2 hour reflection

 PART I: Two-Hour Presentation
(1) Two-Hour Presentation Student Assessment

I think I deserve a P+ because I not only met time requirements but I answered my EQ with detail. My activities also made the students actually use my answers in a hands on way. My talking skills however weren't very good. I was stumbling and talking fast and not speaking very well in general.
(2) What are you most proud of in your 2 hour presentation and why?


I am post proud of my answers. I think I answered my EQ really well and through my activities I showed that the answers do work for nature photography.

PART II: Overall Senior Project Experience

(3) What do you think you did well on in the project? What could you have done better? Please explain.


I think I did well with my isearch and my creative expression, both of those worked out well for me and I got good grades on them. I wish I hadn't procrastinated so much and put this as my priority, and I wish I hadn't taken on so much this year. I was really stressed out and freaking out about everything.
(4) What is your EQ and what is the best answer to your EQ? 


What is the best way to take a good nature photograph? The best way is lighting. It sets the mood and tone and makes the photograph. You could have the most expensive, best quality equipment and really interesting composition, but if the lighting sucks and doesn't portray and get the message you want across, the photo is not going to be good.
(5) How has the last month of culminating events (e.g I-Search, Two-Hour, Exit etc) affected your answer to your EQ? Has it changed? Why or why not? 


It really changed my answers. After talking to teachers about my answers I realized one of them didn't work and I have to completely change it. It was frustrating and difficult because it was so last minute and I had to change everything.
(6) What suggestions do you have in order to improve the senior project?


I believe the teachers need to be on the same page. Its frustrating that all the teachers grade differently so you can't go to another teacher for help. All the students get mixed ideas of what is going on because each house does it differently. I think if the teachers did everything the same, it would be a lot easier on the students. 
I also think that advisory meeting should start earlier. I was kind of upset to have to change my answer so late and have to change everything so late in the year. If I had talked to someone sooner, and known that my answer wasn't good, it would have been easier.
Lastly, its difficult to make the project your own when there are so many things you can't do. And when the teachers change our EQ's its harder because we aren't going what we want, we are doing what the teacher wants us to do with a topic they may not know much about. I don't know how to improve that, but its hard to make a project your own when it isn't really.
(7) Overall Senior Project Assessment

I think I deserve a P because I did what was asked of me and I learned a lot about my topic. My answers did answer my EQ and all the work I did through out the year did help me in some way, whether it was personal or senior project related.

Service Learning

Literal
I have two people I did service learning for. One was Alan McDonald. He worked with me on the photo I had already taken and how to improve them on Photoshop. He also took me out to one of his photoshoots and around Mt. Baldy to take nature photos. His contact information is on the service learning form I turned in to Mr. Ogden. He met with me several times, 4/15/11, 5/12/11, 5/15/11 this semester. We were unable to meet more due to complications. I was moving and couldn't meet, then he had knee surgery and was healing so he couldn't meet.
Which leads me to my second service learning teacher, Jack Bohlka. He teaches the ROP Digital Photography class. We meet every Tuesday and Thurday from 3pm-6pm. In his class, I learned techniques, several types of photography, lighting, and basic Photoshop skills. Jack has been in the hospital since spring break so Mr. Daly subbed in, which is why he signed the form. Jack can be contacted through email, maybe, or Ms. Marin.
Interpretive
The most important thing I learned from both these teachers is how to improve in my photography. Both of  them taught me critical things to improve my photosm like framing, lighting, the angle, zoom, and how to improve them on Photoshop. I have seen a huge difference in my photos from the beginning of the year to now. They both taught me that there is always something to do to make a photo better, the trick is to think ahead of that and make if better before you even  take the photo.
Applied
Both teachers taught me what was important in photography. Then both taught me which importances are more important than others. Both taught me what kind of equipment one should have for any situation. Jack taught me about different kinds of lighting. Alan showed me how lighting changes the tone of a photo. And Jack taught me about composition, like rule of thirds and leading lines. Both Jack and Alan helped me to go more into depth of what is important in nature photography and allowed me to use these things hands on in my own photos.

Rough Draft Lesson Plan for 2 Hour

Sponge activity:  I was going to ask the students to define nature and talk about it. But since I took that answer out, I'm not sure anymore.

 

Introduction:  What is the best way to take a good nature photograph? This question is not just asking how to take a nature photograph, its asking what is the best way to take a good one. What is the best technique, what is most important? I chose this topic because I love photography, it was, and still kind of is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. I chose nature because of where I live, in the mountains I am surrounded by nature, so it is what I photograph most, and what would have been easiest to get photos of.

Foundation:  I wanted to show them the first photograph ever taken, and talk about how digital photography started, and maybe a little bit of how the camera works.

Body:

Answer 1: Equipment

-----Activity 1: I was going to take photos with certain equipment and without it, and then compare the two photos and ask the class to tell me which is better, and why.

Answer 2: Lighting

-----Activity 2:  Give scenarios of different photography situations and ask what kind of lighting this may require. Or do something similar to the first activity, but with the lighthing coming from a different direction or something and show how lighting can make the same photo look different if the lighting is different.

Answer 3: Composition

-----Activity 3:  I honestly don't know. I changed this answer from the nature thing and so now I need to replan this part. I am still doing research on this to learn more about it.

Conclusion

What is your best answer and why?--My best answer is lighting. Without light there wouldn't be a photo in the first place. The light makes the photo, it sets the tone and the mood. It kind of tell the viewer what to think and where to look.

What is your 3 most important sources and why?My first is my ROP teacher Jack Bohlka, he taught me the basics of photography and up and helped me to prioritize what is most important and helped me improve in my own photos as well. My second is a book called The New Joy of Digital Photography by Jeff Winghall. This book taught me more in the first 30 pages than all my research all year. It actually answered my EQ, it had all the information I needed with new and up to date technology. My third is my service learning teacher, Alan McDonald, he helped me in Photoshop. We would go over photographs I already took and showed me how to improve them in Photoshop and told me what I should do next time trying to photograph something like it.

What is your product and why? My prodcut is that I learned I still love photography, but it isn't something I want to do all the time, as a career. I would rather do it as a hobby because I don't like being told what to photograph, I just like going out and taking photos. I think what I got out of this is that I want to start a gallery and showcase other photographers work as well as my own.

Independent Component 2

Log turned in  in class 4/29

Literal
a) I, Heather Powers, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
b) For my component, four of those doing photography as their senior project got together and made a booth for Ifest. We each worked independently on our own photos, but at Ifest we will all put our photos up for the school to see. I used my time in ROP to work on my photos. I used photos that I took in that class as well as photos I took independently at home. I did spend some time at hope working on photos, like photos of Shazia’s Variety Show, as well. Only 7 of the photos will be shown at Ifest due to costs of printing.

Interpretive
The total time spent in ROP is 48 hours. There was also time spent at home working in photos, and the meetings all the girls had to discuss what we were doing for the booth. The total was about 52 hours. ROP takes up most of the time for  Jack teaching us each topic, taking the photos, going over them with Jack (or Mr. Daly that past two weeks), and editing.

Applied
This helped me answer my EQ, first by actually using all three of my answers. I had to have the equipment to take the photo. I had to try to get the proper lighting to fit the mood  I wanted. And lastly, I had to make my final definition for the word “nature”. Which is “the universe and all its phenomena”. So I had to capture the nature of the world, whether it was my world, the natural world, or the world of another, like the Variety Show photos. I lived out my EQ answers and it helped me to confirm that my answers are correct for my topic.

Evidence is on the flash drive, but here are a few of the photos I took.

Art Rationale

For my creative expression, I am taking photos of what I think nature is and matching them to quotes. I want to get my definition of nature and show it, because defining nature is one of my answers to my EQ. It will also make me use my other two answers, equipment and lighting. It will force to me to not only answer my EQ but live it out.
I already have several photos done, and some chosen that I need to work on. I still need to take a couple of  them and print them all out.

Creative Ideas

Heather Powers
Nature Photography
What is the best way to take a 'nature' photograph?
I want to take pictures of nature nature and urban nature and set them up in a comparative way to show the difference. Or I could take pictures of what I think nature is.
I had another idea but I don't know if it would count. I was thinking I could ask people to take a single picture of what they think nature is or how they define nature and then make a display of them.
This relates to my EQ because it will help me with my first answer, which is to define nature. It would make me think of what nature is or I could get the opinions of my peers of what they think nature is and what represents it. Plus I will actually be practicing my second and third answer which is lighting and equipment by actually having to take the pictures.

Interview 4 Questions

1. In your opinion, what is nature?
2. How is shooting urban landscape different than shooting wildlife landscape?
3. Should humans be in nature photography?
4. What kind of equipment should be brought on a shoot?
5. What kind of lighting best suits nature photography?
6. How can human nature be shot?
7. How is human nature shot differently than landscape?
8. Should photos of nature, any kind of nature, be altered on Photoshop?
9. When photographing human nature, what should a photographer be looking for?
10. When photographing a person, is a greater depth of field important? If so, why?
11. How is it important to be patient when shooting nature?
12. Why is lighting such a significant factor in photography?
13. Does the camera brand being used really matter? Why or why not?
14. How is photography a look into what someone else is seeing?
15. Does being educated in photography make a difference in a persons photos? How?
16. What lenses are best to shoot nature with?
17. Why is a tripod so necessary?
18. Is nature better in color or black and white? Why?
19. How does black and white make a photo better or worse?
20. What is the best way to take a 'nature' photograph?
Additional Questions
21. What kind of mood is best to try to portray in nature photography?
22. What kind of mood is best to portray when shooting people in their nature?
23. Is it better to photograph people in their natural form or posed? Why?
24. What is the best way to get recognized?
25. What is the most important thing to remember in photography?

Independent Component #2

1. I am working with the other girls who are doing photography and we are going to put on an art gallery showing with our own picture. We will find a location, take the pictures, set up a theme, do all that needs to be done.
2. Verification will be logs written down and signed by each other and our parents possibly, it hasn't been decided by the group yet.
3. This will help me answer my EQ because I will actually be taking the pictures, I will be doing exactly what I have been researching and using my answers.

new lesson plan

Topic: Nature Photography

EQ: What is the best way to take a ‘nature’ photograph?

Objective: To teach the class how to improve a photograph on Photoshop without taking away the ‘nature’ of the photo, using contrast, converting to black and white-as well as how to decide if a photo should be black and white-, a vignette, and filters.

Hook: (How will you get your audience's attention?)

Introduction: 1. State my EQ, and what I am teaching in this presentation and what my 2 hour will be.

2. Tell about the debate between photographers about how far technology has gone to change and image, whether photos should be Photoshoped or not.

Body: 1. I will explain how to figure out what the focus of the photo is, what the subject is.

2. First I will explain contrast, what is does and how it can change a photo, whether contrast is too high or too low. I will show them how to change it step by step on Photoshop.

3. Next I will show black and white conversions. First explaining why one photo would be better in black and white and why others wouldn’t. I will have a few photos up in both color and black and white to show the difference and explain why it is better or worse. I will then show them how to convert an image on Photoshop.

4. Finally I will show them how to do a vignette, why it enhances a photo and how to do it on Photoshop.

Activity:  I will but several nature photos up on the screen one at a time and ask the students to write down what they think the subject is, what can be done to improve the photo out of the things I taught them, and whether it should be in black and white. I will then ask volunteers what they wrote and we will go over what the volunteers think should be done and whether it would work or not, I will do what they wrote on Photoshop to show them again how to do it, and if it worked.

Check for Understanding: The check for understanding, we will go over what the volunteers said and whether it works or not.
Conclusion: Go over again what each technique does to a photo and ask what they learned.

 
Materials: Powerpoint and Photoshop are on my computer, projector.

Sources: My ROP Photography class,

Wiggett, Darwin, and Samantha Chrysanthou. "Nature Photography." Nature, Wildlife and Landscape Photography Resource. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles1109/dw1109-1.html>.

Williams, John. "Digital Nature Photography." Nature, Wildlife and Landscape Photography Resource. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0210/jw0210-1.html>.

Revised Lesson Plan

Topic: Nature Photography

EQ: What is the best way to take a 'nature' photograph?

Objective:  To define what 'nature' is and how Photoshop can improve any photo without taking the 'nature' away.
Hook: I will have various photos of my own and other known nature photographers up on the screen and I will also recite the dictionary definition of what nature is.
Introduction: After the hook, I will ask the class to define nautre in their own words and ask if the definition of nature changes as society changes. I will then state my EQ and tell the class that in this presentation, I will be teaching them about how to improve the photos you have taken, while during the 2 hour, I will present on how to take your photos so you don't need Photoshop.

Body: 1. Ask a few students what they think of Photoshop and if a nature photograph should be altered on
              Photoshop.
          2.Show multiple pictures of both nature and urban nature and discuss what makes them nature.
          3.Go over Photoshop, ask whether pictures should be changed, then show how photos can be
             altered and improved.

Activity: After I show them how pictures can be improved, ask a few people to come up and
             make changed on some pictures themselves.
Check for Understanding: After each person goes up and makes the adjustments, I will ask another student
                                        tell the class what was done and how it improved (or if they think, made it worse)
                                        the photo.
Conclusion: I will again ask the class if their definition of nature has changed, and ask someother students to explain how Photoshop can improve any photo.

Materials: Power Point, projector, Photoshop ( I have this on my computer)

Sources: First and formost my ROP Photography class, and second a research article from Wikipedia
              defining nature, as well as an article called "What is Nature Photography?"

Independent Task 1

LIA: "I, Heather Powers,  affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work."
For my independent task, I took the Digital Photography ROP class. Jack Bohlka is the teacher. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 3-6 pm.  I turned in log signed by Jack with 99 hours of class time. In the class we learn how to work a digital camera, lighting techniques, angles, aperture setting, various forms of photography such as headshots, landscape, abstract, and black and white, as well as the basic uses of Photoshop.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=39394&id=100000558692619 (if the link doenst work, let me know)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39394&id=100000558692619&l=7412dce229 (try that one if it doenst work)

Here is a link to my Facebook page where I have uploaded some of the pictures I took in this class, they are in order of when I took them to show improvement.
This class has taught the basics of photography and what it takes to be a photographer. It helped me answer my EQ by helping me to prioritize what is most important in photography. I learned that you have to know about what kind of lighting you what and what kind of angle you want before you take the picture. You have yo set up the shot to get what you saw across to the person looking at your picture. You also want to set up the shot so you don't have to change it or improve it on Photoshop, you want Photoshop to be a las resort.

20 Minute Lesson Plan

Topic-Nature Photography
Eq- What is the best way to take a 'nature' photograph?
Objective- I want the class to define what nature is, and whether 'nature' photos should be altered or improved on Photoshop.
Lesson Plan-
              1. Read dictionary definition of 'nature' and ask a few people to define it as well.
              2. Show multiple pictures of both nature and urban nature and discuss what makes them nature.
              3. Go over Photoshop, ask whether pictures should be changed, then show how photos can be
                   altered and improved.
              4. Activity: After I show them how pictures can be improved, ask a few people to come up and
                   make changed on some pictures themselves.
Materials- Power Point, projector, Photoshop ( I have this on my computer)

ESLR's

1. I have been an effective learner because I believe I have shown a lot of improvement in my pictures due to ROP and learned a lot on Photoshop from ROP and Alan. I can see a difference in my pictures from when I started which is the picture of Mariela sitting on the sidewalk. To now, which is the picture of the fork.
3. I think I can improve by working more outside class and service learning, on my own. That way I can make more progress and learn more on my own.

Essential Question

What is the best way to take a 'nature' photograph?
1. Having the proper equipment that best fits your style
2. Finding the proper lighting that best fits the mood you are trying to portray.

Service Learning Update

I am working with my service learning person at his house, and out in the field. Mostly I work with him as he works on Photoshop and he explains what he is doing and shows me new things on the program. Once I went to a family portrait shoot with him and he talked me through what he was doing and I helped him with the equipment. I most important thing I've learned thus far is all the work on Photoshop, he has taught me a lot on the program and it has helped me with my work. He is also working with me on my photos and how I can improve my work.