'As we get closer to Christmas I wanted to dedicate my last blog to my all time favorite holiday. One of my favorite things about Christmas is all the vibrant colors. The many colors on the trees, the red flowers, and so much more.
Through out this 'Genius Hour' I have definitely struggled. Some weeks I did late and some I did early. This has been an up and down hill, but I am glad that it is almost over. I have learned a lot about photography and I hope to continue increasing my knowledge beyond this project. In the pictures I wanted to focus on the traditional Christmas colors, red and green. I wanted to really focus on detail in the pictures. With the candy I loved how it looked layered and showed the shadows. This week's takeaway: "Life is like a camera, focus on what's important. Capture the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don't work out take another shot." -Unknown.
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As Genius Hour is almost over it has become harder to find a subject each week to type about. This week I was walking out to the car when I saw my dads guitar. Then it all just hit me. Instruments.
Instruments are a major part of my family. My dad plays the guitar. I use to play the flute as well as the violin. My brother plays the trumpet. I played the violin from fifth to sixth grade, I wasn't the best. I played the flute up until my freshmen year of high school. I stopped playing because I was more focused in sports than the flute, and I can see myself going further in sports than an instrument. My dad plays the guitar and has played since he was about 15. He is completely self taught. We are currently learning the song "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran. Since I have stopped playing the flute and violin I have picked up on my singing. I am currently in madrigals and I am enrolled in vocal ensemble, which are the two highest choruses at Davie High School. My brother who has previously been mentioned in past blogs, plays the trumpet. He is in the sixth grade and this is the first year he has played. He has learned some basic songs, and plays them.. every night. I love him to death but sometimes at the end of the day, the last thing I want to hear is a LOUD trumpet. In the pictures I wanted to utilize angles and not just take the pictures from a straight angle. This really adds to the picture rather than it just a plain image. Sadly I do not have any pictures of the violin or the flute, both of which I sold. The violin I sold to my younger cousin who still plays it, and is quite good. To substitute for not having any pictures of those two instruments, I added pictures of a mandolin, which is a stringed instrument similar to a guitar but is smaller in size. This weeks takeaway: Music is the medicine of the mind, find peace and tranquility in important things. SNOW!!!!! Guess what my blog´s going to be about this week... snow. When I lived in Boone I always looked forward to the cold winters and the picture perfect (wink) snow days. My favorite thing about the snow is being able to play in it. I also love to snowboard. Lets be honest, what high school student loves when it snows because that means no school!
One thing I especially love about taking pictures in the snow is how elegant the pictures can turn out, and how the snow looks so soft and fluffy in them. I tried to get a lot of green, such as the trees and branches, in the pictures to create a balance of the light and dark colors. One very important thing for these pictures to keep in mind was to make sure the sun was to my back while taking the picture. This way the object would have plenty of sunlight to show full color and so it wouldn't leave any weird shadows. As usual i used the vsco filter 'C1' in all of the pictures to really make the green pop against the white snow. This weeks takeaway: Kindness is like snow, it beautifies everything it covers. This week all of the pictures have been taken in portrait mode. Since I have an IPhone 8+ I have the portrait mode on my camera. Portrait mode is where the image that you´re taking focuses on one central object and blurs out the background. This really allows you to focus on the object that you want.
I have previously used portrait mode in past blogs but I decided that having a whole week dedicated to it would help some better understand exactly what it does and how it allows the viewer to focus on one thing. This could be especially helpful when you are looking at a picture that has a lot of detail or colors. My favorite picture from this week is the one of the raindrops on the window. I like this one because it is abstract and not something you typically see. Also how the portrait mode adjusted to the different central focuses and kept them all clear while still blurring out the background is very cool. I did not edit the pictures much because with portrait mode it adjusts the brightness (etc.) when you take the picture. For all, except the raindrop picture, I applied the vsco filter ´C1´. I know this week I only did three pictures, instead of the typical five. Therefor I will do more than favie next week to make up for it. This weeks takeaway: Keep your eyes on the prize. This week I wanted to do pictures that had no filter or editing to them. Most of the pictures are pictures that were taken outside. This was done on purpose because in nature the colors are more vibrant and diverse rather than a picture taken inside.
You may notice in the top picture on the left has some snow in it. Snow is one of my favorite things to take pictures of because of now elegant it makes any picture appear. In December I plan to photograph a lot more in the snow and have a week centered around that. There is also a picture that may confuse you.. maybe the picture of the colorful exotic bird. Yes the peacock, this is one of my friends bird. I really loved that picture because the bird looks completely natural and beautiful at the same time. All of the pictures are centered around a main object or image. To create a clear look at the picture I tried to take them with the sun behind them so that the pictures would appear light, and have no need for an adjustment in exposure or brightness. This weeks takeaway: Natural beauty trumps over any other type of beauty. This week I have decided to do all of my pictures in a black and white filter. This was an interesting decision to make because one of my favorite things about taking pictures is seeing all the vibrant colors.
I thought it may bring a new element to my blog because up until now I have only done one black and white picture. I like taking pictures and putting a black and white filter on them because it shows that you do not always need color to have a great picture. Sometimes in black and white pictures you have to look hard for what you are looking at which I also like. This makes the viewer look more at the picture and see more details than they maybe would have before. The takeaway for this week is going to be a little different because it is hard to make up a quote centered around colors... lol. This weeks takeaway: Sometimes you have to look hard for the meaning in life. Good things won't always present themselves right away. This week I have decided to photograph all of my favorite things.
Starting with sunsets/sunrises. As you can see from week 2 I love all the different variations of the colors. They're always a great way to end or start your day! The second picture may take you a second to realize what it is. Little do most people know I have an odd love for snakes and frogs. So pictured is a cute little frog I found in the woods near my house. Below the frog is a tall glass building. This may not seem like much at first, but what it stands for are cities. I love big cities, this picture was taken on Friday while visiting my grandparents in Charlotte. Phoenix, Atlanta, and Charlotte are among my favorite cities. I love the tall glass buildings as well as the old and run down ones because they each have a completely different story to tell. Beside the glass building is a bowl of fruit. Like frogs and snakes I absolutely love fruit, I cannot go a day without eating any type of fruit. Although I love all fruit, I would have to say that kiwis are my favorite to indulge in. Lastly but not least, the roses. Everything about roses I adore. The smell, the color, the texture, I love it all. Pictures are red roses.. but I would have to say my favorite color rose is yellow. For editing these pictures I did a couple different things. The sunrise, rose, and glass building picture I use filter 'C1' from vsco to adjust the brightness due to the close light sources (headlights, Christmas lights and flash, sunlight). The fruit bowl I didn't change much, I turned up the brightness and added a blue tent to accommodate to the redness of the strawberries and the hints of blue in the counter top. The frog picture is going to be a sneak peak for next week. All I did to it was put the black and white filter of 'B1' from vsco to create an effect of camouflage for the frog. Stay tuned to see what the frog picture and next week will have in common! This weeks takeaway: A life without love, is as useful as love without life. This week we are going to learn that I am not perfect. Being completely honest I am a little behind with posting my blog for this week. After all I am only human and I make mistakes. All that truly matters is that it is done now and you guys can have a look into my life.
This week my blog doesn't really have a "theme". I went to Boone on Saturday to go visit my family that lives there. It was also a early celebration for my mom, who's birthday is this upcoming Friday. Fall is my favorite time to go to Boone because of all the leaves changing colors. I lived in Boone for about 10 years and November was always my favorite month. So I have decided to dedicate this whole blog post to the beauty of fall in the Blue Ridge. In the pictures it was very easy to capture the pure beauty of the colors of the changing leaves. Nature is one of my favorite places to take pictures because all of the colors are in perfect harmony and the easy part is editing. For these pictures I kept the editing simple so I did not take away from the natural beauty. All I did was turn down the exposure/brightness because it was really sunny in Boone. This weeks takeaway: Find the pure beauty in everything. I have been looking forward to this week for two reasons.. one I am going to the beach, two it is my little brothers birthday this week.
I am very excited about the baseball tournament also because this one is a three day instead of a two day, which means more baseball and the more baseball the better. The beach is one of my favorite places in the world to be, especially around this time of year. It is still warm and sunny at the beach unlike most other places. I love to go run on the beach, play in the ocean, and of course take lots of pictures. I look forward to going to the Myrtle Beach baseball tournament as well as spending time with my family. The beach is a great place to take pictures because of all the color variations. The oranges and pinks that the sunsets hold mixed with the blue from the oceans and the greens from the plants and palm trees, all make for amazing pictures. In some of the pictures I used a filter named 'C1' on vsco. I used this one because it turned the exposure (brightness) down which allows for the darkness of the colors to really show, making a great contrast between the different light and dark colors in a single photo. The top left picture is my brother Drew. His birthday was this Thursday 10/25/06). I truly can't believe that he's already 12. I am so lucky to have a brother that I am close to. Every night we either play fortnite or jam out to music and talk. Even though he is only 12 and can't understand everything I am talking about, he is always there to listen and give his input (though sometimes it is not needed). So Drew is you're reading this.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND I LOVE YOU!!!!!! This weeks takeaway: Revisit an relive the things that matter most. Hey welcome to dog with a blog... or should I say blog featuring a dog(s). Just kidding. This week I will be focusing on the two most important things in my life, my dogs. Well maybe I exaggerated a little when I said they were the most important. I value family over everything and if you think like me then you would agree that dogs are equally members of the family.
I have two dogs Rico and Brandi. Rico is a pure bread blue pit bull and we have had since he was a puppy, he is now eight years old. Brandi, who is also a pit bull, we got December 27th of last year. The humane society thinks she is about three years old. I love my dogs more than I love a lot of things. The thing I hate the most FOR them are the people in the world that hate pit bulls just because of the negative things said about them. All the experiences I have had with my dogs have been nothing but good things. I have a side goal for this weeks blog. That goal is even if only a couple people see this blog it would be that I hope it would maybe change their perspective on not only pit bulls but any dog that most people think poorly of. Just as you should not judge people based on looks, you should not judge any living creature based on others opinions. You should always give people (or dogs) a fair change to show you who they are and not just think based on others ideas. In the pictures I have tried to capture the innocence and playfulness of my dogs, and who they truly are by using the flash feature on my IPhone and really trying to capture the dogs faces. This weeks takeaway: Do not judge anything or anyone by what others say. Take the time to figure out your own opinion and base it on your own experiences. |