White Fishnets

Brown eyes

Up close model

White netting

I chose to comment on these portraits because they're so unique. The netting adds a very different flair to them. It looks like she's wearing fish nets on her face. I find it interesting that it seems weird to me for her to be wearing fish netting around her face. This is because it is normal to wear fishnets on your legs and sometimes arms but not on your face. I guess I'm just questioning the concept of clothing. We wear clothes on our body but almost never on our face. In regards to both photograph, the one on the right looks stronger and has a penetrating gaze. On the left, the photo is more feminine, and her eyes are looking to the side.

Golden Landscape

Warm tones

Golden green grass

Sunset on the left hand side

Rock formation

Dark clouds

I found this image at deviantART under digital art. I think it is beautiful and seems like it would have taken a long time to create. The warm tones indicate a summer vibe and also a sense of a summer night. I can just feel how it would be to be sitting in that field with a warm but slightly cool breeze while the sun sets. Overall, this picture is just beautiful.

Contents

This was the first time I used the program, InDesign. It worked fairly well. It took some getting used to, although some of the functions were not intuitive. For example, I was looking for an "Import" button to import an image but instead had to use Place, something I never would have thought. Overall, this was a good experience particular since I may work in graphic design in the future. The aligning text features worked very well. Also, paragraph styles allowed me to change text styles quickly.

Adobe Bridge Websites

I just finished the best looking website I've ever made in a matter of about 10 minutes. I have tried to create professional-looking photography websites before but without success. I made one last quarter for Applied Multimedia, and while I liked how it looked in the end, it took a tremendous amount of time and I wanted to make it look even more professional and functional. About a year and a half ago, before I learned more about Dreamweaver in Applied Multimedia, I created a website using Dreamweaver to show my photography. I used frames so that one can click on one of the thumbnails that were lined on the bottom of the screen and have it appear in the middle of the screen. It was very complicated, time consuming, and honestly did not look professional. I have learned more about the appearance of websites now and have applied this knowledge.

I am shocked that I can now create beautiful websites quickly that look very professional in a short amount of time. Because of this, I can spend more time organizing the images and creating separate categories. I can even put titles for all of the images. In general, the way Flash looks really does wonders for a website. 

Rapunzel

Open window

Torn papers

Broken window shutter

Girl slumped against window with head in her hands

White wedding dress

I found this image on deviantART. This photo was titled "Rapunzel." The headline for this photo reads:

"she believed and held on

to everything that was once promised,

everything that would be,

fading away..."

The photographer is doing a series of portraits that deals with fairy tale concepts.

I find it ironic that this photo is called "Rapunzel." The quote, in regards to the image, alludes to the idea that this young woman appears to have been left at the altar. She somehow ended up in an abandoned, rundown area, and proceeds to let her hair down and succumb to sadness.

 

I absolutely love the composition and tones of this image. This image is desaturated in color and emphasizes the mood of the image. The woman's dress is snagged on the wall, and the woman appears forlorn. In the tragedy of this woman's circumstance, it is possible to find a melancholic beauty.

Yay for Spanish Visual Critiques!

The words: "De que color es el amor?"

A white paper heart

A hand holding the heart

Sepia toned

Ok, first of all, I am so glad I *FINALLY* remembered the website where I found this image. The website is called deviantART, and it is one of my all time favorite websites to look at. This website features photography and art and has some incredible work.

Anyways, back to what I was originally focusing on...

This photo includes the words, "De que color es el amor?" which translates to "What color is love?". I This photo is so simple in composition and color choice. It is sepia toned and therefore monochromatic. I like the contrast between the words "What color is love?" and the fact that the image is sepia toned. I find the handwriting very unique. The words "De" (of) and "Que" (what) are both capitalized but the following words are all in caps. I think this emphasizes the color the artist chose for the image. In our society, red is associated with love; this is why this image appears ironic but visually stimulating. 

Amor (Love)

Guy in blue shirt

Girl in pink dress with red bra

Kissing

Golden, dry landscape in the country

Lens flare by the guy's hand (?)

I felt this was appropriate for Valentine's Day. The golden tones in the background complement the couple in the foreground. The most colorful parts of the image are the two individuals. What is so appealing about this picture is the connection between the two people. People want and crave for this kind of connection and love, which is why this image is so popular. This couple is emphasized even more with the sunlight illuminating their hair. The red tones in the girl's attire symbolize passion and love, as well as femininity with the pink dress, while the boy alludes to the masculine counterpart by wearing blue.

He's Just Not That Into You

Words: He's just not that into you, actors names, etc.

Call me valentine candy

Girl smiling and talking on her cell phone, looking to the right

Blond guy smiling and looking left (on the right hand side)

Scarlett Johansson (blond girl) smiling and looking left, with her hand on her chest

Ben Affleck (dark haired guy) smiling, looking left, with ocean behind him

Dark haired guy wearing black t-shirt that is unbuttoned (on the right hand side) smiling, looking left

Jennifer Connelly (dark haired girl) looking right with a slight smile

Dark haired guy (at the top) looking somewhat surprised

(Top left) Jennifer Aniston (blond haired girl) smiling, looking to the right, in a peach dress

(Top right) Drew Barrymore (dark haired girl) smiling, looking to the left

I saw this movie yesterday and found it good but fairly depressing. This movie brutally showed the mistakes people make in relationships. It was honestly hard to watch and heart wrenching. While this movie is good, I do not intend on seeing it ever again. What makes this movie an emotional roller coaster is the mistakes the characters make are mistakes everyone has made at some point or another but seem to be put on a larger scale.

The type that the words are in is symbolic. The word, not, is emphasized since it is in italics, showing what the theme of the movie itself is.

The fact that almost all the characters are smiling is very deceiving. When I first saw this movie, I did not expect a huge amount of intensity as I received. I am wondering if, subconsciously, the fact that all the characters are smiling signaled to me that while there would be some drama in this movie, it would be more funny and uplifting. While it is true that the movie's title clearly states what it is about, I feel that the poster is misleading. Perhaps this is also because I am a part of American society. We want happiness, love, and the ideal so much that we prefer to perceive things, like movies, to be uplifting and light, even when the obvious is stated.

The candy positioned by the girl talking on the phone is very appropriate and symbolic. In this movie, this character, Gigi, is constantly misreading men and waiting for men to call her that never do.

I wanted to make an observation about the characters that are looking to the right. In the movie, I personally felt that the characters, who are looking to the right in this picture, had the most complicated relationship issues. For example, with Jennifer Aniston's character, she had been dating a man for 7 years who did not want to get married, simply because he did not believe in marriage. Jennifer Connelly's character was suspicious of her husband smoking, which mattered to her because her dad died of lung cancer, but did not know that her husband, the man with the blond hair, was having an affair with Scarlett Johansson's character. The girl talking on the phone, at the bottom of the poster, also had major relationship issues since she was unable to find a good man to date period. She kept making heart wrenching mistakes with men.

Poster(s)

This process has been a lot different than what I would usually do. With the above image, I took 3 separate images and tweaked them all. I used free transform frequently to incorporate diagonals and also messed with the hue and saturation. I also used a technique which uses the blending mode, overlay, to apply a specific yellowish tint to the cigarettes. I used the quick selection tool select the smoke.

I also began to learn about Illustrator and the neat effects one can do with an image. I was shocked that certain features of Illustrator were so easy to use such as the Live Trace and custom options. It made it look like an illustration with just a couple of clicks of the mouse.

I tried to do several more posters but could not get things to flow. I would try different images but could not get anything cohesive or honestly as visually interesting as this. This was pretty frustrating since I wanted to try to make at least 2 posters. One idea I had thought about was Valentine's Day. I wanted to incorporate chocolate, hearts, and the word, love. With the hearts in this poster, I used the shades of brown located in the chocolate. I also processed the chocolate in Illustrator using 6 bit color.

Marilyn Monroe

Black and white
Simple grey background
Interesting dress top
Smiling
Looking away

I chose to comment on this Marilyn Monroe photo because although it is beautiful, to me it looks like she could be someone I know in real life. Most of Monroe's photos have that ethereal, glamour air that people view as something they can never look like. Monroe has longer hair in this photo than in most and seems very innocent and young. This photo reminds me of a young high school girl and literally looks very similar to a specific person I knew in high school. The spotlight draws the eye to Monroe's smile and eyes. This photo is a classic example of the looking away pose, used frequently in many portraits even today.

Michael Phelp's Infamous Photo

Michael Phelps
Blue hat
White t-shirt
Pipe
News of the World
Blue Cup

This picture is pretty shocking. Michael Phelps, who just won many gold medals at the Olympics, was recently caught smoking a pipe as shown above. Phelps has been suspended by USA Swimming for 3 months. This just shows what one picture can do. Phelps is a hero and role model for swimmers across the US and even children. By participating in drugs, he is setting a bad example. However, I have to admit, Phelps is 23. I am sure 23 year olds still want to be able to experiment and have fun without getting penalized by the media. I do not believe Phelps meant harm but was trying to blow off steam and someone happened to have a digital camera. This just shows how little privacy we have anymore.

In terms of composition, my eye is drawn to the orange pipe and then, oddly enough, to his watch. I almost find a metaphor in this. As the eye travels from the pipe to the watch, it could signify pipe smoking was a waste of time or perhaps a pivotal mistake for that one moment in time.

Collage

This is my collage. Miles Inada helped me to break out of the traditional collage format and try something more innovative and odd. My finished product is not what I typically visualize a collage as, but Miles taught me to think outside the box.