Final Critique

Weaknesses:

Sometimes, it's hard for me to focus on shooting an image and not on the post-processing.  A weakness that was pointed out is that sometimes I tend to focus on the gimmick too much instead of working these things out while I'm shooting.  A weakness that I could have avoided, but thought of after the fact was that I used 2 black mattes for my work and the other 8 mattes were white.  All things considered, I would have made all white mattes, which I learned from critique is most common now days and generally accepted in the art world.

Strengths:

People pointed out that my best work was my architecture work, which is not surprising, since It's my favorite subject matter to photograph.  Also, people commented that I have a good eye for design, and I seem to control my frames very well.  I like to convey a sense of emotion with all of my pieces, and even a sense of mystery with some, and I think this worked, judging by everyone's reactions.  Also, I attempted to branch out of my comfort zone in photography and try to photograph some different subject matter.  I acomplished this goal, and achieved a much better sense of landscape photography and portraiture.

Looking Forward:

Next semester, I hear that Photo 208 is going to be less focused on Photoshop and post-processing, and more focused on techniques in the camera.  I look forward to continuing my photographic education by shooting much much more than I did this semester, and forgetting about the gimmicks for now, while focusing on straight photography.  I enjoyed IDM, and look forward to my photographic future.

My Picks

Julius Shulman

Julius Shulman, who resided in California for the majority of his life, was one of the greatest architectural photographers of all time, and he is also one of my greatest inspirations.  He is most famous for his iconic shots of architectural structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Pierre Koenig.  Shulman focused on architectural photography throughout his entire career, and he even brought new architects to light that had not been recognized before he shot images of their structures.  Compositionally, Julius Shulman's work is extremely strong.  He took every detail into thought and made sure everything came together for a very cohesive and beautiful body of work.

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Scott Vallance

Scott Vallance is a commercial photographer currently residing in San Antonio, Texas and teaching at San Antonio College.  Apart from Scott being my photography professor for upwards of three years, his images inspire me because of their composition and flawless technique.  Scott attended college at Brooks Institute of Photography, one of the most prestigious photo universities.  After working in California for years, Scott moved to San Antonio, Texas to find a different client base and a new outlook on his career.  Apart from working full time as a photography professor at San Antonio College and full time as a commercial photographer, Scott also sells fine art images on the side for a little extra profit.  He is a true photographer and believes that spreading the knowledge of photography to future generations is just as important as the excellent work he puts out for his clients on a daily basis. 

Slideshow Pros and Cons

When I began working on my images for the slideshow assignment, I knew immediately what I wanted to photograph.  Architecture is a very interesting subject matter for me, and I saw so many different styles of architecture on our campus alone.  Overall, I got some very interesting images, and I think my slideshow was very effective.

Pros:

1. The Music

The music I found for my slideshow on lastfm.com was perfect for my subject matter! It had an upbeat, instrumental feel, and I think that it went right along with the themes of design and form.

2. The Perspective

When I photographed the design around campus, I had some trouble finding interesting angles, but I kept pushing through until I came up with some very interesting shots.  It took much energy and persistence to complete this assignment, but the end result was successful.

Cons:

1. Variety

The only con that I could see is my lack of variety in image selection.  I had 2 or 3 images of the same bridge here on campus, and I think this subtracted from the diversity of the other photos I had.  When you begin to see just about the same image again and again, it makes the project far less interesting, and I wish I would have realized this before i completed the slide show.