Reflection

Overall, this course was very helpful. It taught me many tips and tricks for using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Flash. I learned how to add interesting effects to plain photos, which will really help me in promoting my band for upcoming concerts. My favorite assignment was the five photoshop tutorials. I had the chance to experiment with coloration, pop art, pictures inside pictures, reality and rotoscope, pixelation, and turning full pictures into puzzle pieces. I also enjoyed creating buttons with the button maker. My black and white photography wasn't too successful because I could never determine how many seconds I should allow of light to be exposed to the negatives, causing the pictures to become too bright or too dark. Even though my final product of the flash bouncing ball was very amusing, the process of making it was confusing and difficult. Media Arts was a class that taught me useful skills. I learned how to edit photos, but most importantly, it [the class] brought out my inner-artist.

Final Project--iMovie

New Flash Movie

Bouncing Ball

CD Cover

Event Poster

Edward Weston

1. Edward Weston began taking photographs when he was sixteen. He received his first camera and took photos of Chicago parks and his aunt's farm. One year later, the Chicago Art Institute put his photographs up for exhibit. He then enrolled in the Illinois College of Photography. In 1906, Edward Weston moved to California and opened his first photographic studio. He also wrote articles about his unique style of photo taking for many big-name magazines. Weston kept taking photographs of nature, landscapes, plants, and nudes. Unfortunately, Weston died of Parkinson's Disease in 1958.

2. Weston's photographic style consisted of using an 8"x10" view camera. His style changed from pictorialism to straight photography (including humans and nature) in the middle of his career. Some of his most famous photos include "Pepper #30", "Dunes, Oceano", and "Nude, 1936".

3. My favorite Edward Weston photograph is:

Ansel Adams

1. Ansel Adams was an excellent black and white photographer. In 1921, his Yosemite photographs were first published. Instead of becoming a musician, Adams decided to become a professional photographer. He strayed away from hand-coloring, which was extremely popular at the time. Adams used different lenses to vary his results. Ansel Adams signed a contract for his first portfolio in 1927. This portfolio turned out to be a success, earning him around $4000, and leading him to objectives such as taking pictures of the supporters who bought his pieces of art. Adams later put up his first solo photo exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in 1931. In 1933, Adams opened his first photo gallery in San Francisco, CA. He published essays for magazines relevant to photography and wrote an instructional book called Making a Photograph. Ever since then until 1984, Ansel Adams continued to produce photographs and put on exhibits.
2. Adams had a unique photographic style. In his photographs, he used what is known is as the "zone system", which was a way to determine the right amount of exposure and adjust the contrast of the final piece. He used large-format view cameras, which helped sharpen his photos. Ansel Adams loved to take pictures of outdoor features and landmarks. such as the Half Dome, Mt. Williamson, New Mexico, and the Sierra. Some of his most famous photographs include Monlith, Rose and Driftwood, Yosemite Valley, Clearing Winter Storm, Ice on Ellery Lake, New Mexico, and Aspens, New Mexico.
3. My favorite Ansel Adams photograph is:

Button (Lippman AZA)

PhotoCubism

AI Circle Into Heart

Pin Wheel (AI)

Adobe Illustrator Exercise 1

Andy Warhol

1. When Andy Warhol was in third grade, he became ill with St. Vitus' disease and stayed in bed. While he was in bed, he loved to draw and collect pictures of movie stars. Warhol attended college at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and studied commercial art. Later, he moved to New York City and began illustrating for magazines and other advertisements (such as shoe ads). RCA Records hired Warhol to design album artwork and promo materials for artists/bands. He started his first one-man gallery exhibition in 1962 at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. This was his debut of pop art to the public. Ever since then, he painted and shot many pictures and photos of famous people and objects found around the house (such as Cambpells Soup). Unfortunately, he died in his sleep in 1987 from a cardiac arrhythmia. His artwork will always be remembered and exhibited around the world.

2. Some of the many famous people/things Andy Warhol has photographed are Campbells Soup Cans, Marilyn Diptych, Coke Bottles, Dollar Bills, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, and Mick Jagger.

3. My favorite Andy Warhol picture is his painting of Mick Jagger:

Nine of Me

Digital Alphabet

Digital Alphabet

Palm Tree on Beach Infrared

Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz began taking pictures in the Philippines when her whole family was stationed there due to her father's Air Force assignments. As years went by, she stayed consistent with photography in her free time. Leibovitz returned to the United States in 1970 and started working for Rolling Stone magazine as a chief photographer until 1983. Later on, in 1975, Leibovitz was hired as a concert tour photographer for The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas. Annie Leibovitz was the last person to professionally photograph John Lennon before his death, and she took one of the most famous John Lennon pictures which was the cover of Rolling Stone magazine for an issue. Leibovitz has also taken pictures of Linda Rodstandt, Demi Moore, Brooke Shields, The Blues Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, and many other celebrities. My favorite Leibovitz picture is the one above of Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones.

Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Tear

Black and White Photography

*The three basic elements of a camera are the optical element (lens), the chemical element (film), and the mechanical element (camera itself).

*An SLR camera is a single-lens-reflex camera (does not need electricity, photographer sees same image exposed to film-adjust everything by turning dials and clicking buttons).

*The purpose of a camera's aperture is to determine the amount of light that reaches the camera's sensor.

*Shutter speed also controls light entering the camera (curtain closed at first so film won't be exposed to light--then opens when picture is taken)

*Film speed, aperture size, and shutter speed must be balanced to get the right exposure for a picture

*One would use a low film speed (such as 100 ISO) for taking a picture in bright sunlight (need less energy to capture light).

*Four steps for developing black and white film are placing film in reducing agent, rinsing film with water (or use "stop" bath), placing in fixing bath, and washing film once more and drying it (to remove all processing chemicals).

*Need drying cabinets, tongs, stop bath, developers, exposed photographic print papers, fixer, developer trays, and washes for making black and white prints.

*Final image is actually developed silver.

I Love You, Man Pop Art

Role Models Reality With Rotoscope

Slash Puzzle

Jimmy Page Pixelated Hard Mix

Tom Petty Photo Within Photo With Radial Blur

Angus Young Custom Colorization Photo

The Black Keys Collage

Pattern/Rhythm Principle

This Bob Marley illustration represents pattern and rhythm (repetition). There is much consistency found throughout this picture, as one can see symmetrical patterns, too. One sees two sets of orbiting stars and hearts at the top, repeating lines and shapes everywhere, and two sets of sun-like objects towards the bottom. These rhythms and patterns bring life to this inanimate object.

Contrast Principle

This photo clearly symbolizes contrast. One sees the black background with a piano opposing to the white lights, guitar, and the guitar player himself. This shows difference in colors and draws interest in viewers.

Emphasis Principle

This Grateful Dead picture represents the art principle of emphasis. The skeleton's hand and tickets are the focal points and dominate every other part of the photo. They [the focal points] draw the viewer's attention away from the body of water, the car, and the girls found in the mirror, and draw the viewer's attention towards the skeleton, his hand, and the tickets.

Balance Principle

This Rolling Stones photograph represents balance, specifically symmetrical balance. If one were to split this picture down the middle, he or she would find two men on both sides--all around the same height. Not one part of this photo overpowers another, which is why this is such a great example of the artistic principle of balance.

Variety Principle

This picture clearly represents variety due to the thirteen different album covers found in the photo. Each album cover has a different color scheme, different shapes, different textures, different forms, different lines and patterns, different contrasts, etc. The picture draws in peoples' attentions right away because of the huge variety of elements and principles.

Unity Principle

This picture is a great representation of unity in art. The photo looks complete, and there isn't any negative space, just positive space (space taken up by objects in the picture). All four members are balanced well and they are all colored in black and white. There is nothing else one needs to search for in this photo, because everything is right in the front.

Movement Principle

This picture of legendary guitar player, Slash, clearly represents the principle of art, movement. Action is implied in this photograph hence Slash's hair swaying away from his scalp in mid-air. Both his hands are in positions for playing guitar, so one can infer that he has been/is playing for a while.

Color Element

This poster symbolizes the last element of art, color. In this picture, one sees many colors, both primary (red, blue, and yellow) and secondary (orange, green, and violet). The letters and group members in this photo contain warm, cool, and neutral colors. These colors also help the picture to stand out more and make it easier to read, too.

Texture Element

This picture clearly illustrates the artistic element of texture. Matisyahu's beard stands out from the rest of everything else in the photo and looks scraggly and unkempt. Implied texture is found in this photograph because the actual picture itself has no texture.

Form Element

This Led Zeppelin album cover represents form because the main piece of the cover, the blimp, is three-dimensional. The picture consists of real form and form that is perceived from illusion.

Line Element

This picture (The Beatles-Revolver) represents line by the four members' hair designs. Each of them have actual lines for their hair (and different types of lines--straight, wispy, curly, etc) along with their noses, lips, eyes, and other facial features. Lines are found everywhere in this album cover, which add to the uniqueness and creativity of this picture.

Shape Element

This Pink Floyd album cover clearly represents the art element of shape. In this picture, one sees a two-dimensional triangle in the center. One may also see another triangle inside of the center one.

Value Element

This picture is a great representation of the art element, value. Value deals with tints (lightness) and shades (darkness), and this Cat Stevens album cover has a very light tint to it. It's just colorful enough to portray the significance of value.

Space Element

This picture represents the Space element of art because it shows the gap between The Who group members while also illustrating the big rectangular prism in the center dividing both sides of empty land. The picture consists of a lot of negative space (distance between objects).

Bob Dylan