Kill Your Darlings

1) I improved a lot in the darkroom.  This time around I was able to make my own decisions for myself regarding exposure and time.  I was able to be more independent in the dark room and not have to so heavily rely on Ms. Seal.
2) It was really difficult to use the fibonacci sequence to layout the photos I was taking.  In my first role of film I was so concerned with my photograph strictly matching up with the fibonacci sequences, my film turned out dull and uncreative. In my second role of film I slowly fazed the view finder out of my photo taking process, but was still aware of my composition.
3) My over-arching theme of my photographs was solitude/loneliness. My first roll of film was objects in solitude.  My second roll of film I moved to people who were alone, which I enjoy much more and find much more interesting to photograph and look at.
4) The photograph I killed was indeed darling.  It was very intriguing because it was dark and mysterious, and even went alongside with some of my other photos, but it ultimately had to be "killed" because there wasn't enough information.
5) The photo I chose for the foyer is definitely my favorite photo I took. It captures the moods of loneliness and solitude nicely, I think.  I really like the composition and the depth of field.
6)I pretty much agreed with what everyone said about my photos, and I was going to kill the same photos that my peers didn't like.

Stop Action Film

sterling from Ms. Seal's Art History on Vimeo.


1)The narrative of my film was a "typical" day of my little sister. She wakes up and gets ready for school, trying a bunch of crazy outfits on because she can wear whatever she wants.  Then during her little fashion show for herself she hears her alarm- she was dreaming the whole time!!! That's the climax and crisis of the story. She is then forced to put on her uniform in real life to go to school.

2)When Jada is getting ready for school during her dream she's very happy and excited so I chose a song that reflected that morning, happy, girly vibe, which fit perfectly. Then when she is forced to put on her uniform in order to go to school in real life I chose a song entitled, "The Show Goes On" which is exactly the type of message I wanted to send to the audience and what I wanted her emotion to come across as. I think the audience can see that especially when she shrugs her shoulders.  I also added sound affects for the ringing of the alarm which was a crucial transition from her dream to real life.

3)I think my film had a very strong and relatable narrative with a climax/crisis.  It was understandable, fun, and enjoyable to watch.  The music went along perfectly in my mind, and I'm glad I went the extra length to loop the beginning of the first song.

4)I would try to vary my camera angles and lighting.  Other than that I had a pretty smooth editing process and was happy with the outcome.

House of My Mind

Reflection Questions

2) a)My intentions were to create readable, cohesive photos making use of landscapes, and patterns. 

    b) I think my work reflects my intentions because they are each cohesive individually, and even start to function together.  I really made use of drawing right on the image for my first picture which took a lot of time, but with persistence, I was able to finish and I am extremely happy with the results.  I definitely improved technically in the use of photoshop. Feel a lot more comfortable using it, whereas before I felt like I didn't have the best understanding on navigating it on my own.  Also conceptually I grew so much in my ability to create am image with many different elements and layers to make one united piece of art.  It took me a little time to really submerge myself in this project and imagine ideas that were accessible and do-able, but now that this project is over I have even more ideas that I wasn't able to even get to.  

Transforming Materials

Reflection Questions

a)This project was about making mundane everyday materials look interesting, and to set out to put them in a new light and context. My intentions were to try and think outside of the box that materials such as tinfoil and baking cups are usually constrained to. Of course I tried to focus on composition and attention to detail.
b)My work conveys my intentions, in that I successfully "transformed" each photo's material, although my they shifted throughout the project.  As I sought to experiment with reflections and shadows. Frustration in the earlier stages of the project required hat I persist and overcome the challenges presented.  I stretched myself and explored the different aspects of the project, broadening my horizon of a photographer. As a student of art I think I refined my craftsmanship conceptually.  My most successful photos made use of the reflection on the glassy black piano.

Reflection Questions

I did have some skills coming into this class that have been helpful.  For the second half of eight grade I had photography class once a week, where I learned the fundamentals of composition and different angles etc.  I had absolutely no experience in the darkroom though, because we only worked digitally.  The skill that I've most needed to cultivate would be adjusting my eye to look for specific shots to satisfy specific prompts, not to just shoot randomly.  I cultivated the skill of having a purpose behind my photographs.  Once I developed that skill it was helpful because my photographs started to improve.  Skills that I realized I need to develop in order to be successful in this class would  definitely be working in the darkroom and dealing with challenging negatives.  Steps that I have taken to improve these skills would be just not giving up when something isn't working and following Mrs. Seal's advice of whether to add a more time or whatever she said.  Working in photoshop was also something I had to work on because I'm not technologically savvy what so ever.  Steps that I have taken to improve these skills would be not getting frustrated at myself (or the computer!) and being patient with myself when I don't understand how to do something at first.  I learned to allow myself time to struggle with a concept and then gradually be able to do it on my own.  Something that excites me about photography right now would be just taking more pictures of people specifically and learning more about studio light.  Getting that perfect moment captured into one photograph really excites me. The still life project where we experimented with light leads me to want to explore how the different forms/angles of light would effect the human face.  I learned this year that I love taking photos of people.  That is why the portrait project was my favorite project.  Naturally, my favorite photo came from this project, and it is also the one I submitted to the Marin County Fair.  It is a picture of my little sister Juliana sitting on the brooke ground crossing her legs not looking at the camera.  I just love how the photo captures a moment and I love the composition.  My least favorite project would have to be the abstract project because for me it was boring and not lively or exciting, like taking pictures of people.  All in all this year has been a lot of fun!

still life with studio lighting

 I think this last photo is my best photo because of the composition and lighting.  This was a very successful project for me and I enjoyed experimenting with the different kinds of lighting options.

Abstract Darkroom

My best photo of this project is this last one of the flowers.  This was a really challenging assignment for me because the roll of film Mrs. Seal gave me was already half used so I had limited options, especially because not all of my photos even came out.  My least successful photo is the one of the rock tiles because the negative was scratched and the print is lighter on the top and darker on the bottom.