Last Day Reflections

What did you learn about photography that you did not know before?
I learned about the law of thirds, shutter speed, aperture, how film is developed, how to light a picture correctly, how to use photoshop and how to focus on the little things in a picture. I learned how to pose people and objects, how taking pictures from different angles and distances can change an ordinary object drastically. I feel like I was moved by photography, that now I see the world in different ways and use my photography to create the world again, in the way I see, or want others to see it. I've also learned that siblings make good models, but models will only work with you when they are happy or you decide to help them on something else, too. I can never go back to the way I shot photographs before, it's too senseless and imperfect, and now I can take them in my own way and edit them on photoshop to make them even more of what I want.

What did you learn about yourself this semester?
I started to describe it in my last question. I see the world in a different way with photography. From the self portrait photos, I learned that photography is a way for me to channel myself, and my personality for the world to see. I might be kind of quiet or shy, but through photography I can show the crazy and energetic side through my photos. 

What do you wish we had done that we did not?
Field trip to downtown Portland for an all-day picture shooting fest where we try to take as many cool, wacky and beautiful photos, and maybe photograph some crazy-looking people. I think that would be fun and help us to find interesting photos in everyday life.

What was your struggle?
Number one struggle was with photoshop. I think that everyone should have photoshop at home because I would work all class on a photo project, but wouldn't finish, and we'd move on to a new project before I could barely publish the last one. I think that a lot more people would get their stuff done on time and with better quality if somehow everyone had photoshop to work on at home. 

What did you conquer?
In the light project, I couldn't figure out how to get the light just right for the silhouettes. I had tried using a bare bulb in my room, but that didn't work. So I took my bedside table lamp, covered the bottom and inner sides, and went outside at 2 in the morning with my sister and did a photo shoot with all of our stuffed animals on the backside of our house. It turned out well, and I learned about lighting and the amount of light along with your setting controls the picture and the shadows of the objects.