Photo1Q3.19: Idioms, Literally Literal

My winter assignment was pretty even in what concepts I did literal and what concepts I decided to approach more creatively. 60% creative and 40% literal. What I noticed though, was that some of the more sincere and meaningful topics to me were the ones that received a figurative approach, while the more specific and obvious topics (ex: "A celebration") were literal.

When I first saw the idioms video, I was dumbfounded by how hidden some of the idioms could be. There were some that were ridiculously obvious, but at the same time, some needed review. Some were indeed familiar and were idioms that I might find myself using every so often, while some were idioms that I've never heard of.



For the group part of this project, I worked with Noah Maldonaldo. It was pretty familiar, as I've worked with him on various projects in photography often.

Individuals below:




Idioms were, in the respective order:
Time flies when you're having fun
Under the weather
Think outside the box
Broken time

For the "under the weather" idiom, it means to be sick. The weather part was easy to capture, though ideally, we would've wanted a pretty clear contrast with the clouds and the sky. Weather was good that day, which is great for us people, but not so great for the photograph. To stretch the idea across, we used a tissue.

For the "Think outside the box" idiom, it means to be creative and think beyond the usual spectrum that the average person would think within. Thinking is often associated with school, and thus, students, so I attempted to use those visual clues to make the concept a little more obvious (pencils, eraser, tape, sharpener, etc.) Though, the actual "think outside the box" idea could've been executed better. Perhaps placement of the paper being literally outside the box, or scrapping this concept and going for a better representation of the concept would've been superior.

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Photo1Q3.18: Let's Get Weird (A Beautiful Mistake)

I think this assignment is a set-up for a future assignment that challenges us to truly portray a message in a photo. This type of assignment is daunting at first, but that's exactly what happens when you're out there trying to capture a good photo under certain conditions.

The topic I selected was "A Beautiful Mistake", which asks the photographer to make up a rule (open to interpretation), take a photo following that rule, make up another rule... etc. I selected this topic because it seemed challenging and interesting. I honestly thought I'd break my rules a couple photos in, but I actually got to 6 before breaking my most simplest rule. But yeah; I selected this topic because confining someone to certain conditions is a fantastic way to bring out someone's creativity.

Rule: Decent exposure (doesn't have to be perfect)

Rule: Frame right

Rule: A human element

Rule: Actual human

As I was trying to fulfill the topic, I was obviously lost the first couple of minutes trying to think of a rule to use, but I knew that I was under a time limit so I thought broadly. Exposure is an easy rule to follow despite it being the victim of so many photographs, so I just went with that. As the rules got broader and broader, the 20 minutes felt like a breeze. It's definitely limiting, but if you're efficient then it's more than enough time.

Rule: Pose the person

Rule: Group of people

Rule 1 is broken, exposure was poor originally

This photo above was when I broke the first rule, which was good exposure. It's funny how the most simplest of things could be the thing that topples the assignment. It looked worse pre-Lightroom (all of these photos were edited mainly for color instead of exposure, though the last one was pretty dark so I had to boost the exposure slightly). It's definitely unintentional, though I don't think this image is horrible. Sure, it might not be in absolute focus, it might not have the greatest exposure, and there's a lot of things that I would change, but I think it captures the title of this topic ("A Beautiful Mistake") because it exposes exactly the type of photography I want to capture. This was slightly posed, but I did it in a way that would allow the subject some degree of freedom to appear candid and "raw".

Overall, I feel that this assignment was a really great way to get oneself churning in terms of creativity. I usually do not pose people, and I could've done a better job in terms of posing them (I kind of just said "just do whatever" for the photos with people in it), but it shows what you can improve on and what kind of photos you're good or bad at taking. Very enjoyable project.

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Photo1Q3.17: Blogs I Recommend (Peer Blog Review)

When observing all of the Photo 1 blogs from the given sources, I looked four things in descending order (most important first, least important last); (1) Creativity and effort in the photography and associated text, (2) Professionalism and/or obvious personality in the blog work including the construction of the blog itself, (3) Completion of the posts themselves and being up to date, and (4) Showing improvement over the span of their work. I feel that the following blogs best represent these aspects.

Period 3 Recommendation: Madeline's Photohraphy

Something heavily avoided in a lot of these blogs is attention to the thumbnail of the posts. It's not necessary, but it certainly helps in making a blog appear much nicer aesthetically, and shows the strides one has made to make their blog more appealing. Madeline's blog, while it may be unintentional, does this very well. In addition, the photos themselves are clearly made with effort and aren't "last-minute" (unlike a huge portion of photo 1 students, which is understandable, but c'mon). She has her own sense of style that people can appreciate too, and I challenger her to translate that into color correction (the optional next level). She's conceptually very advanced in her work too. Very impressive. Her most recent "Not Necessarily to be Taken Literally" post was fantastic. She's up to date on her assignments as well, and responsibility is always appreciated.

Period 3 Recommendation: Danica's Pictures

Danica's photography is minimal and differs in creative range, but I respect the effort and thought into becoming better as she progresses in photography. I enjoy browsing through the blog (arguably the best template to use in blogger because of it's colorful nature), and enjoy the professionalism in the text pieces. They're honest, and she knows where she is in photography, as well as how to get better. I challenge her to refine her photographic style and add that extra "sauce" to make it even better. Great work.

Mrs. Sheets Class Recommendation: Janel's Camera Roll

Janel's blog is very similar to Danica's due to the theme. It's content is very detailed and there's a clear personality in her text and photography. She even put the adjustments she made to one of her ISO edits and the intention in one of those adjustments ("Cropped: To feature face as main point"). It's a small thing, but that type of attention to detail is what I like seeing in these blogs. Good work Janel!

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Photo1Q3.16: Not Necessarily to be Taken Literally

This is only a thumbnail, don't count this (even though it will show up later in this album).

Someone in water

Metaphorically, to be in water is to be congested, overwhelmed, and under immense pressure. I chose a self portrait because I believe that the topic falls pretty well in line with what is expected of me by my own self to become. In Hinduism (a religion I don't follow but was intrigued in through world history), there is a term called "moksha". It means liberation, emancipation, and release. To "achieve" moksha is impossible, but it's a point in which we can all seek to achieve. It's like shooting for the stars and reaching for the moon. I believe that I'm "in water" because my translation of moksha is well beyond the scope of what I'm currently capable of currently. My moksha is to become a multi-talented artist in the trifecta of film, photography, and design, working with the big shots of each respective world and creating their vision (perhaps even pioneering my own). I put this pressure on myself to become such an individual, and I'm lightyears away from becoming that person. That's my "reasoning" behind this photograph.

In terms of framing, it actually worked out pretty well. I was aware of centering the subject (myself), but I wasn't necessarily aware of the wall behind me. It "splits" my body from my head, much like how one sees people floating in a body of water. Take it as you may.

Someone intimidating

I always found people that have a 9-to-5 job to be more stern. I have no offense to them, but as a "millennial", I can't grasp the concept of doing the same thing everyday in your life without at least a little bit of variety every now and then. This is a photo of who I stereotype those people to look like; always dressed in business attire, takes the bus, and talks to few. Now this is obviously untrue for so many people who have a 9-to-5, but it's what comes to mind.

Someone irritating

People who intentionally do not pay attention to their surroundings or disrespect the laws set in place for traffic are quite frustrating. This man crossed on red, and the light later changed to where it allowed pedestrians to walk. It's reckless and synonymous with the topic name; irritating, to both drivers and other pedestrians.

Your biggest fear

I selected this photo because my biggest fear isn't necessarily quantifiable by a physical thing or action. It's more so a fear of working hard for something until one realizes that it either doesn't matter, it's all for nothing, and/or realizing that it's the "wrong way" of doing it. It's one of the reasons why I chose art as a career path, because objectively, there is no "wrong way" to portray art.

Your favorite possession

My favorite possession isn't the phone, but instead a specific set of contents being displayed. My favorite possession is music. It's an oasis in the Sahara desert; it is so ridiculously important to my daily grind that I can't imagine a day without listening to something nice. Currently been on Jhené Aiko's psychedelic R&B album, "Trip", which is shown in the photo.

Your biggest loss

Perhaps the biggest loss I've had in recent memory is the passing of my grandfather. He suffered from dementia and schizophrenia, and was a heavy smoker and drinker early on in life, but he was the man my grandmother loved. Seeing her in grief following my grandfather's passing quite literally split my life into "before" and "after". This isn't the exact chair he sat in, but he was always the type to hang out in my cousins garage and crack a cold one with the boys (my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) and just have a nice time. 

Your best friend

Pretty self-explanatory. She's one of my closest friends, known her since around middle school (approximately). I can say anything and it would warrant some kind of clap back response from her. Took this at Honolulu City Lights using my fairy lights as a prop! First time trying to be like Brandon Woelfel, without the blue color correction and immense use of bokeh.

Your favorite place

I didn't choose to go to Kaua'i this winter break because I wanted to improve my body in preparation for the upcoming tennis season, but I have numerous souvenirs from the island in which I cherish. One of such items are from my grandmother, which was a hat of a chicken (very numerous on the island) with the lettering "Kaua'i" beneath it. It's a place I'd love to retire to, in fact.

Your dark side

Selecting a photo for this topic was somewhat tricky, so I used this photo of my curtains that I took while cleaning up post-Christmas. If there's a "dark side" to me, I guess it'd just be the fact that I'm very inconsistent in some of the meaningful things in life, much like the lighting on this set of curtains. It's a stretch, but there you go.

Your dreams

In another life, I wish I didn't dislike country music and didn't dislike being in the same place and just "enjoying the scenery". In my dreams, I imagine a nice house somewhere in Texas where the sun always rises brilliantly, and there's pure tranquility with each passing moment with a small family. 50s-esque, but without the difficulties of that era.

Something you covet

To covet something is to year to have something. In this photo, the lines intersect quite a numerous amount of times with other lines briefly, but without interrupting their own line. I yearn to have that unwavering consistency in every aspect in life, no matter the direction I'm going.

Something you dread

I fear being so incredibly wrong after hearing or doing a certain thing with certainty and effort. Below that, I fear (dread) falling into comfort. It's cliché to say that one should never be satisfied, but satisfaction is, to me, stagnation. It's choosing to not improve, because something is selfishly "good enough". This is a photo of one of the buildings in my apartment complex; a home in which I've been in since 3rd grade of elementary school. Local rapper (local as in "a Moanalua student" local) Jason Voorheezy always has a line in his projects that refers to Hawaii being a place of "isolation". It's the same type of thing I dread, where ignorant isolation of one's self makes one believe that they are at the peak of life when they really aren't. My home is seen by my family as the "peak" and don't believe that there are better ways to live. I dread falling into that same ignorance in any category in life.

Something you don't understand

Why do cats always take a good minute to just stare at you? It's unsettling at times. This cat wanna square up but nah, it ran away after this photo was taken.

Something timely

Blue is a fad. And it's my favorite color too.

Something timeless

Gold is eternal. I love this aesthetic. There's a reason why gold's shiny and transcendental appearance continues to attract people to it. It's age has cemented its place in the realm of jewelry.

Somewhere you've never been

This is a really simple photo for the topic, but I've never been somewhere with snow. The photo is what I perceive snow to be, at least from movies. Technically, as a baby, I was able to live in San Francisco, but I've yet to touch or see real snow and remember it.

A celebration

Unfortunately, I don't go to church much. But bless up :).

A nightmare

This is more of an aesthetic thing. I felt that the dark and gloomy tone of this photo best fit the "nightmare"-esque topic. The unknown is the scariest.

A mundane moment

As I've said before, music is an important aspect of my life, no matter the mood. And yes, listening to music can become mundane and boring if you have the wrong tracks, or have been the same tracks over and over and over...

A fleeting moment

Fleeting is defined as short, momentary, and quick (according to Google). I selected this photo due to the rushed nature of the event displayed. It was just two close friends playing tennis and doing a long overdue photoshoot on the same day, on a whim too. Moments are often quick glances into one's timeline that are immense in value. This "moment" certainly qualifies. This could also go under the "best friend" category as well, but I wanna be a little bit salty to this best friend just because c:.

A secret

It's pretty obvious when you're attempting to keep a conversation under the wraps. You close the doors, turn your head the other way, and whisper. This old man ain't slick.

What you can't see

This is a jibe at my horrible parking skills. I never use my mirrors to park for some reason, despite me using it for literally everything else. I can't "see" the line, nor can I visualize the maneuvers I need to perform. Kinda sucks, but oh well.

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