May Post

A lot happened this month prom (which I didn't go to), exit interviews (physically I wasn't prepared, mentally I was), final portfolios in ROP, and block presentations (I feel my grade doesn't do my presentation any justice but as long as I didn't fail, I'm good). Overall, it was a very productive month, and while everyone else was losing their minds over interviews and presentations, I kept my head and I'm very proud of that. I got my grade on my final presentation and I must say that while it is decent I think that I deserved a better grade considering how much I explained in detail while doing demonstrations and all through out I was mentioning my mentorship with Jack both in studio and ROP, but maybe I just missed something that my presentation teacher didn't. I think that's it.

My grade:

Ladies and gentlemen, I am below average.

Blog 22: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement
What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
For my block presentation I'm definitely most proud of my demonstrations with the camera and the lights because I got to show hands on what I learned over the past nine months rather than just talking about it.

(2) Questions to consider
What assessment would you give yourself on the Block Presentation (self-assessment)?
AE       P          AP       CR       NC

What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?
AE       P          AP       CR       NC

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
I'd say the thing that worked most for me in senior project was my mentorship with Jack Bohlka because whenever I went into the studio to work or into ROP I was learning something with him and overall throughout the course of this year he's taught me so much that I wouldn't have learned otherwise.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
If I had a time machine I'd probably go back to yesterday so that I could pull out the 5-in-1 disc reflectors for my demonstrations with lighting equipment because, while they were in the room it would've been unprofessional for me to go grab one in the middle of my presentation so I just mentioned them.

(5) Finding Value
How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.
My senior project has been helpful to me in my future endeavors by providing me with the experience and knowledge that I would need to start further pursuing a career in photography. 
Examples:
Having camera knowledge for different types of lighting is useful in pursuing a photography career because I now don't have to take the time to just start learning it and off the top of my head I can say what my settings would be for any situation.

Blog 21: Mentorship

Literal:
Mentorship Log 
Jack Bohlka
(909) 981-6318
CBC Photography
Interpretive:
During my time working with Jack, the experience has left me with knowledge of cameras, different types of photography and equipment that would be very beneficial for a career in the area of photography.
Applied:
My mentorship helped me answer my EQ through always having me with a camera in my hands making me notice the effect that it has on the quality of photos as well as the lighting.

April Post

I took a lot of photos this month and went into the studio a couple of times. Mainly what I did was file client orders and work with studio lighting. Here are some photos of that:

[ Scanning...much scanning]

[Pop Art Lupe]

[Portrait Lupe]

Overall, this month was pretty chill I just took photos and worked on my independent component. 

Blog 20: Exit Interview

1) What is your essential question and answers? What is your best answer and why?

My essential question is "How can a photographer best achieve ideal lighting during a photo session and why?". My first answer is that in order for a photographer to achieve ideal lighting they must have an understanding of light both given and natural. My second answer is that a photographer can best achieve ideal lighting during a photo session by adjusting their camera settings in accordance with given light. My third answer is that a photographer can achieve ideal light by adding light and using equipment. My best answer is my second answer because when doing any type of photo session a photographer always has their primary piece of equipment as their camera and it's important for them to know what they're doing in terms of adjusting in accordance with given light. 

2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

This is something that I kind of got right off the bat when I started taking ROP. I realized that I didn't really know how to use a DSLR camera

3) What problems did you face how did you resolve them?

I guess a few problems that I had faced when finding my answer was finding actual research and not prices of lights and reflectors, eventually I just looked up techniques and set ups. Another problem that came up was getting into the studio to work with equipment and learning how to use it and identify any problems, eventually I just set a day to go in and stuck to it. 

4) What are the two most  significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

My first would be Lighting Essentials by Andrew Langcake and Simon Mclntyre because it gave a lot of information about the differently types of equipment that photographers use and it also gave some examples of different lighting set up, this really helped me when I was working on my independent component, because otherwise I would've had to constantly ask Jack how to set things up.

My second most significant source would be Chapter 9 Advanced Techniques from Rob Sylvans' From Snapshots to Great Shots. I count this as significant in finding my best answer because it introduced me to the basics of equipment lighting.

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) Statement saying: “I, Symphony Moreno, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
(b) Jack Bohlka
(c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).   Post it next to your mentorship log.
(d) I worked in Photoshop after taking photos using a few different lighting set ups and equipment.
INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
There is a link to my online portfolio under the links section of my blog, although I only put up five photos from when I went into the studio, I put a lot of work into some of the photoshop that I did ( especially the pop art).
APPLIED
How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.

This helped answer my EQ because during the time that I was working I realized that the use of equipment (especially flash to act as a fill light) is important when trying to get a well lit photo. For example at one point I turned off the light that had an umbrella reflector and just used my dominant light(with a softbox) and my backlight, this changed the lighting of the portrait dramatically, because it created shadows on Lupe's face. 

Blog 18: Third Answer

EQ:

How can a photographer best achieve ideal lighting during a photo session?

Answer 3:

Having an understanding of natural light/ given light is a stepping stone to achieving ideal lighting during a photo session.

Details:
Directional Light: A photographer has to know what direction the light is coming from in order to know where to place the subject and additional lights if needed.

Light temperature: There are different light temperatures that photographers have to know about in order to know how to adjust their cameras, the reason we can't tell the difference is because our eyes adjust to light temperature automatically.

Surfaces: Depending on how bright of a day it is the sun or type of light might reflect off of surfaces that may not be flattering to the photo and a photographer has to know how to fix that.

Source(s)
Mentor, Jack Bohlka, Professional Photographer

Conclusion:
A photographer can achieve ideal lighting by first understanding natural light and the light around them

March Post

A lot of the things that I did this month include taking photos kind of miscellaneously, then editing them and posting them to my online portfolio, which has it's own link on the sidebar of my blog or here. A lot of the photoshop usage that I did, I put towards my independent component as a way of getting more familiar with the program in order for me to do edits more efficiently when touching up the portraits that I'll do for my independent component portfolio.Other than that this month has been pretty chill.

Blog 17: Fourth Interview

1. One of my answers for my essential question, "How can a photographer best achieve ideal lighting during a portrait session?", is knowing your camera, meaning adjusting your settings in accordance with given light, what are your thoughts on that?
2. What settings would you say work best for you during outdoor portrait sessions?
3. A lot of people don't like having their photo taken, what do you do to make them feel comfortable?
4. How do you deal with people who just can't relax?
5. On a day like today how would you adjust your settings? And do you think you'd need a fill light?
6. Speaking of fill light what would you define fill light as?
7. People have their preferences in lighting styles, broad to short ect.., what's yours and why?
8. What do you think of Rembrandt lighting? 
9. What's your opinion on softboxes and their effect on the harshness of the lighting?
10. In what circumstances would you consider using an on camera flash?
11. Opposite of that, when would you use an off-camera flash?
12. What's your opinion of the five in one disk reflector?
13. How does or does not using a disk reflector affect your work?
14. In what type of situation would you use a fill light?
15. What would you say identifies your work as yours?
16. When do you think it is more appropriate to not add any type of additional lighting and just do a silhouette?
17.  What is your opinion on three point lighting?
18. What do you think is more important in three point lighting, the back light or the fill light?
19. What about two point lighting?
20. Sometimes you get like really harsh light when doing outdoor portraits, what do you specifically do to make it less harsh?

February Post

This month I didn't do too much, though I did take some photos for yearbook ( I'll add one under all this text and such). I've also been doing a little research on three point set-ups, so when I get around to actually doing that I'll have an idea of how it's supposed to look. So not much done, but plenty to do before independent component is due.

[ Mirror shot of Lara McConnaughey, Brandon Salinas, and Cancino along with the rest of dance in a rehearsal. ] 

[ Example of three point lighting. ]

Blog 16: Advisory Meeting #2

EQ:

How can a photographer best achieve ideal lighting during a portrait session?

Answer #2:

A photographer can best achieve ideal lighting during a portrait session by adding light and using other lighting equipment (ex: reflectors, strobes).

Details:

Reflectors: Basically what reflectors do is they help control the direction of the light. For example a five in one reflector has a diffuser disk that has a cover with different fabrics; white, silver, gold, and black, what these do is either give the photo a more natural look(white), or edgy look(silver), or a warm look(gold) or absorb the light that might be bouncing off of objects near by(black).

Softboxes: Softboxes are enclosures that are attached to the light with reflective interior surfaces and translucent material that is positioned in front of the light. Pretty much what a softbox does is diffuse and soften the light to make it less harsh on the subject and create better shadows.

Lights: Adding light is essential when shooting the subject in a studio or even outdoors with their back to the sun. So example would be a strobe light with an umbrella reflector to act as a fill light so that we're not getting a silhouette.  

Source(s):

Lighting for Digital Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots by Syl Arena

Lighting Essentials by Simon Mclntyre and Andrew Langcake

Conclusion:

A photographer can achieve ideal lighting through the use of reflectors, softboxes, and additional lights working together.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

Content:

1. I plan on completing my 30 hours by working with the camera more, using a tripod for different things and working with studio lights and reflectors.

2. My evidence will be shown through photos that I take or photos of me working with equipment.

3. This will help me explore my topic more in depth by allowing me to stabilize the camera(tripod), work with added light instead of just natural light, and to shape light to fit my needs for a photo.

4. *log on right hand side of blog*

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

LITERAL

 a) I, Symphony Moreno, affirm that I completed my independent component, which represents 30 hours of work.
 b) Sources: Renee Moreno, Jack Bohlka, Portrait Lighting - Names for different portrait lighting set-ups in photography (article) 
 c) Component 1 log is on the right-hand side of the blog
 d) What I have completed is portraits of my sister, each one has a different lighting style or composition. 

INTERPRETATIVE

 The most significant part of this component was the few lighting styles that I learned and a few techniques I learned when adjusting my camera settings ( manual focus, slow shutter speed, wide aperture, ect.,). All of these things are demonstrated in these photos that I took of my sister:

In this photo, I had my sister turn her head slightly towards the light so that we could create the effect of "short lighting" which is where the short side of the face is lit up.

 I had my sister turn her head towards the light a little bit more to create a "key triangle" this is on the right side of her face under her eye. The lighting style where the key triangle is shown is known as Rembrandt.

 In this final photo I had my sister face me fully while the lighting was farther off to my left so that only half of her face is lit. This is called split lighting.

Before taking any of these photos I had to preset my camera to the conditions of the lighting in the room which was very little, so the settings that I had listed above( slow shutter speed, wide aperture, manual focus, high iso) were used through out. Originally I was going to demonstrate five lighting styles but as I was working out of my home I found that I couldn't fully achieve the other two (broad and butterfly) without them coming out very badly.  Here is just some more evidence that I was in ROP working on all of this:

APPLIED

This helped me with the foundations of my project because I realized that photography isn't just snapping photos; you have to really think about what you're doing when pre-setting the camera or setting up the lighting and the room that you're going to shoot in.

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

1. Positive Statement:

For my presentation, I am most proud of the demonstrations that I did on the camera to really kind of show what I was talking about.

2. Questions to Consider

   a. What assessment yould you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment) ?

P-/AP+

  b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the lesson 2 component contract.

I think I deserve at least one of those because my presentation overall was pretty well-rounded, except I didn't cite my sources.

3.  What worked for you in Lesson 2?
Having the cameras for everybody to try and apply what I had just talked about while taking photos.

4. ( What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your lesson 2?
Some of the cameras either didn't have a battery or were just completely dead, if I could change that it would probably be to make sure that every camera is charged and has a battery before my presentation.

5. Finding Value

What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

 I think my answer #2 would be along the lines of equipment such as, tripods and off-camera flash.

January

So this month I spent mostly preparing for my 30 minute presentation. What I did to really prepare was read up on the different camera settings and their uses.

[ This is the book I read to learn the different camera settings among other things.]

Overall I didn't do much other than that except take a really nice photo for ROP when we worked on abstract photography, I'll probably have that up after it's been graded. 

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

Content:
10 open-ended questions:

1. My essential question is " How can a photographer best achieve ideal lighting during a portrait session?", what are your thoughts on getting the best light during a session?
2. One of my answers for my essential question is adjusting the camera settings in accordance with given light; How often would you say that you adjust your settings when taking photos?
3. In lighting conditions like today, if you had to take an outdoor portrait what settings do you think you would use to get the best lit photo possible?
4. In what circumstances would you suggest using an off-camera flash?
5. In contrast to that under what circumstances would you suggest using an on camera flash?
6. When, in your opinion, would it be more appropriate to use a hot light rather than a studio light with an umbrella reflector?
7. Speaking of reflectors, would you suggest a specific type for outdoor portrait sessions?
8. Do you use soft boxes in your photography? If so what effect do they have on your photos? If not, why?
9. Some photographers use reflector floodlights in their work, what's your opinion on them and their effect on a photo?
10. Other photographers have their preferences in lighting styles; short to broad, split to butterfly; what is your preferred lighting style?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am doing my mentorship at CBC Photography and ROP Digital Photography class.

2. Who is your contact?

My contact is Jack Bohlka.

3. How many total hours have you done?
I have done a total of 54 hours. 

4. Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

The hours that I completed consist of scaning client orders, observing a portrait session, and participating in ROP class.  

5. Email your house teacher the name of your contact and their phone number confirming who they are should they call to verify it.

Blog 10: Senior Project: The Holiday

Content:

1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?

Over the break I did some independent research that I think will help me in the 30 minute presentation and my independent component.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why? What was the source of what you learned?

In my research I learned about photo exposure and how to get it just right for different situations.

3. If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

If I were to interview someone in a 10 question interview on questions related to answers related to my EQ, I would talk to Jack Hancock because he does really good photography work where the lighting compliments the subject.