Camera Shake

It is not easy to get a camera shake picture from an anti shake camera. I borrowed a tripod, but it was not in good shape and I could not get it level on all three legs. One would not even loosen up to extend it. So I utilized propping my elbow on the couch, then my leg, then a table outside. I couldn't determine much change in the photographs, so I am glad was discernable enough by the professor to pass this assignment. The young subject in this picture is the daughter of a friend of the family. Her father dropped dead of a heart attack on the church steps that next Wednesday. We just don't know what life holds in store for us, do we?

Project 3

Oh, heck. I love iMovie. I have to buy an apple computer as my next technology investment to access this program. The biggest challenge in making this movie was how to put it together. I had the pictures I had taken in this project, some I had used and a few others I felt compared to share, so how do you break them into intelligent segments? Not easy, especially for a first-timer. The most rewarding thing, for me was to put music to the slides and see how it worked, then moving things around and adding some effects to make it work better. I think you could go on and on and on playing with just this one project.
The final project was a big reward for me. I can see students making projects as authentic assessment in projects and field trips. I don't think they will ever forget them this way and I think their sense of accomplishment will be huge. Like I feel with this project completed. I can hardly wait to see what everyone has done.

Virtual Tour

I was not brave enough to try and create this tour of NASA as a website. I somewhat know how to use PowerPoint with some proficiency and I did not even use a theme to dress it up. I did, however, take some nice pictures at Cape Canaveral last November and found a great place to utilize them in this virtual tour. I have grown up remembering my grandfather coming over to point out Sputnik in the sky. I followed the Space Program and saw the launchings and landing and I never, ever put together the places all of that happened other than what I saw and recounting of experiences from workers I had met in the program and a professor who worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I find it most interesting. NASA is looking for future engineers. I think what a lovely profession for a child with special needs to consider, so I made this tour as a way to create interest in a very interesting field.

Photoshop

I love photoshop. I haven't an idea what 90% of it can do yet. I had a problem with making the photo-bet picture work, so I incorporated my 22 year old son to assist me. He showed me layers and did it so quickly, I didn't learn much from the experience, but what a big difference over a darkroom developing pictures I learned in the early 1970's. Just the enhancements I have learned are going to vastly improve many of the photographs I take.

Picture for last posting.

Night Photography

Thank you Linda for taking the time to teach me the significance of the scenes settings on my camera. I had a very nice Minolta SLR camera and became interested in photography when my camera was stolen from my home by a family friend we later discovered had an addiction problem. The loss of the camera became a disappointment that took my mind and energy away from pursuing photography any further. Then, I bought a nice Nikon Coolpix camera and thought I would again try to take pictures. The pictures would not download to my computer and I had no idea why it was so problematic. I talked to Nikon and had such a bad experience with their customer service that the German and Irish came out in me. I was ready to absolutely fed up with Nikon. I since began to struggle with taking pictures regardless, and got a new computer with a card slot to read the pictures from it, instead of transferring the pictures via the USB port, which never did work, nor did the Nikon software. I developed an aversion to this camera, Nikon and a belief it was beyond my comprehension.
With this class, I feel much more competent and pleased with the pictures I have taken. I am starting to open up that creative part of my soul again that will allow me to share images, experiences and friends and family with everyone. I am very grateful for taking this class and your ability to lead such a workshop, Linda. I think I may owe Nikon an apology...( the add pic icon on this post is not working, sorry)

Ethics in Photography

I am having trouble logging to blogspot, probably my inability to sign in and comment on everyone's blogs competently. The lesson on ethics in photograpy were very interesting. The lesson regarding Kevin Carter's picture winning a Pulitzer Prize, then committing suicide, bring to mind a very important lesson to us all: What matters in life? Dawn says she takes pictures of all her students. A picture is a snapshot in time. It doesn't lie and when looking back, it is there to remember. In looking back we have a reality check in how quickly time passes. How many times have we had a family picture, or group of friends in a picture to look back and see how many things have changed for the subjects in the photo? The memories and pictures become precious.
I think Kevin's dilemna came when he took the most dramatic photo of a child close to starvation with a vulture looming when that defined his career. Then the questions arise about what was done for that child in that photo and it became aware he did nothing to assist that child, yet profited greatly from the situation. The reality that he did nothing became known throughout the world. Did he commit suicide because he did nothing to help the child or that his notoriety became known for his lack of regard, in spite of realizing the dramatic context of this picture?
Portfolios encouraged by our government during the Depression allowed President Roosevelt to enact the many programs that helped pull our country through a dark time, and gave us images that still define the time and situation. A picture is worth a thousand words. We are perceptively visual and this art form touches our minds and souls. It is with this awareness, and better understanding of issues and ethics that make us more aware of the power of the pictures we take. May we never take a picture that tortures our soul for egotistical gain at the expense of others. I hope I am not violating any copyright laws with posting this picture...

Project 1 Blog 6 elelments of photographic compostition

I am having trouble deciding which of the 6 elements of photographic compostition I feel has the most power to transform my images. There are several, but the transformation takes place when I can frame a picture subject that I really like. To utilize an element like simplicity or balance cause me to be more critical in the subject matter. The rule of thirds and lines cause me to look further for the subject and where to place it in my picture. Avoiding merging causes me to look further to the background to make sure it doesn't conflict. Knowledge of all of the elements allow me to more critically put my picture together and critique other pictures, moreso, to appreciate when one has been taken properly using these elements. So, balance is very important to a good picture, I will say I feel balance has the most power to transform my images.

The most challenging element to incorporate really has been simplicity. Too many pictures will be too busy with background or distraction. We live in a busy world.

The challenges to completing this assignment were to pick the picture I felt most employed this element as well as having some statement for me. Beyond this, adobe photoshop is going to take some time to figure out. What an awesome software it is. Actually, I had a problem with the subject in my first set of merging pictures. They were not at all happy with the way they looked and told me to erase them. I didn't erase them, but felt it would not be ethical to use the pictures, so I happened to find a picture of my 22 year old son and managed to get him to sit still long enough to take his picture. The first picture had some issues with merging. The second was framed better. He is leaving to move to CA this Friday, and in his honor and the fact I will miss him something fiercely. I will leave his picture on this posting representing avoidance of merging.

Introduction

I am a 55 year old male as of July 5th. It is hard to write a little about myself having survived this far in time. My name is Mark Cultice, Sr. I am a graduate student trying to gain my teaching license and a degree in Special Education. I hope to teach at Culver Middle School this fall mild interventions. I took this class, digital photography in the class room, because an ethics class was cancelled. I have been struggling with a research paper for two terms and I am very ready for a mental break from that world. I purchased a Nikon Coolpics camera several years ago and I have just not been happy with it, nor have I had much experience with it. Nikon customer service has much to be desired at this level of their cameras and I have contemplated destroying it. So, I have decided to attempt to grasp digital technology and find that artistic vein in my soul with this class. I hope to learn a few tricks that will enhance my teaching skills in the classroom and surprise my daughter, the photographer, with a few pictures this summer.

Greetings! This is an attempt to discover digital photography and learn tools that will assist its use in the classroom.