Photography Portfolio

  1. Who are you and why did you take this course?

I am a nonbinary artist who wishes to get into art school, and I took this course to learn another artistry skill and enjoy my time while taking photos. I had always had an interest in taking photos, so I thought it would be interesting to join a class that taught me the many tools to take great photos.

 

  1. What did you learn in the course?

I learned the technical terms of a camera, like how to use Iso, what is depth of field, and how to use photoshop. I learned how to take better photos than I did before, such as what to focus on in a photo.

 

  1. How do you feel about photography? About your photography?

I really like photography and I really enjoy the photos I take. Sometimes I think it’s a bit difficult to navigate when I have to edit my photos, but other than that I really enjoy photography.

 

  1. What were some major challenges you overcame during this class?

Photoshop was very difficult to navigate but I’m glad I was able to work it out and learn from my mistakes. I still dislike Photoshop a lot.

 

  1. How will you use photography in the future?

Hopefully I will use photography when creating my artist portfolio for Emily Carr University (or any other post-secondary of my choice). I want to keep taking photos and maybe get my own camera.

 

Project 1: Tech Zone

For this project we were tasked to experiment with different ISO, aperture, and shutter speed in different photos with different settings. In this project I learned the difference between ISO and shutter speed. Slow shutter speed makes the object Infront blurry while a high shutter speed can blur a background. I think that it was difficult finding what to take photos of for the small aperture long shutter speed photo, in the end I ended up taking a photo of a pole on the sidewalk and it balanced on either side. For my first project I think I did a very good job for getting an understanding of the camera settings and learning how to take good photos. What I really enjoy about these two photos is that they have similar themes where they focus on water, you can see water droplets in both photos, and I think they look really good. I especially like the photo flow, that one is my favourite of this project. I think that I could have had a bit more variety in the photos I took because they were all outside. I should have taken one inside or in different lighting. Lots of the lighting in these photos were very similar, and that’s not a bad thing it just makes the photos a bit boring sometimes.

 

Project 2: Typology

The next project was about taking photos of the same things but have differences, so I chose to do leaves. They are all leaves, but they all have different shapes, colors, shades, and sizes. he leaves are sat on concrete as the background, so all the leaves look like they are in the same place. We were advised to take the photos all in the same day so that the lighting would be the same and have the same background for each item for consistency. For this project I learned how to place photos neatly in photoshop while using the ruler tool. Usually when editing I would just guess and eyeball it to see if it was properly lined up, but this time I actually learned how to use photoshops tools. What was challenging was the idea of what I was going to shoot because at first, I was going to take photos of people’s shoes, but that didn’t work out, so I had to find something else to take photos of in the end. It was also difficult to find different types of leaves, we have lots of trees at the school but lots of them had the same types of leaves, and either some of the leaves would be dirty or torn and unable to use. I really like the concept that I had come up with for this image, showing the colors of the seasons through the colors of the leaves that change on trees. Showing the colors of the seasons through the colors of the leaves that change on trees. I think that I could’ve gotten a larger variety of leaves because I think the three leaves at the bottom look very similar in shape. 

 

 

Project 3: Outdoor Portraits

 

This project asked us to learn how to take photos in natural lighting instead of using electronic lighting called available lighting. We had to learn about different angles on how to take portraits and silhouettes to take great photos. I learned how to use available lighting and how to pose my model correctly in that lighting to get a good photograph. The challenge was the different types of angles because I kept taking them, but they kept looking the same, I didn’t know how to fix them at first. But with a bit of help I was able to fix my angles of my model and how I was taking the photos. I really like how both images have great lighting and it looks really beautiful. I think that what could be improved were some of my angles on my other photos, they looked very similar.

 

Project 4: Time Magazine Double Exposure

For this project we had to take a photo of someone and edit it to look like they were on the cover of a time magazine. For editing we were told we had to have theming and manipulate multiple images to create a double exposure effect. We had to edit the photos to have text and boarders like the actual magazine. I learned how to edit photos better and how to make edit photos into greyscale, I didn’t know how to do that before. I also learned how to add boarders to my photos, as I needed to add a boarder onto the cover of the magazine I created. The photoshopping was really difficult and at one point I had lost all of my work and had to restart from scratch. Photoshop is very frustrating to me and I’m just happy I was able to work through it and learn how to manage through my project. I really like how the leaves and trees were edited on the magazine; it looks like it all goes together cohesively. I like how the outdoor images fade into the models face nicely and it doesn’t look messy or like flat lines connected to their face. I think that the background should’ve been a different color like a darker green or a dark blue, and I think that the lines of the nature silhouette against the background could’ve been edited to look a bit better, it looks a bit strange. I overall think this project turned out well and I’m proud of myself for doing a job on editing in photoshop, I just don’t enjoy it that much.

 

 

Project 5: Photography Guide

Photography Guide (1)

For this project we were tasked to create a photography guide that would help others take pictures using the correct aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. we were told to show example photos and aperture priority mode. We had to create a guide in Canva and put descriptions of each photo and what they are trying to help the student learn with. I learned how to use Canva really well, my editing skills have gotten so good from this project. I also learned how to take great photos when dealing with aperture priority. It was challenging to figure out how to write the descriptions when talking about the different settings in the guide. I like the photos that I had taken for the project and the template I made, but I don’t really like how my descriptions turned out. I’m not very good at explaining things so I really struggled in that aspect. I think my descriptions could be improved and explained better.

 

Project 6: Macro Photography

This project focused on taking up close photos of items and capturing the tiny details of each item. We used rule of thirds while capturing these macro photos to make them look better and keep our hands steady when taking the photos, so they don’t come out blurry. We were told to take 25 photos and take 3 of our best ones to hand in. I learned how to take great macro shots and how to get the photos very detailed and have them turn out not blurry. It was challenging to get my hands to stay still to have the photos stay in focus, it would take me a few different tries to get it right but was able to get it after a few attempts. I love the items that I chose to take photos of because they both have small, tiny details that were able to get captured and they look amazing. I think the lighting could have been improved a bit more, both photos look very grey and a bit dark and gloomy. They could have been a bit brighter to capture even more of the smaller details.

 

 

Project 7: Inquiry

For this project we were allowed free range to explore and take photos of anything we’d like, and for my project I wanted to take photos that focused on color, line and perspective. Each photo had a distinctive theme and color along with a written piece about each photograph. I chose rainbow color theming throughout all photos and different perspectives through all photos. Each photo will have an item that is a different color to the rainbow, shot with different lighting to mimic if the color is cool toned or warm toned. The perspectives in the photos vary from macro to different types of exposure where the items will be in focus while the background blurry, and the opposite, or all in focus. I learned how to create concepts and theming for my own inquiry project since I didn’t have a theme or outline to follow for my photos. It was challenging to come up with themes and what to take photos of, I struggled to think of what to do for the first few days because I’m very indecisive and I couldn’t think of anything that would interest me to take photos of. Lighting was also difficult for me because my camera settings were a bit messed up and all my photos kept coming out very dark, I was struggling with how to fix it, but I was eventually able to fix it. I really like the details in the photos I took, they are close enough to see the pine in the photo of the ornament, and close enough to see the ribbing in the ribbon bow. The theming could have been improved, looking back I don’t like the themes that I chose because they are just very basic, I think that if I had a bit more time, I could have come up with something better.

 

 

Project 8: Scrapbook

 

For this project we were tasked to take 10 new photos of items that relate to us and photoshop them into a scrapbook collage. I learned how to edit and use the cut and copy tools in photoshop, I had been struggling recently with using them so I’m glad I finally got the hang of using them. The photoshop part was really difficult to me but it just took practice for me to figure it out and being able to edit really well. I really like the overall theme that I chose which was lots of greens and browns all together. I like the items I chose such as my cats, things that relate to music, stuffed animals, books, and plants. I think that the photos I took could have been a bit lighter so we could see more detail, but overall, I think it turned out great and I really like it.

 

  • Create a list of possible things you can capture – Who are you? What makes up the important parts of your life?

I love taking photos and creating art, I’m a very artistic person. I enjoy music and vinyls, and the people in my life. Take photos of my art, my drawings, my paintings. I can take photos of my two cats; I love my cats. I can take pictures of my musical aspirations like instruments and vinyls. I would like to take photos of browns, greens and blues.

 

  • What elements do you want to add on to the photos you take? (e.g. favorite album, favorite brands, etc.)

Perspectives, depth of field, exposure for different albums, clothes, shapes, colors. Composition, line, value, texture, and rule of thirds.

The machine stops project

Here is my propaganda poster that explores The Machine Stops using Canva.

Free our minds 

Propaganda poster reflection 

When making our propaganda posters, I chose resist against the machine and making a poster that demonstrates my thinking and how I interpret Kuno’s thoughts. I chose mainly shades such as white, black, and grey, because even if a revolution is supposed to be cheerful and powerful, my poster shows the negative sides of the machine. The images shown tell the audience how terrible the machine is set out to be, how it’s taking over our minds, how it’s discarding our thoughts, and guiding us in the direction of distinction. Our minds are supposed to be used to invent, dream, think, feel, and without this freedom to decide for ourselves we live in a restricted depressing society. The machine supplies buttons for the people to push and it does everything for them, it makes the humans seem like robots in a routine of pressing buttons, then going to sleep, then repeating. The purpose of humans is to live and experience life, not being cooped up in a room in front of a screen and sitting on a chair for your whole life. This poster was mainly inspired by the scene in the book when Kuno starts thinking for himself and he goes to the surface for the first time. “I have found a way out of my own” Kuno said, Page 12. Kuno wants to move around, he want’s to go to the surface and he’s broken out of that control from the machine, he fights for his freedom to think how he wants, and that’s what he thinks everyone else should do too. Life should be more than machines and screens.

Synthesis Composition of The Machine Stops and WALL-E

A society and world in which everything is controlled by a machine is the exact premise of the story called The Machine Stops, written by E. M. Forster in the year of 1909. In this story we are introduced to Kuno and Vashti, Kuno being against the machine while Vashti seems to worship and love this controlling superior apparatus. Throughout the book we are told that Kuno is different, he thinks for himself, he’s more curious about things that others don’t care about, and he is persistent in what he believes. He has ideas of his own which are threatening towards the machine and seems to find his way out of the machine and to the surface, a dingy dirty place abandoned and shun by humanity. Once he goes to the surface he tells Vashti about it, and he finds out that she has been worshiping the machine, “You are beginning to worship the machine” (Pg. 12). When Kuno tells Vashti he thinks there’s something wrong with the machine Vashti denies, and in response to this Kuno leaves Vashti and abandons her while he goes off back to the surface. In the end Kuno ends up coming back for Vashti, trying to save her from the machine collapsing but they end up both dying. The conclusion is bittersweet though the message was an understanding of sacrifice and remorse for each other. This story connects with the article called Free will under threat. This article is about how we seem to be blending together with our technology, which is a very big parallel with The Machine Stops. In the article the author talks about becoming the tools we create, saying who is the machine and who are the tools, which connects to The Machine Stops since the machine is the hierarchy and the humans are it’s tools. Even if the machines don’t think for themselves, the apparatus in The Machine Stops is able to dictate the humans every move and provide them with censored information. In the article it mentions being overly dependent on our machines, and that’s what the humans in the story are doing, depending on the machine in everyway possible. The machine dresses them, it gives them content to look at, it gives them food, it tells us that the humans are treated like undeveloped children “The Machine …. Feeds us clothes us and houses us; through it we speak to one another, through it we see one another, in it we have our being. The Machine is the friend of ideas and the enemy of superstition” (Pg 22). Our humans in the book are portrayed as lumps that don’t move, similar to the humans in the movie Wall-E. In Wall-E the humans are on robotic chairs that lead them around on pathways throughout their ship called the axiom. The robot named auto is in control of the ship, just like the machine or the book in the machine stops, absolute parallels but in different stories. Our humans abandon the earth in Wall-E and expects the robots to clean it up for them while they are on the ship up in space. Our two main characters in Wall-E are robots with directives, while Eve’s directive seems more important, looking for vegetation on earth, Wall-E’s is just as important, he has to clean the earth for the humans. Without Wall-E then the plot of the story never would have happened, and the humans wouldn’t go back to earth, just like if they killed Kuno in The Machine Stops then nobody would’ve ever gone to the surface. Kuno was the future, he pathed the way for everyone else’s future and saved the rest of the humans from the machine. After reading and watching both The Machine Stops and Wall-E, dystopian literature doesn’t seem as wonderful as it was told out to be.

 

Core Competency Reflection

Identity Spoken Word

Here is my spoken word on my identity, and my struggles throughout my life.

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By Kirsten Nettles

Who am I? And who are you?

 Does it matter if I dress fancy, or my hair is blue

Peoples opinions of me shouldn’t matter yet somehow they do

I changed my whole wardrobe just so you would notice me

As I sit here feeling so empty

Do you see me?

Am I heard?

My feelings and emotions seem like they’re blurred

All these decisions and thoughts running through my brain

Watching it go round like a merry-go-round

I can’t stay still or pay attention

I don’t remember things well

And even If I listen there’s still no comprehension

Anxiety and my struggle with society

In a sad subliminal school of variety

It doesn’t make sense

Somehow the way I see myself

Or who I want to be is wrong

For I was my own self destruction all along

Spiraling spinning swinging bandages wrap my broken brain

Heal me from this high school pain

I’ve been brainwashed into thinking that I’m not right

The expectancy is for me to be both straight and polite

I’m in over my head what have you done to me

Who was the one who said teenagers were easy?

Straight people have deformed me into this perfect picture

To fit into gods holy scripture

My heart and my head always tend to disagree

I’m so blind I can’t see

I can’t see me in this mirror of insanity

pretending to be, running to flee, taking a knee so that I can breathe

Your words conquer over me suddenly

I cry and I cry thinking I’m not worthy

You’ve pushed me to the edge

And my thoughts have become murky

Intoxicated with what you’ve told me to be

Ghostly drowsy I’m not here

Coldly sorely I want to disappear

Then, silence.

Things start to heal slowly over time

My thoughts have been organized

but I feel like I’m still speaking in rhymes

Free from the stress crushing down on my chest

I feel as if I can finally breathe again

Gender conformity is my problem of the past

And so were your conceptions of me that had finally surpassed

Stop with your stereotypes and all of your hate

Because even if what I’ve been through is bad

I’m finally feeling pretty damn great