Yearbook ISU Written Work

Reflection on Semester

A) Yearbook Cover Design
1. As you know, there were several issues with the yearbook cover. The overall problem was the copyright, so I had several small edits that needed to be performed. This included changing the Game Boy screen shape, altering the buttons, adding buttons (iPod button, toggle key) and removal of the "Game On" title.
2. By creating the yearbook cover, I have vastly improved my photo shop skills, which has given be a greater interest in graphic design as a potential career. I now navigate photo shop with ease and tend to be able to figure out how to create various graphics without referencing tutorials or previous works.
3. For my finally projects, I can alter graphics more to avoid copyright. Also, I can create more original pieces, rather than basing designs off of existing objects.

B) To create a book for publishing, many skills are needed. Firstly, organization is required to keep on track with deadlines and ensure all information required for the book if collected. For graphic design, skills include having a good knowledge of photo shop in order to create graphics, as well as being creative. Creativity will allow for designs that are unique and original to the artist.

C) For people with the skills listed above, potential jobs include: advertising/marketing designer, album or book art creator, video game designer and TV animator.

Reflection on ISU

A) During my ISU (Christmas page), I don't think I have improved my graphic design skills, since most of the page was very basic edits for me. As for photographing Relay, I may have improved at taking photographs in pouring rain and during the night.

B) For initiative, I (often) asked Rory for the Christmas interviews and photos. Also, I asked for the interviews to be moved to the hand-out as soon as they were submitted. As for Relay photos, I took the initiative to get into the action and take photos, as well as asking many people for photos.

C) To complete my work, I had to work with Rory (interviews, staff list, photos), you (moving images, etc. to hand-out, input on pages) and the students of GSS (Relay photos).

Yearbook Log

June 3rd - began Christmas page design
              - created Christmas background
              - preliminary photo layout
              - created Christmas tree graphic
June 4th - placed Christmas tree
             - created star
             - placed door decorating photos
June 5th - placed candid photos along bottom of Christmas page
              - edited final staff page
June 6th - Students In Action photo
              - staff meeting
June 7th - created text for Christmas page
              - edited photo layout
June 10th - set final layout for door decorating photos
June 11th - edited final staff page
June 12th - edited Christmas tree
                - re-placed Christmas tree
June 13th -
June 14th - assembly
June 17th - mini staff meeting, ate pizza
June 18th - placed interviews on Christmas page
               - added list of teachers leaving for final staff page

Photography ISU

Here's the link to my ISU: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1q4rIBCCs1hRn6CeuKOYk1ZqsGGU0Yvuw2jLiWkAxUw8/edit#slide=id.gec54406b_012

Sorry it's late. My photo shop decided not to work for a while.

*Update*
I forgot to add my behind the scenes photos.

I used my camera (Nikon D3100) with a standard zoom lens (18-25mm), along with a tripod, remote release cable and Photoshop Elements 11 to complete my ISU. My brother was the model for all photos.

Mentor's Assignment Part A and B

Film Assignment

Part One

1. I chose Ansel Adams as my “mentor” photographer because I love his style of high contrast black and white landscape photography. Ansel Adams was also known for his use (and co-creation) of the “Zone System”, which allowed for his photographs to have true blacks and true whites without editing (although he wasn’t able to edit photos much, since there was no photo shop).
2.    

 3.        Photo 1 – “Jeffrey Pine”, 1940

This image, like most Ansel Adams photos, has high contrast, which adds dimension and interest to the image. It also has good leading lines/directional viewing with the way the trees branches bend and point to the right.  

Photo 2 – “Moon and Half Dome”, 1960

Like most Ansel Adams photos, this image also has high contrast, which adds dimension and showcases the texture of the mountain.

Photo 3 – “Rose and Driftwood”, 1932

This image has high contrast, which helps in making the rose look three-dimensional, as well as bringing out the texture of both the rose petals and the wooden background. It is an image where centering the subject actually works, since the subject is so detailed.

Part Two

1. I plan on shooting my photos by using the Zone System. I will bump up exposure for pure whites, decrease it for pure blacks and keep the exposure set to zero for mid-tones. This way, I will have photos with high contrast, just as Ansel Adams did. I am also going to photograph nature, mainly landscapes, which was Ansel Adams usual subject. Often, Ansel Adams has a lot of visible texture in his photos, so I want to choose subjects that I can show the texture of.

 

Portrait Tips and Questions

1. The audience for this article are amateur/learning photographers.
2. These tips speak to the student photographer as they give extra information about portrait photography that is not often given.
3. I like the tips ”Look for the Moment After” and “Tell a Story”. I want to capture natural looking portraits, rather than posed.
4. I like all the tips from the reading, except for the tip to use props. I think sometimes props give portraits a very unnatural feeling, which takes away from candid shots.

Cinemagraphs

Couples Portraits

I am writing the responses for my models, since my rabbit can't exactly write it herself. For my couples portraits assignment, I chose to photograph my brother, Jeff, and my rabbit, Lucy. We just got Lucy at the end of the March Break, and she's now about 4 months old. She's a sweetheart, but she has a big soft spot for my brother. When we take her out of the cage and let her run, she often follows Jeff around, even going as far as following him up the stairs. He's also the only person, other than me, who Lucy allows to "trance" her (flip her over on her back and cradle her). She often also binkies (jumps high, kicks her feet and runs quickly) around Jeff, which means she's very happy. 

I think that I was successful in showing Jeff and Lucy's relationship in these photos. I wanted to capture Lucy's love for being around Jeff, and his desire to care for her. Through the photos of him cradling her, I manage to show her comfortability around Jeff. Then, in the photo of Lucy following Jeff up the stairs, I was able to show how much she wants to be around him. Overall, I think that my photos turned out well and show the good relationship between Lucy and Jeff.

Journal 8

"Lucy"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

"Met Life Centre"

Christina Zalec, 2012

Nikon D3100

"Grimsby Beach"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

"Life is 'Ruff'"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

"Mahala"

Christina Zalec, 2012

Nikon D3100

"Stripes"

Christina Zalec, 2012

Nikon D3100

Journal 7

"Polish"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

Lighting Infograph

Journal 6: Shadows

"Tree"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

"The Blues"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

"'Til Death Do Us Part"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

"Tuff Enough"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

"The Street"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

Photo Essay

Magazine Cover

Magazine Layout and Response/Analysis

Unedited Photos

Journal 5: Foreground Interest

"A Day at the Beach"

Christina Zalec, 2013

Nikon D3100

Journal 4

All of these are photos of my families more than hundred year old piano in our family room.

f/3.5

This photo had a small aperture (large opening), and because of this there is a small depth of field and much of the photo is out of focus.

f/10

This photo had a medium aperture, and while the music book and ledge of the piano are focused, some of the keys is out of focus.

f/22

My final photo had a large aperture (small opening) and the whole photo was in focus, showing that there was a large depth of field.  

Journal #3

Eadweard Muybridge greatly influenced the futurist painters through his breakthrough photographic series "The Horse in Motion". Prior to these photos, galloping horses would be depicted in more of a "rocking horse" position. With photographic evidence of how a horse runs, it allowed artists to depict horses in a more life like style. This also inspired many artists to bring more of a sense of movement to their paintings, by blurring legs or wheels on bikes.
Muybridge also influenced the futurists with his chronilogical series of photographs, as the futurists followed this style themselves.This enabled both Eadweard Muybridge and the futurist painters to tell a chronological story through their art.

All of these photos show movement. In the first painting, the wheels on the bike have swishes around them to give the illusion of movement. Eadweard Muybridge's two photos show both the man and the caribou picking up their feet and then a moment when all of their feet are off the ground. The final image, another futurist painting, also shows movement with the blurred feet of the dog and person, as well as the blurred leash. 

Pinhole Photos

Pinhole Photo #1

Christina Zalec, 2013

40 second exposure

slightly overcast day

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I think the exposure time was quite good for this photo. There is a good contrast from trees and graves versus the snow. Overall, I was quite happy with how it turned out, especially since it was the first photo I took.

Pinhole Photo #2

Christina Zalec, 2013

40 second exposure

slightly overcast day (same conditions as Photo #1)

Despite the fact that I shot in the same conditions as the first photo, I ended up with quite an overexposed photo. There was quite a lot of snow in the photo, which may have made everything appear brighter, therefore making the exposure time too long. In the future, I need to remember to use a shorter exposure time when photographing something bright such as snow.

Pinhole Photo #3

Christina Zalec, 2013

16 second exposure

sunny day

I like the effect I got from this photo. I think that the exposure time was just about perfect. It could have been slightly longer to brighten up the image somewhat, but it it clear enough to tell what the subject is. This is my favourite photo of all my pinhole images. It has the look of an old photo, due to the vignetting around the edges and the slightly hazy look.



Journal One: Captured Culture

"Pavement Underfoot"

Christina Z., 2013
Nikon D3100
This photo represents my passion for running, as well as showing my  love for living a healthy life. Running is a part of most days of my life, and I love the feeling of pavement underfoot as I run.

"Graphite Finger Tips"

Christina Z., 2013
Nikon D3100
Art is one of my biggest passions, so the sketchbook, Conte, pencil and sketch represent this. Art is something I do everyday, and can be seen just by looking at the covers of my binders or  my fingernails.

"No Two Alike"

Christina Z., 2013

Nikon D3100

Being outdoors and in nature is another special part of my culture. The natural beauty of nature is amazing, which is represented by the macro shot of a snowflake I took above.

"For Those About to Rock..."
Christina Z., 2013
Nikon D3100
Another one of my passions is music. I am constantly singing, listening to music and even playing my piano. My favourite type of music is rock, especially the Bealtes, which is demonstrated through my photo of records from record collection.

"Diesel"
Christina Z., 2013
Nikon D3100
Finally, I adore animals. From a young age, I have wanted to work with them and wanted to have several pets. The dog in the above photo, Diesel, is an American Bulldog puppy, and is one of the dogs I "dog sit". Whether it's watching puppies, photographing squirrels, or playing with my rabbit, I try to make animals a daily part of my life.

Extension

     Both Larry Clark and Larry Sultan are portrait photographers who capture some of the struggles in their own lives, as well as in other's lives. Apart from this, their styles tend to be quite different. Larry Clark tends to lean towards monochromatic photos, or photos that are somewhat de-saturated. He also has a mix of posed and un-posed photos. His photos tend to showcase some serious topics, including drug use and racism. Larry Sultan's photos are filled with bright colours, despite the fact that they show an unstable relationship between his parents.