Thursday, May 17, 2012

Photography Portfolio (junior year)

 ISO 100, aperture 1.8, and a shutter speed of 1/2500th of a second

This image was taking at the 9/11 memorial in NYC. I was trying to be creative with the flower and the names along the memorial. I love how the flower is in focus and the hand is not. I used a 50mm lens when I took this picture. I thought that the hand tracing the letters of the name fit the "sadness" within the memorial. The flower was unique because it was the only one in the 9/11 memorial. It was St. Patrick's Day the day this image was taken, so the green flower fit the image I was taking perfectly.

 ISO 200, aperture 4.0, and bulb

This image was taken in the middle on the interstate (I-30) between the two main roads. I liked how there were lines on light from the cars that were passing by. I LOVE ORBS! This orb was my favorite own out of the three we had to take for a six weeks project because it was so much fun to take! This image was exactly what I wanted. While taking this photograph, I had to be careful about how long I left the shutter open because of all of the car lights that were passing, so that was something new I had learned. This orb was so different from the others, I love it. This image was taken with a 17-50mm lens.

 ISO 1000, aperture 4.0, and a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second

This photograph was taken at one of the last home games. This image is one of the very top action shots I captured this year. I learned that the main technique used during football games is learning where the ball is going to be (following the ball). I used a 70-200mm lens to capture this photo. I was kind of accidental, but I really really like it because the guy with the ball is up in the air and you can see the other players trying to gets the ball away. Luckily, all feet and arms are in the picture instead of cut off. 

 ISO 100, aperture 4.0, and a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second

This image isn't one of my best images of junior year, but we took SO many headshots I felt the need to put one in my portfolio. This image was taken for the online newspaper because Chau Dong got the sophomore of the year award. At the beginning of the year, my headshots were terrible, but since we took so many, I gradually got better at them. I like this headshot because of the blurry background. I used a 17-50mm lens to take this image. I guess this picture shows "growth" over the year because my headshots got better the more I took.

 ISO 1000, aperture 4.0, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

The "theme" I tried to get my self-portrait to fit was purity. I tried to created a feeling/mood of innocence through the lighting and the was I was positioned. For this image I used a 17-50mm lens and 2 flashes, one on the right and one of the left. White makes me think of purity and innocence, that's why I used white. The hardest thing about this image was getting the white sheet to stay unwrinkled. For this image, I learned how to use a little bit of photoshop because originally the sheet didn't cover up the yellow wall.

 ISO 100, aperture 8.0, and a shutter speed of 1/320th of a second

I adore this image because of the three different reactions of the little boys. The lighting is really good too because it was cloudy outside. I learned that when the sun is out, its harder to capture a correctly lit picture than when its cloudy. The sun reflects a ton! I used a 70-200mm to take this image at Morris Elementary ISD. I thought this image showed what I learned about getting framing correct within in a photograph. 

 ISO 1000, aperture 4.5, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

I took this image at my very first volleyball game. I used a 70-200mm lens, and the photographers and I used two speed-light flashes on either side of the bleachers to get as much light as possible. This image won 3rd place in the ATPI fall competition in the sports/action category. I learned how important it is to get the timing just right when taking sports. I love how there is a black background and the ball is still and the intensity shown from the volleyball player. This image is my favorite out of all the ones I took this year. 

 ISO 200, aperture 4.0, and bulb

This image was like my major "light room" project. This image took for ever because Brianna and I did each word separately and then we traced a cut out of the Texas. We used an orange light bulb for the main words and a flashlight to outline the Texas. Outlining the Texas took the longest because we had to put a thin line of foil around the edges of the cut-out in order to get enough reflected light for the image. This picture was created for the 2012 Convention t-shirts that Texas High leadership/STUCO was holding. I used a 17-50mm lens. This complicated photograph took a few days of constant work to finish. Brianna, Smith,and I used photoshop to put all of the individual photos together. 

 ISO 100, aperture 16.0, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

This was one of my very first images when I was learning about lighting. This was an image taken for a  book cover photography project. The theme was "secrets." I love the eye-contact that you get from the image. I used a 17-50mm lens and a flash on the right side. I learned how weird and tricky lighting is from the experience of taking this image.

ISO 800, aperture 2.8, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

I took this image after a football game while the team was praying.  I love the lighting in this image and how Michael Stanley is framed. This image was taken with a 17-50mm lens and a flash. When I took this picture, I was trying to capture an emotion because emotion is one of the most important things in a photograph; emotion within an image makes it stand out more. I like how Michael is the center of the image and the other guys are cut off. 

Personal Reflection:

Out of these ten images I really like the volleyball image and the prayer picture because they both capture so much emotion. The volleyball image is like a frozen version of an important moment. Both of these images are images that I look back at to remind myself of how much I enjoy taking pictures of sports and emotional appeals. I also love the framed image of the three little boys at Morris Elementary because of how adorable they are! I learned a lot about framing and getting the timing just right from these three photographs. The people in photography was a major part that made me want to remain a part of the Commercial Photography program. I love photography because of all the memories a single picture can bring back. A photograph is a captured memory. The people in photography have become some of my very best friends. They have gotten me through the deathly junior year, and photography is my favorite class because the people in it are always so upbeat and wonderful. I'm excited to be the newspaper photo editor next year and teach the upcoming photographers what I've learned this year and more. After I leave this class, I will continue to use what I learned in the class through personal photography. Although I don't want photography to be my major career, I do want to make photography my main hoppy. I love it so much!