Artist Statement

In the portfolio that is shown below are pictures of what I’ve been working on and completed throughout the semester. The first thing I worked on in digital photo is the rule of thirds and the latest work we completed in class was our header for our portfolio which is right above this. We worked on a lot of compositional tricks throughout the semester.
The compositional tricks that are seen throughout the portfolio are the rule of thirds, leading lines, macro, simplicity, extreme angles, framing, drawing with light, and fill on flash. All of these tricks help us in our own distinct way. For example leading lines helped us by following a line into the picture that leads us to our emphasis. Another one is macro this helps us get a closer view of our emphasis and see every little detail in our emphasis. On of my personal favorites is drawing with light because you have to find a sense of emotional given off by the emphasis that the photographer is trying to get across.
I really enjoy every part of my portfolio because it is a sense of accomplishment. Everything we have learned is very difficult and confusing at some points. It takes awhile to start getting used to Photoshop and all the stuff it can do. I also have a great sense of pride because everybody that I know looks at my portfolio and say they like it. Since they enjoy what’s going on in my portfolio I enjoy what’s going on in it.
Where I need to improve a little more in the future is in Photoshop. I know the basics and what some tools are used for but I would like to get used to the complex materials that can be used. Some places I’ve seen improved though, are in my designs that I make. Even though I use the basic tools they still come out spectacular since from were I started wasn’t so pleasant to look at. Some experience with my fellow peers and their portfolio’s were great because theirs look better or equally better to mines.

Personal Words

The lyrics I have chose this project are "deepest fear" by Marianne Williamson.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually who are we not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

The reason why I chose the lyrics above is because no one knows what there deepest fear is. Some people think it's like spiders or snakes but it's really how much power we have inside. It shows me why I ask myself questions about who I am when I already know the answer. We all have the right to become famous in our own way no matter how it is. It also shows me we should respect people for who they are and nothing else, but our mind wont let us.

Social Issue:"Our Nation"

In the picture there is the American flag which shows us that we are more than what people thing of us. The colors I chose to use is red, white and black because it incorporates the meaning of the statement. I also put a border around it with words that give a little back round about our nation.everything in the picture show off a little something about our nation.

The issue given above tells us there is more going on in the nation more than just what we see. Everybody sees the good about our nation like the freedom we have to leave and come from the country as we please or the love you see with the people from all over the country, but you never hear about the bad things that happen. Some bad stuff you don't hear about is the poverty and the violence that goes on, on every street corner in our nation. The way it relates to me is seeing all the people that walk into a soup kitchen asking for food because they live on the streets.

Scary Effects

My favorite one would have to be the alien. It's my favorite because we used a lot of different techniques to get it done. Some stuff that I learned was blood and glass brush in photo shop. I learned these when we were in the process of making our vampire. A difficult part that I ran into was using the pen tool during the making of my alien. We learned how to use them before we were able to put them in our alien picture. I think were we see all these effects are in magazines with most of the pictures they put in them. Another way we see them is in novels with there illustrating the point and how you go about imagining it.

Photographic Effects

My favorite one I really enjoyed doing was the cross process because it made all the colors in the picture pop. Another I liked to do was use the blur effect because you can make your emphasis pop out and have nothing else showing. The one I would like to learn more about would be the gradient because it shows colors in many different ways.

Portraits

I believe my most successful portrait would have to be the face portrait because it comes from an extreme angle, and the way her face glistens off the dark shades of the tree leaves. The way I created my artistic portrait is by having her lay down on a chair while holding he hair back right out of her face. The way the shadows of her and the chair come right off on to the canvas floor. The mood I captured with my client would have to be a little uncomfortable because she had to lay back on a chair. A prop I decided to use was a picture frame made of card board. The reason why I choose the prop was to capture my clients face while she was smiling and holding the prop at the same time. I like the way the photo turned out because it captured what I was going for. What makes my surprise photo different is there is two people in it posing in a different way. It also shows them enjoying themselves and enjoying life in every way.

Contact Sheet

My favorite compositional trick was lighting. The reason why I like it most is because it can show a different side of humanity in the dark state of mind. The one I think I would be using in day-to-day life would have to be Simplicity because it catches the emphasis in it's exact state at any time. It can also simplify your emphasis to what you want to capture. My least favorite would have to be Fill in Flash because it is very difficult trying to get a picture with a lite background and getting your emphasis in good lighting.

Compositional Trick #8 Fill in Flash

The way Fill in Flash effects the picture is lightening up your emphasis when there is a Shadow on it and when the background is all lighten up. You can see your emphasis much clearer and it is also noticeable of what they are doing. Were I would use fill in flash is when someone is in a dark place while the background is lighten up and also when it is really dark outside.

Compositional Trick #7 Drawing with Light

Drawing with light gives us a showing of emotion that is given off by our picture. When I look at my picture I see a sad emotion. I think she is sad because she's alone and feels scared about something.

Compositional Trick #6 Framing

Framing helps us with composition because it shows us our emphasis. My first picture of the cactus was a good picture of framing because the frame for the cactus was the tree. My second one wasn't as great becausethe picture was blurry, you couldn't tell there was a frame involved and the lighting was all wrong.

Compositional Trick #5 Extreme Angles

The reason why extreme angles are good to know is because it gives us a better view of our emphasis from above them or below them. I would have to say they are pretty close to being a good job because they shoe the emphasis from both below them and above them.

Compositional Trick #4 Simplicity

The way simplicity stregthens the picture by only focusing on the emphasis. There are no other objects that can distract your eye from what the emphasis really is. To me simplicity doesn't mean boring, it means a variety of ranges for the emphasis in it's simplest form. It gets you right to the point without hesitation. yes it is an effective trick because it shows us what were looking at with out having anything else to distract us, this is what I was thinking when I took my photos of a water bottle and a tree.

Compositional Trick #3 Macro

Macro shows the main emphasis you are trying to grasp while at the same time blurs everything else out. Macro also brings out the texture of your emphasis you usually don't see at all. It's also used to make smaller emphasis appear larger than the actual size of the emphasis.

Compositional Trick #2 Leading Lines

What we as photographers call Leading lines are the lines that take us into the picture and to our emphasis. They show us all around the picture inside and out. The reason to use them is very simple they lead you in and grasp your attention. The lines take you through the picture with great simplicity.

Compositional Trick #1 Rule of Thrids

The rule of thirds is showing your emphasis somewhere else other than the middle of the picture. It's a tic-tac-toe grid that shows us were we can find a good spot to put our emphasis. The reason why I used it here was to show the sequence of the birds while one is flying away in the top left and the other looking at me right in the middle.