Fashion Photography Journal

November 10th

Today I went to Barnes and Noble to do research on fashion photography. I stayed for about Two hours in which i found three helpful books. The first was called 1000 Fashion poses. It was full of poses that models use, and i found that different poses compliment different clothes. I made sure to take pictures of the poses I wanted to use in my photos. The second book called Studio Photography Secrets. What I learned by reading parts of this book, however could be applied to all photography such as tips on hand posture and placement. The Third book was simply examples of famous fashion shots, and it was more of a magazine. I didn't write down the name but I was a lot of interesting examples. 

November 20th

I decided to just try out some of the poses that I found today. It snowed last night here in Tehachapi so i want to take advantage of the rare weather. I went to a very foggy and snowy spot. i took a pictures with very fast shutter speeds, because there was so much snow the light bounced around a lot. i took a lot of pictures with textures like by large rocks and trees. I found that i didn't really like fog as the main background so I found other natural backgrounds like Trees, boulders, etc and there color and texture better complimented the models clothes. I took photos of my friend in these poses, but didn't really get anything I liked too much. Although the backgrounds helped, I still just didn't like the clothes the person was wearing. Which is a very big deal. Ugly clothes with help to make an ugly picture. All of the time in the snow want a complete waste, I learned about backgrounds and that I need to make sure the clothes will be complimented by the background.

November 25th

It's Thanksgiving and the weather is a little warmer and the snow has melted. Todays pictures I took down the street against a wooden fence. the fence had a lot of very green moss growing on it. There was also a rusty wagon wheel leaning against the fence with really helped give the picture an older, more country feel. I used a tripod to make sure the photo would be straight and I used the fence line to line up the picture. The person I used as the model wore colorful clothes so when I edited it it turned out good with all of the green moss and grass, and the reddish brown rust on the wheel. The pictures were also turning out better when I flipped the camera vertically. I hope other people will like the coloring of these pictures. when I edited them I didn't have anyone with me and I didn't take into account that I am colorblind and suck really bad at matching colors. I guess now I learned I need to ask peoples opinion.

November 28th

I am back in the Antelope Valley today and it's still cold! I wanted to try some indoor shots but I don't really like any spot in my house as a background.  I went to the garage, not because i specifically like it as a background but because I like the lighting. It is dark, with lights beaming through small windows. I got an awesome shot. The light is shining in through the garage door window and it's behind the model. Her shirt was purple-ish-red and she had a colorful skirt with blacks, blues red and purples...I think. I also had her do my favorite pose that i found while doing research. The pose was recommended for models wearing a dress or skirt. I think this shot came out as the best Of all. The background is very busy, but it is constant and blurred so I think it works. 

December 1st
Today i called Kevin. We planned a trip for me and 4 friends to drive to bouquet canyon this sunday. There is a wide variety of backgrounds so I told the models to bring changes of clothes. Hopefully it will turn out goo.

Locations still to try:

Tehachapi

Indoor

Bouquet Canyon (Will try this weekend)

Proportion involves the relationship of size between objects. Proportion is also relative sizes of surface areas of different colors. Proportion also depends on functionality of object. Art painting can be given the correct size in relation to room to make it an effective decorating component or source of color.


To maximize the relationship between design elements proportion andscale are typically used. Scale controls object size while proportion manages size ratio. Both make sure everything is well balanced and ensure a smooth and eye-catching design

Featured below is an image i photoshopped.  I made the moon much larger, sort of like the example featured above, the photo below is completely changed now that the moon is much larger. before, the buildings were the subject and the moon just made the picture too busy. rather than the emphasis being on the buildings, it is now on the moon, and the buildings just compliment it.

Long Exposure Night Photography Log

Tuesday, Oct 12th
I was assigned a challenge based learning project in photography. I chose to do it on long exposure night photography. Andrew, Kevin, and I decided to go to Kevin's and stay up really late to try it out before we did any research. We basically learned through trial and error. I learned that in the city, 30 seconds is usually too long of an exposure.

Thursday Oct 21st
Today I did about 2 hours of research for my CBL project. In my David Busch Xsi Guide book I learned ALOT. I need to set my ISO as low as possible to get the best long exposure shot. It also recommended that I buy a remote control shutter release. I also researched online and a lot of online sources confirmed what i learned so far. for the best long exposure shots you need:
1. Camera (Duh)
2. Tripod
3. Light Meter
4. Shutter release remote
5. Neutral density Filter (Optional, but also gives you the ability to do longer day shots)
6. Flashlight (Optional. Only needed if you want to try Light Painting)
7. Timer (Only if you are using bulb)

Good online sources:

This of course is the most basic instructions:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6724172_long-exposure-night-photography-technique.html

Here is a few of my favorite examples:
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/long-exposure-photography

This site is great if you are interested in Neutral Density:
http://www.nd-magazine.com/

Friday Oct 22nd
Today I went to barnes and noble and skimmed through books, nothing worth mentioning Though. I waited for night and hopped in the car to try long exposure night photography again (knowing what I know now.) Everything came out much better, but Lancaster is a rather bright city. I decided I want to try it in Tehachapi and Bear Valley also where there is very dark.

Tuesday Oct 26th
I decided to order a remote shutter release today, because I know I will need it in Tehachapi this coming weekend. I plan on doing Mountain, Sky, Lake and even far shots from the 58 fwy. My remote will be here on friday (hopefully), before I go to Tehachapi. Another good idea, try long exposure on halloween, mostly because there are lots of weird lights. I wanted to order a set of neutral density filters but I don't have enough money yet. I will probably order them next week, however.

Hierarchy in Design

visual hierarchy is the visual cues of content based on importance to help a visitor process information (most commonly used in cartography). In a way, a website is just a map, a map of information in which you need to help your visitors view and process the information you are presenting based on importance.

Human visual perception uses visual hierarchy every day in natural life to take visual cues and create a mental model or map to process information more efficiently. This is why visual hierarchy is so important in web design, especially since humans have such a short attention span!

Hierarchal design can be viewed as a triangle. at the top of the triangle is our subject, AKA our most important text. Next is our sub-subjects. And of course on the bottom, the most abundant, the details, the FAT.

Without hierarchal design, our text is left messy and unorganized. So use it!

Unity and variety!

Unity (also known as Harmony) is the quality of wholeness that is achieved through the effective use of the elements and principles of art. The arrangement of elements and principles to create a feeling of completeness.
The photo above gives us a feeling of unity. there is nothing out of place and everything works, and works together.

Variety (also known as alternation) is the quality or state of having different forms or types. The differences which give a design visual and conceptual interest: notably use of contrast, emphasis, difference in size and color. The photo above is the perfect example of variety. we have many different shapes, sizes, colors and so on. the is repetition in the architecture but nothing is exactly the same. it gives our eyes a good variety of things to look at. Too much variety can be worse than none at all.