Assignment 4

Ansel Adams was an American photographer best known for his black and white photographs. One of his most famous photographs was Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park California. Adam’s helped develop the Zone System* as a way to determine proper exposure and adjust the contrast of the final print. The resulting clarity and depth characterized his photographers and the work of those to whom he taught the system. Adam’s used large format cameras despite their size, weight, setup time and final print.

(*Zone system-provides photographers with a systematic method of precisely defining the relationship between the way they visualize the photographic subject and the final results)



I chose to do my photographs similar to the style of Ansel Adams because his photos were of landscapes. Also they were all generally in black and white. I found that when looking at Ansel’s photographs they were mostly landscape, which is something I have grown quite fond of in the last couple years. When I edited my images I adjusted the contrast and temperature as well as put them all into black and white. My photographer helped me realize the true beauty of nature. Although these photos were taken in the winter, I feel as though they are similar to Ansel’s style of photography. They are not only landscapes, but I feel as though they help capture the beauty of nature. The similarities between my photographs and Ansel’s are basic. We both took pictures of landscapes/nature, and what seemed beautiful at the time. The differences are defiantly where the photo was taken as well as how dark or light a picture is. I found that Ansels photos also included the sun and or the moon as well as a lot of clouds.

I feel as though we take the beauty of nature for granted, often people are too busy to just stop and look at the clouds. Living in our busy society today we realize that we're not taking care of the world around us. Over the years we've developed many problems around the world such as smog. These problems make it hard for future generations. I think that people just stop, and even look at these pictures and see how beautiful the world really is, that maybe everyone would stop and help. Maybe if they looked at these problems at an earlier date then we wouldn't have quite the same problems.

In conclusion, Ansel's photographs are an amazing example of how beautiful the world really is. Within Ansel's photographs you feel like your actually there, like nothing this beautiful could exist. Unfortunately if we don't start taking care of our world now, that beauty might not exist. I think my photographs are an amazing example of what beauty exists throughout the city of Toronto.




Cherry Beach, Toronto, Ontario. Photo by Amanda Rowe

High Park, Toronto, Ontario Photo by: Warren Stavert


Ashbridges Bay, Toronto, Ontario. Photo by: Warren Stavert

Toronto, Ontario. Photo by: Amanda Rowe

Lake Ontario, Toronto. Photo by: Amanda Rowe


Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams

Topic 3: Alterations in journalistic photography

Photo alterations in journalistic photography is unethical and unacceptable especially for press photographs. I think this because it is being un honest and photographing something the way it wasn’t seen. This may be making an event look worse than it is, or making a person look better than they do. I feel as though the media should be honest with there readers/watchers. Altering a photograph to make a place look more appealing or a person look more appealing is realistically wrong. I feel like the picture should be the exact same way it was taken, this would stop people from being so judgmental, knowing that the world isn’t perfect. Although it does make pictures seem more vivid and colorful. This helps with advertisements and marketing campaigns seeing an attractive person. Nobody is perfect so I guess there’s no way around photo alterations.

An example of this for instance is when we alter photographs to make ourselves look more attractive. We usually alter the brightness of the photograph as well as the temperature. In some cases people often make their teeth whiter too.

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Another example of this would the student that had taken a picture of her and her friends laying on the couch, a friend had altered the image to make it look like they were surrounded by wine bottles and beer cans. i think this can alter a person reputation, especially if they are seen as a non drinker and want to stay that way. I think this creates problems between families, because we're unsure of who exactly is being honest.


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Overall I think people alter images to make things seem more appealing. I think this is unethical because I feel as though people are being lied to when it comes to events as well as traveling around the world. We want to think the world is perfect like the pictures but unfortunately it is not.

Photography and ethic: You as a photographer who edited/altered images

Before computers photo manipulation was achieved by retouching with ink, paint, double exposure, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom or scratching polaroids. The first recorded case of photo manipulation was in the early 1860s, when a photo of Abraham Lincoln was altered using the body from a portrait of John C. Calhoun and the head of Lincoln from a famous seated portrait by Mathew Brady – the same portrait which was the basis for the original Lincoln Five-dollar bill.[1]

When photography was first invented, its overwhelming influence came from the fact that it recorded nature more realistically than any other art form had ever done before. Because of this, people trusted it and believed it portrayed "reality" and "truth".

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1. This picture was taken at Cherry Beach in Toronto, Ontario. I chose this picture because of the sunset. I adjusted the contrast, saturation and temperature. I feel as though it is now dark and gloomy like a storm is coming in. I think I chose to go about that route because of my mood at the time. I think photography and art in general have a lot of emotion attached to it, which is why so many people are so passionate about the field.

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2. This picture was taken at Ashbridges Bay in Toronto, Ontario. I like the way the clouds are just setting in like it’s about to snow. I adjusted the temperature as well as the making it look like a sunset rather than an incoming storm. As I was adjusting it I realized that the landscape became more defined. I liked this feature a lot. It makes a simple picture look more elaborate.

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3. This picture was taken at Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto. What I really enjoyed about this picture was the city in the background. I chose to alter the saturation of the photo to make the tree's and grass more defined. I also decided to sharpen the image a little bit to make this stand out. I also adjusted the temperature to make the sky look brighter.

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4. This picture was taken at Woodbine Beach in Toronto, Ontario. I love this image because of the water, I feel as though after editing it, it could almost be a winter day rather than a summer day. While editing this image I chose to alter the contrast, this made the water more defined as well as the saturation. I then wanted the sky to be a brighter blue, so I adjusted the temperature.

In conclusion, I think photo manipulation or editing an image gives the photographer the freedom to create whats envisioned in their head. Also gives us the opportunity to create even the most impossible photographs.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_manipulation

Assignment 1 Topic 1

1. What are the main differences and similarities between portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today?

The main difference between portraits now and portraits in the early days of photography are mainly quality, time and clarity. Portraits from the early days were usually in black and white or sepia. As technology advances it is more common to see pictures that are fully colored. In the early days it was common to have a camera obscura either installed in your home, or portable. Also it was very common to see a person standing in an area for a long period of time waiting for a picture to be taken, whereas today it takes just seconds for a photo to be taken. In the early days it was also very hard to see what was in the background of a photograph because of the graininess because of technology we have amazing clarity.

2. Who was the photographer and who was the subject of photographs in the past and today?

Photographers in the past were mainly middle class citizens whereas the subject of the photographs were higher class people. [1]By having one's portrait done an individual of the ascending classes could visually affirm his new social status both to himself and to the world at large. To meet the increased demand for portraits, the art became more and more mechanized. The photographic portrait was the final stage in this trend toward mechanization. Photography in the early days was also very costly, which made it hard for the middle class to afford.
Photography today does not limit who the photographer is or who the subject is. Today we use photography for many different things including magazines, newspapers, and family photographs. Photography can be relatively cheap depending on the equipment you are using. If you’re using a general disposable camera it is obviously going to cost you less.

3. What was the impact on technology on the portraits in the past and today?

Technology had a huge impact on the portraits in the past, we no longer use certain techniques. We’re now looking for ways to let a machine do the work for us. Seems like photography used to be so much more creative than it is now. People aren’t using there own original ideas, they’re making a copy of someone else’s work from the past.

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[1] Precursors of the Photographic Portrait

My name is Amanda

I'm easily excited!!!!

I'm in the Pre-Community program right now and LOVING it.

I will hopefully be in the ECE joint program in September 2010

I enjoy the simple things in life. (laughs, smiles...red skittles!!!)

This is my first photography course, I hope to absorb all that I can from it :)