Landry Photo 1, Final, Fall 2014

My most memorable experience during this semester is most likely when I went out to capture the photographs on the water. I drove out to many different places in Casco Bay to take the photos and focused mainly on historical objects such as remnants from WWII. One time I cautiously drove right up to an oil tanker at anchor off of Little Chebeague to capture the size of it compared to the water. Taking pictures of marine wildlife such as lobsters, crabs, seals and birds is another great part of this semester as I was able to get very good images of them. All in all, I enjoyed taking photographs this semester and will make sure that they are all backed up so I can look at them in the years to come.

The assignment that I'm most proud of is the free choice one. I went out early Saturday morning to make sure the tide was right so I could go on an island without being constrained by the shifting tides. I ventured out past Chebeague towards the open ocean and took a left and landed myself at Sand Island where I got to photograph all kinds of ducks. I didn't stay long as the birds' were nesting there and weren't too happy I was near them. I went back the way I came between Chebeague and Long Islands and dropped my anchor at Little Chebeague and waded in. I found many old cottages falling down and overgrown with bittersweet which angered me that the invasive vines had taken so much control over the place. I finally came back to Littlejohn and photographed the interesting boat traffic.

Culture Clash

Culture Clash

Purpose:

 

• To create a Clash of Cultures by creating your own Photo montage, combining images from Beijing, China and Yarmouth, Maine, USA;

• To further develop your Photoshop knowledge and skills;
• To create a “surreal” landscape by montaging a variety of photographs;

To know, use, and understand the Four Collage Techniques to in your Photo Montage: Juxtaposition/fragmentation, Point of View, Scale Change, Overlapping

  

I found that I was very successful at getting all of the objects to blend and fit together on the background. By zooming in close and using the very fine eraser, I could create an almost perfect object. Another success I found was that by adjusting different levels and colors I could really express the vibrance of the background. Finally, it got easier to manipulate the objects as I did it over and over again. Although selecting the layers was a bit of a challenge due to the many features and options Photoshop has in it.

Robert Capa, Famous Photographer's Movie

"This is a link to my Famous Photographer's Movie, "Robert Capa"

"Interests" Chris

I heard a loud rumble coming from Portland and I looked up and saw a massive oil tanker going right through Hussey Sound. The ship came from Norway and was over 900 feet long! It was carrying crude oil from the Middle East and traveled all the way across the Atlantic. The ship dropped it's massive anchor and I saw through binoculars the Harbor Pilot climb down onto the pilot boat.

"Food", Landry

When I took this photograph I could smell the hot dogs and heard the bubbling of the water on the stove. The package of hot dogs were frozen and very cold and the hot dogs split as they hit the boiling water. The package was bought for cooking over a fire but there was nothing to eat so I opened it up.

Shadows

I took this photo in my room at night with my bedside lamp as a light source. I got the idea to do this because I always saw how the light from that lamp made shadows. The photo was taken after I came inside and took my gloves off so I thought it would make a good shadow.

Selfie

I chose this picture because it is my favorite photo we took. I think it is a good self image of Ethan and I because we were looking towards the camera but were not in front of it. This creates a sense of the camera as a focal point we are focused on.

Portrait Techniques

One technique that interested me was alternate perspective. It's interesting because It brings out a view that you normally would not see in a photograph. Another technique is eye contact which can bring feeling to the photograph as the person's focus is not staring into the lens. Obscuring is also a good technique because is focuses your eyes on one part of the person and can bring out shadows and contrast. Lastly, introducing movement causes you to have a greater understanding of what is going on in the photo.

Famous Portraits

 Marylin Monroe Actress

5/6/1957, Anne Leibovitz

 Leibovitz takes photographs of famous people that are usually provocative and cause controversy. I chose this photograph because I know how famous Marylin Monroe was and that she affected American culture in a big way.

Woody Allen

1996, Arnold Newman

 He is known for taking photographs for magazines of famous people and set a standard in photography. I chose this photo because I know many of the films Woody Allen made.

 

Truman Capote

 1974, Richard Avedon

He took photographs of fashion and celebrity images. The photographs all had a blank white background to make the person stand out. I chose this photograph because one of his books was featured on Seinfeld.

History of Photography

I learned a couple different things doing this history of photography poster. One of which is how new photography is versus art and drawing. Humans have made artwork for tens of thousands of years and only in the last two hundred years have we had photography. Another thing I learned is the interesting ways photographs were taken in the 1800s. It took hours to get a photograph whereas right now it takes less than a second. Finally, I learned about the transition of photography from professionals to amateurs. When the Brownie camera came out in the early 1900s, it revolutionized the demographics of who can take pictures. This is important because it enables us to look into the lives of ordinary people back then.

Unusual Perspectives

This picture is of a clock that we have always had in our house. We have always had this and when it is silent, I hear it ticking. I finally learned Roman numerals by having to read the time on the clock too.

Hot. Cool. Yours.

Purpose:

• To strengthen your creative problem-solving skills so that you are looking at things in a different way;
• To find letters of the alphabet in everyday objects to create a word;
• To become familiar with basic Photoshop tools.

The first thing I learned whilst doing this project is that many things in our lives resemble letters and we might not know they do unless we really look at them. It's important to be able to see these things because it helps your recognition of words in everyday life. Another thing is how you can make objects that ordinarily don't resemble letters look like them. Such as with the air duct in the 'S' in "Yours". The last thing I learned is how contrast and brightness can have an effect on the values in the photograph. By increasing contrast, the difference in value of light and dark becomes greater. This is helpful as it can make outlines of objects show up better.

Composition

This picture I took used the motion blurred compositional strategy to show motion. The exposure timing of the photograph was set long which caused the lights of the ferry to trail behind it. This showed the movement of the object without using the action setting. Since it was at night, the only features were the ferry's lights which through a telephoto lens made them trail off. The photograph shows motion of the ferry at night and it's reflection on the water.

Shapes, Organic and Geometric

I took this picture because it is of my favorite car brand and the salt residue and dirt reminds me of the commercials that say, "built Ford tough". I set my camera to macro mode so I could a close up image. Another reason for taking the picture is that the Ford logo was sold during 2009 when car manufacturers were going bankrupt. Because of this, Ford was one of the few companies that didn't need a bailout from the government.

Motivation

I enjoy photographing activities on the water such as ships coming in to Portland or lobster boats off Chebeague Island. My favorite photographs came from Halfway Rock Light in Casco Bay. I am motivated by doing things that pertain to my interests. What helps is the teacher posting homework and classwork on their website.