Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Upper Deck San Diego

I learned the Play That Funky Music bass line. Hopefully the band can get together soon and practice that. Morgan Freeman is slowly coming together, but we'll get there. I have to upload our original version on a USB and just write what narrations we already used. Coming up with completely new narration would be a waste of time. There are some new scenes that will require some more writing, but  I believe everything will work out.

On a different note, I want to play around with circuit bending. I remember doing it with my sister. She got this cheap Crayola keyboard and I got to play around with it and it was great. I was pretty young when I first did it, so I can't quite recall all the small details of it. The great thing about circuit bending is that you don't need to know a lot of technical things to circuit bend, a lot of it is just playing around. If anyone has toys that they don't need or use that have a circuit in them... donate them to me!

For those who don't know what circuit bending is, it's the "creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices... to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators."

To get the feel of it: 

It's amazing how much you can do with that one keyboard as a result of circuit bending. Ah. I really want to do this. I need to dig up some toys. 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Yesterday's Lunch

Today I worked on the Morgan Freeman film with Kat, Bari, Peter, and Austin. We just need to get the narrations done because all of our ideas seem to be pretty solid. I'm really excited to see how this pans out. I think our first video was pretty good given the circumstances it was created under, and now that we have some more time and the abilities to edit it and improve our audio, we should be set.

Also, STAC band is doing Have a Cigar by Pink Floyd for one of our songs and I'm really looking forward to that. I have some bass to learn.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

What A Wonderful Puddle

I was asked to shoot pictures and videos at Mr. Coleman's birthday party. That's adding to my hours for photography, yay. That was probably the only not so terrible thing about that. Although I must say, we had STAC Art today and to be honest, I was very productive and I did get a lot of work done. It felt good to put all my energy into what I was doing. Two great things about today. 

Ranting/Pondering I guess... 

Today was the first day the school started playing music instead of bells. I'm not a fan about the idea, but that's not the point. I've had so many people telling me that student government needs to change this, and that it's a terrible idea. This led to other comments about how student government does nothing at all and that people have so many complaints about what needs to be changed around here. First, student government had nothing to do with the bells. Second, if you're so unhappy with your school, why don't you say something to your student government reps? People want change but they don't want to do anything. If someone has feedback, advice, complaints, etc. student government reps do bring them up at meetings. So, no, student government isn't unproductive and we actually do discuss real issues and concerns. Believe what you want to. At times we can be unproductive and yes it's frustrating, but so can every other class and club.

I get similar comments about STAC from so many people. So many people tell me that we don't do anything and whatever. Well again, think what you want, but what perspective do you have? How can people speak about something they know so little about? I guess I'm so annoyed because I've been extra irritable lately, but either way it's completely ridiculous. 

It doesn't get to me too much, but it does feel like a slap in the face when someone criticizes STAC or student government, or anything I do. I'm used to it of course. It just really bothers me when people can speak so loudly with a warped view on things. I can tell people that STAC does a lot, and student government does too, but I often feel like I'm wasting my breath because they don't really care. I just want to stand for what I believe in and love. The past two days have been pretty rough and I've been unable to do that without shaking or wanting to break down. Everything will get back to normal in a day or so. 

Monday, December 10, 2012

A Great Big Pile Of Leaves

I'm not that great at drawing, but I've been practicing a lot. I've done quite a few self portraits and what not. I recently got inspired to do one line drawings by an artist on Tumblr. One line drawing is drawing without lifting your pen, pencil, etc. I really enjoy doing these little doodles. They're quite fun to make. 9,999 hours from now and I think I'll get the hang of it. I worked on a few tonight, and here they are:


Thursday, December 6, 2012

Kontroll

Today's discussion in class really got me thinking. To start off, I found the whole idea of monomyth to be quite interesting. I actually find a lot of comfort behind it. Often times we feel like we're alone, but that really isn't the case. It seems that our issues can be structured similarly. According to Joseph Campbell, there are 17 stages. 


  • The Call to Adventure (some information is received)
  • Refusal of the Call (often refuse to heed the call) 
  • Supernatural Aid (a guide becomes known)
  • The Crossing of the First Threshold (leaving the known limits of your world)
  • Belly of The Whale (the final separation from your known world and self)
  • The Road of Trials (a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that you must undergo to begin the transformation)
  • The Meeting With the Goddess (experience a love that has the power and significance of the love of an infant and mother) 
  • Woman as Temptress (temptations that may want you to abandon or stray from your quest)
  • Atonement with the Father (you must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in your life) 
  • Apotheosis (you must move beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss)
  • The Ultimate Boon (achievement of the goal of the quest)
  • Refusal of the Return (you may not want to return to the ordinary world once you have been enlightened in the other world) 
  • The Magic Flight (sometimes you have to escape with the boon)
  • Rescue from Without (you must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring you back to everyday life)
  • The Crossing of the Return Threshold (retain the wisdom gained on the quest, integrate that wisdom into a human life, and share the wisdom with the rest of the world)
  • Master of Two Worlds (achieving a balance between the material and spiritual; becoming comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds)
  • Freedom to Live (mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which is the freedom to live)
Kontroll is a great example of a monomyth. Throughout the film, Bulcsu attempts to catch the killer in the subway system. I believe that this killer is just a metaphor of Bulcsu's evil side. The 17 stages can we found in Bulcsu's journey to overcome his evil. There are some elements that are really clear, such as the woman as temptress. Although the Bela's daughter was a temptation, I also think that while she was a temptation, she was his rescue from without. The last scene as the go up the elevator is one that shows Bulcsu becoming the master of two worlds and acquiring the freedom to live. I wish I could go more in depth with it, but I think I need to re-watch the move now that I have knowledge of monomyths (now that is possible with the Youtube link)! 

I was recently in this messy and weird friendship/relationship with some guy. I was able to get over it and I think I'm currently experiencing the freedom to live. I'm looking forward to beginning the cycle all over again and seeing how well it fits into the monomyth. 

I think if you analyze the challenges in your life, you can find yourself stumbling upon a structure similar to the one above. This whole concept is universal and timeless. It has been around for thousands of years in many different civilizations. So whether you think you're alone in this world or not, and whether you choose to accept it or not, struggle and pain are universal. And that is fact. 



Wednesday, October 10, 2012

NYC

Ellen and I initially wanted to go around the city, talk to strangers/ask them questions, record our conversations, and turn them into songs. Luke pointed out the obvious flaw in our plan- many people will be reluctant to participate in this project, and therefore that will make our project pretty impossible. I still want to try it and see if we get anyone willing to participate. So if this does end up failing, Ellen and I will record noises that we hear around the city and turn that into a song as well. Even if we do get strangers to speak for us, we want to incorporate sounds from around the city. In the case that we aren't able to record strangers, I would still like to jot down their stories or whatever they have to say. That may come in handy somewhere down the road.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Exposure Terminology


Define these:

ISO Speed- controls how sensitive its sensor is to the light that hits it 

Aperture- the opening through which light travels 

Shutter Speed- the effective length of time camera's shutter is open 

Using only ONE SENTENCE, explain:

What is an exposure meter (a light meter)? A device used to determine the proper exposure for a photograph.

How does it work? It measures the amount of light in scene and sets the appropriate shutter speed and aperture settings to give the best picture brightness or "exposure."

What is an incident-light meter? The incident meter is aimed at the light source and measures the light source falling directly on a scene and is not influenced by the reflectance of the subject being photographed. 

What is a reflected-light meter? Reflected metering reads the intensity of light reflecting off the subject and may vary according to variances in tonality, color, contrast, background, surface, or shape. 

What is a Center Weighted Meter?  It's a meter that evaluates the light in the middle of the frame and its surroundings. 


What is an Evaluative/Multi-Segment Meter? A meter that divides the frame into several areas and calculates exposure based on these readings. 

What is a Spot Meter? A very narrowly angled meter capable of giving an exact exposure (not necessarily a correct one) from a simple subject (preferably the most important part of the subject).

What sort of exposure meter is on your camera? My camera has three main metering modes, matrix, center-weighted, and spot metering.

What is overexposure? Over exposure is when a picture has been exposed with too much light, making it look brighter and washed out

What is under exposure? Under exposure is when a picture hasn't been exposed with enough light, making it look black or near black. 

What is depth of field? The distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image 

What is the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO?The relationship between aperture, shutter speed, ISO can be represented by an exposure triangle. A change in one of the elements will impact the others, which means you can never really isolate a specific element. If you decide to use a bigger aperture, you will have to make an adjustment in either the ISO or shutter speed (either making the ISO or shutter speed a smaller number). The same applies if you decide to use a faster shutter speed. You will have to adjust the aperture to allow more light to come through the opening, or the ISO to be more sensitive to the light. 

What is exposure compensation? 
Exposure compensation is an easy way to correct for improper exposure.  You are not setting the actual exposure settings, that is still left up to the camera. What you are doing is telling the camera that you are not completely satisfied with its calculations and adjusting them slightly.  

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

An Idea Is A Greater Monument Than A Cathedral

Today Luke let me shoot with his camera. From what I remember it was a Canon 5D Mark II. I've never shot Canon before, so it was nice to use something out of my comfort zone. I was also able to use the 70-200mm lens. That was the first time using that lens, after dreaming about it for months and months via pictures on the internet. I was so excited to use it. I wasn't allowed to look at my pictures right after I took them, which made this task a bit more challenging just because I'm so used to doing that with digital. Obviously when I shoot film I can't look at the photo right after it's taken, and I had to deal with the same thing today, only digital. I came across some difficulties when shooting. At times I'd go to take a picture, the camera wouldn't take it. I'd adjust the focus, exposure comp, shutter, aperture, etc. but it still wouldn't give. It was SO frustrating, especially when I had so many opportunities to take great pictures. 

This was the first time shooting long range, and that could be easily seen in my pictures. If I were given a chance to shoot, I would change so many different things about my shots. I would definitely focus on composition a lot more. I think I totally neglected that today, and that was stupid of me. 

As I'm reading Art and Fear and doing this project, I'm finding myself relating to it even more. The authors speak about materials, and how they have potential. They do what your hands make them do. Having this super expensive camera with a super expensive lens was thrilling. They were seducing me with their potential. Having a higher quality camera makes a difference in the photos you shoot, but not entirely. The quality of the photo may be superb, but the shot itself may not be that all impressive. I can relate to that for sure. 

Going back to shooting without seeing the pictures right after, this was the uncertainty I was faced with. I had no idea if my pictures would come out with a perfect exposure. "Photographer Jerry Uelsmann once gave a slide lecture in which he showed every single image he had created in the span of one year: some hundred-odd pieces- all but about ten of which he judged insufficient and destroyed without ever exhibiting." I took 112 pictures today, and I liked MAYBE four or five pictures. Uncertainty is inevitably, and makes working a bit more interesting. 

PS: I think this book is one of the greatest, and reading it has helped me understand myself and art a lot better. 

Saturday, September 29, 2012

My Fall

I was thinking about what I got out of this film, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I have control of my life and the decisions I make. Roy wanted to commit suicide more than anything, and attempts to kill himself off in his own story. Alexandria draws him back to life with all the love she had for him. Although we can give her a lot of the credit for saving Roy, he had to have something inside of him to control his decision. Suicide seemed to be the easy way out for him. If he wasn't alive, he wouldn't have to deal with his struggles and pain. You'll always be faced with many problems throughout your life, and you can chose to deal with them or leave them unsolved. For example, when you have to work on art. You will come across rough patches in the work process, and you can give up and not try to work through it. What does that accomplish? If you try your hardest to overcome obstacles standing in your way, you can definitely make it through. The word impossible becomes obsolete, and the future seems to clear up little by little. I think Roy's depression was his "fall." He had to pick himself back up from his depression if he wanted to see a better future. Everyone has to fall sometimes, but that doesn't mean it's the end. Falling is a part of growing. When you first started learning how to walk, you probably fell a countless amount of times. The more you fell, the more you wanted to get up and try walking again. And again. And again. You just have to be able to pick yourself up when you fall. Sometimes you're going to need a helping hand, and you'll be able to get that support. Other times you'll be on your own struggling to get up, but it's not impossible. We have control of our lives, but we have to be able to see that. If my music sucks, or my painting sucks, I have to be willing to work hard to get better. Things don't exist just because you want them to. 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Photo Test

Here is the photo test for anyone interested
#1
ISO:100
Av: f/5.6
Tv: 1/200
I told my brother to open his eyes, and he made this facial expression. 
#2
ISO: 400
Av: f/1.8
Tv: 1/2000 
#3
ISO: 200
Av: f/1.8
Tv: 1/320
#4
ISO: 400
Av: f/1.8
Tv: 1/400
#5
ISO:400
Av: f/1.8
Tv: 1/60

#6
ISO: 400
Av: f/1.8
Tv: 1/200

#7
ISO: 400
Av: f/11
Tv: 1/250
#8
ISO: 400
Av: f/1.8
Tv: 1/100 
#10
ISO: 100
Av: f/3.2
Tv: 1/400
#11
ISO: 400
Av: f/14
Tv: 1/13
#12
ISO: 100
Av: f/9
Tv: 1/200
#13
ISO: 100
Av: f/3.2
Tv: 1/400
#14

The colors in this photo are warm and come together nice, and the out of focus background still gives the viewer an idea of where this was taken.
 #15
This photo juxtaposes the city and country life quite nicely, and the long exposure adds a nice effect as well. 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

the glove compartment is inaccurately named

My mom's birthday is coming up pretty soon. She's such a difficult person to shop for. She's really simple and doesn't want anything. Ever. I wish I was exaggerating, but it's the truth. At the same time, I really respect her for that. She's the furthest thing from materialistic. The only things she likes material wise include paintings and antiques. So this year I decided to make a painting for her.


I was feeling inspired after STAC Art yesterday. When I got into the car I was telling my mom how I'm terrible at painting, but she was encouraging me to keep practicing and trying because she knows I could do it. Of course she's my mom and wants me to feel good, but whenever she does encourage me it's because she has absolute faith in me. (She also gives me criticism when needed, she never holds back with that.) But her faith really keeps me going in life. It's the best feeling to know someone is there for you and believes in you. So, here's to my favorite person in the world. Thanks Mom, I love you.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Question 2

1) How much time did you spend working?
I worked on my project everyday for about 2 hours or so. 
2) How much time did you spend thinking about the work - sort of sitting there and staring at it, or listening to it over and over again, etc.?
I spent a good hour everyday just browsing through my pictures. Sometimes I'd leave my computer and take a break for a little, and go back to look at them with a fresh mind. 

3) How much time did you spend doing other stuff that seems like work to that make you think you're working but you're not?
Anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. It was different everyday. As soon as I realized I was just doing bullshit work, I tried to get back on task. 
4) How much time did you spend socializing?
My project involved a lot of socializing, but I guess socializing not related to my project was only for a few minutes some days. 

5) How did you use your community?
I asked for some people's opinions on my work, what they thought, what I could improve etc... Luke was a huge help with his book and light meter. I tried not to ask him for too much help, or anyone really. I was determined to figure it on my own and I tried to limit myself to asking other people for help with the actual photo taking part. 

6) Rip apart your awful project and how did such a disaster happen?
This was the first time I ever tried doing portraits, and it was a learning experience. I have A LOT to improve, and I know I'm not a great photographer. I let it happen because I know I couldn't get amazing material. Being a noob, I knew I'd have a mediocre project. If you aim for perfection, you should expect to be greatly disappointed. So I knew what I would have wouldn't be perfect, and that it would be very very far from it.  
7) You've completed a step on your path. What is your next step?
I think I want to continue what I was doing during the Big Week. Reading up on new techniques, terms, equipment, and applying it all. It's great to know stuff about photography, but what does that mean if you have no idea how to use it? I think focusing on one technique at a time and learning how to use it will definitely help improve my skills. I don't just want to dive into a pool of information. I want to be able to take it in and understand it. 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Question #1

I'm more comfortable when working with a group. I think I work best in a group. I like sharing my ideas and hearing other peoples ideas. When two people have two great ideas- or two shitty ideas, they can create something great.  I expected to learn about managing my time. With the Be Kind Rewind, I know my group had to do as much as they could in one hour. Somethings would have to remain as they were, with mistakes or not. I was faced with a similar circumstance during the Big Week. I had to get 30 portraits done by Friday, and I was able to get it done. I wasn't happy with all my pictures, I can't lie and say that I loved all my pictures. I hated most of them, which is fine. I wasn't expecting the greatest pictures. I did what I could with the time I was given. I didn't just blow of the project because I didn't have enough time, I tried to get some good shots. I don't think anyone had the mindset that since there wasn't much time, they were just going to blow the whole project over. Everyone had different, awesome projects. I'm seriously so amazed at how unique and great everyone's projects were. 

In my Big Week project, I wasn't expecting to learn how to use a hand held light meter, or about the different types of metering. I enjoyed learning about these technicalities and a few others. It added to my knowledge of photography, these things were pretty foreign to me. I mentioned in another post that I learned more in those 4 days than in one semester of Photo 1. How funny is that? 

To be honest, I wasn't going into the Big Week or Be Kind Rewind looking to learn something in specific. I just went into knowing that I would learn something, anything really. 

So how did I pull off my project? I don't think it was that difficult, and I think I could've done something more challenging. I think my photos could've been better, but I did finish my project. The most difficult part was getting people to give me their permission to photograph them. I just had to put myself more out there. I didn't feel intimidated by anyone. Despite the amount of jerks I had to deal with, I didn't really let them bother me. Also, people aren't as great as they make themselves out to be. At least that's what I found out with this project. Some kids walk around school like they're the best, but they don't have my depth. I hate to come off as obnoxious, but I just tried engaging some kids into interesting conversations, and they didn't take it seriously and couldn't care less. I believe everyone has a certain depth to them, but some people almost make it seem like they're "too good" for it.  

I'm really proud of the work I was able to get done. I believe I had a few great shots, and I'm happy to say I took them. Put myself out there was really good for me to, it's not that easy to just talk to anyone, but I was able to because I had to and I had a good time. 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Violent Waves

I saw Circa Survive, Touche Amore, Balance and Composure, and O'Brother today. The show itself was fantastic, and probably one of the greatest shows I've been too. After the show there was this shirtless guy screaming, "FUCK YEAH CIRCA SURVIVE" and Peter and I happened to stop next to him. He turned to me and made a remark about getting in trouble with security. I noticed on his chest he had a tattoo of the autism awareness ribbon with the name Nathan written inside of it. I told him I really loved it, and at the same time we both said, "my little brother has autism." I had just met this man, but there was this instant connection. I could feel that he loved his little brother just as much as I love my little brother. He wanted to show me a picture of his brother, but he didn't have his wallet. I wish I could've seen it. I didn't have a picture of my brother either. Regardless, it was one of the greatest moments of my life. This is exactly why I love strangers so much. This is what I was talking about.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Final Intention Statement


Where shall I begin in my journey of trial and error? I successful met, photographed, and questioned 30 strangers. I can sincerely say I had such a great experience. The point of my work was to improve on my photography skills, and I also wanted to capture people in their essence in the photographs. I was able to do that with a select few. The only tricky part about it was I felt that the fact that people knew they were being photographed for my project, so they put on a big smile and tried to look good. I didn't care about how their hair looked, or their makeup, or whatever. The answers I got to my questions  weren't what I expected, and I don't think many people took my project seriously. Maybe they did take it seriously, and just answered to the best of their ability. I'm going to try this project out in the city and compare the answers I get to the answers I received in school. Much of my inspiration came from the photographers Vitor Shalom, and Zhang Jingna. Another main source of inspiration for this project came from Humans of New York

I was able to learn many new techniques from the past four days of researching. I learned about using different ISOs in different conditions, and I was able to experiment with them. Also, I learned how to successfully use a hand held light meter! Hands on experience with it helps you learn much more than just watching a video. With learning about light meters, I learned about the difference because reflected and incident metering.  The pictures I took the first few day were so terrible, and I thought they didn't capture my skills well. As the week went on, I definitely saw progress in my shots, but of course there's always room for improvement. The problem with my shots the first day was the lack of appropriate lighting, and overall the shots lacked quality. But, this project made me want to work in a studio and improve on my shots, experiment with different lighting, lenses, cameras, etc etc... My friend asked me if I would be interested in renting a studio for a few hours with him, and I really want to do it now. I still want to do some more research about new techniques before I put the money into it. If I'm going to make the investment, I might as well get my money's worth.

I think I had a very successful week, and I am pleased with what I've learned and discovered about both myself and photography. 

My project can be found here: http://lisaboneta.foliohd.com/view/Hlt

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Big Week: Day 3

Big thanks to Luke for letting me read his book about photography, and letting me borrow his light meter. I was so confused when I first tried using it. I read up on it and I had a little difficulty understanding how it works. I just watched a video about how it works and I'm excited to actually use it tomorrow! I know I'll get the hang of it by doing it rather than just reading about it. 

I learned about incident and reflected metering. 

So what's the difference? 
The incident meter is aimed at the light source and measures the light source falling directly on a scene and is not influenced by the reflectance of the subject being photographed. 

Reflected metering reads the intensity of light reflecting off the subject and may vary according to variances in tonality, color, contrast, background, surface, or shape. 

There's no such thing as a "correct" exposure, but you can get a perfect exposure. 

Other things I learned today: There are A LOT of things I still have to learn about with photography. I think that's what makes this project nice. I'm learning, and realizing that I don't know as much as I thought I did. I took Photo 1, and I think I learned more in the past 3 days than I did in one semester of that class. 

I was thinking about the responses I got to the questions, and I guess I'm pretty surprised. I thought I'd get some really deep/witty/creative/awesome answers to my questions, but I didn't. The problem can be my questions, and perhaps my expectations. It's pretty stupid of me the expect good answers from these strangers. Heck, what do I know about them? That was part of this project in the first place. Although, I was expecting people to explain their answers thoughtfully, but many didn't. Maybe they just saw this as a stupid project, or maybe they just didn't know what to say. It makes me wonder now that I'm reflecting on it. Hm. My original plan was to use some answers as inspiration for the future, and I don't know how I'm going to do that with the answers I got. I think I'll just string some together or something like that. 

So I have 9 more strangers to photograph. I'm interested to see how that will turn out. Also, I thought of an idea while going through my project and what not. I want to try this out in the city or some place with a lot of people. I think it would be cool to follow up this project. Perhaps ask the same questions, and see if other people have more insight, and it will also show if it was just my shit questions that resulted in ordinary responses. Maybe I won't ask specific questions, but just ask them for a backstory of their life. I will figure it out when the time comes.

I really like talking to strangers, something about it makes me feel great. I personally believe that coming across new people is like peeling back the layers of our confusing world. One person at a time you can learn so much about something new. Everyone has their own stories to share, and you might hear similar stories, but it will never be the same. People talk with different voices, emotions, feelings, and movement. One of my favorite things is meeting someone who is so passionate about a specific thing or person such as music, or the love of their life. When people talk about what/who they love, it's just so beautiful. They close their eyes, move their hands, you can feel the passion oozing out of their heart into yours. Coming across strangers helps add perspective to this world, because no two people have the identical perspective of life. I'm some really strange way, that idea comforts me as much as it haunts me. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Inspiration for Day 2


My inspiration to work today was prompted by some research of the photographer Vitor Shalom. I stumbled upon his website (which can be found here) and looked through his photos. I was just really wowed by his shots. I thought his use of lighting was really cool in some shots, too. Man, I really like his stuff. I'm so glad I could find it. Another photographer I found was Zhang Jingna. Again, such wonderful photographs that I really appreciated. I would love to do some photo shoots like that in the future. 

So thank you Vitor and Zhang for inspiring me today!http://www.vitorshalomphotography.com/

Big Week: Day 2

I did some research on ISO today. ISO is how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. A higher ISO means the image sensor is more sensitive, and thus it allows you to take pictures in low light conditions. A higher ISO will record a fainter light signal and it will also record a fainter noise (noise is any signal that is not attributed to the light from your subject). This means that the image sensor will record more noise and light signal. The ratio of light signal to noise (S/N ratio) determines the "noise" in your final project. Noise in digital photo can be compared to graininess in film. Graininess in film can sometimes add to the mood and warmth of the picture, but noise in digital film is unwanted and ruins the photo. The lowest possible ISO will give you the best quality pictures. (It will have the greatest S/N ratio.) So anyway, I tried using a lower ISO today. Most of my pictures were taken outside, unlike yesterday where all the pictures were taken inside. I used 200 or 400, and I was more satisfied with my pictures. I still want to work on my lighting. Yesterday I said I was going to work on lighting, but I ended up experimenting with ISO. Looking at my pictures, I noticed the lighting caused many of the problems of the finished products. Some faces came out half light and dark. I need to learn how to edit it, but to be honest I don't want to have to edit them. I want to be able to establish the right lighting for different scene/places even when I don't have the equipment available. 

I had a harder time getting volunteers today, some wise asses and what not. It was pretty amusing to be honest, it just made it harder to take more pictures. 

Monday, September 10, 2012

Big Week: Day 1

My first day went much better than expected. I was able to photograph eleven people, which surprised me. I thought people would be less willing to volunteer to get their picture taken, but I was totally wrong. The responses I got to some of the questions were interesting, but nothing too amusing. My favorite was the response to the question, "How can you prove to me that you are not a figment of my imagination?" The girl asked if she could slap me across the face and I told her to go for it. She was really hesitant, but I told her I would still think she was a figment on my imagination until she did it. So she did! I have to say that was pretty fun. No other responses really stood out to me in particular. 

I've been going through the shots, and I want to experiment on Photoshop with editing, or perhaps even find some other editing software. I found this cool app called ToyCamera AnalogColor. I want to play around with that too. If you know any other apps, let me know! I think using Photoshop and reading up on it will help me learn a lot of new things with editing.

Here is my progress so far: http://lisaboneta.foliohd.com

I'm not satisfied with all my pictures. I want to work on the lighting of my pictures, and overall quality.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Seven Questions


  • 1. What is the first creative moment you remember?
  • The first creative moment I had was when I was 6 years old. I sat at my piano and I wrote a song. I heard my sister playing some really obscure song, and I remember hearing this really cool piano part at one point. I wanted to make my own cool and obscure song, and I did just that. I even wrote sheet music for it. 
  • 2. Was anyone there to witness or appreciate it?
  • Eventually my sister came down and wanted me to play it for her and teach it to her. She was going to school for audio engineering at the time and wanted to record it because she loved it that much. I don't think that ever happened, although I really wish it had. 
  • 3. What is the best idea you’ve ever had?
  • The best idea I ever had came to me a few weeks ago in Croatia. I saw two people just jamming on the streets of Krk, and then it came to me! Next summer, I'm going to be a street musician when I go to Europe again.
  • 4. What made it great in your mind?
  • I'm not doing it to make money, but in the case that I do make a few kunas, I want to save it up to get my aunt a ticket to come to America. She would love to come here some day, and I would love to make that happen for her. Plus, I'd be jamming on the streets of Europe- how awesome would that be?!
  • 5. What is the dumbest idea?
  • I've had quite a few stupid ideas, but not too many that I can remember  The dumbest idea I've ever had was when I thought I could back up the car into the street- I was only five years old. I almost crashed into a tree but my mom somehow stopped that from happening.  I had no logical reasoning behind why I wanted to do it. Most of my dumb ideas have a slight bit of logic behind them. But not this one!
  • 6. What made it stupid?
  • Well, I was very young and not capable of operating a vehicle. I probably would've died if my mom didn't stop the car. 
  • 7. Can you connect the dots that led you to this idea?
  • I was in the car with my dad, and I remember how fascinated I was with him pulling in reverse and parking the car on the street. I wanted to be able to do that, but I underestimated how hard that would be. So I gave it a shot and failed miserably!