This camera has shut down

Hello friends! This is the last time y'all will be hearing from me, very sad I know. It is June 1st which means 20-Time has come to an end, again very sad! The title of this blog is  not literal, I just added it for the dramatic effect, I will still be working on my photography skills! Over the course of this project, I have grown as a photographer and a person. Looking back at some of my old photos, I realize how much I have improved.

Beginning of the project

End of the project

The differences in the photos are obvious. One is underexposed while the other has just the right level of exposure. The depth of field is much smaller in one than the other, It isn't hard to see which picture has better quality. I became a better writer and improved on adding voice and personality to my blogs. This project involved a lot of research because I started this project with no knowledge of a camera what so ever. Now at the conclusion of this project I have better control over the camera and its settings.

Not only did I grow as a photographer,but as a person. Through photography I have more patience than before. Working with a camera involves patience. With broken cameras, testing out different settings, and waiting for the perfect shot all tested my patience. Working with different subjects tested my patience too because you can't control everything.

Back in February, I set goals for this project. Going in I had high hopes that I would accomplish all of these goals plus more. Halfway through reality hit me that there is no way I would accomplish all of these, I did get a few done plus ones that weren't originally on the list. Here is what I accomplished:

1. Learn different types of  photography 
2. Enter a photo into a contest
3. Upload a video to YouTube
4. Applied to be managing photo for the school newspaper and got it
5. Became more familiar with my camera 

This project lasted four months, and I accomplished four goals. I would consider this to be pretty good. I know I could have done more, but I am okay with what I have done. The most important part of this project was to grow as a photographer, and I did that.
 I am glad that I got to participate in this project because it was a unique learning experience. I dread most school projects, but this one I enjoyed and looked forward to Wednesdays. Although the project itself is over, I will continue to work on my photography skills. I hope y'all enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed writing it!

-Emily


P.S. Here are some more shots!

Bloomin'

After a far too drawn out winter, the first few signs of spring have sprung! The spring time is a busy time for everyone. Since my last blog, I haven't had much free time. I had my dance recital which took up my entire weekend. With everything going on, I put this project on the back burner- sorry!!

Before writing this I had nothing to share. I hadn't taken a single photo or even touched my camera since my last post. I thought about taking the easy way out and just writing some excuse on why I didn't have anything new this week, but the warm weather we are finally getting motivated me to go out and take some shots. While driving to and from rehearsals at the center, I noticed that all of the flowers were blossoming at Dow Gardens. I took advantage of the sunny afternoons we've been having and went to explore.

I enjoyed being able to walk through the gardens admiring all of the flowers. Technically I was doing "homework" which should be stressful but this was the complete opposite. It was quite relaxing until I ran into a couple of bees;) HAHA

I am going to end my blog with some exciting news! I am going to be photo editor or the Update next year! I am really excited to teach others all about photography and photo editing. I hope you enjoyed this short read, below I have included some pictures from Dow Gardens.

Life updates

Hi friends, yet again I have another blog post! We are well into our project now so I thought I would give some updates on my project. I have filmed, edited, and published my first video! I am super excited for people to watch it. My first video is all about my trip to Costa Rica. It includes clips shot on my phone, DSLR camera, and GoPro camera.

     


Another one of my goals was submit a photo into a contest! This was relatively easy for me because I am a staff member for the school newspaper and each year we have things submitted to a contest. MIPA stands for the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. Three of my photos won awards. I received two honorable mentions and third place. I was pretty surprised because my photos were pretty mediocre and schools from all across Michigan submitted pieces to be judges.

This photo was awarded third place in the category of environmental portrait. 

As I briefly covered in my last post, I recently learned the basics of long exposure photography. As I was about to go to bed, I saw my camera sitting on my shelf all lonely. I figured I had sometime waste before going to bed so I gave long exposure another shot. I am impressed with how the photos turned out. As soon as I figured out the settings needed for long exposure, the pictures started turning out better and better. Now that I can do the basics fundamentals of long exposure, my goal is to become more creative in what I take pictures of. 

  

Until next time!

-Emily

   

                   

Camera Control

Hello friends! Time for another blog post! My main goal for this project is to enhance my photography skills. This week I didn't focus on a specific type of photography, but instead of transitioning from taking photos in the automatic settings of the camera to the manual settings. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but it is a kind-of-a-big-deal for me! Manual mode allows for more control over the camera and how the pictures turn out. At first I tried to look up other photographers' blogs to learn how but it was just too confusing. A dozen blogs and a couple of YouTube tutorials later, I sought out my friend, Faith, to show me how optimize manual mode. It is a lot easier to understand what the buttons do when someone is there to answer questions. I learned the differences between manual mode, aperture priority, and shutter priority. Faith and I took advantage of the warm weather and sunshine and went to city forest to take some shots. We were supposed to have a third person so I could work on portraits but unfortunately she got sick. Thanks to the sun, the lighting was optimal. Here are some of the best shots.

My "teacher" Faith demonstrating how to get the perfect picture. 

This photo is taken on aperture priority mode with an f-number of f/5.6. I used these settings to get a blurred background.  

This photo was taken with the same settings as the last. The pine cone adds a contrast to the evergreen branches.  

Here, I wanted to work on getting different depths of field which is why only the first tree is in focus. I used an f-number of 4/4.6 which is a faster shutter speed.

Thought that my bracelets would show contrast for the trees behind. Just included this because I thought it was cute-n-fun!!

This is my first ever try at long exposure photography! I found inspiration for this photo from a photo taken in NYC, since I live in Midland there wasn't as much busy city streets so Eastman was all I had. 

In class my teacher had us randomly pick an IB trait and my table's was caring. I couldn't find a way to incorporate caring into this weeks blog but next week I hope to have more caring pictures up, so you will have to stay tuned to see those! I know that I promised I would have my Costa Rica video up. To be honest I keep putting it off and I hope to have it up very soon!

Until next time!!
-Emily

Pura Vida Friends!

Hello friends!! I am back from another adventure! I recently got back from a trip to Costa Rica, where I visited La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio. While in Costa Rica I got to experience a lot of different cultural things we just don't have here in the states. For example I ate rice and beans (or in Spanish gallo pinto) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I ate enough rice and beans that I think I'm set for a little while. Although I was only there for a week, I picked up some Costa Rican lingo. All of the tacos (local people) would us the phrase "Pura Vida!" for basically any conversation. It means pure life in case you were wondering. Costa Rica is also known for its lush rainforests so I got to see plenty of wildlife and nature during my visit. I also got to visit an active volcano, many waterfalls including one that was 500 feet, and the gorgeous Pacific Ocean.

One of my goals was to enhance my photography skills and learn new types of photography. Visiting Costa Rica resulted in me learning a whole new style of photography: micro photography. Since I needed to know the camera settings needed for micro photography, I googled more experienced photographer's blogs. I found out that I would need to slower my shutter speed and change the ISO and aperture. Below are my attempts at macro photography. Be sure to read the captions because they explain the picture in more detail!

This was my first attempt with getting "up close and personal" with the subject. Unfortunately this subject was extremely poisonous ( probably where it gets the name Poison Dart Frog) so I couldn't get much closer to it than this. Using this as my first attempt wasn't my smartest idea but at least the picture turned out nice!!

This is a leaf of a plant that I do not know the name of. There were so many different types of  plants that it was hard to keep track. I took this photo while I was waiting to be picked up after a nature hike. Kinda funny this photo wasn't taken during the actual hike.

This photo was taken while I was on my way to the pool. I was just walking then I saw such a pretty flower and decided to take a picture of it. Lucky for me there was a butterfly on the flower! This was such perfect timing and I am glad I captured the photo just before the butterfly flew away. Score!!

While hiking in the Manuel Antonio National Park, my dad spotted some ants. I didn't think it would be possible for me to actually get the ants in the picture since they're so tiny. I took a shot cause there was nothing to lose and I am actually quite impressed with the quality of this photo for my level. Also another plus is that I didn't get bit while attempting this shot. Double thumbs up!!

These were the best photos from my attempt at micro photography. While on my trip I also took a bunch of other photos and filmed short videos to combine into one final video which should be up soon. I have all of the videos edited and combined into one. I ran into a problem with the storage on my computer so there is a short delay in when I can get that up. It will for sure be linked in the next blog post!! I PROMISE!! I had a lot of fun editing the video because I watch popular ones on Youtube and took inspiration from those to create mine. I tried to make it entertaining for someone who hadn't actually gone on the trip. We will have to wait and see till it is uploaded to YouTube to see how well I accomplished that!

Sorry for such the long blog post but two of my goals were dependent of this trip. I am proud of how far I have come in photography. Capturing the beauty of Costa Rica was different than anything else I had ever done. Mother Nature was completely in control of wether or not I could get pictures of the wildlife and if I couldn't get a decent picture? I didn't fret about it because it was out of my hands. 

My next step in this process is to learn another style of photography! The next one I am going to attempt is long exposure photography. I have a schedule of the different styles I am going to try and considering we are getting a snow storm tonight and it is 27 degrees outside, I might have to wait on long exposure. Apologies again for such a long blog post, I just had a a lot to say this week! 

Thanks for having the patience to read this! 

-Emily

A trip to the Lone Star State

Hello friends! This past week I did a bit of traveling. I am a person who loves to travel and I am fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to travel to different places. Traveling is enjoyable because it allows you to get out and explore a new location! I flew to Texas on March 10 to attend a wedding of a family friend. Texas is a special place for me because I lived there for 10 years before moving to Midland in the Summer of 2014. We stayed in Houston and I got to go around the city and do some of my favorite things. Many of these things activities included food that i can't get in Michigan ( Mexican, seafood, Chick-fil-a) .I visited the Biscuit Paint Wall for the first time, which is just a wall that an artist has dripped paint down the side. This wall makes the perfect place for a photo  op to practice using my photography skills.

Biscuit Paint Wall in Houston, TX

Of course I had to get someone snap a picture of me in front of the wall  PC: Ryan Collick

Another picture of my brother, surprise surprise!

Another big attraction in Houston is the Williams Tower and the Waterwall. Neither of these places ever struck out to me while living in Houston because I was used to seeing them. Now going back to visit I see why people think of these an attraction.

 



The two places I got cool photos of both are walls, pretty weird right? I tried to take a lot of photos while in Houston but my camera battery fried out and would not charge for some reason. I didn't learn any new photography tricks but I did take some pretty decent photos.

My biggest goal of the project to to create a travel video of my trip to Costa Rica during spring break!  Costa Rica is also filled with many picture worthy spots and wildlife. I can't wait to take some super cool shots of the sloths that hang out at the hotel grounds or the sunsets that happen daily. With spring break quickly approaching (only four more days!!)  I have been looking at other peoples videos and Instagram profiles to get inspiration for my upcoming trip.

The next time I write will be after my long awaited trip!

TTYL
Emily

The key word is attempt!

Hi friends!

It is already time for a second blog post! This would have been up sooner if we hadn't have had five snow days in the span of six school days ( shoutout to Mr.Sharrow). The weather worked in my favor this time and blessed me with a foot of snow.

One of my main goals is to try to shoot something new. So I spent part of my snow day outside attempting to take pictures of the falling snow. As the title says, the key word here is ATTEMPT! Since I had never taken pictures in the snow I had to do a bit of research before I went outside. I found out that it actually quite a difficult thing to do for most photographers. Despite that, I decided I would go outside, drag my brother along for the ride, and at least attempt to capture the falling snow. Plus practice makes perfect, although I don't think we will be getting anymore snow here in Midland, Michigan.

This was my first attempt. My camera was on the auto setting with normal flash. 

After adjusting the f-stop and shutter speed, I got a few flakes to look good on camera.

My brother was the real MVP that day ( I totally didn't bribe him to go out in exchange for a snowball fight!)

I hadn't planned on having the snow days and getting the time to work on my project, but I am glad that I had the chance to try something new. It is a little disappointing that my first attempt at something new ended in being a fail. That is okay because it is technically only the first week of this project and I still have a lot of time to grow as a photographer. 

Until next time,

 Your friend Emily Collick