Rena Effendi

Rena Effendi is an  Azerbaijani photographer that was born on April 26, 1977.  She became a professional photographer in 2005. Her first photos were of the effects of oil mining on people. Her work has been displayed in many galleries around the world.

   

The images above are some photographs that she has taken. I like the first picture because there is an elephant and it just looks cool. There are always drawings and art of elephants spraying water, but the real thing looks cool. The second picture just looks interesting and I wonder where it was taken. The last picture I think is of an oil spill. The black and white filter makes it hard to see. Maybe it is not an oil spill, but instead the aftermath of a storm or a hurricane.

Favorite Photograph

These are my favorite photographs that I have taken from the last couple of weeks. I like the two with the tree branches in front of a blue background because they look like they are shining. I like the one with the purple flowers because it's just cool and it is just the type of pictures that I like. I think these were all of the same tree, but in different angles. You can also see how the tree has grown flowers, indicating that these were taking during winter and spring. I could not choose ONE single picture because that's just hard. I like all three of these, and they are my favorites out of all of the pictures I have taken. 

Art Wolfe

        

Art Wolfe was born on September 13, 1951 in Seattle. Art Wolfe is an American artist and photographer. The images above are some of his photographs. I really like them because the colors are so bright and vibrant. I also like those type of nature images. The one with the sea and the rocks is great. The pink sky with blue is beautiful. The one with the penguins coming out of the ocean is really cool. It looks like it is cold. Overall the images are great and they look like paintings. Art Wolfe is still alive today. 

Photo Experience: Your Choice Shots

Today was honestly a pretty boring day. I don't know if I like having the freedom of taking pictures of whatever I want rather than being given a topic. This is because it is too vague and we can literally take pictures of whatever and it can be hard to decide on stuff, so you settle on taking pictures of the obvious and the simple. Also, my backpack was heavy so my shoulders were hurting and I didn't feel like taking pictures of anything. Basically, I just took pictures of flowers, the school, and my shoes. That about sums it up. Afterwards my friend wanted to take pictures. I was being kind of mean because I was just rushing her because I was tired. That is not fair to her because she waits for me to take pictures without annoying me. In the end I just accompanied her to buy a cookie to somewhat make it up to her for being annoying. That is all. Goodbye.

Photo Experience: Nature Shots Assignment

I went to take the nature shots yesterday for this week's assignment. There were actually no cameras available when I went outside. I had to use my own phone and I actually liked it because my phone's camera is a pretty good and HQ quality. I still have them on my phone and am trying to figure out a way to upload them to the server. I think I'm going to email them to myself because I don' have a cable to plug them into the computer. There were Kona Ice trucks outside while we took pictures and it was kind of distracting because I wanted a snow cone. Anyways, the pictures turned out pretty cool and they are mostly of flowers and trees. That is nature after all.

William Henry Jackson

William Henry Jackson was a photographer that was famous for his images of the American West. He was born on April 4, 1843 in New York. His photography was of nature and just landscapes and the outdoors. His great- great- uncle was Samuel Wilson, who is what inspired Uncle Sam. Below are 3 of his photographs. These three are my favorite because I like the mountainous, coniferous tree type of landscape. I think my favorite is the one with the boat. I like it because you can see the reflection in the water . I also like the one in the middle because the mountains look awesome. I don't know if I like that they are black and white because I like to see the colors of nature.  William Henry Jackson died in June 30,  1942 in New York, at the age of 99. 

 

Photo Experience: Tension Assignment

 Today is Wednesday, and I have not gone to take pictures just yet. It is currently raining outside and I honestly just want to stay inside and look out this window in front of me. Anyways I am just going to write for now... I think I might just take pictures inside because I really need to do this assignment. Tomorrow there is going to be a guest speaker and I guess thats pretty cool. I have no questions honestly but Mr. Streckfus is making us ask questions. Oh well. OK well I'll come back to this blog once I take the pictures. Goodbye for now!
UPDATE: So I finally went to take pictures and it was an OK experience. Just another day of taking pictures honestly. We had to take pictures of tension, and there were many situations where I felt there was "tension". It was rainy outside so we couldn't go outdoors. I saw some of my friends from other classes and I took pictures of them high-fiving. Also, the visitor couldn't come and I somewhat felt relieved because I needed to take my pictures and I probably wouldn't be able to do it tomorrow. That is all I have to say about my experience taking this week's assignment pictures.

Raymond Thompson Jr.

This is a photograph made by Raymond Thomas Jr. I chose to write about this one because the cool colors were the first thing that captured my eye. After I clicked on the image, I was confused at what I was looking at. It took me a while to figure it out, and even then I still was confused. The only way I was able to fully break up the components of this picture was by reading the description. It was then that I found out that I was looking at a photo of a kid looking into a car during a car wash, and the window through which the image was taken on adds an effect of a layer that reflects the clouds and the blurred water droplets.

Link to image 2:  http://www.raymondthompsonjr.com/2535381-essay-justice-undone#6
I like this image because the fire is very focused and is basically the only warm color in the picture, being surrounded by the cool blues.

Link to image 3: https://www.instagram.com/p/_crYpQLUw8/?taken-by=raythompsonjr
https://www.instagram.com/p/9O6HXtLUwU/?taken-by=raythompsonjr
I like these images because they somewhat connect and I like the nature scenes and one of my future goals is to drive through a place like this.

Link to image 4: https://www.instagram.com/p/4Y9BkOLUwB/?taken-by=raythompsonjr
What I like about this image is that the bubbles almost seem photo-shopped. Also the vibrant colors of the bubbles add more life, you could say, to the somewhat dull looking setting.

My question to Raymond Thomas Jr. is: Do you travel a lot, and if so, what has been your favorite place you have visited?

Gwenn Dubourthomieu

Gwenn Dubourthomieu became interested in photography while working in Africa for humanitarian NGOs. He pursued this career in 2010 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.In 2012 he settled down in Paris and works as a freelance photographer.  His work includes spreading awareness about the social impact of copper exploitation in the Dominican Republic of the Congo. He actually takes pictures of people in many different areas of the world.

Here are two of his photographs, and a photo of Gwenn himself. The first picture is of people carrying stuff on their heads, and it seems to be in the middle of a field. I like the second picture because the blue, which I think is water, really pops out. The surrounding rock really makes a nice contrast and puts emphasis on the blue in the bottom.

Photo Experience: Cat & Mouse Assignment

Today we went outside to do a "Cat & Mouse" assignment. So, basically what we had to do is take pictures of a person. You would start off by standing back to back and the photographer would take a picture of the model. Before taking each picture though, the model and the photographer both had to move two places in any direction and then turn to face each other. This would result with multiple pictures of the model in different distances, and possibly backgrounds,  from the camera. My model was Angelina. We took the pictures in the front office because Ms. Ramos was there and we knew she wouldn't get mad at us like the lady that is usually there. Anyways, it was an OK experience. It's kind of cool to look through the pictures and see how the model person would like move from place to place.

Matt Eich

Matt Eich is an independent photographer born in Virginia in 1986. He is a photographic essayist and takes portraits as well.  The way I would describe his photographs is things we see in everyday life. To be more specific, I would say he takes candid pictures as well as portraits of people. It also looks like the pictures of everyday life he takes are of things we see, but don't pay much attention to.

     

I found these images, and more, on Matt Eich's website. I chose to put these here because they were the first to catch my eye. The one with the smoke is cool, because you can mostly see the smoke only in the ray of light. The bricks and the tree are examples of what I meant when i said everyday life things we don't really pay attention to. The girl sleeping is a candid picture. The last one with the water ripple I just chose because I liked it. It is simple and has a value in the color blue. 

Photo Experience: Plus & Minus Assignment

 Today me and Thyara went out to take pictures for the assignment. Basically what we had to do was take a picture of the same thing, but change the lighting available to the lens. I chose to take a picture of some blooming flowers on a tree that had lost all its flowers because of the winter. My friend to a picture of two dandelions. I actually liked this assignment because you got to compare the same object under different exposure of lighting. I think the main reason I liked the assignment , though, was because of the camera we were using. My favorite camera out of the three the school has is the Sony because it just zooms in the best and has the best focus in my opinion compared to the others. It just overall takes the best quality pictures out of the three. If the pictures were uploaded to the server I would put one on here, but they are not so that is all. Bye.

Photo Experience: Spin like a Top Assignment

Today I went outside to take the pictures for the "Spin like a Top" assignments. We were out for like 5 minutes and then one of the staff people (not going to say names) told us that we need to stop just standing around and stuff. We were actually trying to fix the setting on the camera so that we could carry out the assignment. It took me like 5 tries and sets of photos to finally get the pictures how the assignment asked for. It was frustrating and awkward because I am not photogenic so I wasn't pleased with the pictures, or my face being in the photos. Eventually I didn't care and just wanted to get the assignment done, so I just kept the first 6 pictures that came out "right". Then I returned to class. I liked this assignment, just not that my face had to be in the pictures. I wish flowers and other inanimate objects had hands so they could take pictures of themselves for me. sigh.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was born on July 20th, 1895 in Hungary. He was a painter and a photographer. Below are some of his photographs. My favorite is the one with the two silhouettes. I don't know if they are actual people or not, but the image looks awesome. I also like the two cat photographs because it is basically the same cat, but the original image was flipped and inverted. The other two I like because they look abstract and like pieces of artwork. Laszlo died in 1946 from leukemia in Chicago.

Hans Neleman

                                 


Hans Neleman is a Dutch-born photographer who was born on May 30, 1960. He lives in Connecticut, but works in New York. His works include still lifes and assemblages, fashion and celebrity portraiture, and advertising for clients like Nike, American Express, and Sony.
The pictures above are some of his works. I like the one with the bird. I'm pretty sure its a painting, but it still looks really nice. There is also a picture of a celebrity- Shakira. The one with the lady and the legs necklace hung across her chest is very odd but that is why I like it. The rest are just very cool and abstract.

Photo Experience: "100 Shots" Assignment

Today we went outside and did the '100 Shots' assignment. We actually just had to take 20 pictures of anything, really. We also got the suggestion to choose one thing to take pictures of, but we had to take different angles, or just make all the pictures of that one object different. I chose to do that and my "object" was the front of the school. I went from one side to the other, I zoomed in, and I just took pictures of the walls on the side of the school. One picture was really bright, and the next was at the same angle, but darker. It was a pretty simple and easy assignment, but I liked it. The people in my group took pictures of one object too. Their "objects" were people and the vending machines. It was just a normal experience over all, just like any other day.

Photo Experience: Hocus Focus

Today we went out take the pictures for the Hocus Focus assignment. This is basically where we take pictures where the closer objects appear blurry in comparison to the objects farther away. We stayed inside because it was a little cold outside. I took pictures of a a Marvel magazine, friends, and posters on the walls. I think my favorite is the one of a Marvel comic book because even though it is out of focus, you can tell that it is a comic book. It is also very colorful in comparison to my other pictures. Overall it was an OK experience.

William Wegman

William Wegman was born on December 2nd, 1943, in Holyoke Massachusetts. He is an American artist/photographer who takes pictures of dogs, specifically his Weimaraners. First he was going to pursue a career as a painter. While teaching at California State University, he got his first and most famous of the dogs he photographed, a Weimaraner he named Man Ray. 

The pictures above are some of his photographs. I chose these because they're all pretty silly. I like the dogs facial expression on the first photo with the dog on the balls. For the second picture I also like the dog's facial expression. The third picture is kind of creepy, but funny at the same time. Its just an odd picture and the dog's wig is so weird. I chose the fourth picture because I was feeling like that dog this morning. I had my hood on and I was just done with everything and just annoyed about everything and I feel like that is what the dog is trying to represent??. The last picture I chose because I liked the boots and how the dog is wearing them backwards.

Anne Geddes

Anne Geddes was born in Queensland, Australia on September 13, 1956. She dropped out of school at the age of 17 and left home. She also married and moved to Hong Kong with her husband where at 25 she began experimenting with her husbands camera. She specializes in baby photography. She began this specialty after taking pictures of her two baby daughters for a family Christmas card, and her pictures became popular. She began her studio in her garage.  She lives in New York. She does not audition babies but takes pictures of any babies because she believes all babies are beautiful. She has sold 18 million books, and 13 million calendars on Amazon. Below are some examples of her photography:

Photo Experience: Shot in the Dark Assignment

For this assignment we had to go outside or just anywhere we wanted to take pictures at. We had to close our eyes and spin while taking pictures of the things around us. It was an interesting experience. At first I was spinning too fast so all my pictures turned out really blurry, but not in a good artsy way. Then I decided to just spin but more slowly and stop at some points. The pictures were clear and were just basically of the things around me. Then the A lunch people started coming out so my friend took advantage of the situation and began taking her pictures. Unfortunately while she was taking the pictures her camera was pointing up and she did not get many pictures of the student, but instead of the clouds and portables. Then we went to anew location outside and the rest of my group took their pictures. It was an interesting experience, but I like knowing what I am taking pictures of. I guess this photography technique could result in some good "accidental" pictures. Below is one of the pictures I took. I like it, but I wish it wasn't blurry in some places.

Edward Weston

Edward Weston was an American photographer. He was born on march 24, 1886 in Highland Park, Illinois. His photographs ranged from landscapes, still lives, nudes, portraits, genre scenes, and whimsical parodies. He was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship award. This is a grant that can be used by the winner as they please. He moved to California at the age of 21 and he already knew that he wanted to be a photographer from an early age, so that is where he started. His first photography style for a few years was soft focus picture, but then he moved on to become one of the foremost champions of highly detailed pictures. He worked in a couple photography studios in California where he learned the techniques and business of operating a studio. He also got experience with his photography. He then went on to open his own studio "The Little Studio" in 1911 where he worked alone for 3 years. He then was joined by Margrethe Mather who became his assistant, and who was part of the growing Los Angeles cultural scene. Along his life he met more people who were part of the growing Los Angeles cultural scene, and who impacted his life. In 1947 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and he stopped photographing. He spent the rest of his years overseeing the printing of his most famous pictures. He died on January 1st 1958 in California.
Below are some of his photographs and a picture of him:

Photo Experience - Reflections Assignment

I went out to take pictures for the reflection assignment of this week. It was a bright and sunny day, so there were many places where reflections could be seen. I took some reflection picture indoors that were not as bright as the ones I took outdoors. I think this was because there was more light outside than inside. Also, sometimes I had an issue with the ISO. I would forget to switch it when I took pictures outside so the pictures would not be dark. Eventually I figured it out and fix it to fit each location and the amount of lighting available. The best picture I took, or at least my favorite picture, was take outside and it was of a window reflecting the trees and grass outside. The reflection is so clear because behind the glass was a dark mat. I also like that you can tell the reflection is from a window because in the image you can see the frame of the window.