Midterms Exam Extra Credit

1. Explain what happened to the man that was killed by the subway and how the photographer was able to take the photo.

Answer: The man who got killed, Ki Suk Han, was attempting to calm down a lunatic who was harassing passerby. The lunatic pushed him into the path of the train, and he was unable to lift himself out. R. Umar Abassi, a photographer who happened to have his camera, tried to warn the train driver with the flash of his camera, Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, and Han was killed. Abbasi later noticed that he had captured the scene very clearly, and the image was later used on the cover of New York Post.

2. Why did the photographer say he took the photo?

Answer: Abbasi said that he took the photo so that the flash would grab the attention of the driver, in hopes that he would stop the subway train in time. Many he think that he did it for the photograph, but that does not seem likely to me. The lighting in the photo is dark, only lit by the lights in the subway. This supports that he did not adjust the settings on his camera, and didn't care about the outcome of the photo more than the man's life.

3. Do you think the photographer should have taken the photo?

Answer: No, he should have focused on a better way to save the man rather than trying to alert the driver.

4. Do you think the photographer did the best thing he could have done in this situation? Why or why not?

Answer: It was a good idea to try to warn the driver with the camera flash, but Abbasi probably could have helped some other way. Judging by the photograph he took, it looks like the train was far away enough so that he could have lifted Han out in time. It depends on how fast the train was moving. Using his camera was probably the only thing Abbasi could think of at the moment.

5. Do you agree or disagree with the decision to run the photo on the front page of the New York Post? Explain why or why not.

Answer: It depends. While it does make an attention grabbing cover and story, it should only have been used if Han's family gave consent for such a gruesome image to be used.

6. What is more important to a photojournalist, capturing images of life as it happens or stopping bad things from happening? Why or why not?

Answer: Most of the time, photojournalists only care about capturing the image and telling the story, rather than intervening and ruining what they think would make a great headline. They always take the shot when they see something interesting. Some like Abbasi have good intentions, but many care only about the photos.

7. Do you think it is ever ethically acceptable for a photographer to involve himself/herself in a situation that he or she photographs? Explain why or why not.

Answer: Yes, they should never just stand there and take photographs. Taking photos of people without permission is objectifying, especially if they do nothing to help the situation.

8. Should photojournalists always avoid influencing events as they happen? Explain your answer.

Answer: If they want to capture the moment as it is, they can't really intervene, but they can later prevent things from getting worse.

9. After reading the responses from the professional photographers, what stands out as the most appropriate response for a photographer to this situation.

Answer: The second comment was right; It is rather tasteless to use the gruesome image of Han's incoming death without his family's consent. There were many other witnesses who could have helped him, but didn't, even after he tried to calm down a lunatic who was harassing them.

Potraits

Magazine Covers 4

On your blog, write a short (50-150 word) explanation of what the main attributes of each of the four types are. Use your own words, and DO NOT copy and paste

1. Early Magazine Cover

Magazine covers are very simple, and usually only have a name and illustration.

2. The Poster Cover

Magazines began using intriguing images to capture the interest of consumers.

3. Pictures Married to Type

Magazines started to develop their own style for their covers. There are more words that give the consumer an idea of its contents. 


4. In the Forest of Words

Magazines now put lots of words on their covers along with a photo that suits it.

Magazine Covers 3

Choose your favorite cover (with a portrait). Label it as "favorite."

Copy and paste the description from the web.

Write a 100-150 word critique of the portrait on the cover.

Mention what is communicated about the people in the portrait and how this is communicated.

You may consider composition, lighting, exposure etc.















 Favorite

The New Yorker, September 8, 2014, Derek Jeter Bows Out By Mark Ulriksen“Derek Jeter presents a conundrum for a Red Sox fan like me,” Mark Ulriksen, about his cover “Derek Jeter Bows Out.” “I loathe the Yankees, but I appreciate and respect Jeter. No baseball fan can ever forget ‘the flip’ against the Oakland A’s in the playoffs. He’s a classic—humble, consistently spectacular, both at bat and in the field. When he arrived twenty years ago, he helped to make the Yankees the best team in baseball (again!) for too many seasons. Commemorating his career with a farewell cover is something that I’m sure even the Red Sox Nation can forgive me for.”

I absolutely love this portrait because it is not a photo and has artistic flare to it. It has a nice color scheme and a well done layout. The cover is a farewell to the Yankees baseball player Derek Jeter, and it makes a perfect commemoration for the end of his career in baseball. Even though the creator of the cover, Mark Ulriksen, greatly dislikes the Yankees, he respects Jeter and made a fantastic cover.

Prompt Shoot #2- Cold, Purple, Electric

Cold

                                                                            Purple

Electric

Magazine Covers 2

1. Formal, Informal, or Environmental












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7. Formal, Informal, or Environmental












8. Formal, Informal, or Environmental











9. Formal, Informal, or Environmental

















10. Formal, Informal, or Environmental











11. Formal, Informal, or Environmental












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18. Formal, Informal, or Environmental

Magazine Covers 1

Read the 2 page article about magazine cover design. The second page is much more important than the first page. On your blog tell me 5 things you should be thinking about when you design your magazine cover.

When I design my magazine cover, I would be thinking about:

1. Sticking to a color scheme

2. Having an intriguing photo

3. Making the layout visibly appealing

4. Placing the text carefully

5. Having interesting text

Fashion Photography

1. List the changes that were made to the model's face in the computer. (Look carefully)

Answer: Her eyes were made bigger, her nose smaller, lips bigger, and her skin clearer.

2. List the changes that were made to the model's body in the computer. (Look carefully)

Answer: Her limbs were made longer, her body skinnier and her skin whiter.

3. List the changes that were made to the model in the computer. (Look carefully)

Answer: She was made much skinnier and more conventionally attractive.

4. Is it ethically acceptable to change a person's appearance like these in a photo? Why or why not?

Answer: No, it is never okay to manipulate someone's body to fit conventional beauty standards.

5. Are there circumstances in which it would be more ethically wrong to do this type of manipulation?

Answer: It is wrong to photo shop someone's, hair face, or their body.

6. What types of changes are OK, and what aren't?

Answer: It is perfectly fine to edit out a mistake or something that wasn't supposed to be in the photo.

7. Explain what you think the differences are between fashion photography and photojournalism.

Answer: Fashion photography is centered around beauty, trends, and clothes. Photojournalism just focuses on photography in general.

8. What relationship does each type of photography have to reality, and how does this affect the ethical practice of each?

Answer: Most photography is staged, meaning it is not something that happened naturally. That, or it is photo shopped to look more interesting. This is okay in most cases, but when it comes to manipulating a person's body to make them more "attractive" it is wrong.

9. Why do you think I am showing you these three videos?

Answer: To help more people understand how incredibly wrong it is to photo shop human bodies as if they aren't already beautiful.

10. Why are none of these videos about guys???

Answer: Because men control our society, and they are the ones who have set ridiculous and unrealistic standards for women. Guys are put under no pressure whatsoever to conform to society's rules, but girls are shamed for not doing so.

American Soldier

A. What is the most powerful image from the slideshow? Why?

Answer: The photo at the end of the slideshow that shows Ian Fisher in a crowd of people with his girlfriend. This is the most powerful photo for me because he is being reunited with his loved ones.

B. Through the photos, Ian is in different locations, each set of photos from the same location comprise a short series or set. Can you tell where the sets are located? You should be able to pinpoint the change, please count each image and indicate where the change occurs, please use the little chart below to share with me on your blog where you think the breaks are:

Set 1- at home - Image #1 to Image #?
Set 2- basic training - Image #? to Image #?
Set 3- In Iraq - Image #? to Image #?

Answer: Set 1 - at home - Image #1 to Image #6
               Set 2 - basic training - Image #7 to Image #11
               Set 3- In Iraq - Image #12 to Image #17

C. Which set of images was the most powerful? Why?

Answer: For me, the most powerful set of images was Set 3, in which Ian is starting to experience the true life of a soldier. He has changed from the first two sets and is starting a  new life.

D. How do the images work together to tell a story?

Answer: They tell the story of how Ian goes from being a typical young adult in America, to a trainee, and finally to a soldier in Iraq.

E. For the photos in which Ian is the main subject of the photos, in what tense are the verbs usually written?

Answer: Present tense.

F: How do the captions enhance the photographs?

Answer: They added explanations to the photos, and the captions included missing details that the written article left out.

G: Ian Fisher was the ideal future soldier, physically fit and enthusiastic, doing it "for god and country". He was happy to get his high school diploma only because that way he could join the army. Before he left home, his friends and family threw him a goodbye bash. After a tearful goodbye, Ian met up with other recruits at the Denver Military Entrance Processing Station. While training went fairly ok for him, Ian was having many trials in his private life back home. His father was worried about him and he broke up with his Fiancee. 3 months into his deployment, Ian finally got the chance to wield his Squad Automatic Weapon. While he is fighting in a country that is already suffering, Ian says "I'm just in their country doing my job."

1. Ian Fisher was a regular teenager, until he joined the army and started his new life.
2. He wanted to join the military because he only saw it as a job.
3. Ian was not taking training too seriously and leaned on his gun.
4. His father was worried about him.
5. Ian proposed to his girlfriend, which resulted in them breaking up later.
6. Iraq made Ian a bit more serious and like a true soldier.

Self Portrait and Portraits Part 1

1. Alter Your Perspective

Most portraits are taken with the camera at (or around) the eye level of the subject. While this is good common sense – completely changing the angle that you shoot from can give your portrait a real WOW factor.

Photo by striatic

Get up high and shoot down on your subject or get as close to the ground as you can and shoot up. Either way you’ll be seeing your subject from an angle that is bound to create interest.

4. Experiment with Lighting

Another element of randomness that you can introduce to your portraits is the way that you light them. There are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to using light in portraits.
Side-lighting can create mood, backlighting and silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful.

Photo by Bukutgirl

Using techniques like slow synch flash can create an impressive wow factor.



Settings—The Other Subject
The settings in which you make pictures of people are important because they add to the viewer's understanding of your subject. The room in which a person lives or works, their house, the city street they walk, the place in which they seek relaxation—whatever it is, the setting provides information about people and tells us something about their lives. Seek balance between subject and environment. Include enough of the setting to aid your image, but not so much that the subject is lost in it.


Environmental Portrait

I like this environmental portrait because you can tell that cooking is this person's favorite thing to do. I picked it because I thought it looked like a pleasant, simple photo.

I like this portrait because of energy and action going on in it. I picked it because it was very different from the other environmental portrait, but still the same type of portrait.



Photography Self Portrait


I think that this photography self portrait is very creative for having a peacock feather replace an eye. I picked it because it is interesting.




I like this one because of the different emotions taking place. I picked it because there are multiple versions of the same person.



Casual Portrait


This portrait has very creative placement. I picked it because it resembles someone's brains being blown out by a gun.




This casual self portrait is calm and ordinary. I picked it because it seemed vey casual.




This portrait is intriguing because it is very different and creative.





I especially like this one because it is simple yet beautiful.


I will probably shoot myself because I find it awkward to take pictures of other people. I will most likely shoot somewhere in nature, for example, a wooded area or near a lake. To make the shot successful, I'll need to use the rules of photography as well as do something out of the ordinary that will make my portrait interesting.