Lens Warm-Up: Documenting the Blues

My Favorite Photo from the Gallery

This photo is my favorite because of the smooth blend in contrast and emotion. The only colors are black and white, but the stark contrast intensifies the joyous expressions of the adult and the child. The bonding between the child and the adult demonstrates unity. There is unity in their connections of happiness against the struggles of poverty. 

Principles of Design - Variety

Edits: Increased Contrast and Highlights.

This photo has variety in its lighting. The forefront of the picture is tinged goldenrod because of the direct reflection of the walkway with sunlight. The farther the walkway gets from the viewer's perspective, the more shadows there are. However, the sky lights the background with a bluish tint. The inconsistency in lighting emphasizes the variety of this picture.

Principles of Design - Rhythm

Edits: Increased Contrast, Decreased Shadow.

This photo conveys Rhythm in that the rafters cast a shadow onto the building wall. The grating and lines of the structure are eye-catching and unique aspects that contribute to the rhythm. 

Movie Monday - Half Past Autumn Questions Part 2

1. I define success as the ability to be able to look back upon your initial starting point and to be proud as to how far you have progressed as an individual. 
2. I gave up parts of my individual character that were not contingent with my success to attain my dreams.
3. Parks relinquished his common sense when he gave up his position of nonviolence. He also gave up inputting his creativity and individuality in his photography to make money from films. 
4. Genevieve Young's father was 
5. Parks was advanced $10,000. 
6. Elijah Muhammad offered $25,000.
7. Parks refused the money because he wanted to make movies out of his love for film-making, not out of desire for wealth.
8. The Learning Tree was the first movie directed by an African American.
9. Shaft was the first African American hero to appear on television.
10. Gordon's weapon of choice was his camera.
11. Genevieve Young said that things beyond our control happen sometimes.
12. Odyssey is similar to
13. Gordon Parks Jr. passed away in a plane crash.
14. My favorite photo by Gordon Parks is the one with a black mother and her daughter standing at the movie theater.
15. In 10 years, I will remember Parks for his passion for photography and the human spirit.

Principle of Design - Proportion

This photo conveys proportion because it roughly follows Rule of Thirds.

Principle of Design - Repetition

Edits:  Increased lighting, contrast, and saturation. Decreased shadow. Made the lighting more pinkish. 

This photo conveys repetition. The locks on the lockers are spaced equally, and they repeat continuously along the same line of perspective.

Principle of Design - Pattern

Edits: Increased contrast, shadow, and vibrance. 

This photo emphasizes pattern. The grooves in the wood panels are patterns on the wall, because they repeat consistently and continuously. 

Principles of Design - Movement

Edits: Increased contrast, vibrance, exposure, and highlights.

This photo conveys movement because the cars are captured while in motion. The branches of the trees are a bit blurry, since they were swaying with the slight breeze. 

Principles of Design - Emphasis

Edits: Increased contrast, saturation/vibrancy, and shadow. Decreased exposure.

I believe that the contrast between the roof and the sky creates an emphasis on the bird. There's also a disparity in color. The building displays several shades of blue, and strongly contrasts against the white sky.

Principles of Design - Balance

Edits: Increased saturation/vibrancy, shadows, and contrast.

 Edits: Increased contrast and lighting.

These two photos convey balance because of the weight and position of the "subjects." The first photo has a symmetry to it: the lights line up along the middle. The second photo conveys balance because it is the intersection of the first floor's roof, the floor of the walkway, the stone wall, and the sky. The elements neatly overlap, so there is not too much weight on one single element. Thus, the second photo captures the principle of balance. 

Elements of Art Project

Line above, Space to the right.
Line: Increased saturation, vibrancy, and light/shadow.
Space: Increased saturation, contrast, and light colors.

Shape above, Form to the right.
Shape: Increased saturation, contrast, and vibrancy.
Form: Increased lighting and contrast. Decreased shadow.

Space above, Color to the right.
Space: Increased saturation, lighting, and contrast.
Color: Increased lighting and contrast.

Texture (both above and to the left): Increased saturation, vibrancy, lighting, and contrast.

Elements of Art - Texture

I couldn't decide between these two photos, so I edited and included them both.

Elements of Art - Color

Elements of Art - Space

Elements of Art - Form

Half Past Autumn: Gordon Parks Movie Questions

1. Gordon Parks was not alive when he was born, so the doctor wrapped a cloth around him and set him in an ice bath.
2. He was born in Kansas.
3. Ms. McClintok told him that very few Negros go to college, because they end up working as maids or in blue-collar jobs. She believed the education would be "wasted on him."
4. Gordon was 15 when his mom died.
5. He moved to Minnesota to live with his sister.
6. Gordon eventually graduated, but a lot later than students typically graduate.
7. He began his fashion career when photography clerks saw his work and suggested that he work for a women's clothing store owned by Frank Murphy.
8. Double exposure is a photography technique in which the shutter of the camera opens twice to expose the film. It results in two imposed images on the photograph.
9. Joe Louis was a professional boxer and the husband of Marva Louis. She was the one that encouraged Gordon Parks to visit Chicago and further his photography career.
10. Gordon played the piano.
11. The Farm Security Agency was created to improve the lifestyle of those whose lives focused on agriculture. The FSA hired photographers to depict the hardships of rural life.
12. Stryker's first assignment in D.C. was to go across to Louis Scarfeckled's restaurant and to eat there. 
13. Ella Watson was a cleaning maid for FSA.
14. The American Gothic House inspired Grant Wood's American Gothic, which in turn inspired Parks to take his most famous photograph of Ella Watson.
15. Gordon Parks learned to express the sense of injustice that African Americans experienced through his photography.