Movie Week Extravaganza!

My thoughts on the 3 movies I watched for movie week. The first movie was Born into Brothels. This movie I really did enjoy even though it made me feel sick inside. I learned a lot from this movie.

The woman photographer that went to the brothel and taught these young children that live there is an amazing person. I think she affected all of their lives - even if they did not decide to leave the brothel. It may change the cycle down the line. Though she only spent time with the young children teaching them photography, they were able to learn so much more about life. They learned so much about the potential of themselves and what this world does have to offer.

It was really neat to see the pictures the kids captured themselves- amazing work! They built confidence and dreams with their pictures!

Watching the kids take pictures with a point and shoot film camera reminded me of when I was their age. Things looked different then.

What a colorful movie it was, even though there lives were shown in detail and you could see how unpleasant it was. The kids were so smart it surprised me how they knew that this life was not good there and that a lot of it was wrong. One child said that it is best to accept that you are miserable. I might have thought that if you are raised in it that you would not know any different, but I was wrong.

The kids did have times were they did seem to have fun and be kids. They all loved photography.
I enjoyed this movie, it was hard at the end to see the decisions the kids and parents made. Not all of them wanted to stay in school. They loved their parents not matter what. This shows you how important parents are as role models. Kids will follow the parents even when they know it is wrong. They need good guidance.

One Hour Photo was the second movie I had watched. After watching this one about halfway I remembered watching it a long time ago and falling asleep halfway into it.
This was not really my kind of movie- kind of sick and twisted but not as extreme as the movie "Saw".

Looking at it now from a photographers perspective it was interesting the way they used different lighting techniques and lenses to create different moods and feelings.

I liked a quote in the movie when they said that "people never took pictures of things they wanted to forget." That is true. I actually liked the ending and was glad I watched it.

War Photographer was the last movie. The pictures this photographer took were breathtaking. Even though you new they were real it was still hard to believe. This photographer who took these pictures was using his work to try make a difference. He even risked his own life. Another woman photographer was about to cry when she said that some people who see the pictures still have doubt. I think she meant that the people could still not believe this was happening in the world. I could see that because the pictures are so extremely graphic.

The Photographer was right in the action. He had a video camera connected to his picture camera so you could see him at work. That was a big learning experience for me. You could see what he did, how he shot, how he acted to the people and how much he became a part of the people. Obviously that was a big reason why his pictures had so much authentic emotion. The people had accepted him as a photographer to give them a voice on what was happening to them.

I think the images were so good, they said more than video ever could.

The photographer wanted to help people and make a difference. I think he did. He felt that he would never be satisfied. Perhaps he feels war will never end. This was a very emotional movie. It showed humans at their best and their worst.

I would recommend watching any of these movies. Now that I have learned so much about photography movies will never look the same.

Prairie Girl Gone Wild

Self Portrait

My passion for photography has grown into an obsession because of PrairieView.

I have been a photographer since my high school days. I took as many courses in photography as they had to offer at the high school. These courses fueled my interest and gave me enough confidence to pursue my exploration of a career in photography.

Over the years I have worked in many fields of employment. But my constant interest was always photography.

I volunteered for Videon (Now Shaw) for a couple of years. I enjoyed the video aspect but was always drawn to portraits of people and events. I have photographed everything from Santa pictures to Weddings.

It took over ten years before I reached the point where I felt my photography was not progressing to my liking. I was ready for the next step. I believed that I needed more formal training to develop my skills and techniques as well as the business aspect necessary to be a successful professional photographer.

Initially I was unsure that the PrairieView Diploma course would provide me with everything I needed to pursue a professional photography career.

I have not completed half of the course yet, but feel I have learned so much because of the expert staff at PrairieView. In each of the 5 classes are teachers who specialize in a specific area of photography. Each class seems to tie into each other and reinforce what you learn. From correcting my camera grip to understanding histograms these teachers have both challenged and enlightened me.

Images captured for Assignments

Film Capture (Ektar film)

The course has taught me the history of photography - how it began and developed. I am learning all about the famous photographers in the industry and how they have succeeded or failed. The hands - on developing in the darkroom and use of all kinds of film promote skills that are transferred to other areas such as the new digital editing techniques. Creative imaging class has encouraged me to be unique and has helped me to understand the importance of light in photography. "Photography is writing with light." We are just starting our studio lighting in image capture class. I am excited to learn these techniques from an expert.

Myself in the Darkroom with fellow students

Fellow students at work in Analogue Technique class

(Above) Photogram (Self Portrait of my hair) I had my fellow student Tara Craigon position my hair. (Below) Darkroom Photo montage (Two negatives sandwiched together).

Antique Camera explored in History class

I have found PrairieView demanding but fun. I look forward to seeing the other students each day and know that I will always learn something new. The school is a great supportive environment to learn in. I often stay up very late at night because of the interest I have in the projects I am working on. My photography has become more fun for me because my abilities have grown. I am able to envision an image and capture it in only a few frames. This makes it more rewarding.

Just for Fun Images

The course has provided me with information about the technical and business side of photography. It teaches you what gear to invest in as well as how to gain more knowledge on your own.

Upon my graduation from the PrairieView School of Photography Diploma Course I plan to pursue a career in Wedding Photography and family portraits. PrairieView has opened my eyes to all the possibilities there are in photography. This career is a lot of work and you never do stop learning. In fact, there is more to know now than there ever was.

Thank you PrairieView for teaching me to think outside the box.

Who knows where my passion will take me!

Hayley Porteous

Happy Holidays

This was a shoot your eye out Christmas! Our youngest daughter got her very first real gun. Kinda like the Red Rider BB gun but a Henry Mini Bolt 22. That was a step up from her pop gun (which was worn out now). I think we may have another hunter in the family!

This year we had two Christmas trees. Unfortunately you can only see the second tree because the first one was so dry all the needles fell off and my husband threw it out and had replaced it before I got home. He felt it was a fire hazard which he was probably right, but I just felt we could of had it last another 5 days just not turn on the lights. He just shook his head. It was nice to see how everyone helped decorate this one, even Uncle Trev. 

We did a lot of visiting family and had a lot of laughs.  We did not get to visit all the family and friends that we had hoped. The holiday was action packed. All the cousins received a special gift from Uncle Torin and Auntie Chantale and Grandma and Grandpa. This was to go down hill skiing! The cousins had a blast, I loved it as well it brought back memories of when I was there age. When I started skiing there were no snowboards, now there are hardly any skiers - most people snowboard now. We are going to go back in about one month or so when Caemlyn's knee heals up and she can ski with us as well.

The one other outing our family did the most on the holidays was "Scrimmage". We did a lot of skating and playing Hockey at the outdoor rink in Clandeboye. Santa had given Raya a new pair of skates for Christmas because she had grown to big for her old ones. She was so excited! We call ourselves the Clandeboye Scrummers!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone! Make 2011 the Best!

Image Critique of Annie Liebovitz

Annie's favorite work is the kind that you can learn about a person just by looking at one portrait of them. She has definitely mastered it. She really can get to know different people easily, she is able to adapt to different kinds of people and fit in well which helps people be themselves around her and they don't really notice her taking the pictures - she is not obtrusive at all. Annie is daring, and she cares about her work. She can make people feel good and comfortable, just themselves. She states in a documentary of herself that you can set up a photograph. She likes to tell a story with the image. You can see that in the image I chose to post ( which was very hard to narrow down just one image.) of Dorthy from The Wizard of Oz. The work that goes into planning the pictures is amazing. The detail and combined effort and then to see Annie in the documentary of her professional career she may take about 5 shots maybe with a few different format cameras which takes a few minutes and then she will say, good I'm done. Wow! She has her shot almost right away and she does not really try any different angles etc. It is like she knows exactly what she is looking for and is able to set it up perfectly so she gets what she set out to do within a few shots. In the posted image by Annie Liebovits I know that the subject is Dorthy off of The Wizard of Oz by Walt Disney. Dorthy is being carried away by a bad creature for the wicked witch. The lighting is super dramatic, dreamy, chiaroscuro used. You notice the subject immediately and it feels like you are there up close possibly a wide angle lens used for this image and you can see the mean dark clouds behind her. Using actors for these shots must help because the expression is perfect for the image. It is fun to see all the planning and neat ideas she comes up with. I Love it.

My Photographic Hero, Nick Brandt




Simplicity, Balance and Detail

  The portraits are so simple and dramatic. I think the majestic animals and the incredible landscape tell everything in the photo, they do not need anything added. Just to see these amazing animals up close and as they are for real in detail. Many of Nick Brandt's Photos are very simple and close up, or you can see herds of them in their environment. I can see that the symmetry, reflection, contrasts, rhythm and motion are used to compliment and portray these unique animals as they are in the wild.

Nick Brandt likes to photograph the animals close up as you would a human being. This allows you to capture the soul and personality of the animal. He states how you could not have a portrait of a person with a telephoto lens. When he is up close he can capture the sky and other important landscape features as well.

Simplicity and Balance

Reflection







Rhythm

 He shoots with a Pentax 6X7 camera. It uses 120mm film but states if he could shoot in 8x10 he would to give as much detail as possible. He is reluctant to use digital. He shoots only in black and white film and likes a sort of sepia tone to his portraits. He feels that it gives a sense of time in his portraits as if its from the 19th century or a bygone era. Nick finds the film gives him surprising "mistakes" sometimes with results making the portraits more interesting. He has damaged a lot of his film. Occasionally he uses infrared film and you can see how it changes the look of the trees to a negative image so they are lighter. Using Photoshop and Wacom Tablet he edits his film portraits by dodging and burning and likes the latitude in shadows and highlights. Photoshop compared to the traditional darkroom can give from a 7 stop range to a 15 stop range therefore allowing for more detail in the final result. He uses Hahnemuhle - textured cotton rag paper print for his portraits.





Contrast

I love the fact that he uses old technology and new as well to achieve his masterpieces. I enjoy his subjects as well - the Animals of Africa and the Africa Landscape. I enjoy looking at his work. It can be emotional for me. Many of the portraits are quite simple allowing you to study the animals up close and personal. You can see things you would never learn about them with out being so close. You get to know them. Many of the pictures look so perfect it is as if he had them pose. He stated that the animals "posed" for him wanting to have their portrait taken. I think that is so true. I would not have thought of taking a wild animals "Portrait" but this is what he has done. I love it, it is so dramatic. In the pictures here you can see he just has the subject in focus when there is nothing else you need to look at but when he wants to include the sky or tree (landscape) or reflection. You can see that in these portraits here. The portraits are also cropped down to the size needed for the individual portrait the zebra print is cropped down to just the zebra as well as the elephants. The giraffes and the Cheetah have more room to incorporate the sky with the clouds and the landscape. I like the way the giraffes have a long more panoramic style and your eye flows through each giraffe in the portrait and the simple close up of the elephant makes you look directly at it and study its details and the dust exploding of the body. I like the way Nick Brandt photographs these animals equal to human beings - Because they are. These animals look like they are content and at home.

Creative Symbol

Love

I pictured two people holding each other and it would be a very warm picture. I like that the couple is laughing. and the sun is shining through making it very happy and love is bursting! They are creating a heart shape for love as well you can see with there arms and foreheads. I love sun flare!

Wow! My name is Hayley and I am a student at PrairieView School of Photography. I love taking pictures of people, animals and much more. There is lots to explore.