All right so just as I wake up this morning all groggy and jet lagged, for half a minute I seriously thought that maybe I had just dreamed this past month in France. It was only after I had looked down and saw that I had my Paris t-shirt on that I realized it had really happened.
This past month went by incredibly fast and it seems like yesterday that I just met everybody coming off the bus from the airport. I had such an awesome time in France and feel extremely fortunate to have experienced it all with such great people. I feel incredibly lucky to have been with such awesome people in such an amazing place. I hope you all enjoyed my company because I certainly enjoyed all of yours.
I have so many unforgettable memories from this trip whether it is me getting stuck in a metro pass door or Ray dressing up as Pierre or Brittany "fainting" into her closet or drinking Red Bull and Vodka with Leah and Virgil by the river, I know I will always look back on this trip as one of the best times of my life. I just wanted to put this here to say how much I enjoyed traveling with all of you and I seriously hope to see you all soon.
Thanks for all the great memories,
-Mike
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Best of France
These past few weeks in France have been absolutely amazing to say the least. I have gained so many unforgettable memories and feel incredibly lucky to have had the chance to meet so many amazing people in such an amazing place. During our time here in France part of our studies has covered digital photography along with videography and sociology.
These past few weeks we have been studying digital photography by going around on group excursions and taking lots of pictures, while at the same time applying everything we learn in class about camera settings. By taking lots pictures we are able to become more comfortable with our cameras and have a better understanding of which camera settings would work best in any particular setting under any particular lighting.
For my final project in this digital photography course, I have decided to select what I feel are my two best photos and to explain why I like them so much as well as what camera settings I used for each.
I took this picture of my friend Ray while our group was waiting to get on a boat for dinner on the River Seine. At this moment he was just leaning over a railing, looking out at the river when the lighting just seemed really good and I decided to snap this shot. When I took it I made sure that he was towards the right side of the field with the sun shining in the upper left corner that way the composition of the photo was balanced. It gives the impression that the sun was shining on just him and the river and the whole thing just gives a feeling of serenity and admiration of the surroundings.
Even though this photo wasn't taken in full light, I left the flash off and left the ISO at 100 I still wanted the shade that the tree branch put on the scene. Most other important features on my camera are for the most part automatic although I can view what the system chose for aperture and shutter speed afterwards. The camera took it at F3.3 for aperture at a shutter speed of 1/200, which I thought was a good speed because it was long enough to allow the camera to really capture the sunlight shining through the trees and reflecting off of the river.
So we were all on the Eiffel Tower the other day on our way to the top when a bunch of clouds rolled in and decided to dump a rainstorm on us. Even though it was very wet and very windy, it really added to the whole visual of our view of Paris. I decided to take a picture of the Paris skyline in the distance because I saw the sun peeking out through the clouds behind them and I thought it would make for a good photo. After looking at it on my camera I saw that in part of it you can actually see the streaks of rain reflecting the sunlight off of them. This feature of the image was completely accidental but I liked the effect. I really liked how even though it's a still photo, you still get a sense of movement and action through the rain drops in front of the distant sun and buildings. It gives a sense of something happening rather than just having a flat, static image.
For this photo I used an ISO of 160 as the whole scene below the horizon got slightly darker and could have used a little bit more light to better clarify the image. The camera took the picture at F8.0 at a shutter speed of 1/400. I thought the aperture was set good because the lighting was there, while slightly dim. The shutter speed was also well set because the light was pretty well diffused over most of the image.
These past few weeks we have been studying digital photography by going around on group excursions and taking lots of pictures, while at the same time applying everything we learn in class about camera settings. By taking lots pictures we are able to become more comfortable with our cameras and have a better understanding of which camera settings would work best in any particular setting under any particular lighting.
For my final project in this digital photography course, I have decided to select what I feel are my two best photos and to explain why I like them so much as well as what camera settings I used for each.
I took this picture of my friend Ray while our group was waiting to get on a boat for dinner on the River Seine. At this moment he was just leaning over a railing, looking out at the river when the lighting just seemed really good and I decided to snap this shot. When I took it I made sure that he was towards the right side of the field with the sun shining in the upper left corner that way the composition of the photo was balanced. It gives the impression that the sun was shining on just him and the river and the whole thing just gives a feeling of serenity and admiration of the surroundings.
Even though this photo wasn't taken in full light, I left the flash off and left the ISO at 100 I still wanted the shade that the tree branch put on the scene. Most other important features on my camera are for the most part automatic although I can view what the system chose for aperture and shutter speed afterwards. The camera took it at F3.3 for aperture at a shutter speed of 1/200, which I thought was a good speed because it was long enough to allow the camera to really capture the sunlight shining through the trees and reflecting off of the river.
So we were all on the Eiffel Tower the other day on our way to the top when a bunch of clouds rolled in and decided to dump a rainstorm on us. Even though it was very wet and very windy, it really added to the whole visual of our view of Paris. I decided to take a picture of the Paris skyline in the distance because I saw the sun peeking out through the clouds behind them and I thought it would make for a good photo. After looking at it on my camera I saw that in part of it you can actually see the streaks of rain reflecting the sunlight off of them. This feature of the image was completely accidental but I liked the effect. I really liked how even though it's a still photo, you still get a sense of movement and action through the rain drops in front of the distant sun and buildings. It gives a sense of something happening rather than just having a flat, static image.
For this photo I used an ISO of 160 as the whole scene below the horizon got slightly darker and could have used a little bit more light to better clarify the image. The camera took the picture at F8.0 at a shutter speed of 1/400. I thought the aperture was set good because the lighting was there, while slightly dim. The shutter speed was also well set because the light was pretty well diffused over most of the image.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
La Jetee Review
Now I just watched La Jetee by Chris Marker and I have to say with the epic music and somewhat creepy-calm narration, it was probably one of the most intense series of organized photographs that I’ve ever seen. Aside from the fact that the whole thing captures you with a series of still, black and white photographs, and no dialogue except narration, the story itself is very deep involving love, what was, and ultimately, what never will be (and what never will be again).
When the “World War” happens and devastates everything, this tells of what will forever cease to be not just for the world but for the main character as well. Not just no more food, resources, or energy, but for him, no more love, happiness, or contentment. Throughout the story he is constantly teased and tormented by being pulled away from the past while all he wants to do is stay there with her.
When he is sent back in time, I feel it represents the experimenters’ vain attempts to go back to what once was, in a sort of romantic sense. Romantics always look at the best things of what once was and usually never face why those things eventually changed. This is even reflected in the story where we receive no knowledge as to why the war happened, only that it did.
Later, when he is sent back in time and visits the animal museum with his love, I feel that we see a mirror image to his own situation in that he is looking at the past, what once was, while he himself is viewed from the future by his experimenters, what inevitably will be. He is looking at the past while being viewed from the future.
Finally, when he is saved by the people of the distant future and requests to instead be sent back to his love, I feel that this is his last attempt to achieve happiness and love once again. I find it odd how the place where he goes to meet with his love again is an airport. The whole situation involves a couple trying to re-unite at a place where people are constantly parting ways. Unfortunately, in the end, it is impossible for the two of them to re-unite where all others part ways.
Pnasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4
Now I got this camera as a gift this past year and have only had a few reasons to use it extensively until now. Until now, I did not have a really good grasp on different camera properties, such as aperature/f-stop, ISO, or shutter speeds. Now having a better idea of what those things are, I feel that even with a limited point-and-shoot like this one, I can now take better quality photos than before by just keeping everything on my camera at “AUTO” function.
Now unfortunately as a smaller point-and-shoot my camera does not have some of the adjustable features of an SLR such as aperature/f-stop or shutter speeds, although there is an “exposure” feature, as well as several “high-speed” shot options. This camera does have an ISO feature with ranges of 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600, which allows for the camera to be sensitive to a range of light settings. There is also an adjustable white-balance feature on this camera that allows for truer colors in your shots in various settings. There is also a maximum 10x zoom that allows for a good distance range.
Fortunately, even though this camera may lack some features you may find on a bigger SLR, the constraints on its LCD menu system allow for only a few places for whatever function you are looking for to be. There are only two menus on this camera and one is the quick “on-the-go” choice box, so it is pretty easy to find whatever function or setting you’re looking to adjust.
Physically, this camera is pretty small but fairly thick so it fits in your hand pretty good. The LCD viewer is about 2/3 the width of the camera and so allows for a decent sized viewing area. Another really cool thing about this camera is that it comes with its own rechargeable battery unit and battery charger so you don’t have to constantly fumble around looking for 2 AAs.
For now it is a fine camera to use and learn on, but as I become more involved in photography I might look more into advanced and professional SLRs. Unfortunately, it might not be anytime soon this year seeing as how this term abroad, while invaluable, is also le expensive.
-Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)