In Focus

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

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

Monday, 17 June 2013

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.

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Mentor's Assignment Part A and B

Film Assignment

Part One

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).

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

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.

Monday, 13 May 2013

Portrait Tips and Questions

The audience for this article are amateur/learning photographers.
These tips speak to the student photographer as they give extra information about portrait photography that is not often given.
I like the tips ”Look for the Moment After” and “Tell a Story”. I want to capture natural looking portraits, rather than posed.
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.

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Cinemagraphs

Monday, 6 May 2013

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.