abandoned theme parks

My favorite park was the Takakanonuma Greenland, Hobara, Japan. It was beautiful as well as eerie, which is a combination of two of anything that I love. The oldness of it all was very charming to me. The flowers everywhere makes it even more lovely. Then the other factors take part in my interest; the tragedy, the alleged hauntings, the overgrown foliage, the rust. I also like the mountains that surround, it is very satisfying. As if being protected from the outside, but not from whats inside.

Some places that I think would be interesting for photographers to visit are:

underground civilizations

mental hospitals

abandoned water parks

abandoned prisons

abandoned mansions

I like these photos and these types of places for the same reason I chose the above amusement park. I really love the image that comes into your head of the way you think it used to look. The beauty of the way you think it was is so mysterious. I like mystery. I also really enjoy the creepiness of the whole water park aspect as well. When you think about it, people had to have drowned there. And now that the water is gone, it feels like their ghosts are kind of left with nothing, so they stay there and haunt the onlookers. 

I think to go to this place, I would have to be aware of the trespassing laws in the area. I would also get there by car, I like the experience. I would take enough money to stay for a good week. I would also have some friends with me. My camera and a tripod would accompany me, along with a few lenses. 

africa

Brandt captured the animals from very close, so he could "see their souls." I think that is really cool, especially because he appreciates the animals. The pictures reminded me of the film noir black and white sort of grainy style. I really liked the photos and the meaning behind them.

This is a photo of a wrinkly elephant. I really like how simple the background and I think it adds a certain element of dynamics. The elephant also looks like it is walking, its kind of cute also. I like how long the trunk is. I didn't know elephants' trunks reach down to the ground until now.

The rules that are evident here are simplicity and a little bit of rule of thirds. The simplicity is in the plain background that accentuates the foreground. The rule of thirds is the horizon of the ground. Its not in the middle of the frame. 

Brandt refuses to use the telephoto lenses. This is because he wants to get close enough to the animals to see their personalities and their souls. He wants to capture the fullness of their spirit. 

The reason for taking the photos of the animals is that he wants to take photos of them in the state of Being. Brandt feels that every animal, whether it be human or non human, has an equal right to live. He wants to capture the fullness of their existence. He realizes that there is an existence problem among the animals, all caused by us. 

I think his hope in taking these photos is that people will get it. Maybe by capturing these animals in such a real way, such a real setting, we as a race would stop applying tragedy to ourselves. 

"There is something profoundly iconic, mythological even, about the animals East and southern Africa. There is also something deeply, emotionally stirring and affecting about the plains of Africa-those vast, green rolling plains punctuated by graphically acacia trees under the huge skies." 

academic shoot reflection and critique

SELF CRITIQUE

Some troubles that I had trying to follow the rules were that I kept going right back to 'lines.' I wanted to create dimension with the lines, but it ended up looking repetitive. I also found that all of my photos were boring.

I found that I did the rule of thirds really well. I think that that is the most important rule. It makes the photo dynamic. It is a rule that I have always been very conscious of. I didn't ever capture something in the direct middle. I don't think any of my pictures were boring looking. (the photo, not the content... the content was boring.)

A few things that I would have done differently are I would do a better job focusing the camera and looking for more simple backgrounds.

I would continue to have dynamics and depth in my photos using lines.

When doing my next prompt shoot, I think the rule of thirds will be easiest. I think this because that rule is an aspect of a photo that is essential and relatively effortless to achieve. All thats required to get a shot using rule of thirds is to change your perspective.

I think the rule that will be hardest to capture is balance. Sometimes my photos are rather heavy on either side. I like rule of thirds so it gets a little confusing.

I am pretty clear on all of the rules, but balance is a little hard for me. I don't really understand if it means to go against rule of thirds, or to have symmetry or radial balance or what. It's a little hard to wrap my head around.

PEER CRITIQUE 

http://harrisonlphotoj.blogspot.com/

I thought Harrison's photos were very well composed. They weren't repetitive and they were interesting. Each one was different and he followed the prompt well.

One thing I think he can improve on is making the subject more obvious. A lot of times in his photos I found myself not knowing who the subject was and the photos seemed to look a bit cluttered because of it.

academic shoot

1. The rule of composition that I followed was rule of thirds. I put the person in the upper third of the photo to make the photo more dramatic.

2. The subject of the photo is the girl.

3. I think it is semi-clear the the girl is the subject. 

4. To make the subject more obvious, I could focus the camera better. 

 

academic shoot

1. In this photo, I used framing and lines to frame the subject and create dynamics. 

2. The subject is the girl in the center doing art. 

3. The subject is very clear. There are no other objects like her in the photo. 

academic shoot

1. In this photo, I used the composition rule of lines. In the photo, the lines on the desks, computers, and in the background create dynamics. I also used the rule of thirds. 

2. The subject of the photo is actually the girl in the front of the photo. 

3. The subject of the photo is not actually very clear because I did a horrible job of focusing the camera in on her face. I accidentally focused in on her arm. 

4. I would have gotten better eyesight or worn my glasses and focused the camera better. 

academic shoot

1. In this photo, the rules of composition that I followed were framing and lines. 

2. The subject is the girl drawing. She is supposed to be showing the people down the line from her as well, as if to create dynamics. 

3. I would say it it clear to others what the subject of the photo is. 

old people funny captioned photos

In the comfort of her own home in Scranton, 84 year old Pamela Beesly focuses intensely on a Wii tennis match. Her family and friends gathered round, watching as she hit the PRO level Wii sports tennis. 

I'm sure many teenagers can identify with Mary Shepard's awesome shirt that she is seen wearing at local grocery market in Georgia. The smile she wore goes along perfectly with the shirt, but the cause of the grin was that it was the first day of peach season and she had some good ones.

91 year old Helena Murphy plays her medley of 'Hey God' by Vince Gill and 'Will You Remember Me' by Ed Helms. She passed shortly after performing a rather hardcore solo featured in Led Zeppelin's own 'Strairway to Heaven.'

followup to part II: senses

I see imperfection and humanness. I see crooked teeth, chapped lips and skin tone. I see the dark room that this was taken. I see tile floors, a dirty kitchen. I see remnants off fast food. The people's eyes and bodies are tired. I see longing to leave. 

I smell smoke and cigar breath. Morning breath and expensive perfume. I smell cheap metal and tropical music. I smell the old couch that is in the room. I smell body odor and evidence that they have not showered. 

I hear slow breathing, slow music. I hear an old phone ringing in the background. I hear cars and people outside. I hear the ringing of an old lamp. I hear other people talking about the subject. I hear people coming in and out of the room. 

I taste sweat, ashes, and soda. I taste cherry cough drops. I taste the city streets. I taste the sewers and fake leather. I taste mint toothpaste in my own mouth. 

I feel stubble, skin, and the smoothness of make up. Big pores and bumpy skin.  I feel empathy and craziness. They look like they want to say something, but are too tired. They look like they are waiting for something big. I feel similar. 

great black and white photographers part III

The first thing that caught my eye when looking at John Gutmann's photos was the mystery factor that he had. A lot of his photos were of people that were doing things or were just very interesting. The other thing I noticed was that the photos were black and white.

I think a way that I would want to show everyone about John Gutmann would be to put his photography up in the school on huge posters. I think it would be really cool to see people taking an interest in it, and not knowing where it came from. 

mural project

1. I think one theme that we could place around the school is different patterns of just the color blue. All I ever see here is brick and our school colors, a little piece of the sky or maybe a wave would be really nice.

2. I think that limiting someone to participate is silly. It should be cameras and camera phones.

3. I think it would be really cool if it was on one of the exterior walls of the school, like a little hidden piece of art.

aperture, shutter speed, and iso

aperture

f-stop 2.8

f-stop 16

1. Aperture is very similar to the human eye. The pupil size increases and decreases, depending on the light of it's environment, letting an adequate amount of light in and out. 

2. The smaller the Aperture diaphragm, the higher the Aperture f-stop number. 

3. The depth of field can be affected by aperture in that the more light that is let in, the more secluded the foreground will be. Meaning, with more light, the less background is focused. 

shutter speed

fast shutter speed

slow shutter speed

fast vs. slow shutter speeds

1. At the beginning while the sun was still up and courtyard had reasonably good light. 

a.) medium

b.) fast

c.) very fast

d.) very fast

e.) fast

f.) very fast

2. Toward the end when there is no sun and has gotten dark enough that you can't see from one end of the courtyard to the other. 

a.) slow

b.) medium

c.) fast

d.) fast

e.) medium

f.) fast

three shutter speed settings

auto: camera sets shutter speed and aperture automatically

aperture priority: aperture is manually selected, while shutter speed is automatically set

shutter priority: shutter is manually selected, while aperture is automatically set

manual: aperture and shutter speed set manually

 iso

iso 3200

iso 200

1. The shutter speed has to be high to freeze the motion of the athletes, so the iso can be high, to let in light at a dark event.

2. The author said to always use a low iso when there is plenty of light, or else there will be ugly grain.

3. The author suggested using high iso when attempting to freeze motion without a flash or light.

settings on the play canon camera site

aperture: 2.8 - 22

shutter speed: 1 sec - 1/4000 of a sec

iso: 100 - 25600

unusual and interesting photos - part 3

The three photos that I thought were the most important for photographers to remember when out shooting included:

number 3 - The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

number 16 - The Great Wave at Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

number 24 - Bathing at La Grenouilliere by Claude Monet

The Girl with the Pearl Earring

Simple Portrait

I think the photographer followed the suggestions and composed the photo really well. They shot a proper amount of light and used a dark background to make the photo more appealing to the eye.

The photo that would influence me the most is the Monet painting of the boats on the water. He displayed light and framing, which is very important to me. I think that those things make the photo look a bit more clean and sharp.

unusual and interesting photos - part 2

unusual and interesting photos - part 1

I really liked his work. I like how sharp and appealing the image is to the eye. I really enjoyed how antique and retro everything looked.

I think the way that he made the photos is that he lengthened the exposure and captured all three angles of the landmarks.

A great building for a picture like this would be the frost building in downtown Austin. This would be  very easy for me to access, for I happen to live in Austin.