Second Chances

For my second chances project, I will be redoing my HDR series. For this project I originally chose to photograph Christmas ornaments. After finding out that many other people did their final on a similar subject, I'm choosing to redo mine to produce a more original series. For my new HDR series I am going to be shooting pictures of my glasses in different environments so that the reflection in the lens of the glasses will be visible. The images will be representative of all of the different things that we see everyday and pass by without taking in.

Shooting In Paris

Last week in Paris, 4 people were executed in cold blood by terrorists at the magazine office of Charles Hebdo in an attempt to limit the free speech. 

At Booker T. Washington High School, we support freedom of speech. We showed our freedom of speech by collecting pens and pencils in a display in our library.

Winter Break

Over winter break, I decided to explore black&white photography and how photoshop can aid in the process of creating a black&white image. I wasn't focusing as much on the content of the image as much as exploring and increasing my understanding of the tools such as levels, curves, and contrast in photoshop. I discovered how the curves tool in photoshop gives me more control of the amounts of black, white, and gray in the image. The images I shot were for the most part abstract. I chose to shoot images of condensation on a window, which is somewhat of a basic idea, but I knew that there would be more to work with in photoshop because of the reflective property that water has. Also the shadow the came from the window created a gradient. I also shot pictures of plants and trees to do the same process.

I also explored the settings of fast shutter speed. While on the way back form my aunt's house, I sat in the passengers seat to take pictures while in motion.

Abstract Expressionism

Barnett Newman was an abstract expressionist painter. His paintings are minimalistic. Here, i tried to recreate a couple of his paintings from scratch in photoshop. Then, with a DSLR, i shot a few photos that mimicked Newman's style.

HDR series - Christmas Tree

For this series, I explored the process of HDR photography. I experimented with different subject matter before finding something that worked. Once I found something that produced images that I was happy with, I explored different angles. These HDRs are close ups of my Christmas tree. I liked the way the ornaments looked in close-ups either from the top or from the side view.

With this series, I wanted to expand my horizon of HDR photography. Before this series, I had no idea what an HDR image was or how to make one. After this series, I've learned more about HDR photography. I now have a better understanding of what will work in an HDR photograph and what will not.

W. Eugene Smith

Eugene Smith uses under and over exposure to heighten the emotion of his images. He uses darkness and brightness to tell the story of the subject of his photographs. Many of his photographs are documenting people during times of war. In the last photograph. Smith used dodging and burning to heighten the contrast of the smoke in the sky. The two opposing colors represent the two sides that are fighting the war. At the foreground of the photo there is what appears to be barren land that has been destroyed most likely by the warfare taking place. In the foreground there are also soldiers. Some of the soldiers are facing towards the explosion while the others are facing away. 

October 31st

I was walking through an abandoned building documenting the rising problem of graffiti in the area. While walking through the building, i stepped on a weak spot and fell through the floor. It was dark and there was an indescribable odor. The only source of light i had was the flash on my camera. I began taking photos and i discovered i was not alone. There were various creatures that were attracted to the flash on the camera. I made my out as fast as possible, as i was being chased. Once i found an exit, i turned around to catch a glimpse of one of the creatures closing themselves back off into the darkness.