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Blog 5: A Reflection

        After seeing everyone's TED Talks, I am amazed at how far everyone has come. We all had something amazing to show for our efforts, and that really goes to show how intrinsic motivation pushes us the most. While I'm sad that this project is over, I'm also excited. This may seem strange - why am I am excited when the fun part is over? The way I see it, this project was just an introduction into the world of photography that lies ahead of me. I've always liked pictures, but I've never set aside time to actually learn about the camera and focus of perfecting my craft. Now that I have, there's nothing that can stop me from following my passion. 

        

        I can definitely say that I will be continuing to pursue photography. I have already researching different cameras to buy for myself. I liked the camera I used for this project, but I'm looking for something a little more compact, but with a good quality lens. Basically in between a DSLR camera and small portable camera. I want to be practical, but I also feel like I have more advanced photography skills than the average person (I would hope so - I just spent 6 weeks learning about it). These types of cameras are still pretty expensive, but I think it is a good investment for me because it is a hobby I really enjoy.

        So, in terms of my TED Talk, I am happy with my presentation. I was really excited to share my pictures with the class, and I hope everyone liked them. The message I tried to portray, which was to get a strong foundation, really applied to my whole experience with photography. In the beginning, I attempted to take pictures without learning anything about my camera or photography in general. I went in completely blind, and that was a big mistake. I'm not the type of person who likes to read directions - I usually like to try to figure things out on my own. But this project taught me the importance of foundation. I learned that I would get so much more out of my experience if I just learned how to work my camera. 

        I think my TED Talk went well, but there is always room for improvement. I could be criticizing myself for how quietly I spoke or how much I looked at my notecards, but I think this project was really about finding your passion, and being able to display your passion to the audience. So, while I didn't give the best presentation I've ever given, I'm just happy that I could share my work. 

        I am really glad that I chose photography for my genius project. I don't know if I've said it enough, but I'm really not an artsy person. When we measured our right/left brain-ness, I was one of the people on the far right. With photography, I was really stepping outside of my comfort zone. But I'm glad I did. I discovered a whole new side of me that I never knew existed. Maybe I am a little artsy after all. 

 As an ode to this project, please enjoy this picture of me striking a pose in front of this door. 

Good luck to anyone who decides to continue to pursue their topic. Who knows - maybe I will continue to post my photos....

Blog 4: Ted Talk Tomorrow!

        So, I'm doing my Ted Talk tomorrow. I'm not sure what possessed me to go on Friday, so I hope my impulsiveness will pay off. I'm really excited, but also really nervous, to share my pictures with the class. I think I have a really strong message that can apply to many people.

        To get back on track....
        I combined my portrait and action shot unit and worked on that for the past week and a half. I was struggling with portraits, but I didn't want that to hold me back, so I took a break and moved on to action shots.

        I'll start with portraits. I had no idea how to begin to take pictures of people, since all of my subjects this far have been objects (and plants). So, I started by reading articles with tips and examples of portraits. I read some pretty interesting things, like how you should place the light and angle the camera above your subject's face, and if your subject is sitting, have them sit at the edge of their seat for the appearance of slimmer legs. I didn't really have any of my subjects sitting, but I did use the tip about the light. I didn't have many subjects, so my portraits are either of me or my sister.

        Here is another one of my FAB selfies (yes, this is a selfie). I have this huge window in my kitchen, so I stood right in front of it to get as much light as I could. The camera is blocking some of the light from reaching the right side of my face, which gives it a cool affect. The left side is brighter with softer edges and the right side is still bright, but not as much.

        I took a lot of selfies (a lot) but this was probably the best one.

        This portrait gives off a "classy" vibe. It's simple but still says a lot. I liked the texture of this wall, so I had Caroline stand in front of it. Everything else is simple, and I wanted to add a pop of something (besides her red dress). I read somewhere to angle your subject's shoulders - it looks better than having them squared at the camera. I also told her to look slightly over my shoulder.




        The portraits unit was probably the most difficult one. It takes me a while to figure out how I want my shot, so I found it easier to work with objects than people. But, I have to say it was fun taking all those selfies.


        Now for action shots. This unit was really fun! Even though I took pictures of less subjects, all together I had the most pictures for this unit. With action shots, you can take 20 pictures of seemingly the same thing, but only one of them has what you are looking for. Also, if you are trying to catch something fast, you may take 20 pictures, and find out that they are of nothing! It is all about the shutter speed. I had to adjust the shutter speed so that it was fast enough to catch the action, but not too fast so that not enough light could get in. If I set it at 1/400, which is really fast, the picture would turn out black. This is because it snaps the picture so fast, that light doesn't have enough time to enter. It was pretty hard to find that balance.

        But, I found it, and here are some of my favorites:

pardon my mom's hand

         I don't know if you can tell, but for some reason I like taking pictures of water...

So those are the highlights from my last two units of photography! I'm sad that this project is coming to an end, but I think my future in photography is just beginning!!

See you tomorrow at my Ted Talk!

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Vlog Comments

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Vlog!!

So I know everyone is complaining about having to listen to themselves over and over again on their vlog... but can you blame us? It is pure torture. Now I am aware of all the weird things I do when I talk... great. But hopefully my pain is your gain.

Enjoy!



Photography Vlog from Ellie Alberti on Vimeo.

Stay tuned - next week I'll be sharing my experiences with portraits and action shots!

Blog 3.5: Life in the Studio

      Quick Update!

        I just completed an amazing unit of still life photography! I'll be honest - this type of photography was much more difficult than nature pictures. Outside, the light comes naturally, so all I had to do was adjust my settings to best capture the light. When working inside, I had to seek out the best lighting options for my photos. In addition to that, I had to create my own composition. In nature, everything is just there. But with still life, the photographer has to seek out and create their own scene. So while it required much more thinking on my part, that's what made me enjoy it even more. With still life, I have so much more power over my pictures. I control the lighting and how everything looks. Nature is just there, but still life is your own.
        Still life is also more time consuming. I could set up my picture in a way that I thought was good, take the picture, and see that it was too dark. I would adjust the settings, but then it's too bright. So then I adjust it so it's just right, but then it's out of focus, so I had to move around the items in the picture. I would go on like this until I had 50 pictures of the same apple. But in the end, it was definitely worth it, because a lot of the pictures turned out to be really cool. Here are some of my favorites.

        Speaking of apples, these ones were an amazingly vibrant red, and I just had to take a picture. I set them up right in front of a big window, so that the light would really show off their color. I put a white cloth underneath them to reflect the light, but also so that the background wasn't distracting.

        These next two are some of my favorites. I really wanted to take a picture with the flame, but every shot I took was too blurry or had a weird lighting. So, I took a step back, and focused on the matches. It was definitely a struggle to get my camera to focus on the matches wince I got really close to them. But, I was patient, and snapped these two:

        I like the first one because the matches are front and center, but I also like the second one because you can see the candle and all of its layers. 

        I really like the lighting on this next one. I put these nesting dolls in front of a window, which I think makes the picture nice and bright. I also like the reflection they create on the wood table. I wanted to get the picture from the side to capture the sizes of the dolls, but when I did that, my entire kitchen was in the background. My kitchen table has extensions to make it longer, So I stood one up on the table to create a wooden background. It was like a little studio. the wood also created a dark side of the photo, which contrasts nicely with the side that's facing the window

My own studio

        I had a really good time photographing these vases. I love the texture and the reflecty-ness. The only problem I have with the picture is the background. It's not super distracting, but I'm not crazy about it. Who knows, artists seem to find beauty in everything, so maybe somehow it "tells a story". (Bonus points if you can find me in the reflection). 

Remember how I said I liked the reflecty-ness? Well... here's a (fab) selfie. 

So this was supposed to be a quick little update... but whatever. I can't believe there's less than two weeks left for this project. I'm glad to say that I feel like I have made some major improvements. On to portraits!

P.S. @efaphotography... you know what to do

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Blog 3: Say Cheese!

        Welcome back! Its been about a week since my last post, but it was an extremely eventful week, so get ready.

     


        First, everyone go follow my instagram! This is my "portfolio". I choose a couple pictures from each unit and post them to display my work. I've already posted a bunch from my nature unit. Check it out! @efaphotography
(As you can see I don't have very many followers... also I follow back;))







        So, as you can probably tell, my first unit was nature, and I had a lot of fun with it. I chose it for my first unit because I am pretty comfortable with it. The history of my photography skills consists of me taking pictures when I am on vacation, so I thought it would be good to take pictures of things I was familiar with, but mess with the camera settings to apply what I have been researching.
        I know I said I had a lot of fun, and I did, but it was still really hard. I don't know if you've noticed, but when it's winter, (which it is right now) everything is dead. I walked around my yard and my neighborhood, but I couldn't find anything alive or that had color. I've been reading a lot of photography tips from Phoblographer and Digital Photography School who both say to get close to your subject. So, sure enough, I found myself crouching and crawling through trees and around my yard in order to get the perfect shot. Most of my pictures from this unit are close-ups, which is where I found the most success. Here are some of my favorites:

To get this picture, I had to climb through the branches of this tree. But, it was the last leaf on the tree, so it was definitely worth it. I was playing with the exposure on this one - the brightness of the snow in the background made it difficult to get a good exposure. This is considered to be over-exposed, but I like emphasis on the brightness of the snow. I also used a low aperture or f/stop, so the lens was wider which gives it a shallow depth of field. That's what makes the background blurry.


I really liked taking pictures of this bush. It has a beautiful green, and it was hard to find other plants that retained their colors. I tried focusing on the leaves and the ice, while making the background blurry. In the second one, the foreground is a bit blurry, the middle is in focus, and the background is blurry, but I like how it adds more dimension to the picture. I really like the brightness in the first one. Like I said, in winter everything is dead, so I tried to brighten up the mood by increasing the ISO, making it more sensitive to light.

        Here is another example of a low aperture setting. The focus is in the front, and the background is blurry. This tree was fun to photograph, since I could get it at so many angles. This angle was my favorite. 

        I know my nature unit was over last week, but when it started snowing today, I had to go out and take more pictures. Winter can feel dead, but when it snows it comes alive. Here are some pictures from today

       The falling  snowflakes were pretty big, so I tried to set my shutter speed really high to capture the flakes. I put my hand in the frame so the camera could focus on the foreground, and then moved it away before I snapped the pic. Here two of the many pictures I took:

        I didn't get the focus I was hoping for, but you can still see some of those flakes in the foreground. I still have a lot to learn before my action shot unit!

        All in all, the nature unit was a success. I think I made a lot of improvements and I feel much more comfortable with the settings on my camera. My next unit it still life. I've already started, and it is soooo much harder than nature. But, I'll save it for my next post! Talk to you later!