Author: Ghassan

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#ProLevel

This semester I have done many projects, including light graffiti, macro pictures, and taking photos of objects in motion. I have also learned a lot, more than I would have on my own. I learned how to use three of the manual settings in a camera, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. I have also learned that if you put a camera on a tripod in a pitch black room and turn up the shutter speed to as long as possible, you can draw in the air with light. Before this class I wasn’t very interested in photography, but this class has really changed my mind. I plan on taking more photography classes in high school. I used to take photos very carelessly, and I didn’t understand how to take good photos, but now I am able to take very good pictures, much better than before. My favorite project was the light graffiti project, which I enjoyed a lot because of how much fun it was to draw with light as my paintbrush and the air as my canvas.

The rest of my photos can be found here

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Macro

For this project, I took “macro” pictures, or pictures up close. My actual camera worked great for this assignment because it automatically goes into macro mode when up close to something. The biggest challenge was trying to find animals to take pics of because it was winter, I am really proud of how close I was able to get to the squirrel without them running away. I had no issues with my camera. I would take photos of objects/animals that are very hard to get close to, like a squirrel.

The rest of my photos are here

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Kitchen Table

In our project “kitchen table,” we had to tell a story at a kitchen table, but the kitchen table was not in a kitchen, but it was actually in the main lobby, with only a small makeshift wall and a light at the top of the wall for decoration. This project was inspired by Justin Bettman  and Carrie Mae Weems. Justin’s project was about setting a scene in the street that nothing to do with the street, and Carrie’s project was about telling a story just at her kitchen table, so we combined these. I used Photoshop to edit my photo, and the tools were black and white, eclipse tool, and the curves tool. If I were to choose a scene to tell my family’s story, it would be our living room, and the pictures may include watching a movie during movie night. 

The rest of my photos can be found here.
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Objects in Motion

For our project “Objects in motion”, we had to take photos of objects in motion, but there wasn’t supposed to be any blur. For the photos I took outside, I set the shutter speed to the shortest time possible, and it worked because there was so much light outside. When I took pictures inside, I had to lengthen the shutter speed because of the lack of light inside. Moral of the story, take the pictures outside with the sun. I would want to photograph professional baseball because of how fast they can throw the ball. Check out my photos here.

Second photo with logo is in the google drive folder because Photoshop doesn’t want to open it.

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7 Days

I am thankful for how much thought and effort my family puts into the holidays and decorations in general. My mom always has everything prepared, and my parents always lead us when setting up decorations, like when we set up our Christmas tree.
I am thankful that my parents can afford a good, large house, with good furniture and other necessities. We have many rooms for any activity we want to do. Our house is also very secure, and I always fell safe when sleeping at night.
I am thankful for the cars that my parents own. My mom takes me to school every morning so that I don’t have to ride the bus, which is always OVERFLOWING in the mornings. My parents are also always able to take us to soccer or swimming or gymnastics or basketball practice. We also go to DC whenever we want on weekends because of these cars. I am also thankful for my after-school bus, which is NOT overflowing, most of the time.
I am thankful for the services my neighborhood provides, like basketball and tennis courts. These courts are free to go to any time someone wants to practice their shooting or tennis. There are also small fields for us to run around, or play soccer. My neighborhood also has a lot of parks, which are a way to find our friends when we are outside, and there are also so many playground games we can play.
I am thankful for the scenery in my community, and, even in winter, the ponds are always a nice place to come to and have lunch or a snack, or just to take some pictures. 
I am thankful for my community. My community is safe and secure, so when I go out, I don’t have to worry about anybody kidnapping me, and I can almost always find one of my friends outside.
I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful that my friends support me and each other. They help me with my school/homework when I ask, and I help them when they ask me.

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Smile Project

Getting the pictures and having to talk to 15 strangers was difficult. I see how intimidating people can be when they are not smiling. You might be intimidated or scared when trying to photograph strangers. You could ask what their favorite color or animal is. See the photos here

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Rule of Thirds

Going outside provided a lot of opportunities, but sometimes it was hard to find people to be in the photos. Originally I thought I would be very bad at this project, but I think I did pretty good. I used the lower line of the three a lot of the time, along with the other lines on the side.

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Light Graffiti

The settings we used to take the pictures were ISO 100, F stop 5.6, and 15 second long shutter speed (maximum). The steps we took were to have someone supervise the creation of the photos while the other two would draw the scene with their lights. This worked sometimes, but there was a fourth group member that was not very helpful during the process, ruining the pictures and kicking everyone else to mess up the pictures. Also, the shutter only stayed open for 15 seconds, so our pictures were rushed. My idea for taking this to the next level would be to draw picture for minutes at a time, adding a ton of detail. 

See the rest of the photos here