Flash

The pros of utilizing the flash tool on a camera is that it can add light to dark places or subjects, it freezes time and eliminates blur. However, the cons of utilizung this tool is that if your subject is a animal or child the effect may disturb your subject and photo, the lighting situations create unattractive compositions as far as definition of the object and its visual details and if taken of a person it can create red eyes and distracting reflections such as glares. People often think that flash is best used in the dark and not when taking a daytime picture, when it is actually the exact opposite. Flash is best used in the daytime to avoid and eliminate unnecessary shadows upon your subject from the sun. Flash is best avoided at night or in the dark so natural lighting or lights within the photo can be better exposed and the definition of the picture isn't ruined, since it eliminates rich colors of the photo which may be what your relying on.

In the following photo the lighting of the city is what is captured and if flash were used to take this picture the lights would not be evident. The buildings wouldn't have such great definition of colors and reflections of the sky and surrounding scenery. However, as displayed the cars at the bottom are blurred because of the lack of flash, but it contricutes to the scene of the picture. The cars being blurry don't ruin the picture but that is the example of what can happen when not utilizing flash and attempting to capture a moving object.

Metering

Light metering basically, helps create lighting in dark spaces, utilizing the natural or surrounding composition of lighting within the environment. As seen in the following pictures one is darker than the other. Because each picture was taken differently but with the same camera tool. The lighter one utilized the skin of my partner Erica and the darker utilized the focus of the computer screen. Spot metering in the future can help me when needing to take a picture and trying to avoid unattractive composition with flash within a photo, I know I can simply utilize the metering method.

Surrealism: "The Other Side"

1) Interpret the dream

Based on this piece, one can see that this individual has been dreaming a series of dreams that have been reflecting her life. The top of the piece signifies pure enlightenment and improvement, in which it is the diamond the finding of one’s, complete self. The tree means new growth and accomplishments; the elevators propose a moving up in status or wealth, the eyes of the photo reflect enlightenment. But in contradiction there is a wall surrounding all these symbolic objects which reflect limits and boundaries. But even more interesting is there are stairs that lead to all this in which they symbolize progression and a higher level of understanding. The whole bottom of the picture reflects the top which represents the true self, so with the whole bottom half progresses to be black and white as it continues down the photo. Black and white within a dream proposes depression and an imbalance. And beneath the stairs are space which indicates “spacing out” and a need to regain focus.

The following individual is very bright and enlightening on the exterior but either feels they aren’t doing their best or they appear to be enlightening and actually aren’t doing their best. They have a lot of chaotic thoughts that distract their focus and they are trying if not completely gaining their way back to the top. It is taking a while and sometimes they feel like they are still lingering at the bottom and still sell their self short, however this person basically needs to stop focusing on being their worst critic and try being their best overall.

Surreal Practice Tutorials

In order to make the following photos appear realistic, we had to distort the ground of the desert so it could appear as if we were looking at it from a angle and actually there in the picture. We also had to give the light post a distinct shadow and cut off some of the bottom so it looked more placed in the ground. We also had to create a special paint brush that made our clouds seem more real and doing so we also had to make sure we changed up the size and type of cloud we used with each time we used the brush. With the eyr we had to make sure we used the proper blending options and opacity that would make the wall appear realistically within the wall. We had to blend the gradient and color in the eye so that color seemed also as if a realistic color. We also dodged and burned the plant so it would cast shadows within itself from the lighting with in the picture, a shadow for the butterfly was also necessary to make sure the butterfly was provided with the proper realistic setting.

Blending the eye color with the eye itself then again with the wall will help me more with making my surreal picture appear real. As far as creating environments as we did in this tutorial will better me with this project as well.

Art Show: My Future

My last project, a quilt square called “My Future” is my best project by far, it depicts my future the way I want it but with a mysterious concept. The sky is dramatic and cloudy which represents a storm and chaos a long with a lot of indecisiveness. But despite the storm I am walking up rugged stairs, which have engraved in them my dreams according to how I have them planned. But at the top of the stairs I have a big rose which means despite everything I plan to head towards my passion. Throughout the sky are also music notes and little images of me in contemplative positions, since that is what gets me by everyday. On the side of the picture is also a picture of me sitting in a cloud looking really stressed. My future is my best project and of this entire year what I am most proud of. Throughout the year with each project there is evident progress in my work and creativity and this piece gives a brief summary of everything I have learned this year and how far I have come along since the beginning.

Graduation Program

When critiquing my own work compared to that of my peers, I feel as though, I may not have grasped the concept as much as I could. And focused too much on being different and not cliche rather than the actual expectations. And though mine was a good idea, it still did not turn out to be the best of its potential. I think I could of tried to stay within the boundaries of a regular graduation program. Graphic design was not as hard as I made it out to be, I have had previous experience with this concept, with designing websites for companies through internships and so on. But for some reason, I think just the overall bland topic of it being for Cesar Chavez High School is what caught me, because even when I was doing work for other companies, I still had creativity leeway that allowed me to utilize my potential.

The most important of Graphic Design would be the message and theme of it overall, in society it's what encourages people to buy and sell products. Everything is based on image, so first impression is key.

Si Se Puede / Academic Letters

When it comes to art, I work best when going by own rules and trying to capture my own visual. But I would say after reviewing all the work of my peers, I could of attempted to grasp the clients visual or expectations a bit better. I think through out this selection of works, one can see that I struggled with creating what they wanted and how I felt it should of been. I think one strength that both of my program creations had was that they weren't random and completely off chart, they followed what could of been a possible consideration by far, I saw some work that I felt had nothing to do with the theme of academics, so I think I did alright in that category.