Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Final Exam

This picture was my transformative photo because when I was shooting and editing it, I realized how much fun photography could be. I also realized that photography had the power to capture and share beauty. Before this photo, I merely completed assignments; after this, I actively sought out new photo subjects. Like Mr. Towell in the New York Times Lens Blog article about Magnum photographers, I realized that good photography does not have to be of unique and wondrous sights, but also "what is common with all people: everyday things, the small things". Discovering this led me to choose sunsets as my prompt for one of my three final projects, as sunsets are so ubiquitous and appear every day, but have so much simple beauty that everyone can appreciate.

The difference between shape and form is that shape is two-dimensional, while form is three-dimensional. For example, in my pictures that define Shape, I chose an angle that would show only the front sides of the leaves and petals, thus showing only a flat organic form. However, in my picture that defined Form, I chose an angle that would show the multiple dimensions of the petals and the flower as a whole, therefore expressing length, width, and depth.

The difference between pattern and repetition are that while pattern repeats a symbol or object, repetition incorporates this pattern to add movement and unity to the photograph. For example, in my picture that defines Pattern, I captured a pattern of eight identical rectangles arranged in a square. In my picture of Repetition, however, I chose an angle that would highlight the repetition of the shape of the flower petals while adding an element of motion that comes from the eye following the pattern around, as well as an element of unity that comes from the clumps of the petals' pattern.

My weebly about page is here. The Cook Phodography blog has inspired me, and their about page can be found here.

The most recent project I completed was about cafes. Prior to that, I had a Spring Expo gallery about sunsets. Before that, I had my first commercial shoot advertising for Northface products. I believe that my Spring Expo gallery about sunsets was the best out of these three projects, for multiple reasons. This gallery included my transformative picture that I talked about before, and helped me to appreciate some of the simple yet majestic beauty of an everyday natural occurrence. This project helped me expand my usage of editing tools and included some of the pictures I was the most proud of this year. As I said previously, this project helped me to appreciate some of the everyday, commonplace occurrences as much as I would a unique, momentous sight.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Student Website Reviews

Period 1 - Vina Kong
Best Photo: I believe that this photo is Vina's best picture because the dog is framed well and she displays an interesting contrast between the dog's white fur and the colors of the toy and the green carpet.

Period 2 - Jiayi Zheng
Best Photo: I believe that this picture is Jiayi's best picture because the colors of the flower fade perfectly from a vivid pink to a softer white-pink hue. The other colors of the background do not detract from the vibrancy of the flowers.

Period 3 - Hugh Smith
Best Photo: I believe that this is Hugh's best photograph because of the combination of the rich purple color, the warm bright sunlight, and the interesting angle.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Spring Expo Gallery






http://azhaomsjphotography.weebly.com/photography.html

Friday, May 15, 2015

Spring Expo Group Project

We will shoot on the Mission San Jose High School field, at sunset on Friday and Saturday night. We will shoot multiple photos as the sunset progresses, to include the "second sunset" that normally occurs 25 or so minutes after the initial sunset.
We will only shoot on days that are not heavily clouded, and we can always come to Mission to shoot on extra days. The weather forecast for Friday and Saturday night is slightly cloudy and 55 degrees.

Our camera is a Nikon D5300, so the files will be large enough to print. An estimate for our shutter speed is 1/60, but if we wanted to evoke different effects in our photos, we might change it.

Friday, May 8, 2015

First Commercial Shoot

Photo by Jacob Walter; this is the printable one

Photo by Alyssa Zhao

Photo by Jacob Walter


Photo by Jacob Walter

Photo by Elliot Suh

Our project was the North Face brand.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Triptych

Original

Camera Raw edit
Photoshop edit