealism is that skeleton can symbolize many things although people might think it symbolizes death or such thing. For the artist, it might mean the problems in life. My overall view of this picture is that the artist did a good job on the objects used. On the other hand, the artist needs to work more on interpreting what she is trying to express. Maybe use more objects or something like that.

Surreal Practice Tutorials

In the Desert Tutorial we did many different things to make it look realistic. First we distorted the dirt from the bottom corners to make it look far away not like a wall. Then we added a blue background but we had to add a gradient with three different colors to make it look realistic. Then we added a lamp post but to make it look real we added a shadow that looks a little faded at the end. We also blended it a little with the dirt. By creating this tutorial it will help me with my surreal project because I learned new things that I might want to add to my project.

Art Show: "Rule of Thirds"

Rule of Thirds

This is my Rule of Thirds artwork. My goal was to place the emphasis in a corner using the grid that cameras usually have. The rock is the emphasis, with a blurry far away background. I like it because I was just taking random rule of third pictures and this one was my first and perfect one. The rock is right where it’s supposed to be, on a corner and in the middle of the fence shadow. It was a well taken picture.

Graduation Program

I think a strength in my design for this cover was the letters I used. They stand out and easy to read. After looking at everyone else's covers, I believe I could have done a better background like more interesting and not to plain and simple. I thought graphic design was going to be very easy. I thought I was not going to have any problems doing these program but it was kind of hard because I couldn't put my thoughts together to make it look nice. In graphic design I think knowing what your design is going to look like is very important because if you start from scratch it will be hard to put your thoughts together, similar like what happened to me. Graphic design plays a role in society today by design different things and making them look more interesting that it grabs people's attention.

Alternate Program: Senior Portfolio Show

I think a strentgh of my design cover was the colors I used because it is only about three solid colors instead of it being so colorful. The thing that I could have done better was to use a different picture on the front cover and maybe use a different background or use it a different way. The thing I struggled with the most was the picture we had to put on it. I did not know what picture I wanted to put so at last minute I just put any picture. I think I did better on my Graduation cover because I had better ideas on how I wanted it to look like. I did better designs, I think.

Personal Quilt

MY QUILT

INSIDE

FUTURE

INSIDE

PAST

Doing this project was a great experience working with Photoshop. The idea I put into this project came from me and some came from looking at others quilts. My decisions were pretty good but I know I could have had better thought into it. In some quilts I couldn't think of anything to put, my mind would go blank. I think some cam out better than others. Like my past quilt, I like that one better than the other three because I put more thought into it. On the other quilts it jut wasn't enough what I put in them. My struggle was thinking of what to add to the quilt square and finding symbols to express my ideas in such a way that would represent them clearly. To overcome these struggles I asked people what were some good symbols and pictures to add, it did help a little. All of my four squares had the color purple in comparison to unite them in a certain form. For each square I used different symbols but the one that most stood out to me the most was the rings in my future quilt because it was all big and noticeable. In all four of my quilts I was honest in expressing my thoughts. What I like about my quilts is that I used the color purple to unite them because purple is my favorite color. I also believe that would be the strongest part of the quilts I have made. I had a great experience throughout this project. I learned new things about me and new things from Photoshop. What I would do different is think harder about what to include in my quilts and out more thought into each one of the squares.

Artist Statement

My portfolio is organized in a certain way. I have different pictures that I’ve took and posts that I’ve posted for the pictures. You will see two Halloween pictures that I made in Photoshop. The rest of the pictures on there were also made in Photoshop but they have different themes to it. For example: macro, leading lines, photographic effects, and much more. I feel that my portfolio is just the way it should be, the way Ms. wants it. Some of my photos may not be well taken pictures but I still put them in there because we had to. My post are also good paragraphs, it answers everything that was to be included in the paragraphs. As an overall in my portfolio, from one through ten, I would give myself a nine. I believe that my portfolio is well organized.
This semester I have learned so much about photographs, from different ways of taking pictures to working with Photoshop. In taking pictures I learned how to take pictures with the “Rule of Thirds” which is with gridlines. I actually never knew what that was for until I came in this class. Another thing I learned was to take macro pictures, pictures that have leading lines, and simple pictures. I did not know that by taking simple pictures could be so catchy and interesting. Extreme angles, fill in flash, drawing with light are also other photo tricks I learned in photography. The compositional trick I feel I was most successful with was the Rule of Thirds because my picture came out very good, it was an excellent picture. The trick I had a hard time with was leading lines because my pictures of leading lines weren’t really leading line. I couldn’t seem to take a good leading line picture. I eventually learned from my mistakes.
There are many ways I could improve my skills. The way I could improve is by taking pictures using the skills each time getting better at it. Also, by focusing more on what the skill is that I’m trying to use while I’m taking pictures not just taking any random photo. My improvement can happen anywhere I take pictures like at my house or at parties or the park, etc. I haven’t had much experience with cameras neither with Photoshop. Now, as I learn more and more about these things. I noticed my improvement when I started doing the lyrics picture and on.
Having a photography class was amazing because I learned how to take pictures with better quality and style. It was fun working with the different tricks I learned because now I can start using them outside of class. I can also teach others to work with Photoshop. Having all the needed pictures in my portfolio and keeping it well organized makes it looks nice. As an overall of my portfolio I would rate it with four stars.

Personal Words

The lyrics I chose for this project was the one that Ms. Cook had in her out folder because I didn't know what lyric, song, or poem would go with me.

" Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually who are we not to be? You are a child of God. "

I chose these lyrics because I didn't know what lyrics to choose that would go with me so I read the one that Ms. Cook had in her out folder as extra. I liked it so I used it for my personal words. It means to me because it has inspirational words. I think of this as positive thinking about what I say I'm afraid of. The thought of me being afraid of something is not what I should be afraid of; it is the total opposite. It was actually a good lyric because it sort of goes with me. It made me realize that we shouldn't be afraid of little things because that is what will hold us back.

Social Issue: "Beautiful Pain"

In my picture I put a white rose with drops of blood and light hitting the rose as the background. I also included two small size pictures, one of hammer nails on the bottom left corner and another picture of a hand with pretty designed finger nails on the top right corner. My words are overlayed on top of the rose to make it the emphasis. I also put them in big, red letters so it could stand out.

The issue I decide to do was beauty is pain. The statement means that there are things that we girls like to do to look gorgeous and some of those things can cause pain. My pictures are hammer nails and finger nails. I put the hammer nails because they represent the pain that we go through when we fix ourselves to look pretty. The finger nails picture I put it because it hurts sometimes to get our nails done, well mostly the first time. There are many more things we do that makes us look beautiful but at the same time it causes us pain. For example, when we get our hair done at a salon or when we pluck out our eyebrows and even when we wear high heels, etc. All this makes us look beautiful but it also hurts us and puts us through pain.

Scary Effects

I like the vampire picture because it looks more realistic than the alien one. The tool I learned and liked a lot was the blood tool. It was easy to use and I also learned how to make it look semi-real not just like it was painted on. It was hard to do the lines with the pen tool, I didn't like it because I didn't know how to use it. I believe I did well on coloring in the eyes and making them look creepy. I think people who illustrate or fix pictures in magazines will use these tools because they might fix pictures when a certain holiday comes around.

Critique: Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison

Kneeling on the edge of a path way in the lake, there is a man, with a hammer on his left hand. He looks like he’s almost about to fall in. The water is lonely. He is trying to get to the other side hammering more and more woods to make the path longer. It seems to me like he wants to escape from something. The man is tired because of the woods he has on his back. This art work is very interesting on how the man is working by himself and not the help of others to create a longer path way in the water.

Photographic Effects

Out of all the tricks and tools we have learned I like the Glow because it makes the picture look tight and it stands out! The tool I would like to work with more is cross process because I didn't really understand how to that one and I would like to learn. The favorite thing I did was use fix: healing tools because it cleans the picture and fixes marks that a person may have on their face or body that wouldn't look to nice!

Portraits

The picture I think I was most succesful in was with the costume one because you could tell what compositional trick is and the picture didn't come out blurry, it was just a good picture to me. Well to create an artistic portrait I had my client dress up professional and model with a purse and reading glasses to make her look like a teacher. The mood I captured was a hot mood by the way I had her pose. The costume I chose was a nurse costume because I think she looks like she could be a nurse in the future. Yes, I like this picture because everything came out the way I wanted it to, the compositional trick and it didn't come out blurry. My surprise photo was not a very good one. At the time I couldn't think of antyhing that would be surprising. It was hard to think of ways to take a picture and use a compositional trick because we didn't have a lot of things at home that we could have used for the pictures.

Contact Sheet

Out of the 8 Compositional Trick we learned I liked the rule of thirds best because it makes the picture more interesting because it's not centered. I think I will start using light because it creates a mood to the photographs. The trick that was most difficult to me was leading lines because it was hard for me to find something that lead to the subject of the picture. My favorite picture was extreme angle the one with the water bottle because that's not how we see a water bottle everyday and it also looks like a lizards face or something on the bottom of the water bottle.

Composition Trick #8 Fill in Flash

Fill in effected my photos in a good way because when I took pictures that had a light background and with shadow the person or object comes out dark and with the flash you can see the object better with more light. I will use fill in flash whenever I'm in the sun or in bright places so my pictures could come out more clear.