Still Life

The following photos were taken for an in-class assignment in an attempt to capture a classic and timely photo, using fruit as a subject. Both photos were taken on Thursday, 2/20/2020 and edited in both Snapseed and Facetune. Enjoy.

Meet Your Maker

The Lonely Grape

Circuitry

Taken on Tuesday, 2/18/2020.

Champions

On Sunday, 2/16/2020, the Catholic University Men AND Women's Swimming and Diving Team won the Landmark conference championship. Many of my friends are a part of the team so I took the opportunity to take a photo of the races in action. Congratulations to both teams.

Spring Has Sprung

The following photo was edited with Snapseed and Facetune. Taken on Sunday, 2/16/2020.

The Hip Shot

The following photos were taken during class as such: we were NOT allowed to look at the phone while taking them and we had to take them without any of our subjects noticing. The experiment proved to be more difficult than I initially thought but it opened my eyes to the possibilities of photography without excessive staging. All photos were taken on Thursday, 2/13/2020. Enjoy.

The Ride Home

Commotion

Red-Handed

First Date

How We Met

Mad Men

This photo was taken of my friends Joe and Jeffrey a few days before swimming conferences. I used a few filters from Facetune and Snapseed including vibrance and light effects to make the photo a bit more dramatic. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020.

More Rules

The following two photos were taken in class on Tuesday, 2/11/2020 in an attempt to capture as many rules of composition in one photograph as possible. While my entry did not get the most of the class it was in the final four with 8 counted rules. Enjoy.

In my opinion, I feel like this photo portrays the following rules: Impact (black and white glasses), Biggest, Boldest, Most Favorably Placed (glasses in foreground), Cropping (as seen with the following picture), KISS (self-explanatory), Rule of Thirds (subject in right-hand lens), Leading Lines (upper windows), Balance (divided layers), Framing (glasses lens). I can't see a clear usage of mergers however.

Cropped version of photo. 

The Rules of Composition - Take Two

The following photos are the remakes of the two Rules of Composition that I needed to take again - Biggest, Boldest, Most Favorably Placed and the Rule of Thirds. I will post first the originals with the caption explaining why they didn't exactly fit the description, followed by the remakes and why they work better. Enjoy.

When I first shot this photo, I wanted the praying lady's bright pink veil to be the focus of this piece. While that remains true, there's a bit too much distraction that takes away from the fact. To name a few, the benches in the foreground are the most "favorably" placed object and the statues of Mary could seem like the focal point of the picture for some. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020. 

For this shot, the red bike is clearly in the foreground of the image and the bold color separates it from the rest of the bikes along the rack. This is most definitely a better representation of the rule. Taken on Thursday, 2/13/2020.

This picture, while a pretty one, does not accurately portray the Rule of Thirds. When I first took the photography I admittedly did not quite understand the rule. After understanding further, however, there has to be a subject within two junctions of a third. The basilica is in the background, and there is no clear subject that makes the division of thirds clear. Taken on Friday, 2/7/2020.

For this shot, the Rule of Thirds is now accurately portrayed. Mullen Library serves as the background of the picture and my friend Juliana stands right in the lower right-hand corner, in between two junctions. Taken on Thursday, 2/13/2020.

The Rules of Composition

For this week's project, we were given the 10 Rules of Composition and were tasked to take photos representing each one. Two of these rules, Merging and Cropping, required a before and after shot. In short, 10 rules, 12 shots. Now for two of these rules, my initial photos did not quite fit the description - Biggest, Boldest, and Most Favorably Placed and Rule of Thirds. For this reason, I will - at a later date - post the originals of these photos and the redos. Enjoy.

Balance. The line of red taxis created a very visible line slightly diagonal through the middle of the photo. After looking further, this picture fulfills a few other rules such as Impact, Room for Logical Movement, Leading Lines, and even Framing. Taken on Sunday, 2/9/2020.

Cropping: Before. My emphasis for this picture is to have the red CUA banner as the main subject of this piece. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020. 

Cropping: After. For the post-cropped version, the Light the Way piece of the banner was kept in to emphasize that message alongside the dome of the Basilica. Notice how there are a few mergers such as the bar protruding from the banner into the Basilica. This should be removed for future reference. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020.

Framing. The clear focus of this picture is the word "Emergency" running down the post and use of the hands as framing exemplifies this. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020.

Impact. I used double exposure twice as the metro car came towards me on the track to emphasize the motion of the train moving forward. Taken on Monday, 2/10/2020.

KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Not much explanation needed here! Taken on Monday, 2/10/2020.

Leading Lines. My friend Daniel stood in the archway of Union Station and it provided a great example of this rule. Taken on Sunday, 2/9/2020.

Merging: Before. The arts walk sign protrudes from my friend Lily's head. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020.

Merging: After. I moved so that the sign was now next to her instead. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020.

Room for Logical Movement. I wanted to use double exposure for this to further emphasize the action of walking. Taken on Tuesday, 2/11/2020.

Angles and Angels

This photo was taken from behind the altar in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Seeing this certain perspective was very interesting to me and gave me the opportunity to capture this picture. Taken on Friday, 2/7/2020

Experimental

Round Bottom. Taken on Friday, 2/7/2020

Everstill. Taken on Friday, 2/7/2020

Two Sides

Taken on Thursday, 2/6/2020. I edited this photo by first using the "Slow Camera" app that uses a type of slow shutter to create the definitive blur. Then, I used Facetune 2 to further edit the photo in terms of brilliance, shadows, and added light

For the Influence

The following photos were taken in an attempt to capture the best portrait I could up to date. My subject was very excited and enthusiastic to be a part of the project and the reason I titled this piece "For the Influence" is because the pictures that we ended up obtaining could very well be a part of a social influencer's media page. All of the photos were taken on Wednesday, 2/5/2020. For editing, I used the following apps: Photoshop Express and Facetune 2

Blue Haze

Albums: Pt. 1

Albums: Pt. 2

Life of Glamour

Deep Water

This photo is an edit of my "One Drop" piece. I changed the mood and background by darkening the overall photo and deepening the shadows. Edited on Thursday, 1/23/2020

Objective

For our 2nd project, our task was to simply dial in on a single object. The following series of photos fulfill this duty by placing a notable thing at the center of the photograph, therefore drawing the viewer's attention to. Some of the backgrounds help emphasize the object and others don't

One Drop. Taken on Thursday, 1/23/2020

As Expected. Taken on Thursday, 1/23/2020

Prize. Taken on Wednesday, 1/22/2020

Starved by Greed. Taken on Thursday, 1/23/2020

Humanity. Taken on Monday, 1/20/2020

Strangers No Danger

The following photos were taken for an assignment and all of the subjects are strangers to me. These three final people were extremely receptive to having photos taken of them even though I had two denials as well during the process.

Taken on Monday, 2/4/2020. This is Angelica and when she heard that I was taking photos she immediately  asked if she could be in one of them and made the process very easy

Taken on Tuesday, 2/5/2020. This is Tim. When I approached Tim and asked him if I could take a picture he was very friendly and said of course as he said "I'll stand in the position that I do every day"

Taken on Tuesday, 2/5/2020. This is Fred. After presenting him with the question he immediately flashed a big smile and was very willing to participate. Most definitely made up for the two denials I got earlier

Light in Position

The following photos were taken for an in-class project with the use of a portable stage light. The differences in shadow and light can be seen in the portraits. All photos were taken on Thursday, 1/30/2020

The Person in a Portrait

For our 3rd project in Art 229, we were tasked to take a collection of portraits of a person we know in a way that ties together. The goal is to present an accurate image of who the person is and how they approach life. The following photos were taken of my suite mate, one of the funniest, hard-working, and friendly guys I know.

Taken on Thursday, 1/30/2020

Taken on Wednesday, 1/29/2020

Taken on Wednesday, 1/29/2020

Taken on Thursday, 1/30/2020. This photo is my favorite of the collection as it shows my subject's intensity while also his passion for swimming