Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

 

(1) Positive Statement

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

I was proud that I actually made time. Throughout this whole year the term "2 hour" has been haunting me. Even though I didn't hit the whole 2 hours, I made my time. The nerves did get to me when I was presenting but I made time. Overall, my whole proejct went well. It didn't hit me how much information I had retained until I was presenting and looking back so many good things have happened for my my "photo career" which I am extremely proud of.
(2) Questions to Consider

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

AE P AP CR NC

I would give myself a P-. I forgot some of my information while I was presenting and I was rushing through my information which made me struggle to meet the time. Even an AP+ would be fine. I feel like I could've done better but I did put a lot of effort in my set up and trying to organize the little labs I had set up.

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

AE P AP CR NC

On my overall senior project I feel like I did a good amount of work and I had a great mentor to guide me through my year which is where I got alot of my experience from and helped me to develop my product. I feel that I was proficient through my senior project.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

What worked for me in my project was my research in my last couple months. At the beginning of the year my research was focused on a different area in photography. If you were to compare the beginning of my research to the end of my research, they are entirely different fields of photography. That last bit of research was what really jump started my presentation.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

I would have started the researching the type of research I was looking up toward the beginning of the year and all the way through the end. My most relevant research didn't come to me till the end of my search but if I would've started sooner with that type of research consistantly, my overall project and presentation would have been better.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples. 

 

I want photography to be incorporated into my future and thrrough my senior project I have found a new form of photography that will allow me to utilize photography with my future biology major. My major might change in the future but I can use photography to support whatever career I pursue. I see my career being related to science in some way and I hope I can use my photography skills to support it all thanks to my senior project and my great mentor. 

Blog 25: Mentorship

Literal
· Contact Name & Number

Jack B. (909) 228-4824

LOG

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtzNQcbGftxgdFRuYnJtVDI0SzV3SnBFakZoVWhsVVE#gid=0

Interpretive
What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

I am so thankful I was able to find such a great mentor easily because I heard the struggle some of my peers went through to try and find a reliable mentor. He was so helpful to my project even though my topic changed drastically.

The most important thing I gained from my mentor is a hands-on way to apply what you know to any situation. Throughout my mentorship I have been in situations where no book or article could have told me what to do or how to act. It is something you learn by doing.

I have had to deal with rude customers who just won’t cooperate with us and we have dealt with natural obstacles like the sun and its natural lighting and trying to time it just right so our photos look their best. I just feel that hands-on learning is the best way to learn because not only does it test you on what is happening; it will prepare you for situations that have yet to happen. That improvisation skill is something that can be applied to so many situations that happen everyday.

Applied
How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ? Please explain.

            My mentorship, believe it or not, helped my answer my essential question by using what I learned and apply it to a larger situation. Visualizing is key to photography in any branch. What I chose to present is very different from what I did for my mentorship but what Jack taught me was to adapt. As different as the two seemed, they are still just two different forms of photography. Photography in any form is the art and or science of capturing light whether it is visible or unseen. At one point standard photography was something that had to be created. It was a science in itself.

            The whole point of photography was to take the place of painting and sketching to develop a new way to document. This is something that Jack teaches in the first few days of ROP. Photography is a way to document and scientific photography is documenting new found light. Scientific photography is all about finding a way to capture what cannot be seen for documenting purposes just as early photography was a way to capture and document the times.

            The comparing and contrasting the two came from working with my mentor and him helping me change my perspective on what photography is.

May 18: Senior Photos for Marissa

This is just some proof of my product. I was honored when Marissa asked me to do her photos but I was also scared because she would be my first client all on my own. I had done photos for my family before my grandparents left back to Mexico but it was still for family. This was an actual little job for one of my best Friends :).
There was a lot more pictures but this is just to show. It was a fun day of firsts because it was also the first time she was my passenger in the car. To top off the day we had some yummy taro slush!

May 10: Friday Night Drift

Took some pictures for Ricardo that he could maybe use for his blog or what ever he so chooses. I wish I could've got a little closer because my lens cannot zoom in that far. One thing that I always struggled with was motion photography. It has to be so precise to catch the subject in focus and the foreground with a slight blur or vice versa. Jack makes it looks easy but when I try it doesn't turn out the same. Practice does make perfect.

 

 

May 4: Communion Photos

Prom was already a busy day because, well it's prom. Hair and make-up and all that good stuff was on everyone's mind except for the boys I guess. On the same day as prom I had agreed to help my mentor photograph a school's first communion ceremony. It was a quick shoot which was why I agreed to help because he understood I had to get ready because so did he! He was going to be taking our photos at prom.

This was the pre-photo set up. I imagined it to be with lots of greenery in the background. Jack liked the idea of not using a backdrop because it is very cliche especially with a beautiful venue like Descanso Gardens, we just had to use the natural charm somehow.

 

 

I will say my bad for some of the photos because I thought that flash would light the background a little more. The photos that came out the best were those taken at the beginning of prom because the lighting gave the backgroud a nice glow and the flash lit the subject. Overall the day was busy and the night was fun!

 

 

Blog 24: Exit Interview

1. What is your essential question and best answer?

My essential question is "what is the most current development in scientific photography." My best answer to my essential question is scientific photography has helped to identify quasars, existence of dark energy, and determine the age of the universe through cameras that identify different forms of light that is not visible in the visible spectrum of light.

 

2. What process did you take to answer your EQ?(3:30m)

The beginning part of my project was very different to the current findings of my senior project so my process went from very vague to more scientific than I had anticipated but I could not stop reading about. There are a lot more areas in science that are involved with photography's ham I thought, but I found that I was researching more and more about three regions of the science world; space, underwater, and the micro world. Since my EQ was dealing with "the most current development," I started not only to research the photos but the technology used to capture the photos. During my research about space photography, I really opened my eyes to how significant the technology was and how this equipment is able to see types of light that are not visible to the naked eye on the visible spectrum of light. When I was learning more about the technology used for space exploration I I was realizing that I needed to learn more about the technology of microphotography and underwater photography, which led me to researching more about technology and how it works for each varied form of photography. I felt that more information was reliable about space photography which made it my best answer, however, I feel that light played a key role in a three of my answers because without light, whether visible or not, light is what makes photo.

 

3. What problems did you face and how did you resolve them?(45-1min)

My major problems came from me being indecisive about narrowing my topic. I wanted to do so much after I kept reading more and more about my topic because I loved all areas of it and I did not want to narrow it. Eventually I had to, so my middle ground was choosing scientific photography and learning about a form of unusual photography. I had no idea where to even begin my search for someone in that field so my mentor opened the door to a more common form of photography. For me, I satisfied both extreme ends of photography; I got to learn hands on with standard photography and read all about scientific photography tools.

 

4. What are your two most important sources and why?(30-45min)

One of my most important sources was the Hubblesite.com. it was my go to when I was wanted to know about Chandra and Hubble and everything about them and it was a credible source. Another helpful source for learning about underwater photography was Divephotoguide.com which helped me explain the importance of underwater photography for research purposes.  

 

5. What is your product and why?

Overall, my research and hands on work with my mentor has helped me to apply the basics of photography to a larger scale like underwater photography. Working my mentor has even led me to small photography jobs of my own. I have gained work skills like how to handle customers, which is something they don’t teach you right away, I have also become more confident when shooting and on the job. I don’t just feel like a tag along like I did before because I’m taking on jobs of my own where I have to be in charge of the shoot.

Family photos before the grandparents left back home

Blog 23: Interview 2014

1. Who did you interview and what house are they in?

Steven Robles from North House.

2. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

I don’t have a clue really but photography would be cool. I really don’t have an idea though. I would like to express myself through photos though if I did do photography.

3. What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?

I might volunteer at a photo place or with Jack but I’m still not sure.

4. What do you hope to see or expect to see from watching the 2013 2-Hour presentations?

Umm…a wide variety of things. A lot of different topics such as photography I hope.

5. What questions do you have that I can answer about your senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?

What are you doing your project on?

Scientific photography.

Is it fun?

Yeah.