FInal+Exam

As a photographer I feel that I have grown greatly throughout this semester. Coming into this class I didn't believe that I would feel as comfortable with shooting as I do today. The first project, The Thematic, was difficult as to coming about to an idea of what to shoot and how to keep consistency. In this I found out that I can be connected to my work in a way and when I am connected I come out with my best work. I was able to experiment with different angles and something different when I discovered that I could have a fish-eye effect on my images.



The first image was less fish-eyed but I grew from this idea of a fish eye angle and high depth. I feel that with the thematic I was able to understand that consistency matters in photography. My intent of this project was to show that nature is a way of feeling freedom and getting away from the busy lives in which we go through. Also, I was trying to capture the natural beauty of nature as a whole by shooting high depth and showing not only the little details but the little details that make up the whole picture. Growing from this idea that my images need to be similar and that I need to find a connect from me personally to my subject matter I was able to branch off into my documentary project. By researching photographers that document the same subject matter that I was helped me to grow on different angles and the way in which I shot what I wanted to shoot. Karin Stevens inspired me and I grew off of seeing the angles that she shot the dancers.



Seeing these images I was then able to not shoot straight on with my subject matter and rather shoot with different angles to show more of a connect and expand on the movement and lines in the picture.



I feel that I successfully shot at different angles some in which are similar to Karin Stevens' because her second picture and my first picture are very similar in angles. My intent in this project was to show the place that dancers go to while they are dancing. They are mesmerized by the music and expressing who they are and how they feel by the music. I wanted to show that it's not just dancing but actually expressing something as they dance and bringing a meaning to the music. Going into fashion photography, I didn't believe that I would come out with the work that I did and I didn't think that I would be able to come up with an idea for it. Researching fashion photography helped immensely. Going through the E-Zine links, I found a photo shoot that inspired me to do an Alice In Wonderland theme. I can't find the original piece that inspired me at this time. But growing from this idea I searched into Google 'Alice In Wonderland photo shoot'.



Kim Le shot these pictures and I grew off an idea of having a light colored dress in a green area so I decided that I should shoot in the woods so I can get a contrast between my models dress and her surroundings. Talking to my model I brought up the idea of Alice In Wonderland and she explained to me that she had done a hair contest with the same theme and had a teacup in her hair. I feel this project helped me grow into a better photographer because I was able to take risks feeling comfortably with angles.



Fernando Gomez also inspired me as to how I would shoot for my fashion photography. He used different angles that inspired me.



I feel that some of his angles that he chose are similar to mine. I was able to grow from seeing these photographs and expanding them to fit into my project and using them. My intent in this project was to show the simplicity in fashion and put a twist to the storyline. My original idea was to have a drastic fantasy like series of photographs. I don't think that I came out with my original idea because they aren't as fantasy as I would have liked them to be and there is contrast but it isn't drastic. I am very proud of the angles that I shot and my outcome, though. Style and consistency is important in photography because the viewers can then pinpoint your work out of the rest. Also consistency is important because then one of the pictures does not throw you off. When thrown off, there's a possibility of a disconnect of what you are trying to achieve. I'm unsure as to whether or not someone would be able to recognize my style because I feel that with the fashion I was able to maybe start on building a style. I feel that I have showed consistency throughout my work but I need to work on growing on my style in my photographs because I'm not sure as to what my style is. Out of these three projects I'm unsure whether I feel most connected to my documentary or fashion. I feel more of an emotional connect to my documentary because I dance as well but I feel more of an artist connect to my fashion photography unit. I feel that by the third project I was more comfortable as to how to shoot it but on the other hand I was more comfortable as to not having to set up where and what my subject was doing in the documentary. Moving forward as a visual artist I will try and achieve a style in my artwork. I also would like to continue growing on my angles. I think that I would continue documenting or maybe take story lines and put a twist to them. For the story line idea, I could possibly take the idea of a story and create a dramatic twist and use big extravagant clothes. I am really excited to move forward as a photographer and I feel that taking AP photo next year will be very fun.