Ethics - In Class Assignment #7

• After reading the article Altered Image, Vanished Trust: Photojournalism in the Age of Digital Manipulation, answer the following questions. Your response should be at least 200-300 words.
  
• QUESTION: Where do you think digital artists should draw the line when it comes to digital manipulation?
  
  ANSWER: I think that Asia Hamilton said it best in the Vanished Trust article, "I think photo altering is ok if the photography is art or editorial related,” Hamilton said. “However, photojournalism should not be altered because it is a documentation of facts. The news can only be trusted if it is completely factual.” I agree wholeheartedly with her point of view. The line must first be drawn based on the way the image is being used. If this is for art or editorial purposes, than an imaged can be digititally manipulated. However, I find a large problem with the fashion industry altering the images of already malnourished looking models. This misrepresentation of image is influencing other designers, not to mention the way we (as people) think we should look. Our culture is overly obsessed with image and looking good.
  
• QUESTION: Should there be a code of ethics for photographers and other digital artists?
  
  ANSWER: I feel that for professional photographers and digital artists employed by large corporations and media outlets should have a code of ethics, or guidelines for their work. I believe that this would minimize the "fake" images that are being shown to the public. 
  
• QUESTION: Where do you as a photographer/artist personally draw the line?
  
  ANSWER:  I want the pictures I take to be as honest as they can be. If I edit an image using Photoshop it is due to my inexperience with my camera, and to attempt on making the picture appear the way my eyes viewed it. However, if I am taking a picture and am turning it into a piece of art I will add flecks of light, glitter, transparent pngs, swirls.. Something that takes a picture and takes it up a notch. However, I would never try to say that this image was "real life" or #SOOC or #NoFilters. I would present it as an illustration. 

• Respond to these question for one of the photographs we looked at today in class (vietnam, fire escape, vulture) and answer the following questions: Your response should be at least 200-300 words.
  
• QUESTION: If you were an editor...Would you publish this? Why or Why not?
  
  ANSWER: The images we saw today were all tactfully done, even though they were of intense situations. They showed the mood of each situation, showed the emotion of all involved and truly made me (the viewer) think. As an editor, I would completely publish these images. I feel that images that I see on the nightly news, or in online newspaper articles are far more grotesque and are inappropriate. Our culture is so obsessed with shock value, and I hate that the news outlets are becoming more cinematic with their photos and less journalistic. 
  
• QUESTION: Do you think any good came of these images or were they just insensitive and used sell papers or acquire fame?
  
  ANSWER: These images did influence change. The fire escape photo brought to light how unsafe those structures were, and they were rebuilt and made stronger. The Vietnam image brought the war into the homes of the families of the soldiers serving overseas, and to those who were having doubts about how awful the war was. The vulture image allowed people to step beyond their first world problems, and think about donating, volunteering, or advocating for people in third world countries. 

PROJECT #5 - Composition - Serenity

Serenity
Composition Project

I spent the weekend working (and camping) at the New York Capital District Renaissance Festival. The festival was held on a farm, and thus the camping situation was on those grounds. I was surrounded with awesome sunrises and sunsets, animals, and rustic barns. In front of where I slept was Rosie, their longhaired steer.  I found her and her enclosure to be so beautiful. Plus, in the morning the sky behind her was amazing.

CAMERA SETTINGS

WB: Shade

Aperture: f18

Shutter Speed: 1/80

ISO: 160

This picture was taken at 5:45am and the sun had just risen behind me. The mood is light, and just serene. 

In Photoshop: 

The original image was very dark, so the first thing I did was to increase the exposure by +1.5 and the gamma correction by +1.0.  I then adjusted the curves of the image to a loose “s” type curve.  I balanced the colors so that the clouds stood out. I had to use some clone stamping, and patch tools to take care of some glaring highlights, and odd The last thing I did was isolate Rosie, and made her slightly brighter and more vibrant. I did this so that she stood out from the brown dirt and barn that was above and below her.

Compositional Elements: 

Since this is a composition project, I tried to use a few compositional elements. I made sure to use the rule of thirds, while positioning Rosie. I think the barn adds a fair amount of texture, as does the depth in the clouds. And even though you can’t see her eyes, I am using the compositional element of dominant eye. She was completely posing for my camera.

Final Thoughts

I believe that the strongest part of this image is Miss Rosie. I truly feel that she is the undeniable focus of this image.  The weakest part I think might be my cropping. I kept going back and forth about the feeding trough to the left of Rosie. I left it in because I felt it set the scene appropriately. I found this assignment to be my most successful yet. I shot a few of these in Manual, and a few in Aperture mode.  I found the images that were taken with Aperture “A” mode to be more visually appealing.  However, the others were still considerably better than images I had taken prior to this class.  Something I learned about during this assignment was about moving subjects. I had to be very patient with Rosie, and had to come back a few times in order to achieve a group of images that I thought would work for this project.

PROJECT #4 - Depth of Field - Maturity, Solitude and Reflection

Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. A photo with a shallow depth of field means that your subject is in focus, while the objects beyond (or right in front of your) subject are out of focus. A photo with a deep depth of field has all aspects of the image in focus


Taking pictures of my son, Joey, is always a “hit and miss” experience. However, he was very excited to help me with my homework, while we played at the park. We were towards the end of the day (4pm) and the sun hung in the west, about a third of the way to the horizon line, with very little cloud cover, however there were quite a few trees causing shade.

Solitude 1
Depth of Field Project - Shallow

CAMERA SETTINGS

WB: Sunny

Aperture: F4.5

Shutter Speed: 1/800

ISO: 400

Solitude 2
Depth of Field Project - Deep

CAMERA SETTINGS

WB: Sunny

Aperture: F20

Shutter Speed: 1/125

ISO: 1000

ABOUT THESE IMAGES:

In Photoshop – all I did was adjust his eyes, so that they were more piercing. I achieved this by isolating his eyes with the magnetic lasso, and then increased the brightness, contrast and vibrance.

Compositional elements – I believe the pier creates a frame around Joey, also they are lines that draw the eye to the rear of the picture

Reflection 1
Depth of Field Project - Shallow

CAMERA SETTINGS

WB: Sunny

Aperture: F4.5

Shutter Speed: 1/1000 

ISO: 100

Reflection 2
Depth of Field Project - Deep

CAMERA SETTINGS

WB: Sunny

Aperture: F22

Shutter Speed: 1/125 

ISO: 360

ABOUT THESE IMAGES:

In Photoshop – with the deep depth of field, I had to decrease the exposure and brightness of the image, so that it matched the coloring of the shall depth of field example.


Compositional elements – I feel that lines are used here, you almost wonder what he is looking at in the water (to be honest, they were weird fish, that saw us sitting by the water, and were expecting us to feed them, so they were lining up.) I think if I cropped the picture, I may be able to achieve the rule of thirds.

Maturity
Depth of Field Project - Shallow
(Submitted for Critique)

CAMERA SETTINGS

WB: Sunny

Aperture: F6.3

Shutter Speed: 1/500

ISO: 2000

ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

In Photoshop - Using the magnetic lasso, I isolated the background of the image, and I increased the vibrance of the image. I, then, inverted the lasso, and decreased brightness while increasing the contrast of the image. On the whole image I decreased the gamma correction of the image.

Compositional Elements: I believe symmetry is obtained in this image

FINAL THOUGHTS

I believe that I achieved the requirements of this assignment in all of these images. I find the images to be sharp, and eye catching (but, I’m biased, I really like my kid). I believe the images of him sitting on the pier to be a tad dark, I may want to adjust the exposure of the image, or just brighten him. I also wish that I captured the photo of him on the bridge better, since he is slightly blurred, and the bridge is more in focus. 

Photoshop Collage Techniques - In Class Assignment #6

Tear Down the Walls

Lightroom - In Class Assignment #5

Ten Compositions - In Class Assignment #4

PROJECT #3 - Motion - Imagination

Imagination
Motion Project

I wanted to experiment with light motion photography. I find that type of photography that has a still figure (or subject) with a swish of ethereal light eye catching. I placed my camera on “S” (Shutter speed setting) with the following camera settings – WB: S APERTURE: F25 SHUTTER SPEED: 1/1.3 ISO:  100.  The sun had just set (behind me and to the right), the sky was overcast, and I was surrounded by green leaves. I set a timer, and when I heard the shutter “click” and then I moved an LED flashlight in my right hand. I adjusted the levels of the picture, to bring out the color and light. I also used a filter to reduce as much of the surrounding noise as physically possible. Finally, I cropped the picture to center the focus. I found this picture to be curious or imaginative in mood. I took this photo right outside of my house; off of my patio. I took a handful of pictures before I obtained the picture where I was in focus, and the swirl of light was most eye catching. I was trying to use the rule of thirds, catching the swirl of light in the left two cross sections of the image. I also was attempting to use the compositional element of dominant eye.  The strongest part of this image I feel is the reflective light in my eyes and on the palm of my hand.  I feel, that once again, the weakest part of this image is the NOISE. I think I am going to start going full manual mode, and be able to adjust the ISO.  I am learning so much about how to use my camera, and wear my mistakes are, with possible methods to improve them.