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. ]