Test Shot: Culinary

REFLECTION: For my portfolio, i'm debating if i should shoot fashion-like photos or shoot food. I've always been facinated with the way food is positioned and how it would come out it photos. These are the ingredients to making gingerbread houses all round up and taken a pictures. i think the colors and the texture of the gingerbread house.

Activism: California Marriage Certificate, no longer valid.

TITLE: Take backs.
MODEL: Darell Seria & Carlo Ybanez
REFLECTION: In this photo I tried to depict a couple that had got married in San Francisco when gay marriage was made legal in 2004. Later on, those licenses were no longer valid after the law was revoked. I wanted to show a man holding the license in his hand, slightly holding on to it while it almost fell to the ground. It's symbolic that they still hold on to each other and the thought that they mighty someday be able to have a legal, civil union but still feel that paper hold so much pain of what they thought could be. To capture this, I shot on a black ground and had one of the models sit on the black chair. I used a hot lamp and placed to the right of the models to highlight there silhouettes. I also used another hot lamp and positioned in next to the piece of paper to give it some light since it would have been hidden by the shadow of the chair. The shutterspeed and f-stop were low. Overall, I would like to reshoot this concept. I wanted to try it and experiment with it.

environmental

TITLE: Baseball Player
REFLECTION: In this photo, i have a baseball player posing with his bat. Before taking this picture, I looked in some magazines to find some inspiration. I found many ads with business men, or women in grocery stories and them i finally came across the ESPN magazine. Although i rarely read their articles, I always find myself scanning through their most recent issues for their pictures. In the magazine, I found Lebron James, a NBA Basketball player posing with his basketball looking into the camera very confidently. I then had an epiphany to try a similar shot with a baseball player. Although the final product came out nothing like the "Lebron James Photo" I was still very pleased with it. I like the nonchalant look on Reuben's face. In this photo, i wanted the background to be out of focus and the model in focus.

'Tis The Season

Title: 'Tis The Season
I took this picture because i looove poinsettias! love is a complete understatement. I think they are a sign that Christmas is on it's way and seeing them bring me warm memories of spending countless house wrapping gifts, and carefully placing ornaments on the christmas tree. In this picture, I wanted to capture the sweetness of this flower, although it wasn't even real. I love the way the shadows play upon this small crevice-like ridges on the petals. I photoshopped this photo quite a bit, increasing the contrast, playing will "Levels", adjusting the "Curves", and using a Sepia photo filter.

Extra

Title: Spin
REFLECTION: I really love this picture because i like how the hardness of the wood is captured. Do capture this picture, i used flash because it was taken at night (in 38 degree weather!. In photoshop, I increased the contrast alot and used Sepia.

depth of field.

TITLE:
REFLECTION: For this picture, I had to crop it substantially. The original picture showed the models face and even more of her lap. I wasn't pleased with my film but oddly enough, i'm happy with the picture i got out of this. I like this picture because it conveys a sense of innocence because the model is holding a flower very effortlessly. To contrast that feel, the background, all though intentionally out of focus, conveys a harder message because the plant is spikey. In photoshop, i adjusted the contrast a bit.

PERIOD 7, emotional

TITLE: Take backs.
MODEL: Darell Seria & Carlo Ybanez
REFLECTION: In this photo I tried to depict a couple that had got married in San Francisco when gay marriage was made legal in 2004. Later on, those licenses were no longer valid after the law was revoked. I wanted to show a man holding the license in his hand, slightly holding on to it while it almost fell to the ground. It's symbolic that they still hold on to each other and the thought that they mighty someday be able to have a legal, civil union but still feel that paper hold so much pain of what they thought could be. To capture this, I shot on a black ground and had one of the models sit on the black chair. I used a hot lamp and placed to the right of the models to highlight there silhouettes. I also used another hot lamp and positioned in next to the piece of paper to give it some light since it would have been hidden by the shadow of the chair. The shutterspeed and f-stop were low. Overall, I would like to reshoot this concept. I wanted to try it and experiment with it.

Just Cause.

PERIOD 6

TITLE: C/O 20X
MODEL: Jamarr Love
REFLECTION: In this photo, i shot outside using a reflector. I lowed the camera's f-stop and had jamarr lift up his fist as i focused in on it. I wanted to get a shot of his ring because he always talks about it so I wanted to capture something that truly depicted some of his personality. I love shooting with a shallow depth of field so I blurred the background and focused on his fist. Hands also seem to be my new obsession. After developing, I wasn't sure if this picture was too dark and had too much exposure. I tried doing another one and exposed it for a little less time but it didn't have the same affect on me as this original picture did. Overall, I believe this was a successful shot and I was thoroughly pleased with it.

PERIOD 6:

TITLE: sunny dreams
MODEL: jamarr love
REFLECTION: in this photo, i decided to shoot jamarr laying on the ground. Normally, I am against shooting outside in the sunlight but, i thought it was fitting. The goal for this shot was to capture someone enjoying a pleasant, relaxing summer day outside. Coming back from such a tough and rigorous junior year, i thought it would be nice to have a picture capture what most of seniors were feeling. Many of us feel slightly de-stressed and prepared to make those crucial, life-altering decisions. To accomplish this shot, I used a light reflector to block off some of the harsh sunlight. I also lowered the f-stop and focused in on jamarr's hand. I placed jamarr's hand in the way that i did because i wanted him to show he's relaxed but reaching for something so he's not completely lifeless. I love the creases in his hand and they give the picture great texture and so does that grass. Overall, I believe this shoot was a success for being my first shoot with black and white photography. <3

PERIOD 7, stop-motion

TITLE: Drop Color
MODEL: Jasmyn Hiday
REFLECTION: For this photo, I had Jasmy drop four paint brushes. To capture them falling down I had to increase the shutterspeed and the f-stop. I also had to increase the ISO to 1600. I shot with all the lights off and the doors closed inside Ms. Miles' photo room. I shot with the strobe light and placed it at an angle to my model.My favorite aspect of this shot, is it's environment because i just love how the sinks and the paintbrushes work. I love the colors in this photo. Although there is alot of white, there is still punches of bright colors. I feel that I accomplished what i wanted to in this shot.

PERIOD 7, all in focus

TITLE: This picture has yet to be named :)
MODEL: Kristen Duncan
REFLECTION: In this photograph, I used Kristen as my model. I used to her for the all in focus shot because I felt she could be relaxed in her photos. For this shot, I had to increase the f-stop a little bit as well as the shutter-speed. I kept the ISO between 100 and 200. I also used a light reflector to block some of the direct sunlight because it was a little bit sunny that day and because i wanted to add some "nice lighting". Overall, I believe this picture was a success and i like it although it's not one of my favorites.

PERIOD 7, panning!

TITLE: A Blurry High
MODEL: Jake Francisco
REFLECTION: In this photo, I decided to use Jake Fransisco because he's really energetic and would be a great model to show movement. I had the model jump while I layed on the ground and moved the camera at the same pace that he jumped at. Panning was difficult for me because i couldn't moved my hand at the right pace so that he was in focus (while jumping) and the background was blurred. At first, I thought this shot was going to be much easier to capture but i ended up taking about 120 shots and only came out with a few that didn't show Jake so blurred. Overall, I believe that I could do this shot better once I get more experience to practice my panning.

PERIOD 7, shallow depth of field

TITLE: This pictures has yet to named :)
MODEL: Jasmyn Hiday
REFLECTION: I really like this picture for many reasons. Throughout last year, I always wanted shoot in front of the sinks because i loved the way the paint buckets were lined up in the back. When I was told that we needed a picture that displayed a shallow depth of field, I knew just exactly where i wanted to take it. I used Jasmyn Hiday because she is very beautiful and natural-looking. To do this shot, I lowered the F-shot and the shutterspeed and increased the ISO. After uploading i used photoshop the blur the picture a bit more, increase the contrast, and lower the brightness. I played with the levels and curves but overall there weren't many drastic to the changes that I needed to do. I believe this photograph was a success and it's one of my favorites i've shot.