American Soldier

A. I believe the most powerful image from the slideshow is the three guys sitting on the bed with their arms around each other. They look like they are emotional and if I was to take away a potential situation from just looking at the photo, I would guess that they don't want to lose loved ones in the war.
B.

• At home: photo #1-3
• Basic training: #4-19
• Iraq: #20-27

C. The most powerful set of images is the basic training set in my opinion because everyone looks so innocent and they are being thrown into this completely different world of war.
D. The images all work together to form a story because it shows every part of what he went through, including how he got from one place/point in the story to the others.
E. In most of the sentences where Ian is the main subject, they are written in past tense.
F. The captions really enhance the images because although the images are impressive, a caption always helps in really getting the story/point across. If you know what's happening in the pictures, then you get more out of looking at it.

Self Portrait and Portraits pt. 1

Tips

• Play with Eye Contact
• Take Unfocused Shots
• The settings in which you make pictures of people are important because they add to the viewer's understanding of your subject.

Environmental Portraits

I chose both of these environmental portraits because they both show a lot of emotion and their environment really gives the setting. The man sitting on the couch alone in front of a painting of who you would assume to be him and his wife, who probably passed away. The man in the other picture is in his place of living and it looks very dirty and he looks very unhappy.

Self Portrait

I think both of these self portraits are very cool. Portraits are actually my favorite kind of photo to take, so usually when I see others that are cool I just automatically like something about them. Maybe because they're black and white or the fact that neither of them are dolled up or anything, it's like a very raw state.

Casual Portrait

I chose these photos because they weren't as weird as all of the other ones on the google search. There weren't any interesting casual portraits. Also, both of these people are famous from acting.

Portrait Assignment Plan

For my assignment I plan on using my girlfriend as my subject because she who I shoot mostly, and I plan on shooting her in a setting with a lot of feeling/expression of who she is. So maybe like her in her room with all her posters around her, or a bunch of clothes on the ground because she is messy and she loves different kinds of fashion. To make sure I get a quality photo I will adjust the ISO according to how much light there is in the room and I will make sure every photo is properly focused. Since she won't be moving at all, I think those settings are more important than shutter speed.

Love and Loss Warm Up

1. As I worked through these photos I felt my sadness increasing throughout. Seeing their happiness wither away because of the cancer is very depressing.
2. This quote in my opinion means that these photos are so up close and personal that it really shows them and who they are. It's not just a portrayal, it's like a live stream of all that they're feeling.
3. If I were in this situation, I don't believe I could take such private photos like this to share with people. More importantly, I think I would be so saddened by the situation that I wouldn't have any inspiration to take photos.
4. If I could write a letter to Angelo, I would commend him on his beautiful photos and his strength in difficult times. I would also send my apologies about the tragedy he has had to face.

Rules of Photography Part II

Theme: Flowers

Mergers

Cropping

 Leading Lines

 Balancing Elements

Framing

Symmetry and Patterns

Background

 Viewpoint

 Rule Of Thirds

 Depth

Africa and Abandoned Theme Parks

Africa

1. After reading this article, I have a lot of respect for Nick Brandt. He seems to really believe in the topics he speaks about and that he really cares for the animals that are being killed and he wants to do something about it. I really like the way he talks about why he doesn't take the photos from afar with a lens with a very long zoom; he says he wants to capture their soul and that is very cool in my opinion. Also the fact that he would wait 18 days for a good picture is respectable and I think he deserves a lot of credit for such a cool photo that he really worked for.
2.

3. This photo displays an interaction between a family (I'm assuming) of baboons that you really can't pose or make up. I just think it's quite priceless and I like it because it's simply attractive to the eye, the light coming in is really cool, and I also like the baby baboon and the emotion he creates.

4. I think balance is evident in this photo because neither of the subject outweigh the other and I also think simplicity plays a big part in this photo. Although there are trees in the background, they are blurred out and only add good things to the photo.

5. 

6. Brandt takes these photos because he has fallen in love with the animals and the landscape of Africa and if I were to guess, he would still do it even if he didn't get paid for these photos.

7. His hope in taking these kinds of photos is that he can really capture his love and feelings for the animals in a way that other photographers can't.

8. "I want my images to achieve two things in this regard-- to be an elegy to a world that is tragically vanishing, to make people see what beauty is disappearing. Also, to try and show that animals are sentient creatures equally as worthy of life as humans." -Nick Brandt

Abandoned Theme Parks

1. If I were to go to any of the abandoned theme parks from the two articles, I would choose Takakanonuma Greenland, Hobara, Japan. It looks very hazy and like there is a thick fog surrounding all the rides. It looks like it's colder and cloudy. You can almost tell it's a place outside of the U.S. I feel like I could take some very cool photos of all the greenery surrounded by the thick fog.

2.

3. Other places that would be cool for photographers to shoot in my opinion could be abandoned swimming pools, abandoned skate parks, abandoned apartment buildings/condos, malls at night when everything is closed and dark, cool parks at night, etc.

4. 

5. Abandoned swimming pools such as this one remind me of old call of duty maps I used to play on and they've always just struck my fancy and I think they're super cool. I would like to find a cool one someday. I think they are cooler when they're indoor and/or graffitied like this one. 

6. It's kind of hard to tell what it would take to get shots of any of these places I listed; it could be up to luck, such as finding one nearby and being able to take photos of it without even having to travel out of Austin. But if I was to find one of the cool abandoned swimming pools like the one above in the middle-East I would of course have to get airline tickets and such. Same circumstances for if I was going to a really cool abandoned theme park in Japan/South Korea.

Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO

Aperture

1. We can closely relate aperture to the human eye.

2. The smaller the aperture number, the higher the aperture size.

3. Aperture affects the depth of field in a shot because it controls what the picture is focused on. 

Shutter Speed

Low Shutter Speed

 High Shutter Speed

with good light:

a) high shutter speed

b) medium shutter speed

c) low shutter speed

d) high shutter speed

e) medium shutter speed

f) medium shutter speed

with low light:

a) low shutter speed

b) low shutter speed

c) low shutter speed

d) low shutter speed

e) low shutter speed

f) low shutter speed

• You can shoot in aperture priority mode and the camera automatically sets the shutter speed. You can set the camera to shutter priority mode and you choose the shutter speed, but the camera will set the aperture for you. If you choose manual mode, you choose the aperture and the shutter speed.

ISO

1. Advantages of shooting at a higher ISO when shooting at a basketball game or a night football game is that in these situations, there isn't very much light available and you don't want the pictures to show up dark. A higher ISO will make the picture lighter.

2. The author suggests to try and use lower ISOs whenever possible. He says that whenever you do, give your camera enough time to take the picture and that moving subjects will end up looking like ghosts.

3. The author suggests using higher ISOs whenever the picture does not have enough light. Also he suggests using a higher one whenever you're capturing an ultra-fast subject.

DSLR Camera

1. On this camera, apertures f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, and f/22 are available.

2. On this camera, the shutter speeds 1 sec, 1/60 sec, and 1/4000 sec are available. 

3. On this camera, the ISO settings available are 100. 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, and 25600. 

Funny Captions

 

A couple from Dripping Springs want to grill some squirrel for supper, so they use what they have. They had never been able to afford a grill, but this was a fine idea to them.

 Beatrice celebrates her 100th birthday with a cake. She smoked cigarettes her whole life and she doesn't slow down for anyone.

Bill, Richard, and Roger play some poker while their wives are at church. They played all the time back in the day before they got married.