Week 15: To End

I knew nothing about photography coming into this course in August. I had no idea what all the buttons on a camera even meant or did. Looking back, I truly have learned a lot. I know what those buttons mean and when to use them. I know the rules of dominance. I understand the intriguing aspects of a shot and how to frame them. I know how to use what our eyes see advantageously. I understand how to be critical of photos, academically and emotionally. I understand how photography becomes powerful.

I like being an artist as a photographer. I am an artist as a musician; I have been for a long time and will continue to be. But, I like the artistic territory of a photographer. It explores and connects me to the natural world. I like that 'getting out'-ness. I think it has grown me as a human being.

My favorite part of this class was the community we got to build. We learned so much about photography, yes, but we learned it all together. We got to make art together, helping each other, critiquing each other, supporting each other. Yellowstone wasn't fun because we got to take cool photos; if it were just that, we would have each gone alone. Yellowstone was fun because we got to try and take cool photos together. I have a feeling that in all of photography, the human factor remains at the heart of the success of the photographers and the entire profession.

I found a video from National Geographic about a project they launched a few years back interviewing 44 of their professional photographers on what they love about photography, what they've learned, and why they have never left. This piece of advice from the very end of the video makes me happy: "If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff."

Maybe we should all resolve, as students, as future educators, as pilots, as future nurses, as future entrepreneurs, and as lifelong artists, to go stand in front of more interesting stuff and click the shutter.


Here is our cute-as-a-button group, standing in front of some pretty interesting stuff.

 

Link to video: http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/15/the-photographers-on-photography/

Week 14: Final Presentation

All photos were taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T3, no flash, unless otherwise specified.

f/5.6   1/100sec   ISO 1000   55mm   Lens: 28-90mm

 

f/14   1/100sec   ISO 400   55mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/5.6   1/1600sec   ISO 100   18mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/5.6   1/100sec   ISO 3200   55mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/14   1/125sec   ISO 100   32mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/10   1/320sec   ISO 100   18mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/5   1/4000sec   ISO 200   44mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/10   1/800sec   ISO 200   24mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/4.5   1/2500sec   ISO 200   75mm   Lens: 75-300mm

 

f/9   1/500sec   ISO 200   110mm   Lens: 75-300mm

 

f/5   1/160sec   ISO 125   105mm   Lens: 75-300mm

Nikon 1 V1   f/8   1/50sec   ISO 400   64mm   Lens: Nikkor VR 30-110mm

f/16   1/80sec   ISO 200   90mm   Lens: 28-90mm

f/7.1   1/2000sec   ISO 200   800mm   Lens: 800mm

f/11   1/800sec   ISO 200   48mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/10   1/400sec   ISO 200   20mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/22   1/2sec   ISO 100   35mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/6.3   1/800sec   ISO 100   36mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/16   1/100sec   ISO 200   24mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/5.6   1/30sec   ISO 400   18mm   Lens: 18-55mm

 

f/4.5   1/4000sec   ISO 200   27mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/10   1/1000sec   ISO 2000   600mm   Lens: 150-600mm

f/5.6   1/160sec   ISO 800   90mm   Lens: 28-90mm

f/8   1/500sec   ISO 100   18mm   Lens: 18-55mm

f/13   1/100sec   ISO 100   18mm   Lens: 18-55mm

Week 13: Olympics

An interest of mine has always been the Olympics. Something I see every time I watch, but have never taken notice of until now are the photographers. Hundreds of lenses focused on the athletes at every event in every sport in every arena; they are everywhere, and they have to be. We expect to be able to see those iconic images of the athletes we take pride in when we can't be there in person. We may forget, however, that those images do not exist without the hard work of photographers, and that work is far from easy. I read an enlightening article about what it's like to be a photographer at the Olympic Games. It's insight came from Al Bello, Getty Images chief photographer; he has covered 11 Olympic Games. Bello describes the massive output, physically and mentally, it takes to try and capture the best images on this world stage.

The article detailed what Bello does to prepare for the swimming events, and it was very cool to see. He sets up his Canon camera in a waterproof enclosure that sits at the bottom of the pool. In scuba gear, he dives into the pool to set it up at the correct angle. He runs wires from the camera, out of the pool, and into a computer nearby where he can "adjust the camera and fire the shutter remotely." With everything happening at lightning speed, and often times just once, he must operate extremely quick.


Winter Olympics present another set of challenges. Bello describes downhill ski racing as one of the hardest things to photograph: "You have to ski with 60 pounds of gear on your back, on the same mountain that the skiers are on."

I find this look behind the scenes, into a different side of the Olympic Games, fascinating. Having taken this class, it puts me in a different frame of mind. The things I notice and pay attention to will probably change during the next Olympics.

Link to photos and article: http://www.thisisinsider.com/what-its-like-to-photograph-the-olympics-2016-8

Week 12: Share 2 and Critique

 

 

Week 12: Snow Tips

This week, I've had snow on the brain.
I found an article entitled "7 Tips for Taking Photographs in the Snow" which reminded me of some things I already know and enlightened me on some things I don't. Suggestions I knew included using a bag as protection from water, shooting raw, and referring to your histogram for more accurate readings. Suggestions I didn't know were finding the right white balance and overexposing to compensate. Snow leans to the blue side of color, so the article suggests adjusting your white balance in order to portray the real color of snow. Their tip was to use the flash setting as one way of doing this. The tip that surprised me the most was overexposing the picture to compensate for the camera reading snow at 18% gray. "Adding one-third or two-thirds exposure compensation" can ensure the snow stays white in the photo. Lastly, their talk about the composition of a snowy picture as a whole echoes our rules of dominance. Lots of whites contrasted with a person in a red coat or a red barn bring that snowy scene to life by drawing us in. Photographing in black and white can create clear and clean snowy images, as well.

Link to photo and article: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/7-tips-taking-photographs-snow

Week 11: YNP

I went on the Yellowstone trip this past weekend, and I found it extremely enjoyable. I liked getting out in the field, venturing the different sites and scenes of Yellowstone National Park, and applying the concepts we've learned about photography to the real world. I learned about cameras, what the settings do, which ones to use, and when to use them. Using the different camera gear, having that hands-on experience, was incredibly valuable to me and my learning.

These are some pictures I took on the weekend:

Week 10: Selective Focus

This week, I went back to techniques of the trade. I found an article on Outdoor Photographer centered around using selective focus in photography. The writer, Gary Hart, discusses utilizing a shallow depth of field in order to create images that emphasize and highlight subject detail while creating "focus blur" in the background. He writes on the many factors that go into shooting a creative selective focus image, like camera considerations (lenses, tripod, extension tubes, etc.), choosing a foreground/background combination that's complementary, focusing on the subject, managing the depth of field, and, most importantly, remembering that the camera sees the scene differently than you see it. I especially liked his list detailing how your depth of field will be shallower and your background more blurred the closer your focus point, the longer your focal length, and the larger your aperture. I also liked reading about breaking down a specific shot like this, thinking about what goes into it. It's a lot in one, but being mindful of these things while practicing taking these shots will, I think, speed up the learning process and better the results thereafter.


Link to article and photo: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/nature-landscapes/using-selective-focus/  

Week 10: Share 2 and Critique

For this week, I tried my hand at editing some of my photos. I'm still trying to figure out what to use on the image and when to use it; that takes practice, so I think I'll get better with time. But, as I'm beginning to see, editing is a finite work.

Week 8: Elephant Feet

Have you ever thought about an elephant's feet? I hadn't, not until I saw this picture.

Greg du Toit took this photo from inside a waterhole in Botswana. Born in South Africa, he is a professional wildlife photographer (we are going on one of his safaris for our photography trip). Looking into his work, I became interested in the kinds of pictures he takes and how he takes them. Perspective is an incredibly powerful thing, and he messes with it in a tasteful way, especially in his project "Inside the Waterhole." 

Photography well-done allows us to see through different eyes. We instantly switch from looking to seeing. It allows us to focus on pieces that then change the way we think of the whole. The world around us then becomes richer and fuller, more meaningful and more inspiring. We start thinking about elephant feet. I want this for my photography, to help people see.

Link to Greg du Toit's photos and website: http://gregdutoit.com/index.php?page=elephant_montage_ftf

Week 8: Share 2 and Critique

I took this picture in a moving vehicle traveling Montana-bound from North Dakota in the beginning of September. The sun was so red from the smoke in the air, and the clouds were doing cool things, and I was slightly bored, so I took my phone out and started clicking.

I took this picture this past Saturday on campus. Leaves from the trees were falling off everywhere, and the colors were changing so dramatically, even from tree to tree.

Week 7: Reminders

With Africa on the brain, I have been researching places, logistics, tips, and necessities for our trip. I came across this article this week, and I liked a lot of its suggestions, things I  hadn't necessarily remembered to take into account. For example, bring plenty of memory cards and a device to back up our images. Take notes; jot down the names of animals and land features our tour guides mention. It also discussed some good reminders while on a photo safari, like don't forget to take photos of your family or the people you're travelling with. Those little things can be easily forgotten when dealing with such a large scale trip, and this article was a good reminder.

 

 Link to article and photo: https://www.gadventures.com/blog/tips-photos-african-safari/

Week 6: Breaking Down a Trip to Africa

In the spirit of our first group work day for our upcoming midterm project, I chose to research some tips and challenges to photography in Africa. In doing so, I came across this article on Outdoor Photographer: "Ultimate Safari! Preparing for and demystifying African safaris for American photographers." The writer of this article details acclaimed National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting's advice for the average traveler journeying to Africa. A frequent visitor of it's countries, Lanting breaks down planning the ultimate African safari into "three primary considerations: Where will you visit, how will you get there, and when will you go?"



I found this article extremely informative and immediately relevant to my project. Lanting discusses the spectrum of travel styles, from expensive luxury in high-quality camps with high-quality vehicles to less expensive minimalist camping with rental cars. He elaborates on guides and companions, who's leading you around and who's on the trip with you, and how they make a big difference in the experience. He advises traveling in the off season, staying away from the crowded, and more expensive, tourist season. Lanting suggests some specific camera equipment to take along, too, the necessities that you'll need for this type of excursion; "have all your gear in a photo pack that you can put on the seat next to you," he says. He also recommends the countries to visit for the first-time traveler, such as Kenya, Zambia, Botswana, Rwanda, and South Africa. Lanting's advice and suggestions provide me with a good starting point in planning our African safari.

   

Link to photos and article: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/on-location/travel/safari/

Week 6: Share 2 and Critique

I took this photo Monday evening on top of the rims. Rules of dominance in this photo are: light draws more attention than dark, red is more attractive than any other color, and jagged lines are more striking than curved ones.

I took this photo Monday afternoon at Pioneer Park. Rules of dominance in this photo are: red is more attractive than any other color, jagged lines are more striking than curved ones, and difference draws more attention than conformity.

Week 5: Afghan Girl

In class on Tuesday, we chose midterm presentation destinations. I chose Africa. Sitting there, thinking about the world and it's many diverse cultures, my mind landed on one single image. The Afghan girl on the cover of National Geographic. The most stunning image I've ever seen and my favorite by far, her sea green eyes and red shawl are not easily forgettable. (Hello, dominance.) She is captivating, beautiful, and real, and I got to learn about her story this week.

In 1984, National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry was stationed at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to cover the war in Afghanistan and the fleeing refugees to Pakistan. Upon hearing children's laughter coming from one of the refugee tents in Pakistan, he came across a "makeshift classroom for an all-girls school" (Hajek). It was here that he saw the girl with the green eyes. She covered her face with her hands at first, but her teacher asked her to put her hands down so that "the world would see her face and know her story" (Hajek). Staring straight into McCurry's lens, she became this powerfully iconic subject and one of the most popular covers of the magazine.

Seventeen years later, McCurry went back to find her. Her name is Sharbat Gula, and her piercing eyes still portray the hard life she has led. Both of her parents died in the Soviet bombing when she was a child. With her grandmother and siblings, she fled to Pakistan by foot across the mountains. Around the middle of the 1990's, after living in refugee camps, she went home to her village in the foothills of the mountains (Newman). Sharbat Gula is married with three children, and she wants the education for them that she never finished. As per their cultural traditions, Steve McCurry and Sharbat Gula's reunion was quiet (Newman).

Her life has not been easy, and we can see that in her portrait. But, her face alone has inspired other people around the world to help refugees (Newman). She is the ultimate portrayal of the phrase I've heard numerous times: it's in the eyes. We are drawn to them. They hold so much of who we are. That's something I find entirely overwhelming about photography. I think when photographers truly capture humanity, what actually happens is humanity captures us.

Article and Photo Links:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2002/04/afghan-girl-revealed/

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/26/425659961/how-one-photographer-captured-a-piercing-gaze-that-shook-the-world

Week 4: Broadway

This week I decided to look into the photography of one of my dreams: Broadway. I've only been to one Broadway show in my life so far, The Lion King in London, and I was blown away. Up close and in person, the artistry, attention to detail, hard work, and inspiration that goes into and comes out of one of those shows is an incredible thing to witness. Broadway is a world built on story-telling and excitement. It takes people out of their lives momentarily; it's a world with different possibilities.

I've discovered that photographs of this world can do exactly the same thing.

I want to be a part of Newsies, Wicked, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Bandstand because the pictures I've seen are completely captivating. They not only capture the environment and emotion of parts of the show, they somehow capture the energy, too. And once you feel that transfer of energy from the photo to you, you can't not see it. It's contagious, and it's colorful, and it's dynamic. Photography on Broadway is just as much an art as Broadway itself, and it's successfully drawing in masses of people.

I ventured across Matthew Murphy's photography website in my searching, and looked through his production works. He is currently a leading photographer on Broadway, one of an elite few, and rightfully so.

Photos: (1) The Lion King National Tour, (2) Kinky Boots Broadway, (3) Jasper in Deadland 5th Avenue

Link to photos and website: http://www.murphymade.com/