Frame Seven– A New Perspective

Wow. Just wow. I had the honor of accompanying Betsy and Jeff in a Photog Shootout. The theme was 50′s Car Pin-up models. I had thought that I would just be helping with the equipment, but they even allowed me to take pictures of the models as well! I was so happy! And it turned out to be SO much fun! While I was there, I felt like I could just be. Like it was just natural for me to be there. I felt like I had found my place, so-to-speak. I’ve come to realize that I really and truly enjoy fashion photography. But I want my photography to be different. To not look so posed. And looking at the pictures I took, I’ve accomplished that pretty well, at least as a start.
I really enjoyed getting to meet new people, and models. Everyone was just so lovely to be around, and easy to get along with! I felt more comfortable in my skin, which is odd, because you’d think I’d have the opposite effect around models. But really, they’re just people. I’ve always known this, but I had never gotten the chance to get to know who they really were as people.
One of the craziest things was looking at these models through my lens, and seeing them actually looking back. When I look at a model in a picture, sure, they’re sorta looking towards me…but it was a much different effect when I was actually the one taking the picture. There was more of a connection, and I actually began to get to know and understand these people.
I love going behind the scenes. I first realized this when I was in The Secret Garden play back when I was…12? I think. Anyway, I was reminded of this joy while I was here. Seeing what it takes to get pictures of these models, and how long it takes is so fun. It makes me feel like I’m really apart of something. I was apart of something. In a lot of the fashion photgraphy I see, the models have that sort of scowl on they’re face, so it never really made it fun to look at. It gave me the impression that the models were mean. But getting to know a few, I know that isn’t true. This shootout was filled with laughter, and mistakes, and memories, and bonds. You’d never know how much fun it can be unless you’re actually there.
The pictures I posted above are just a couple of my favorite pictures I caught of laughter. However, there was A LOT more laughter that I didn’t catch on camera! Which is dissapointing, but it’s a goal for next time. I’ll show you more of the more modeled looking pictures I took in the next post. I’m quite proud of how they turned out! I’ll tell you about the models in more depth in the next post too! Look foreward to it!
Life takes us to so many new places…

Frame Six– First Final Products

Yes, my internship is coming to an end…at least when it comes to school. I’m considering continuing my intership throughout the year and over summer whenever we both have time. Not only that, but I plan on doing a lot for myself as well. Practicing the art of photography and what not. The next thing I’m adding to my list of things to work on is design. I just finished designing my album and slideshow, and I know how I can improve my work in the future based on these products. I want my art to be displayed in a way that can clearly tell a story. My final products begin to touch base on this, but I’d like them to be more developed. However, I am quite proud with how they came out! You should check out my slideshow! It’s the first slideshow I’ve ever done, and you’ll be able to see the alphabet pictures (along with many of the other pictures) I took throughout my internship!
I plan on continuing this blog as well. It’s a good way to express myself, and display my work, afterall. As time goes on, my personaliy will show more in this blog, and I’m sure to document big life changes and exciting experiances.
Moments just keep going by, and life keeps changing…for the better.

Frame Five–Widening My Gaze

Photography Word of Today: Cull–Basically, the process of picking the pictures you like/love, and deleting the pictures you don’t.

I culled my pictures a lot, but I still have to make more cuts! I hadn’t realized how many pictures I had kept all together. 800 pictures, and 160 were kept. That’s only 2% of the pictures I took! Hopefully it’ll be easier to decide which ones I absolutely want to keep when I do it.
My photographing skills have improved a lot now that I know how to control my camera more. My focus points are clearer, and all my pictures seem to have a much deeper meaning about them than they had before. In the beginning—I mean back when I first got my camera—I was just winging it, thinking I’d get a decent picture or two. And if it didn’t look amazing…Hello Photoshop! Just a thought that crossed my mind. Oh, how much I’ve changed.
I realized this yesterday, when I was going around La Mesa, which I have seen about a million times. I realized there was a lot of beautiful aspects about this place. I had always thought it was boring with little to offer. I guess my gaze was a lot smaller than I had thought, because there were so many flowers and places that were just so unique and beautiful! How did I miss it? Who knows. I found myself falling in love with what I never saw before.
But anyway, today was mostly learning the business part of photography. Things are a lot more expensive than I realized! And there’s so much that goes into creating art! There’s equipment management, editing, album cost, time, and so much more! And after looking through my business plan (which Jeff said I did an excellent job on), we had to figure out and decide what my business would need. Keep in mind that my business is supposed to be a duplex (studio/home). My newest assignment is to come up with my package deals based on how much money I need to earn, and my business goals.
Looking over it now, it’s pretty complicated. I’ll be looking up a lot of prices for equipment and such, plus rental space, and so forth. To come up with the package, I’m going to have to look over my business plan again to remember what I had in mind. These things come to me in a buzz.
So, hello growing up, hello real world, hello business world, and hello math.

Frame Four–My Way

It’s so crazy, I’ve had these posts written for a while, but for some reason I haven’t been publishing them when I’ve finished! So, they’re all coming today, even though they’re from different dates.
In other news…
I went to Carlsbad this morning to take pictures. It was sort of last minute, since I didn’t even know I was going there until my mom told me this very morning. And we were around this really uppity looking business place. It had a lot of greenery around, and even a pond (ducks included)! It was sort of hard to work with the lighting, since it was all overcast this morning. But there was just so many pretty pictures to take of nature! And I managed!
I even accomplished my mission! I thought of 50 different ways to say “you’re awesome”! Newest mission…read a lot more, and take a lot more pictures!
I’ve got a lot more to look into when it comes to pictures. There’s so much technical aspects that go into it—even before the editing process begins.
Now, I realize the goal is to get your image to look as nice and as close to reality as you can, and then touch it up just a bit in Lightroom. Photoshop is good for extreme effects, but for now, I’m learning about how to make them look naturally beautiful.
This is all easier to do now that I know the basics of exposure. I had no idea I’d be reading this much! But it really helps a lot. There’s still a lot more that I don’t know. It makes me want to look into more photographers to check out their style.
Just for fun, here’s the 50 phrases I came up with:

1. That’s great!
2. Awesome!
3. Sweet!
4. You’re so cute!
5. That’s adorable!
6. Perfect!
7. Great!
8. Beautiful!
9. Lovely!
10. Magnifique!
11. Ooh!
12. Nice!
13. Very nice!
14. Terrific!
15. I love it!
16. The camera just loves you
17. Gorgeous!
18. That’s the way!
19. Give me more!
20. Yes!
21. Brilliant!
22. Pretty!
23. Exquisite!
24. Divine!
25. Marvelous!
26. You’re nailing it!
27. Excellent!
28. Outstanding!
29. Superb!
30. Tremendous!
31. Super duper!
32. Super cute!
33. Super cool!
34. You guys look great!
35. You look great!
36. Aww!
37. Right on!
38. You got this! You go this
39. WooOOoo!
40. Oh yeah!
41. You’re rocking it!
42. You rock!
43. Rock on!
44. Ooh la la!
45. Work it!
46. You’re doing great!
47. Fabulous
48. Fahhbulous
49. Keep it up!
50. Just like that!

Yes, these are the things I would actually say to people if I were photographing them. I guess you could say I’m a goofy person. I like to sort of make jokes so I don’t get as nervous. Plus it seems to make people have more fun, too. I feel like I’m taking steps to becoming a new person. I mean, I’m still me, but I have that feeling of growth. Maybe being a leader isn’t as scary as I though it was.

Frame Three–Lights, Camera, Action!

We went on another photo shoot today, except this time, I even got to work with one of Betsy and Jeff’s clients. At first we were just walking around Little Italy, practicing with natural and artificial lighting on people. Jeff and Betsy were the subjects I was photographing. I got some nice pictures of them, if I do say so myself. I even got Jeff to do a few James Bond poses (just because I’m cheesy like that). I had a lot of fun observing and working with Jeff and Betsy as they directed their client. A lot goes into taking pictures of people. There’s lighting, angle, positioning of the subject, thinking about what you’re trying to focus on, or what effect you’re going to add while editing.
I realized I really need to get acquainted with my camera more while taking this shoot, because I need to know how to readjust settings a lot faster. I’m slowly getting better. I guess I just need to practice a lot more. One of my newest goals is to break my shutter, or in other words, take A LOT of pictures. Breaking your camera’s shutter is sort of like an initiation into becoming a photographer. But that’s not the main reason why this is my newest goal. Nope, this is my newest goal, because I want to see the beauty of the world everywhere I go. I want to expand my visions, and get inspired from even the littlest details.
To achieve this goal, I’m going to have to bring my camera with me more often. It’s sort of hard, since my camera is kind of big, and it’s not like I want to carry it around in its case. I usually put it in my purse, but I should probably find a more efficient way of carrying it. Maybe I should buy a longer strap, or at least one that has the capability to be longer. I guess I’ll just have to think about it more.
But anyway, like I said, it was pretty hard taking people photography. Betsy and Jeff gave me an assignment to come up with 50 different ways to say “you’re awesome” or “you look awesome” to people while I’m behind the camera. So of course, the first thing I picture is a fast paced photographer jumping from angle to angle while shouting “Yes! Yes! You’re a tiger, baby!” But I guess that’s just the stereotypical professional photographer coming to mind, huh? I have to come up with stuff that I would say. I’d probably say the tiger thing as a joke. Hmm…maybe I could use that as one of my 50.
I liked going around Little Italy for the time that we did. It’s a very colorful place. I plan to walk around there on my own so I can take more pictures of everything. Yet another adventure to come!

Frame Two– The ABC’s of Photography

A is for Aperture
B is for Bokeh
C is for Connections and Creativity
And the list goes on and on.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, my first assignment was to photograph the alphabet. I had planned on going around San Diego to find all of these pictures, but due to a mix up in my schedule, I ended up only being able to photograph around my house. It wasn’t exactly exciting, so I wasn’t really interested in my pictures. And when Jeff started critiquing them, he put emphasis on trying more angles for my pictures to make them more interesting. So, I went around downtown San Diego in order to find as many letters as I could. Oddly enough, it was very hard to find any letters of the alphabet at all. I guess when you have so many places to look, it’s a little hard to focus on detail. Not to mention how many people were around and getting into the pictures I wanted to use. Oh well, such is life, right?
I even got to go on a photo shoot on Saturday with Betsy and Jeff. We went around University Heights to take pictures of whatever we found interesting or beautiful. But this time, I had to try out different angles. I found myself on the ground a lot, and liking how the pictures came out from down there.
I became really fascinated with this door we came across. It had this air of mystery to it, and I loved taking pictures of it. The doorknob had been taken off, the mail slot was covered by a piece of wood that was nailed on, and the whole make of it looked old, abandoned, and shabby. It even had an actual pad lock to keep it shut. I wondered why it was like that, so of course I took quite a few pictures of it.

I also came across a couple of ghosts! Four of them were on a wall, and one was the ghost of a ninja on a door!

So, there I was, taking pictures of the fascinating land of university heights. Betsy and Jeff had told me that we would be taking pictures of each other today, but I figured it was just going to be test shots, and such. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be an all out photo-shoot of me! I’m talking posing and all! I was really camera shy. I laughed a lot, mostly out of nerves. But it was really fun, nonetheless.
Within just this one day, I can already see my pictures improving in quality substantially. I think that’s mostly because we have me taking pictures in a setting that a bit more manual than I used to. I love it this way, because now my boundaries have widened and there’s so much more to explore!

First Frame– Just Getting Warmed Up

First day of internship, and I’ve already learned so much, with planty more in store!
Jeff, one of my mentors, taught me the basics of Aperture, ISO, and the lenses they use. This was only a small fraction of what we went over. I learned so much that I’m still processing it all even now. Photography just got even more technical, and it’s really interesting.
So here’s the gist:
Aperture (or F-Stop) is how open the shutter is. The wider open it is, the more light that is let in, and the less time the shutter has to be open.
ISO is sort of like that camera’s sensitivity to light. But, the higher the ISO, the greener the picture will be. Nonetheless, the picture will show a lot of light.
When it comes to lenses, (for example, a 35mm lens) the lower the number in milimeters, the wider the picture is. Fisheye lenses get wide pictures too, but there’s a lot more distortion to it (sort of rounded). Lenses such as a 50mm lens is better for portraits and such since it’s a tighter image (like an always-on zoom).
Who knew? Not me! But I’m so glad I learned it! Now I’m so much more interested in getting new lenses, especially after I saw what they could do, and how much sharper the pictures that Jeff showed me were. Looks like I have even more of a reason to get a summer job.
I even got my first assignment today: Shoot the Alphabet. Basically, I have to explore where ever I can and look for objects (anything really) that looks like a letter of the alphabet. I hope my pictures will turn out okay! But, no matter how lame or amazing they are, I’ll post them in one of the next blogs.
Let’s just see how creative I can get!

Before We Begin–Life and Photography

I went to PUG the other day (it’s a photographer’s convention-type-of-deal), and let me tell you, it was extremely intimidating. There I was, 17 year old me, ameature (if that) photographer, in a room of about 40 adults, most of which were professionals. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t really know what to do with myself, since I’m a bit shy. But all in all, it was a really great experiance for me. I learned a lot from Mike Larson (a professional and famous fashion and wedding photographer) that night, and even got to meet a photojournalist name Nadia Scott.

Here’s just a few things I learned, regarding business, photography, and life:

-          Be a Leader. He defined a leader as a server. The basic gist of this is that you have to be polite, open, and up for anything that comes your way. But to do this, you have to know who you are, so you know how to be yourself, and be comfortable enough to be yourself and be social in front of everyone. Not only that, but you have to know where you’re going, otherwise every road you take will lead to nowhere. He mentioned that a photographer has to make everyone happy. In a way, you have to sell yourself, not just your pictures. “He who thinks he leads but has no followers is just taking a walk.” The followers in this case would be the clients.

-          Stand Out. By being yourself, you are being unique, and it allows you to be creative. And if you’re not unique, how are you going to differ from any other photographer? If you stand out, and take creative pictures of your own, then more people will want your new perspective.

-          You have to have a desire for a creative way of capturing life. This connects back to standing out and being unique.

-          Dream Big. You have to have dreams and goals in order to improve your work. Everyone has them, and everyone has room for improvement.

-          Build Trust. If your clients don’t trust you, they’re not going to feel comfortable with you taking pictures of them, and in turn, the pictures won’t come out as good.

-          Don’t compare yourself to other photographers in a way that gets you self conscious about your own work. Instead, use it as a way to challenge yourself to get better.

-          People don’t just buy the pictures, they buy the experience. You have to make it fun for them, and enjoy the experience yourself. If you’re happy, or excited, they’ll feel that way in front of the camera, and be comfortable enough to try new things, and have fun.

Looks like I’m really going to have to try to get out of my shell. I’m sure it will be a challenge, but I know I can get there. Especially now that I have this new motivation.

My mentors introduced me to Nadia Borowslei Scott, since I am interested in photojournalism. When I first met this woman, she just had so much information and advice to give right off the bat. Her passion for her work was so admirable to me, and she seemed to be the most passionate person I saw that night. It got me even more interested in the world of photojournalism. Especially since she had just gotten a job with National Geographic to go to Kenya. There were just so many opportunities she mentioned that I hadn’t even thought about. She gave me a list of websites and businesses she strongly suggested I look into, and I even got her email in case I had any more questions, since we both ended up being in a hurry. I am so grateful I got to go to PUG that night, and I am a million times as grateful that Jeff and Betsy invited me to come! It was such an excellent experience, and it gave me a little head start. This night even showed me that I’ve got a long way to go in life. This was both an intimidating, and refreshing thought. It’s nice to know that there’s a lot more life has in store for me, and I’m simply a person who’s motivated to take it on.

Thinking back on it, I realize me being the youngest, and least experianced on there wasn’t such a bad thing. In fact, it’s really good. Most of the photographers I spoke with simply got interested in photography while they were in high school, and only did it as a hobby—just like me. I’m on the right track, and I’m getting actual training from skilled photographers! Excitement is all I can feel right now. I feel extremely lucky, if not blessed for having this opportunity, and can’t wait to see how much I progress during my internship with Jeff and Betsy. I’m so glad that I got an internship in something I’m interested but not exactly skilled in. I can’t wait to learn all I can this month!