Museum Visit

What originally attracted me to this piece was the thought, "Wow, how could someone possibly get a shot like that?!" The movement and spontaneity involved in this piece really amazes me.

This photograph employs a head on medium shot of a puffin in flight. The depth of field of the shot is extremely shallow, so much so that the puffin's feet are slightly out of focus, and the background is completely obscured. There is nothing besides the bird in the frame that could distract from the movement communicated in the shot. The angle used allows the wingspan of the bird to cut the photo with a graceful diagonal, and it sets the face perfectly parallel to the bottom of the frame.

I'm not sure that I would change anything about this shot, apart from possible experimenting with alternative angles. The photographer was extremely successful in communicating the movement of the bird and the spur of the moment action involved in taking the photo. I love it.

You Tube Video Critique

Italian Laundry Commercial

Like all You Tube videos, this one moves quickly. Each shot is short in duration allowing the commercial to progress efficiently and fit everything into the limited time alloted to it.

The shots used on the husband (from behind and the pan up his mostly naked body) reveal the hilarity of his appearance. This in turn makes his implications to his wife seem utterly ridiculous.

A series of close ups comes to an end in a medium shot that includes both the husband and the wife. The focus for the shot is on the wife's expression. However, the viewer can still see the husband, out of focus, in the background of the shot. This provides a reference that complements the wife's reaction to her husband's approach.

Progress across the room is quick and awkward as are the wife's movements as she shoves her husband into the laundry machine. This quick series of shots keeps the viewer engaged. The film also makes good use of the man's yelps, while in the spin cycle, to provide background noise as an extended close up of the product is shown.

After the product is introduced to the viewer's attention a close up of the wife and new husband communicates the various emotions of wife and husband quickly, efficiently and simultaneously (i.e. arrogance, surprise, amazement).

The shot that pans down the new husband's body emphasizes the difference between the before and after products by reminding the viewer of the shot that paned up the original husband's body.

Finally, the last shot uses the new husband's body and framing from the shelves behind him to sell the product's tagline. This is where the viewer can make the ironic connection implied by "Coloured is Better."

Graphic Design Poster: Jupiter Station

My poster advertises for a futuristic living community based in space called Jupiter Station. The intent of the poster is to communicate a diverse community with as little text as possible. The three text pieces read top to bottom and left to right to make for easy and efficient viewing purposes. The images in the design on the left connote different lifestyles and center about the statement, "a living community with a place for everyone." The four images of the man, the women, the child and the married couple act in conjunction to further the theme of diversity within the larger community. I designed the poster so that the left hand side would communicate themes about what was represented on the right in order to advertize specific qualities about the station.

When someone sees the poster their attention will be drawn from the top left along the bright comet towards the space apartment complex (Jupiter Station). The right half of the poster (secondary to the viewer's attention) communicates minor themes to advertize the station. The two space jets headed in the direction of the station imply travel to and from the station is possible and accessible. The trademark symbol to the bottom right of the station indicates a certain professional quality to the establishment, but it is nonetheless contained to the side by the station in order to keep it from detracting for the larger themes already stated. Finally, the catch-phrase at the bottom acts as a send off for the poster at a point where the viewer's attention would naturally detatch. The phrase lends a certain playfullness to otherwise serious themes communicated by the poster to leave the viewer feeling comfortable with the advertizement.

Citations for images:

www.inhabitat.com

www.drexfiles.wordpress.com

www.martianchronicles.wordpress.com

www.whateverlah.com

Self Portraits

FACE

To make this image I used the free select to single out my face and then used the inverse function to select everything else. I brought down the saturation level of the inverse selection to -37. In order to achieve the higher contrast throughout the image the dark strokes emphasized the shadows on my face.

1. Saturation adjustment
2. Dark strokes

FINGERS

Here I first used Gaussian blur at 8.6 pixels, and then adjusted the color balances between the fingers to emphasize sections of red, blue and green. Using the liquify tool I swirled the colored spaces in between the fingers.

3. Gaussian blur
4. Color balance adjust
5. Liquify

IN MY VIEW

For this picture I wanted to show what a landscape picture looks like from my perspective when my bangs have grown too long. To add more color in the sunset and in the hair I raised the saturation level to +37 and the contrast to +20. The curves function helped to raise the green input level to 29.

6. Contrast adjustment
7. Curves adjustment

Group Photo Project Report

Four Girls and a Guy was, overall, a successful team. We completed the project on time and were able to work cohesively. There were, however, a few challenges that we had to overcome in order to finish the project on time. We used Facebook messaging as our primary source of communication to organize when and where we would meet, and what the deadlines would be.

This worked well for a few days, until people started to take a lot longer to respond on the thread. As more and more time passed I became increasingly concerned that no one was taking pictures and that we would not be able to compile them in time for the presentation. Because Facebook seemed insufficient for group communication we had to expand and be more aggressive with our methods of communication. Text messages, voicemails, phone calls, emails were all necessary to keep people up to date with where the group stood in relation to the project deadline, but even then one of our group was still impossible to get a hold of. Our methods of individual photo collection and compilation via email worked well, as did all of the communication methods we utilized, but there were limits to our solutions for group friction.

I learned a lot about how to execute a photography project, but two things in particular stood out from the experience. I found it difficult to recognize the point at which it is best to stop trying to get a hold of someone and decide to finish the project without his or her input. We set deadlines for when each member would be responsible for submitting their photos for compilation. When members of our group failed to meet the deadline we worked to include them despite the fact. Next time I want to try and stick with self-enforced deadlines better; that way members who are following the deadlines do not waste time waiting for unresponsive members to participate. I want to be able to better recognize the point at which group harmony takes back seat to productivity. Secondly, I learned how much time it takes to collect photographs. Allocating enough time for photo field trips and for experimentation can be difficult, and is not something that can be done in spare time.

The final composition worked very well, and I feel that all of the images communicated force in a variety of ways. It was interesting to see how all the pictures represented each member’s individual conception of how force manifests itself in the world. My pictures focused primarily on abstract and natural forces, whereas other group members illustrated human or manufactured force. Out of all of my pictures me favorites were of the fresco above the cathedral. The fresco of human forms twisting and straining in a maelstrom was a clear expression of force. The cathedral offered many impressive opportunities for photography, but I found this particular fresco to be a rather abstract representation of force. My photo of the fresco in the presentation uses the fresco’s surrounding walls to emphasize the relative chaos that immediately surround the subjects. The curve of the arc enclosing the fresco also offers contrast to the random lines and curves of the bodies and background inside. I chose this particular part of the sculpture because it seemed to me as though the human forms were pushing out against the edge of the fresco, almost as if to push it out of the photo’s frame. To me, this photograph conveys an abstraction of internal human forces.

Word Count: 590

Too Many Ads

Freedom of speech and expression are becoming more and more difficult to defend every day. And for good reason, people we are overwhelmed with images and messages everyday on a scale that has increased exponentially since those fundamental freedoms were first laid down. The volume of messages we receive, whether through words, sounds or images, necessitates some order in their production and distribution as the pace, volume and potency of information continues to rise. It is for this reason that we have institutions like the FCC and other federal oversight groups; to establish the rules and regulations that organizations must play by in order to publish a given image. In the example of Benetton from the "Visual Persuasion in Advertising, Public Relations and Journalism" article, the images associated with the groups advertisements do not correspond with their stated purpose as a merchandise corporation. No matter how noble, or ignoble, the intent may be, Benetton is not an organization whose stated purpose it is to point out social wrongs and has no place using purposely offensive images for the supposed sale of their products. If Benetton wanted to make a point about AIDS then they should present themselves to the public as an organization that sells clothing AND promotes human rights. Then they will be held to the same standard as all the other organizations who fight for social change.

Exploration of a Chinese Vase

This image, one of the first from my collection, brings together smooth curves and fine texture, both of which are pleasing look at. The layer of translucence between the vase's internal painting and the shag of the blanket adds an element of transition between the two halves of the photo.

In contrast to the previous image, that showed the vase at a very close point of view, the vase appears less imposing from a more distant point of view. The folds in the blanket lead the viewer's eyes towards the relative intricacy of the vase. Both this image and the previous image serve to emphasize the designs on the vase, but use different points of view to do so.

A view from above emphasizes the more subtle design in the cap of the vase. The light from the right side of the frame also serves to create an interesting teardrop shadow effect that points towards the left side of the frame. Moreover, the color of the wood backdrop (particularly when it presents a glare from the light) provides a tone that complements that of the vase creating a camouflaged effect.

A strange ellipse hovers in the center of this image surrounded by an obscuring translucent substance. In fact, this is the bottom of the vase; because the painting is done on the inside of the vase the paint seems to hover in the glass container. The glass contorts the images behind the vase and the concentric circles lend a sense of repetition, similar to a ripple.

This image focuses on the vase cap as it is distinct from the rest of the object. The grains in the wood backdrop give a sense of size to the cap, and the reflection of light just below the quartz deposit conveys the object's smoothness and luster.

This photograph, taken by Robert Doisneau and published in Life Magazine (1948), is titled Sidelong Glance. The title of the photograph serves to emphasize what is almost immediately apparent upon first glimpse of the image. In the picture, a couple stands window shopping on a Paris street. The photo was taken from inside the window and captures a brief, but comedic moment. Doisneau set the photo up to catch the reactions of window shoppers to a particularly striking painting that was visible from the street. According to an interview he did with Regard Oblique (Paris, 1948), Doisneau hid his camera inside a chair and simply waited for people to pass by and react to the painting that was considered particularly risqué at the time. His wait paid off and Doisneau was able to capture this image of a man looking across his female companion at a nude painting. Symmetrical subject placement within the frame, the Rule of Thirds and a use of varying depths all contribute to attract the viewers attention to the aspects of the image that communicate the most meaning, thereby conveying the irony and comedy that Doisneau was so famous for in many of his photographs.

The couple on the right and the nude painting on the left of the frame balance each other out symmetrically and rest middle of the frame on a vertical axis. This technique draws the viewer's attention directly to the communication between the subjects: the woman is talking to the man, the man is ignoring the woman and instead looking across her at the nude. Doisneau identifies these subjects clearly, and furthers the feeling of irony by placing the nude at two intersections on the Rule of Thirds grid. The man, on the other hand, stands outside the focal points on the grid, and seems instead to sneak in from the side of the frame. Finally, Doisneau used depth variation to create a visually engaging photograph that grabs the viewer's attention and keeps it. There are three layers to the photograph: inside the store, the couple at the window, and the street behind them. Keeping the viewer visually invested in the image by creating texture with depth perception, Doisneau gives the viewer the time necessary to fully appreciate the subtle comedy of a situation that would otherwise appear mundane.

Sources

http://www.photoicon.com/modern_masters/46/

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/images/screen/doisneau/doisneau_sidelong_glance.jpg