I created a suburban scene of a girl staring at the reflection of a pond. I learned that it’s important to distinguish dark colors from each other when placed in the same area so that it may be clearer to the audience. My goal was to capture the light of the ripples of the pond as well as the reflection of the canopy and trees/bushes. I feel good about this piece because I feel that the lighting was good, as the sun was setting and the image wasn’t overexposed or had glare, and I feel that the message I captured was successful. I hope that when my audience sees my work they feel the peacefulness of the girl and her surroundings, as someone quietly watching the water would appear to be deep in thought.
I created a low-angle shot of a sunflower against the sky. I learned that the burn tool should not be used for bright or white objects, and inauthenticity can be easily pinpointed in photography, and that it would be best to use real flowers in the future. My goal was to provide variety in the angle of the shots I used to make my image stand out in comparison to other photos taken of flowers from eye level. Other than what’s stated above, I feel good about my piece due to its uniqueness. When my audience sees this, I hope they also note the unique angle from which it was taken and feel inspired.
I created a depiction of my cat sitting in the grass of my backyard. I learned that fuzziness in a photo is really hard to cover up, and that the grass was slightly too oversaturated. My goal was to effectively create a good contrast between the blades of grass as well as showcase the alert, curious personality of animals. I feel that this isn’t one of my better pieces as the grass looks AI generated and I could have taken a clearer photo of my cat to avoid fuzziness, but it’s otherwise okay. I hope that when my audience views my photo they note the contrast of the grass as well as the sentiment of the piece.
I created a textured aerial shot of a kitchen knife and chopped vegetables. I learned that food is also hard to edit as you want it to look as vibrant as possible without it looking fake. My goal was to make it unique as the shape of the inside of the bell pepper is cool and is not something that people would easily take notice of day to day, with the chopped onions on the knife adding something extra. I feel excited about this piece because it looks visually appealing and I included more than one subject in my picture. When my audience sees my photo, I hope they see the different elements that make it interesting as well as the quality.
I created a close-up textured shot of a red flower in my backyard. I learned that red is the hardest color to edit and you have to be careful and ensure it isn’t too muted or bright. My goal was to get the color just right when editing, as I had never tried editing red at that point. Because it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to however, I’m not thrilled with the result and would do it over if I could. I hope my audience is reminded of the beauty of nature when they see my work.
Similar to the previous image, I created a close-up textured shot of multiple other flowers in my backyard. I learned that the amount of detail is important for textured photos, and you don’t want to have a blurry image where you can’t see the tiny aspects that define a textured photo. My goal was to capture the little details of the flowers and make them appear as if they’re a miniature jungle. I’m proud of this piece because the lighting was good and you can see all of the details of the flowers, such as the spikes on the petals. I hope that when my audience sees this, they note the level of details in the flowers and can imagine the scene’s potential of being life-size.
For this piece I created a triptych of nature-themed textured photos, including flowers in a patch of grass, a pine branch, and a leaf. I learned that it’s important that the contrast between each image is in balance, that they have dark shadows and light light. My goal was to capture nature while making sure I got every detail of each element as they were textured photos. I feel good about this piece for the most part; the two images on the left have good contrast that are similar to each other, but the contrast of the leaf is less noticeable. I hope that when my audience views my work, they appreciate the nature theme as the background of the triptych goes with the photos, as well as the detail of the flowers and pine branch.
I created a black and white reflection/refraction photo of multiple reflections shown in my car, including the reflection of the mirror itself in my car window and the reflection of the house, and even the reflection of the sidewalk near the bottom of my car. I learned that you should take the picture from an angle where you won’t have glare from the sun. My goal was to capture as many different reflections as possible while providing the correct level of contrast needed for a black and white photo. I feel proud of my work and in my opinion it’s one of my better pieces, because the contrast is just right and you can clearly see each reflection in the photo. I hope that when my audience sees this, they’ll note the white reflection of the mirror against an area that’s consistently dark, as well as the dark tire against the consistently lighter street and car; there’s balance on both sides of the image.
I created a duotone reflection/refraction piece from an original black-and-white photo of sunglasses sitting on a bench. I learned that in order to be a successful duotone photo, it must consist of only two colors, red and blue. My goal was to bring out the perfect amount of color while making sure I had dark shadows and light lights. I feel like this is a good piece because the contrast is good and you can clearly see the reflection of the lake in the sunglasses as well as the sunglasses bending the light to get a different angle of the stripes of the bench. When my audience views this, I hope they notice elements of both reflection and refraction as well as the quality of the duotone.
For this piece, I took a black-and-white reflection/refraction photo of a tree in a pond in my neighborhood and converted it into a half-colored image. I learned that it’s harder to color smaller objects in the image as you might not get a perfect selection and will therefore have to make your borders clear with the quick selection tool; you might even have to use the lasso tool if there are regions of similar color that don’t belong that the quick selection tool mistakes as being part of that object. My goal was for the result to be a clean, crisp half-colored photo with little error. I feel like the final result was less than decent, with only some regions that looked slightly blurry or unclear; I also think I made the lake too colorful with a blue-gray that looked too unnatural. When my audience sees my work, I hope they’re able to picture the image in full color and black-and-white as the photo is half of each.
For this project, I took multiple pictures and used them to create one surreal photo. I learned that it’s important to take each photo from the same angle as you want it to look as realistic as possible and not have incorrect proportions. My goal was to create a complex piece that showed the door to another universe. I feel good about this piece; the darker shadows on the left side and sand in the bottom of the hourglass gave it a more ominous message, and the fact that the miniature door and the girl stumbling through were different sizes than the rest of the piece also made it more surreal as it further divided the larger universe from the other. I hope that when my audience views this, they get the same ominous message as well as the surprise and curiosity of the girl experiencing this alternate reality.
For this project, I put together a collage of several oil and water photos. I learned that you must ensure that the camera is completely still when taking close-up photos of tiny bubbles so that it fully focuses. My goal was to make each photo saturated enough so that they were colorful with enough contrast so that each one almost had a gradient effect, in order to make them look more interesting. I’m proud of this piece because I loved how the color turned out and you can clearly see each of the little details. I hope that when my audience sees my work they see the irony of my water and bubbles being the color of fire.
I created a second collage of multiple different oil and water photos. I learned that you need to take the photos in perfect lighting so that you don’t get glare from the camera. My goal was to capture a different arrangement of bubbles in each image so that there’s variety. I feel like this collage as a whole isn’t as good as my previous one because you can see fuzz, mainly in the green oil and water photos, and there’s too much contrast between the teal oil and water photos. When my audience sees this, I hope they feel the cool, relaxing feeling pertaining to the collage as I used cool colors.
Credits:
©Callie Hazard