Thoughts on Projects 2,3, and 4

Thoughts on projects:

Answering questions for each project:

1.     What did you learn through the completion of this project technically?

2.     What did you learn through the completion of this project from your creative process: from brainstorm to finished work?

Project 2 Panorama:

Through the completion of my panorama project number two, I learned that it is never good to have the edge of the photo fade to being the pure white of the photo luster paper.  I had an edge that was part of the cloudy white sky and I worked through learning how to edit the sky in Adobe Photoshop in order to make the sky create an edge for the photo.  I did this by using the burn tool and changing the channels.  I learned through the creative process from start to finish of this panorama project that your first mental picture of the completion of the image is not always going to be as pleasing to the eye as you first imagined.  I originally wanted this panorama to feature both sides of the house zoomed in on the train objects and then have images that were further away of the house that was in the center of this train memorabilia. After shooting though, I realized that I really wanted to focus more on the one side of the house that had more train memorabilia and just show the one corner of the house so that a viewer would still understood the location.

Project 3 Girl with the Pearl Earring:

Through the completion of my Girl with the Pearl Earring project, I learned and was somewhat shocked at the range of ability to alter a photograph in Adobe Photoshop, while still being able to make the image look realistic.  I was able to alter colors of fabrics and change the shape of the doll’s headpiece, as well as add deep shadows and even add an earring in the doll’s ear that was not actually there.  I learned from the creative process from start to finish that it was very important to try extremely hard to perfect the pose of the Barbie doll in order to mimic that of the Vermeer painting.   Although you may not be able to get it right instantly, you can always utilize Photoshop in order to work through some of the issues you were faced with while shooting.  This project really helped me realize how to use Photoshop for your own personal advantage.  I also learned that mounting is very difficult and takes a lot of time and practice to master.

Project 4 Create My Own Project:

This was the first time I have ever proposed my own project to a Professor; it was exciting but also nerve-wracking to come up with exactly what I wanted to do for the project.  I once again realized that your first idea might not be the best way to go about the completion of your project.  My original idea was to abstract a single flower in each image of my series by take an extremely close up photograph.  I found out as I was shooting that I actually liked the images of multiple flowers (bouquets) that I took much more than single flower shots because I found them to be more like miniature-abstracted landscapes.  I liked the fact that you didn’t immediately see the subject matter in the bouquet photographs as being flowers.  The single images of flowers screamed out that they were flowers so they weren’t really abstracted like I wanted. I had to work through some difficult complications with trying to get aesthetically pleasing shots that were also abstracted.