Extra Post December

So In ROP this month, Jack had us take still life photos with a given theme: "iPoly Life". So I decided to head over to the office and take a photo of the excused and unexcused tardy/absence slips because really who at iPoly hasn't had to run over to the office or hasn't been sent back to get a tardy slip.

[ This is the photo I took of mostly excused absence/tardy slips towards 

the back where the white slip of paper is an unexcused slip]

That's probably the most interesting thing that I've done this month, hopefully more comes out of the next two weeks.

November Post

This month I started working in the studio again. I didn't do much just putting things together and helping Jack clean up his office area. Here are some photos of that:

[ This is a photo of all the orders that I had to put together for Claremont High's football team.]

[ This is Jack's office.]

[ This is one of the cupboards that I had to clean out, unfortunately I don't have an after photo.]

Overall, this month was pretty uneventful in terms of work and such, hopefully December is less dull.

Blog 9: EQ

Content

1.   Review this.  Confirm by stating "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

Essential Question

Once a topic is chosen, the student will develop a working essential question.  The purpose of the working essential question is to help the student build a strong foundation of research which will allow him or her to create an essential question that encourages depth and rigor in the chosen topic.  An essential question must:

• Provide a framework for studies (It calls for breadth and depth of research, Is not a yes/no question)
• Takes a stance (Allows you to argue some point, Cannot be a recitation of facts or a list)
• Format (It is specific, The wording makes sense)

I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ.

2.  Review the following EQs and

• Tell us if it meets the rule of 3 criteria.
• Tell why it does or why it doesn't

a.  What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?

This EQ does because you can argue what the most important factor in healthy weight loss, you can do in depth research on this and the wording makes sense.

b.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?

I think that this would only lead to one answer.

c.  What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?

Honestly this seems more like an interview question, rather than a question that would take a lot of research to answer.

d.  How can an Anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?

The question is well formatted and there are definitely different points that this can be argued from and there’s a lot of research that can go into this.

3.  Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project.

What is most essential when producing a satisfactory portrait, before and after taking the photo?

October Post

This month I really started doing things in ROP: Digital Photography, one of the assignments that I accomplished this month was the leading lines and having a subject, so below I have a photo of Christine Navarro's feet on a leading line.

[Right here I decided to crop the picture, adjust the brightness, and put the photo into grayscale.]

The next big thing that I worked on with the camera and in Photoshop was the rule of thirds position in photos. Rule of thirds is really just the positioning of the subject in the photo to make it interesting. When working with the rule of thirds it's better to have the main subject off to the side of the photo instead of dead center. I took a photo of a lady bug to to demonstrate that:

[For this photo I had to crop a bit to get the lady bug into the rule of thirds position]

Finally, the most recent thing that I did in ROP was kind of put together the two things and take a photo that is in rule of thirds and has a leading line. For this I decided to take a photo of Lupe Lara:

[I cropped this photo of Lupe into a rule of thirds position and the leading line is the main one that she's standing on]

Overall, ROP is running really smooth right now and I'm getting a lot of practice with the camera and Photoshop. Uhm, that's it for now.

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1. What is your working EQ? 

What is the most essential step in producing a well-done, well edited portrait?

2. What is a possible answer to your working EQ? Please write the answer in thesis format.

Making sure that the lighting in a room or outdoor area to fit the needs of the photo being taken; lighting itself can easily be fixed by adding light or adjusting the settings on the camera. 

3. What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ?

The most important source that I have used is probably David Busch's Portrait/ Candid/ Street Photography Compact Pocket Field Guide, because in each type of photography he talks about how important it is to check the lighting and adjust the settings on the camera accordingly.

4. Who is your mentor, or where are you volunteering, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ? 

My mentor is Jack Bohlka, he is related to my working EQ because he has been doing portrait photography for years and runs his own studio.   

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

 For my 30 hours I plan to continue taking ROP at school, because that actually teaches a lot of fundamentals of photography and photoshop. I also plan to work at my mentor's studio in order to learn lighting techniques such as: broad portrait lighting, short portrait lighting, rembrandt portrait lighting, split portrait lighting, and butterfly portrait lighting.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I plan to show 30 hours of evidence through showing my grade in ROP and producing a portfolio consisting of photos of at least two models under each type of lighting that I plan on learning to not only prove that I learned it but also show the effects of different lighting styles on different faces.

3. And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic more in depth.

This will help me explore my topic more in depth through allowing me to get a hands on experience in the areas of portrait lighting and photo retouching, which are two necessities in portrait photography. 

4. Post a log on the right side of your blog near your mentorship log and call it the independent 1 log. 

Blog 6: Second Interview

Content:
The purpose of the second interview is to justify your mentor as an expert in the field. Thus, you will be asking at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work.

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?
My mentor is Jack Bohlka and he owns and works at a photography studio called Colour by Collier Photography.

2. What five questions will you ask them about their background?

• You're a professional photographer and you own a studio; what type of training did you have to go through to get to this point where you are recognized as a professional and have your own place of business?
• Professional Photographer; what did you have to go through to get job title, professional? 
• In our last interview, you told me that lighting is the most important aspect of a well done portrait, how did you find out the effect that light has on a portrait?  Basically, when did you really start to see that lighting has a significant effect on portraits? 
• Making people feel comfortable when they take a portrait, depending on the person, can be challenging; based on your experience, what have you found works best when getting people to relax and show genuine emotion in a portrait?
• On one of the first days of class, you told us that we were going to develop a style that people would recognize, and say, " oh that's so-and-so's work," as a photographer, what identifies your work as your own? What is that style that makes people recognize it as yours? And how long did it take to develop it?

Blog 5: Project Reflection and Working EQ

Content: 
So far, you have: completed your summer mentorship, started doing some research, maybe completed the interview and hopefully found a mentor.

Using what you have done so far, answer the following 5 questions (be specific and use examples).

The Pentagon:
(1) Positive Statement: What positive thing has happened as a result of what you have completed so far?

Something positive that's come out of what I've done so far is that I really got some hands-on experience with setting up for an outdoor portrait with my mentor. What I got to do was set up a tripod for the camera and lighting; which included a light stand and an umbrella. I also got to test out the light with the flash and quickly learned that it's always good to carry an extra light, because the one that I initially set up didn't work.  

(2) EQ Content: Pick a piece of research or your interview. How has it helped you improve your understanding of your topic?

An article that I read was an interview called Photography Tips and Business Insight from Pro Photographer and Photo Editing Blogger- Rob Martinsen written by Darcy Wheeler. The insight from this photographer helped me to understand the business through explaining the editing process and gaining respect in the business through networking and getting to know people because it helps a lot.

(3) What has worked so far in the senior project?

I think one positive thing that's worked so far is my mentorship because, I've learned a lot about setting up equipment such as the tripod and lighting and to always keep an extra of everything in case something breaks or just doesn't want to work.
(4) What hasn't worked so far?

What hasn't worked so far is that I've done a lot of paper work, scanning client orders and saving them to folders on a computer, while it's teaching me how to stay organized, i'm not doing much hands-on work.

(5) Finding Value:

• What is a potential question you would like to study this year? (working EQ)

What is the most important aspect of producing a well done, well edited portrait?

• What do you plan to do for mentorship? If you haven't found a mentor yet, then discuss where you are currently looking and who you are talking to to find it. 

For mentorship I plan to keep working with my current mentor Jack Bohlka at his studio Colour by Collier and in his ROP digital photography.

Sticking To My Original Topic

Since starting school I've been debating about weather or not I should keep photography as my topic or pursue culinary art as a new topic. I looked at the pros and cons of both and it was very hard to eventually choose, I mean even as I write I'm having my doubt. I just want a topic that leaves me with connections that will help me with a career in the future, you know? Eventually it came down to thinking about mentorship, I have a mentorship for photography and wouldn't have a problem finding one in culinary art ( my dad's cousin is a chef). After considering mentorship, it came down to distance and how far I would have to travel to work with my mentor, if I had chosen to work with my dad's cousin, I'd have to find a way to make it to Norwalk and I just don't have the resources nor the finances for gas to do that at least a couple times a week. Continuing to work with Jack, I only have to travel for about 10-20 minutes to get to the studio and I got into his ROP class, convenience won out this inner battle. Hopefully my interest in photography will continue to grow and not be hindered by "what ifs" transpiring from my topic choice. Photography it was and photography it shall stay my senior topic.

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1. Who do you plan to interview? Why?

I plan to interview my mentor, Jack Bohlka mostly because even though I worked at his studio a lot I didn't get much chance to pick his brain.

2. You have to ask 5 questions. What additional questions do you plan to ask? 

• When I went with you to that photo session, I helped keep a small child's attention on the camera. It was a bit challenging. Is it always difficult to work with small children?
• Of all of the photo sessions you've done for different types of photography, what would you say is your favorite?
• It takes time to work on a photo and develop a style of editing that's pleasing to the eye. How long would you say it took you to develop your style?

There are a lot of other questions I plan on asking but right now they're just not coming to mind. 

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

1. Project Topic: Photography

2. ESLRs:

• I-Poly Citizen: I think to grow as an I-Poly citizen I'm going to actually show up to all of my classes on time, to avoid interrupting lessons and the consequences that fall upon me for being late.

• Effective Learner: This year I'm actually going to try harder in my core classes, not half-listen and make it by on a wing and a prayer. I'm going to actually study material and learn it to really earn my grade.

• Effective User of Technology: This year I'm going to further my skills in Photoshop in order to further see another part of the amount of work it takes to make my topic, photography, into a career.

• Effective Communicator: This year with projects and core, I am going to try harder add my input when the opportunity presents itself and not hold myself back by keeping my opinions to myself.  

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Component

Literal:

1.  (Know) Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties.

The hours that I completed for the summer can be viewed here.

2. Contact Name & Number

Jack Bohlka
Studio: 909.981.6318
Mobile: 909.228.4824

3. (Need to know) What questions were raised because of the 10 hours experience? List them.

Why is it so important to have two of everything when going to a photo shoot?
Why do we need a light when we're doing a photo shoot outside?
Is it always difficult working with small children in family sessions?

Interpretive

4. What is the most important thing gained from this experience? Why?

I think the most important thing I gained from this experience is the knowledge that it's important too keep track of client orders because a past client could call and ask for the same type of package they ordered a year ago , so it's good to know where that order is in order to know what they're talking about specifically. It's also good to keep track of past orders because then everything is organized and you don't have to search everywhere for them.

Applied

5. How did what you did help you choose a topic. Please explain.

Most of what I did during my mentorship, I don't think really helped in my decision on my topic, if anything it kind of hindered it; but I think that the one day where I actually went to a photo shoot helped me decide that this is what I want to do because everything I helped with and observed made me realize that there is a lot that I don't know and a lot that I can learn as I continue to work on this topic.

Blog 1: 2013- 2 Hour Presentation Reflections

Literal:  

1.  (Know) What presentations did you see?  Name the topic and the person's first name.

• Salvador G : Soccer Player
• Jacob R : Teaching History
• JD Pabon : Pastry Art
• Audrianna F : Non-Profit Organizations 
• Nicole D : Forensic Photography
• Ana S : Event Planning
• Reann B : Wildlife Conservation
• Jada H : Autism/Psychiatry          

2.  (Need to know) What questions do you have that haven't been answered about the project? 

• Do we need more than one mentor?
• What exactly are the independent components?

Interpretive:

3. What has the most important part of the senior project based on what you are seeing in the 2-hour presentations?

• From what I've seen in the presentations and based on what the presenters have said, I think that aside from research, the mentorship and the interviews are the most important parts of the senior project. 

Applied:

4. What topic are you considering doing and why?

• I'm considering doing freelance photography as my topic because I'm thinking of going that way career-wise and I think that it'd be beneficial to me in the future if I make connections to people through my senior project.