Essay 10 -Rewrite of Essay 6

Ever since the first time I looked at this image after taking it a year and a half ago at Chilifest, I have been completely entranced by it. Naturally it has plenty of symbolic meaning to me because it includes so many of my favorite things (Texas, country music, people, and the outdoors), but I've also always loved the composition of it. There are several compositional elements that make it great, but the four that I believe are most monumental are the lighting, the emphasis, the balance, and the rhythm.

This photo was taken at dusk on a perfect spring evening. The sun was low in the sky and cast a perfect glow on all the other concert-goers around me. Because the sun was so low and because it was dusk, the glow that it emits is a perfectly warm and comfortable glow that one can't help but wish to be included in. Since all of the people in the photo are around the same size, the light is evenly distributed and nowhere in the photo lacks this warmth.

Another factor that adds to the comfort of the photo is the emphasis of the flag isolated in the center. For those who have a lot of state patriotism, this photo is much more meaningful. Even to those who do not have a lot of Texas pride, they can easily see that this photograph is representative of the pride that we have. The photo is split horizontally through the middle and the flag is located in the center of a lot of open space which puts much emphasis on it due to it's isolation.

The fact that the flag is the primary element on the left side of the image draws a lot of attention. If there was nothing else in the main image plane, the image would be very unbalanced. The person in the foreground on the right hand side of the image seems unimportant at first glimpse but they actually have a very important purpose- they balance the image. The mid ground position of the flag when paired with the foreground position of the figure really balance each other out so it is not uncomfortable to look at.

The final impactful element of this photograph is the rhythm of all the bodies joining as one to create a sense of being included in the comfortable and warm image to the viewer. In between the foreground with the larger people and the mid ground with the flag, all of the people are all similar in size which promotes a feeling of repetition and rhythm.

All of these design elements brought together helps to promote the over all pleasure that viewing this photography brings.


**I did not make any changes to this essay because I felt that there was not much more on which I could elaborate. I am already content with it as it is as well as the other recent essays. 

Essay 8

For this essay, the assignment was to select a film sequence and then analyze it using the concepts in the notes. I decided to select the trailer from the upcoming release, "The Hobbit".

The success of the previous three Lord of the Rings movies shows that the directing crew and editors are doing something right in the filming of this film, but here I will dissect the individual elements that make the new trailer so appealing.

Although there is a sample of the soundtrack in the trailer, there is also a preview of the dialogue. Since this is a very action packed movie, in order to clench the audience of the trailer and heighten anticipation for the movie, there is a lot of the fast paced action and dialogue shown.

The variety in camera movements of these action scenes helps add to the excited mood of the trailer. The director of the movie and the editor of the trailer chose a very nice variety of change in both orientation and position. Of all the camera movement types listed in the notes, all seem to be used. One of the strong aspects of these films is the scenery and all the different locations of filming (or computer generated landscapes). There is a large portion of this trailer where the camera pans across long landscapes. Many of the most groundbreaking scenes used in the trailer are where a character is saying something pivotal to the plot and the camera motion uses a lot of dolly, tracking, and crane motions to create the various moods of what is being said whether the focus of the shot is on the speaker or the character(s) that are reacting.

Because this is a trailer, there is a lot of editing, cutting, and compression between the shots in order to make the trailer as "short and sweet" as possible. It would be an extremely boring trailer if there were long scenes of casual chatting or walking from point A to point B. The distances and gaps between the clips leaves it up to the imagination what will happen next until the viewer goes to see the film! As far as expansion goes though, it is not used here in this trailer because once again, it would make the trailer much too long and boring.

I find that this trailer captures the audience's attentions fabulously and the variety in the shots and subjects creates the perfect mix to create anticipation for this film and I would not make any changes.

Trailer -->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTSoD4BBCJc

Essay 9

My chosen visualization topic of interest is color. Ever since I can remember, color has always been my favorite element of design. I've been told that I've been color coordinating items since I was little. My mother told me that I used to color coordinate my pegs and other childish toys that I was given. Even now, my closet is color coordinated to a ridiculous degree. A favorite past time of mine several years ago was to scavenge through magazines and clip as many colors as I could and then paste them all together and try my absolute hardest to create a perfect color spectrum. It wasn't as difficult as it might seem to some people because I've always had a strangely keen understanding of color and how different colors work together or don't on a visual level.

One of the things about color that fascinates me the most is how it is used to convey anything. Without color, nothing would exist in my opinion. Color is the sky and the grass, the books we read and the clothes we wear. It gives shape and size through contrast and tints and shades.

Most importantly, it is used to convey emotions. The fact that the subconscious mind takes the color red and turns it into anger absolutely blows me away. It seems so many people don't take that into account when doing things like selecting their clothing or the paint for their living room. In this case, the color red is not just a favorite color that people choose to plaster on their walls, it is the emotion they want to convey to their guests and how they want to feel on a permanent basis. I am amazed at how certain ones like light blue or pastels can immediately be calming.

Another thing that I find awesome is how as a society, specific colors have come to have a certain association and iconology. An example could be purple which often refers to royalty and high society. Or green which can relate to nature or money but could not be associated with poverty as the color grey or brown could.

Scientifically, one of the most impressive things about color is simply how it works. I love how the color we see is actually the result of an extremely complicated process based on the lighting and the material and what is rejected versus accepted based on the current standards.

Overall, I find color absolutely fascinating and I feel that design and the world as we know it would all cease to exist with out it.

Essay 7

This image is a rendered, unsurfaced, and untextured model of a pair of lungs and the trachea that i modeled two years ago.

The lungs began as a simple cube. Let's assume the left one was modeled first. If my memory serves correctly, a mirror modifier was placed on a single one along the y-axis. The mesh of the cube was then carefully changed. The top left corners would have been lowered to almost the mid point of the entire cube and then the vertices touching that corner were lowed and lined up accordingly. All of the edges along the top were also moved into a smoothed position to help form the slide of the lungs.

This same technique was used on the rest of the general shapes of the lungs to form the bean shape.

The interior of the lungs where they begin to connect with the trachea weren't as simple. There weren't many edges available to form into the dipped shape (it's there I promise, just difficult to see). I ended up having to create more edge loops in order to have the necessary pieces to create the dip.

Once I felt like the single left lung was modeled to perfection, I turned off or applied the modifier and made a copy of the lung. Once I had the copy in the correct position, I had to make some minor edits to it so that it wasn't backwards.

Once i was satisfied with the lungs, it was time for the trachea. The trachea is a tube with a lot of added edge loops in order to make it ribbed. The ribbing didn't take too long, but I was very picky about the spacing between the ribs.

After I felt like the lungs and the trachea were modeled to the best of my abilities, I unselected it all and added a sub surf modifier. This smoothed everything out and made it all very complete looking.

From this point, if there was anything that I felt looked awkward, I simply reentered edit mode and continued to model it until I liked it.

Essay 6

Ever since the first time I looked at this image after taking it a year and a half ago at Chilifest, I have been completely entranced by it. Naturally it has plenty of symbolic meaning to me because it includes so many of my favorite things (Texas, country music, people, and the outdoors), but I've also always loved the composition of it. There are several compositional elements that make it great, but the four that I believe are most monumental are the lighting, the emphasis, the balance, and the rhythm.

This photo was taken at dusk on a perfect spring evening. The sun was low in the sky and cast a perfect glow on all the other concert-goers around me. Because the sun was so low and because it was dusk, the glow that it emits is a perfectly warm and comfortable glow that one can't help but wish to be included in. Since all of the people in the photo are around the same size, the light is evenly distributed and nowhere in the photo lacks this warmth.

Another factor that adds to the comfort of the photo is the emphasis of the flag isolated in the center. For those who have a lot of state patriotism, this photo is much more meaningful. Even to those who do not have a lot of Texas pride, they can easily see that this photograph is representative of the pride that we have. The photo is split horizontally through the middle and the flag is located in the center of a lot of open space which puts much emphasis on it due to it's isolation.

The fact that the flag is the primary element on the left side of the image draws a lot of attention. If there was nothing else in the main image plane, the image would be very unbalanced. The person in the foreground on the right hand side of the image seems unimportant at first glimpse but they actually have a very important purpose- they balance the image. The mid ground position of the flag when paired with the foreground position of the figure really balance each other out so it is not uncomfortable to look at.

The final impactful element of this photograph is the rhythm of all the bodies joining as one to create a sense of being included in the comfortable and warm image to the viewer. In between the foreground with the larger people and the mid ground with the flag, all of the people are all similar in size which promotes a feeling of repetition and rhythm.

All of these design elements brought together helps to promote the over all pleasure that viewing this photography brings.

Essay 5- Rewrite of Essay 2

Upon reading this topic I am genuinely conflicted because I am an avid fan of all kinds of photography be it traditional dark room, digital, or even the currently popular Instagram. Originally I was going to argue film-based photography is best because it is my go- to when I am feeling artsy, but then I decided to make a pros and cons list and I was surprised at what I came up with.

Ultimately my decision for the sake of this paper is that digital photography is more time-friendly and therefore user-friendly. I will not assume the opinion of “best” or “preferable” because quite honestly I think both are equally superior to each other.

I use the term time-friendly because our generation is obsessed with either being lazy and doing the bare minimum and will achieving results or speeding through tasks, again, to achieve minimum results. Both of these reflect my generation’s inability to complete a task as thoroughly as is usually required.

The benefit to my generation's simplicity when comparing photography types is the simple point and shoot method is usually all that is required of digital photography. A small portion of people have the patience now a days to line up a photography shot and take into account the lighting, aperture settings, angle, and the fact that you can’t immediately see and delete a photo if it is not immediately presentable. They also can’t even fathom the amount of time and preciseness it takes in a developing room to actually develop film.

Most people prefer to shoot a few dozen photos, look over them, red-eye correct on the camera itself, enhance the colors, plug it into the computer, Photoshop to alter their image to something they can not achieve in real life, and then instantly print. The dark room process of this can take hours or even days for particularly difficult negatives to produce one image, not to mention the price of chemicals, materials, and equipment.

Another one of the main advantages of shooting digitally rather than traditional is there are so many more options available. It seems like all electronic companies are producing digital cameras now compared to how practically no companies are selling film cameras anymore. It is an obvious winning point for digital photography when even Kodak, the one time leading camera company, is discontinuing film sales. In comparison, companies such as Nikon have dozens of digital cameras for sale ranging from those for the lazy snap and shooters to the professionals that are depending on them to build a career.

With all of this taken into account, it is sadly clear that the majority of the world has chosen digital over film and that is the direction in which photography is headed. 

Essay 4

               The reason that I chose this photo was because the colors and the lighting allowed it to have a lot of potential as far as editing goes. 

               The first step I always take when editing photos is to change to levels. This helps to bring about clarity in the colors. It makes the lights appear more light and then darks appear more dark. This photo was taken in the evening so the background has the black of the sky. The flash was also on so the foreground is artificially lit up but does allow for the colors to be extra bright. When I adjusted the levels, the darkness became more frame-like and the highlights of the skin became more apparent. 

               The next manipulation that I made was to increase the contrast. This is a linear transfer function and therefore the central portion of the transfer curve is linear and has a slope greater than 1.0. Upping the contrast tends to create a crisper look to the photograph and makes the colors appear more warm and aesthetically pleasing. 

               After changing the contrast, I added noise. At the point that I decided to add noise, I had an over exaggerated image in mind that I wanted to end with. Adding the noise helped to break up the colored pixels and add some abstractness to the photo. I used a low amount of noise so that for the most part, the foreground and background and all the detail for the most part are still very distinguishable. 

               The final effect that I performed was to add a stained glass filter. This is an extremely exaggerated filter and it gave the photo the near undistinguishable appearance that I wanted. I purposely selected the smaller tile option size so that the entire finished photo was not just a cluster of color and there were still some shapes visible. 

               Overall, I feel that these effects and filters created a very interesting final image. Because it is not perfectly crisp, the viewer continues to look at it in order to translate it into a viewable image.

Essay 3

This is an image of Lombard Street in San Francisco. It was taken during the past summer right before descending down its scary path.  

When an average person sees this photo, it is simply a photo of a street that flows downhill. To those who know of the street, it is a photo of a city landmark. To me when I look at this photo, it represents a vacation and a week and summer of bliss and good times. Seeing this photo brings back memories and the feeling of the completely void-of-humidity California air that I had the pleasure of experiencing this summer. Seeing this I can practically feel my hair keeping its hold, whatever that may be, and I can almost taste the vodka lemonades that we loved a little too much while visiting Vacaville, Sacramento, and San Francisco.

When several people hear of Lombard Street or see photos, denotatively they know that it is located in San Francisco and it is one of the steepest and most complicated streets in the nation to navigate down. Several people make the connection of when they’ve seen it in movies or television shows such as Mythbusters. However, when I went down it, the only instant connection that I made was how much I would enjoy running up and down it. I really enjoy running when I’m not hurt, and I regret that I never had the chance to run up Lombard. To me it would be the perfect training and I hope that one day I am living in a location where I have something similar to Lombard Street at my disposal.

To several people, this photo is just a tourist photo. It holds no significant value to them. It is simply a digital photograph that can be manipulated and printed in mass quantities. To me though, it holds memories and goals that I hope to accomplish soon. When I see this image, I see a street worth conquering, a beautiful skyline, the sea, colors that I know are very bright and gorgeous in real life, and I feel the presence of the friends that were in the car with me during the decent. I can still hear the squeals of laughter and ridiculousness as we slowly rambled down the hill, always feeling like the car would begin to roll at any moment.

This photo means more to me than many people could ever guess. It signifies good times and exercise and I could look at it all day long to keep the memories of the summer fresh in mind. 

Essay 2

Upon reading this topic, I am genuinely conflicted because I am an avid fan of all kinds of photography be it traditional dark room, digital, or even the currently popular Instagram. Originally I was going to argue that film-based photography is best because it is my go- to when I am feeling artsy, but then I decided to make a pros and cons list and I was surprised at what I came up with.

Ultimately, my decision for the sake of this paper is that digital photography is more time-friendly and therefore user-friendly. I will not assume the opinion of “best” or “preferable” because quite honestly I think both are equally superior to each other.

I use the term time-friendly because our generation is obsessed with either being lazy and doing the bare minimum that will still achieve results or speeding through tasks, again, to achieve minimum results. Both of these reflect my generation’s inability to complete a task as thoroughly as is usually required.

The benefit to my generation when comparing photography types is that the simple point and shoot method that is usually all that is required of digital photography. A small portion of people have the patience now a days to line up a photography shot and take into account the lighting, aperture settings, angle, and the fact that you can’t immediately see and delete a photo if it is not immediately presentable. They also can’t even fathom the amount of time and preciseness it takes in a developing room to actually develop film.

Most people prefer to shoot a few dozen photos, look over them, red-eye correct on the camera itself, enhance the colors, plug it into the computer, Photoshop to alter their image to something that they can not achieve in real life, and then instantly print. The dark room process of this can take hours or even days to produce one image, not to mention the price of chemicals, materials, and equipment.

Another one of the main advantages of shooting digitally rather than traditional is there are so many more options available. It seems like all electronic companies are producing digital cameras now compared to how practically no companies are selling film cameras anymore. It is an obvious winning point for digital photography when even Kodak, the one time leading camera company, is discontinuing film sales. In comparison, companies such as Nikon have dozens of digital cameras for sale ranging from those for the lazy snap and shooters to the professionals that are depending on them to build a career.

With all of this taken into account, it is sadly clear that the majority of the world has chosen digital over film and that is the direction in which photography is headed. 

Essay 1

The photo that I chose to represent myself is a silly photo of my cat, Steve. I’ve had Steve for about two and a half years while in college, which was a clear violation of my parent’s only rule when moving to college; do not get a pet. In this photo, Steve is wearing a pair of checkered sunglasses that my little sister, Molly, is forcefully but gently holding to his head.

I feel that this photo is a good representation of me because it represents several things that I love about my life, summertime, the pool, the colors, and my family.

First and foremost, it was taken during my favorite month, July, and my absolute favorite season right before a trip to the pool. Being by the pool and in the water during the heat is one of my favorite ways to spend down time whenever the weather allows.

The next part that I really like about this are the colors. Color is my favorite design element because I feel that it is so incredibly important in design and it enhances every day life so much. The colors are all very vibrant and even though the color of Steve’s fur is grey, there is still evidence of much brightness, from the pink of the t-shirt in the background to the crispness of the checkered glasses.

Another part of this that I like is the fact that it was taken when my sister was in town visiting me. I’m very close to my entire family but her more than anyone. We are four years apart so we weren’t very close growing up but since she’s gotten older and matured, we’ve bonded a lot more and she inspires me daily.

Finally, something else about this photo that I believe makes it so popular among my friends and family is how calm Steve looks. Good luck putting sunglasses on most animals and having them stay this composed! He makes it look like this is the most natural thing in the world.

One of the main reasons why I choose my cat for this assignment is because this little fur ball is my own personal assistant sometimes. Other than the fact that he’s constant entertainment for being absolutely ridiculous, he’s also my alarm clock. If it weren’t for him always demanding food, I would sleep through the beginning of class or work about half the time.

I feel like this image is a good representation of myself because even though it is not of me, what better way to represent yourself than with some of your favorite things?