Senior Project Reflection

Q1. What are you most proud of in your 2-Hour Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

A1. I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish from doing my service learning in ROP, because in doing that I was able to learn so many different things and gain so much experience that would have taken me so much longer to understand and work with if I was to be doing it on my own. With these skills I was then able to create my first portfolio which I was pleased with and hope to keep adding on to using the base of the skills that I learned in ROP.


Q2.   a.What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)? Why?

        b.What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?        Why?

A2.   a. I would give my self a P because I feel that I did everything that was required of; I met the time, I had an activity for everyone one of my 3 answers and showed proof of my product and the skills that I gained by showing  my portfolio and putting up some of my best framed photographs.


        b. As the assessment for my overall senior project I would give my self a P+ because from doing everything required in my senior project I was then able to obtain three different parts for my product, My skills and experience gained, my portfolio, and finding my future career.

Q3. What worked for you in your senior project?
 A3. What worked for my senior project was being able to do something that I actually really love to do and hope to do in my future, this then was able to give me a start on my experience and knowledge in Photography.

Q4.What didn’t work for you in your senior project
A4. Something that didn't work for my senior project was a bit of the research check part because many articles that I found online did tend to be repetitive and when looking for certain information it was sometimes difficult to find due to the lack of online information on specific topics about photography.


Q5.How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples
A5. My senior project has been extremely helpful to me in my future endeavors for the reason that it helped me realize what career field I want to go into and that I do hope to get in to The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena knowing that it is one of the best colleges I can attend if I do want to become a photographer. It also not only gave me knowledge of the field that I want to go into but also gave me the chance to be able to understand what a photographer does, and goes through when creating their product. Also by being able to do Digital Photography ROP as my service learning, and gaining all the skills I was able to obtain in order to create my first Portfolio, now I know how to create a Portfolio. My ROP Portfolio may not be what I turn into The Art Center when it comes time to turning in a Portfolio for my acceptance, since I do have a lot more to learn, but now I do know what it takes and how to create it. Which is very crucial in becoming a successful photographer, since a Photographer's Portfolio is what gets them noticed and what leads a them to be able to be hired and have a job.

2hr Lesson Plan

2 hr Lesson Plan

Service Learning

L.
Log of Service Learning Hours

My duties during Service Learning was to go to my Digital Photography ROP class and then have Jack teach about different techniques and after that he would explain how to use those techniques in my photographs, then I would be given assignments where I would have to create my own photos using those techniques he taught about. Some of the types of photograph I had to create were; Still, Motion, Story Telling, Surrealism, Urban Landscape, Comic Strip, Leading lines, Depth of Field, 1 and 2 Point Perspective, Rule of Thirds, Black and White Conversion, Abstract, Head Shots, and Texture Photography.

My Contact's name is Jack Bolkah and his Phone number (909) 228-4824

I.
The most important thing that I gained from my experience in ROP was just that, the experience it's self in creating different types of photographs. This helped me improve my skills in photography greatly compared to when I began taking ROP, also the knowledge I gained from creating these photographs. The experience was the most important thing I could gain from my Service Learning because in order to be a successful Nature Photographer something that is very essential for any Photographer is EXPERIENCE in photography. The more the experience better.

A.
Service Learning helped me with answering my EQ because from Interviewing my ROP teacher I was able to obtain a small bit of information to what could possible be the best answer to my EQ. From that I was then able to put to use the knowledge that I obtained from my interviews and my research checks to use. Being able to use my knowledge then helped me better understand what it takes to create a Nature Photo of my own that would be visually appealing.

Here are some Photographs that I took while doing Service Learning and Photos that I also took using the skills and knowledge that I obtained.

Independent Component 2

 L. I, Jessica Velasco, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. For my second independent component I decided to do more hours in my Digital Photography ROP class where I do my service learning and collected all the photographs that I have taken throughout that time. Some photographs are from the assignments that have been given to us, and other photographs I have taken with more of the techniques and skills that I have obtained from taking my ROP class.


I. My component represents 30 hours of my work, by then being able to show how I was able to apply the techniques and skills that I have learned throughout the past 8 months that I have taken ROP. It also represents my growth as a photographer when compared to my very first Independent Component where I showed the first photographs which I believed where good. Now with my second Independent Component my photographs have become better and I also believe that my growth as a photographer is noticeable and is shown with this second Component.

A. Doing this as my Independent Component helped me answer my EQ in many ways, first of all it taught me all about a photograph's composition and how the subject does not necessarily have to be set in the middle. That it is usually better to follow the rule of thirds unless you find an amazing way to break that rule which is pretty hard (and is only recommended once you know all the rules of composition) to pull off unless you are doing Macro photography. By sitting in class and having a professional like Jack to learn all these things from was the biggest help. The second thing was being able to learn these techniques and then being given assignments using them, because that way I was able find a way to take a photograph and apply those techniques to my photography's composition with my own creativity. Which is the best way for me to learn things, rather then just sitting in classROP Log of hours learning about photography.  

Rop hour log

Pictures from a Story Telling assignment we had.

Motion Photography, using the technique I learned in ROP in January.

 Nature Photography and Macro Photography

Animal Photography

One of my favorites

Using Surrealism.

 

Helping 2013

I interviewed Cynthia Garcia
on Monday, April 23 at 1 o'clock

Question. What Ideas do they have for their senior project and why?
Answer. Cynthia said that she would really like to do something related in the medical field because she would really like to become a doctor but she was not very sure what specifically to do. She then also said that she might want to do something in the medical field having to do with babies.
 Feedback. Since she said that she wasn't sure whether or not she would be able to find anything in the medicine field due to reliability I then told her that she should really check the San Dimas Hospital about doing service learning there since many seniors were able to find service learning there.

Question. What do they plan to do to complete the 10 hours or service learning(working with an expert) prior to senior year starting?
Answer. Her answer was that she was thinking about checking a Hospital maybe the Kiser in Baldwin Park Hospital and then doing the 10 hours of service learning there since they're having an orientation or at Queen of the Valley Hospital since its near her house. She then asked how many hours were needed in total.
Feedback. I then told her to make sure to be able to find something since it had been difficult for many seniors to be able to find things in the medical field. As for her question I told her that for service learning we needed a total of 50 hours and then for each independent of the two components another 30 hours, but we didn't need the 10 hours prior to starting the school year.

Question. What do you hope to see or expect to see when watching the class of 2012 present their two hour presentations?
Answer. She hopes to see that when we present we know what we are talking about so that the seniors won't suffer while presenting and so that the audience won't suffer at your presentation either. Also she hopes to see a range of topics, different than everybody's to know what to expect next year about the different topics that you can do. She then asked how long the presentations actually were according to speaking time. 
Suggestions. I then suggested that she pays attention to mistakes that we make to remember NOT to also do them when her time comes to present her two hour presentation. As to her question I then broke down the two hour presentation according to the activities needed and the speaking time.

Question.  What questions do they have about senior project?  What additional recommendations would you give the 2013 student about senior project?  Be specific and note what you told them.
Questions they had. My junior had questions about -How many hours we needed in total, including service learning and independent component? - How long the presentation time actually was, if it was actually two whole hours or less of speaking? -How was I able to chose the topic I chose?
Recommendations. recommendations I gave my junior were to make sure that she was able to get service learning in the medical field since it was a bit difficult to find, but that it would probably be easy for her to find something at the San Dimas Hospital, to pay attention to any mistakes we make in our two hour to make sure that they don't do them in theirs, to make sure that they really do like their topic because they will be stuck with it for the whole year and because people will be able to tell whether they enjoy their topic or not. 

Answer 3

EQ: What is most important in creating a visually appealing Nature Photograph? The subject of a photograph is as important as it's composition. Perhaps even more important because if the observer finds no interest in the subject then they won't even take ten seconds to look at your photograph, going against what I have learned from service learning and from my third interview, which is that a photographer's main goal is to get the viewer to want to take a second glance and take in the whole photo. Nearly every time that I go out to photograph for ROP we are told that the subject HAS to be interesting to other people, not just your self. That might determine everything in a photograph, whether its visually appealing and whether its salable or not.

http://casaveneracion.com/framing-the-subject-in-photography/

http://www.dsexls.com/photography-subject-in-photography.html

http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Choosing-A-Subject-In-Photography/931248

3-Column Chart

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApjKsWjPV5e-dGl3LTlkM1NEdXoxUUJGOXdsOVREdFE#gid=0

Room Creativity

1. For the room creativity expectation I plan on framing different photos that I have taken throughout the year and setting one on each group of desks, since I might not have enough room on the walls of the class room that I will be presenting in. However if I do I end up having enough room on the wall then I will put up many of my photographs to create a kind of gallery feel in the room.

2. For my first activity I am thinking about perhaps having each group of students create their own photograph according to what they think a well composed photograph looks like. For my second activity I am thinking about maybe having each group come up with a certain message or emotion that they wish to convey while then coming up with ways to convey those emotions in a photograph.

Answer 2

Essential Question:  What is most important in creating a visually appealing nature photograph?

Answer 2: I have learned that one of the most important things in a photograph is the message that is conveyed by the image because it is what grabs the viewers attention from the first time they see the photograph. It is what will interest the viewer, in wanting to keep looking at the photograph and many times when it involves nature it makes the viewer want to be in the photo's setting and that is one of the things that makes a picture visually appealing.

Evidence and Sources:
-Much of the evidence that I got for this answer was from many articles that I have read, which state that a photographer's goal is to create an image in which the viewer would feel what the photographer felt when taking the photograph.
- I have also learned this from my third interview with Bob Fletcher a Nature Photographer who also told me that as a photographer you want to make the observer feel what you are feeling as you are standing there taking the photograph.
- From Jack Bolkah my ROP teacher I have learned that in order for a person to keep taking a second look at your image you have to create a photograph in which they may have a feeling or connection with.

Fourth Interview Question

1. 'What is most important in creating a visually appealing Nature Photograph?' (EQ)
2. What would you consider to be most important in creating any photograph?
3. What makes a non appealing Nature Photograph?
4. What type of camera do you best recommend?
5. What would be the best part about being a Nature Photographer?
6. What would you consider to be the most difficult part of being a Nature Photographer?
7. Do you like to convey emotions in nature photographs?
8. What kind of emotions do you like to convey the most using nature?
9. How long does it take you to learn everything about your equipment?
10. What made you decide that you wanted to be a nature photographer and not any other type of photographer?
11. What do you believe has made you a successful nature photographer?
12. What do you believe is necessary in becoming a successful nature photographer?
13. Have you taken any kind of business courses to help you with the business side of being a photographer?
14. What would be the best way to (advertise) your photography?
15. Of the other kinds of photography which would be the most similar to Nature Photography?
16. What books do you recommend about Photography?
17. Are there any books that you recommend about the business aspect of Photography?  
18. Who would be a photographer that you admire the most? and why?
19.  How do you develop your personal technique in nature photography?
20.  What are certain things that you do on a daily basis that distinguish you from all the other types of photographers?
 21.  What advice would you give a person who wants to have a successful future in nature photography?

The Product

as of March my product is the improvement in my photography skills because since I started taking rop for my service learning my photography skills and knowledge have improved greatly compared to what I knew about taking photos before september. 

examples are how we are taught a certain concept or technique and then we are expected to find our own creative way to use and apply that technique in the photographs that we create, and according to how great we do in applying what we learn, we then get graded on that. 

I will provide evidence by posting photographs from before I began taking rop and photographs from now that I have taken rop and showing my improvement from then until now. 

Independent Component 2 Approval

For my second Independent Component I plan on doing more hours for my service learning in ROP. During this amount of time I will be gaining more knowledge about the types of photography and how to apply that knowledge in my own photography, which will also provide me with more experience than what I have at the moment. This will help me answer my essential question because in order to be able to create visually appealing photographs it is very important that a photographer has as much experience and knowledge as possible to be able to succeed.

Idependent Component 1

L. I, Jessica Velasco affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 48 hours of work in my ROP class. I completed all the assignments, where I applied all of the different types of photography that I have been taught and learned about in the class since it began on the 7th of September 2011. 

I. The most significant parts of my component were getting to learn and apply the photography rules to my own photography while using my own creativity to do so. Like the rule of thirds, leading lines, points of focus, capturing motion, and lighting. With the photographs that I was able to create while applying the rules I learned from all the classes I will show the amount of time that was put in to this component. 
A. This helped me answer my Essential Question, by providing me with the knowledge to be able to create photographs that will be eye catching to the viewer, for example the imaginary leading lines that lead to the photo's focus point and the rule of thirds where the eye is automatically drawn to the line's intersections.  

Here is my log of hours for ROP:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApjKsWjPV5e-dDZCN0lMcDI0ajdrdVVNYXNqd3RLVEE

 Leading Lines

     

 Motion Photography

Rule Of Thirds

Different types of lighting

These are everyday photos that I have taken by using the techniques and skills that I have learned in ROP.