Robert Capa

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          Ernest Andrei Friedmann, or Robert Capa, was born in Budapest on October 22, 1913.  Little did he know, at the time, that he would be the most famous war photographer of the 20th century. 

         Like most photographers, he started his career with small projects, but always found himself in the middle of a war.  At the age of 18, Capa left his home and found work in Berlin.  

 From 1936-1939 Capa was in Spain photographing the tragedies of the Spanish Civil War.  After, he traveled to China to capture the Japanese Invasion.  

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       But, some of Capa's best work had come from World War II.  Capa had been in New York City at the start of WWII, because he had moved there to escape Nazi persecution.  But, after being fired from "Collier's Weekly", Capa began working for "Life" magazine, and traveled around the world taking pictures of the war.  June 6, 1944, D-Day, Capa swam ashore along with the second assault wave, armed with only two cameras and spare rolls of film.  That day he took over 100 photos, only to lose nearly all of them due to a developing mistake by a worker at "Life".  But out of the, now eight, photo's, the photo on the left is one of Capa's best work even though it is out of focus.  The picture is of a soldier swimming ashore during the D-day Invasion.  The photo below is a picture of the soldiers beginning their invasion.    After WWII, Capa took a break from photography, but shortly after his break he was in the field again.  He traveled to Southeast Asia photographing the Indochina War.  The French had been fighting there for the past 8 years, and Capa was assigned by "Life" to photograph it.  But, on May 25, 1954, Capa's photography career was suddenly ended.  While following two French regimes through dangerous areas, under fire, Capa left his jeep to photograph the advance.  A few minutes later, Capa was killed by a land-mine.  He was taken to a local hospital, but pronounced dead on arrival due to a serious chest wound, and his leg was blown to pieces.

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         Capa left behind a legacy.  There was even an award created in his honor, The Robert Capa Gold Medal.  This medal annually given to a photographer with the best published photo from abroad, requiring courageous actions to achieve the photo.  Capa was a great photographer, who always said, "If your picture isn't good enough, you're not close enough."  

(These are the sites where I got my information on Robert Capa)

Sources:  Source 1; Source 2

So, for photo, we had a close framing project using black and white film and these are my final pictures (unedited).  For my final i used the 3rd picture first row and third picture 3rd row!  I cleaned up all the dust and scratches and resized/rotated them so they came out pretty nice.  But getting to these wasnt easy.  After completing this project i realized I dislike film....alot. It all started when i exposed my first roll of film.  As dark as your room may be, its not dark enough -- Lesson learned.   Next i thought i broke the camera as i was reshooting, welll the roll of film only had 16 exposures and when i took the 16 it stopped advancing!  I thought, like my other roll, it had more... so i freaked.  Luckily nothing was wrong at all, i just wasnt aware or didnt process that the roll was done. (hey it was like 10:00 and i was tired!)  i just used all my pictures.  After getting through all that i developed, and that was the easy part!  In the end im proud with my outcome.  And yeah, so lets just say IM REALLY HAPPY WE ARE DONE WITH FILM. 

Stack Text, Figure Ground Reversal, Etc

• So, this is my sketch sheet.  These were all to kinda prepare us for making our own awesome logos.  
• The only thing that was difficult was thinking of some words to replace with pictures! that took me awhile. haha
• Also some connecting the letters was kind of difficult sometimes. but after awhile i got the hang of it.
• I used: Stacked Text (Row 2); Figure Ground Reversal (Row 1) Letter Replacement with picture (bottom); and Connecting letters to make one fluid 'shape' (bottom)
• For grading my self i give it a....7/9
• 7- this is for the execution.  They arent perfect, but i did my best.  I thought that these came out pretty well. my personal favorites are the Frog and the Smile :) 
• 9- Participation.  I had enough time to complete this.  Maybe i could have spent some more time on it, but after working on one for to long i got frustrated and moved on.  In the end, i worked through all of my classes and did my best, and finished on time.

Logo's Again

So i was google-ing logos, again! and i came across some more really cool ones.  and i also learned about some new tools to use in illustrator.  So below are more logos that i gotta go thorough and decide which one to try :) 

• Spiral
  
• Ok, so this is the really awesome spiral writing that you always see and wonder HOW DID THEY DO THAT.... well at least i always do!  Now i know and its actually not that hard.  I will definitely be using this in some project no matter what.
• DJ Logo
  
• this one seems like fun, and i would definitely use it, it's too bad you have to pay for the template though. maybe i can find something similar and try that!
• "Swirls and Flourishes"
  
• It isn't technically a logo, but the design can be made into one, well in my opinion. It's  a really simple and more a classy logo.  I can imagine this one with the branches on the side, and in the center my name in a nice simple font.
• Font
• I want this font. like now.  This is so awesome. It says its  a logo for a rock band, and i do agree. this does fit a band.  Obviously a majority of the logo's i have posted have something to do with music or and a rock-esque to them :)  i love music and punk/rock designs.
• "Paranoid"
  
• This font reminds me of the font one of my favorite bands, Cobra Starship, uses as their signature font.  It's not exactly the same... they are actually kind of different but  it's the same vibe.  I guess that's why i like it a lot.  I dont really understand how its called 'paranoid ' though...

OK, so i think i have enough logo's and fonts to go through.  Once i sketch something up and actually create it, i'll post something on here!

Final Illustrator Tutorial

This tutorial anyway was a lot easier than the last one.  I actually knew what i was doing and didn't really have any problems.  I'm proud of this sketch sheet, and unlike my other one where the lines are very shaky and uhm.. well i guess for a beginner it was ok. but i liked this stage of the tutorial a lot better.  This one looks kinda way better. hahaha anyway hope you think the same.  remember its just practice.

• TOOLS:
• brush tool (mainly used)
• circle shape
• pen tool
• pathfinder

• Coloring-
• Gradient
• transparency
• outline
• My grade-
• Out of 10 on this tutorial, i'd give myself a 9/10.
•   The 9 is my grade for the look and execution of the tutorial.  This is the best i could do and it actually came out pretty well.  I don't want to sound like i'm bragging, but i think this came out pretty darn well for a beginner, plus the tool was pretty simple to understand.
• The 10 is for participation,  I had plenty of time to work on this and i had actually worked ahead on this.  It's not due for a while, and i have already completed it.  I complete all my work on time in this class, which in the end is a good thing!

Logo Tutorials!

So i was researching some tutorials on how to make some awesome logo's... and here are my favorites-

• 3-D
• obviously this one shows you how to make a 3-D logo on illustrator.  Although it kinda seems simple, i thought it was really cool and i cant wait to use this in a project.
• Go Green!
• This one is cute. it does look kind of complicated, but it looks like a fun one to try.  And if i could complete it i'd feel pretttty accomplished..  If i were to use this logo in a project i feel like it'd best be used for an ad.
• Ornate Lettering
• Ok, this reminds me of something i'd see on an album cover for a band.  This seems really awesome, yet really complicated. i will probably download the tutorial and try to use this for my logo project.
• Surfer
• This one is nice because you dont necessarily have to use a picture like this.  The first step is picking your picture, and i'd love to do this maybe with a guitar or something of that nature.   This tutorial has def. been bookmarked.
• Simple Banner
  
• This tutorial finishes simple, but as i went through it... the steps (well to me) seem complicated. haha i would give this one a try, because a simple look is sometimes better depending on the project.

Rocket Ship!

• My Thoughts-
• So. after two days of using illustrator, we were told to create a rocket ship by following a tutorial (this one). My thoughts were... "well this will be a sad looking rocket ship" because i honestly had no idea how to do anything of this nature.  But in the end... it actually came out pretty good just by following each step on the tutorial. and it was kinda fun...  
• The only problem that i had with this was the shadow and gradient.. i need some help to thoroughly understand what i'm doing with that.. haha
• Tools Used-
• Shape tools
• Elipse, Star, Rectangle
• Pen Tool
• Gradient
• My Grade-
• 6/10
• 6- This is for the actual finished project.  This rocket ship could use some help, but it was the best i could complete it.  The overlay or shadow is a little dark on it, but other that that it seems to be a nice rocket ship.
• 10- Participation.  I have yet to complete a project late, and i had enough time to finish this project to the best of my abilities.  I try to complete my work in class, then do whatever else i can/want.

Illustrator Masterpieces...

• My thoughts-
• so for graphics we moved from Photoshop... to Illustrator.  (personal opinion- photoshop is way better/easier)  Anyway, it took me MANY tries to finally achieve the wonderful creations below :)  and the pen tool is... well, not fun. Below is a tutorial i followed, well sketch sheet, of what we practiced drawing using the pen tool.  and might i add, it was MUCH easier once i learned how to trace an image.  At least now i fully understand how to use the pen tool. 
• TOOLS USED-
• Star Tool (Shape)
• Rectangle Tool (Shape)
• Elipse Tool (Shape)
• Pencil Tool
• Pen Tool
• My Grade- 6/10
• I give the final product a 6 because the lines are... very shaky, and i had to trace them to even get to this point.  Honestly i almost used the pencil tool to try and pull it off as the pen, but in the end the tracing helped me... ALOT.  Although it looks kinda bad this was the best i could possibly do, i tried many times
• 10- Participation is a 10 because i finished this project on time, although i had missed a class or 2 i still completed it to the best of my abilities.

English, my first choice read.

So, I am not one to read many books, but if I find a book I really enjoy I might actually finish it from start to end!  Obviously i found a book that caught my eye and I just finished reading it; Killing Britney by Sean Olin.  Yes, this book title does seem a little morbid and you're probably wondering why would you want to read a book about killing someone... well it isn't really about killing Britney.  The main character, Britney, has strong paranoia, and no one is actually trying to kill her.  Deaths around her, such as her mother, boyfriend and best friends brother, make her believe that "she's next."  I can't really give away much of the plot because if i do, the ending would be given away.  
      A 'sneak peak', or opening, of this book is this:  Britney's mother had died while their family was on a white water rafting trip.  Her mother had been knocked out of the raft and drowned.  Ever since then it was just Britney and her father.  Britney was a young girl, who was explained to be, before the start of the book, a dorky and ugly girl.  After her mothers passing and freshman year at high school, she changed her looks and even earned herself a boyfriend on the school's hockey team.  The girlfriends of hockey players were given the title "hockey wives" and were untouchable, the most popular people in school.  Britney had sometimes felt left out of the "hockey wives" because she wasn't comfortable with herself, being she used to be well... a geek.  After a game, Ricky, her boyfriend, and Britney attended a party.  Ricky drank, but not enough to make him immobile or ill.  Britney, for now, does not drink.  After the party and an argument he drove her home.  The next morning he is found dead, murdered.  Britney from this point on becomes extremely paranoid and is always looking over her shoulder.  If you want to know more about what else happens, READ THE BOOK! I strongly recommend you do.  Plus if i give away much more the ending will be ruined! and its really hard to explain so just read it. :)
      This book is just amazing.  To sum up its entirety my mind was like 'woah'.  There are many twists and turns to the plot, which is what makes the story-line so interesting and capturing.  I really could not put this book down.  There is no dull moment in this entire story.   The book also keeps you thinking, and carries you into the life of each character.  At one point i felt like i knew the characters and i was watching the story unfold as if i was there.  If you're interested in teen books, horror-ish stuff, murder mysteries, and just plain old interesting plots this book is definetly for you.  I would say that the age range is probably like 15 to.... i'm not really sure.  I don't think your ever to old to read something if you're interested in it.  In this book there is some cursing, alcohol and all that jazz, so a mature age should be reading it, not like a 10 year old. Once again, i strongly recommend reading this book..  Killing Britney by Sean Olin.

p.s: i'll be back soon with some research on multiple personalities.  Somehow this relates to my book.  You'll just have to read it to find out.

More Example Pictures

Here are some more examples of the words i just defined in my most recent posts..

• Digital Noise

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• Film Grain:

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• Shallow Depth of Field: 

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Deep Depth of Field:

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• Fast Shutter Speed:

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• Slow Shutter Speed:

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More Definitions!

Film Grain:  random optical texture of processed photographic film due to the presence of small grains of a metallic silver developed from silver halide that have received enough photons. (source)

Photo Cred.

Digital Noise: random variation of brightness or color information in images produced by the sensor and circuitry of a scanner or digital camera. (source)

Photo Cred.

• also originates in film grain and in the unavoidable shot noise of an ideal photon detector (source)

Shutter Speed

Fast Shutter Speed: Fast shutter speed, takes the image almost instantly as in frozen in time. (source)

Photo Cred.

• shutter speed you will need to use depends on the type of photograph you want to take. 
•  if you want to take a photograph of water frozen in action with every little bead in focus, then you would choose a fast shutter speed like 1/500 of a second (source)

Slow Shutter Speed: Slow shutter speed, slows motion (source)

Photo Cred.

• slow shutter speed picks up more because it is taking longer to record the image
• slow shutter speed picks up camera motion, and is one of the primary causes of blurry pictures (source)

Depth of Field

Shallow Depth of Field: Depth of field means the sharp area surrounding the point of focus.  A typical example of a photo with shallow depth of field control would be when only the main subject of interest is enhanced by throwing other elements out of focus. (source)

Photo Cred.

• The closer the subject and the camera, the more shallow the depth of field.
• The larger the aperture, the more shallow the depth of field.

Deep Depth of Field: the area of an image that appears in focus (source)

Photo Cred.

• all or most of the picture is in focus from front to back. 
• It is often used for capturing subjects in the distance, such as in landscape scenes.
• The further away your camera is from the subject, the greater the depth of field.
• Higher f-stop numbers produce deep depth of field. Short focal lengths, such as when a lens is set at wide angle, help increase depth of field.

All my definitions and photo's are from the sources i have listed.

more photo

forgot to post a few photo blogs from last class, so here they are:

• In this first photo, i love the shadowing and the effect the brightly colored wall has on the entire photo.
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiagobrazil/1253130177
• This photographer has great talent.  The first post had a photo by this blogger as well.  This picture is new, and the lighting and setting is perfect.  The trees look as if they've been placed in the exact spot they are in now, but nature did it not the photographer.
• http://sakisdazanis.gr/index.php?showimage=86
  
• This photo is amazing. the timing seems to be perfect with the placement of the biker. and the art piece suspended above the roadway makes this picture so cool.
• http://www.erickimphotography.com/p/828
  
• The picture is just really cool.  The water is glistening in the suns' shine. this kinda makes me want to go to the beach!
• http://insidemyeyes.aminus3.com/image/2010-08-21.html
  
• I guess i just really like black and white photo's.  This one is cool because of the clouds and i love how the objects in the foreground are flat with no texture when the clouds are full of it.
• http://www.mikeolbinski.com/2010/09/death-and-birth/
• I guess i love flowers too.  This one is by far my favorite.  This picture makes the flower look so perfect and beautiful. talented photographer.
• http://www.mijou.com/flower-power/

Photo!

So i will be using this blog for my Graphic Design and Photo class this year.  So my first post related to my photo class are some photo blogs (with specific photos) that really caught my eye.

• This first one is a photo of house, with an ominous sky in the background.  The sky is what really makes this picture along with awesome lighting
• http://sakisdazanis.gr/index.php?showimage=82
• This picture, to me, is beautiful.  I love the way the daisy is wilted and the angle this picture was taken at adds to its beauty.  Plus it's in black and white.  Personally i think it looks great in black and white and color would've taken away from it.
• http://www.extrajection.com/archives/2010/08/29/daisy-decay/
• I love this photo.  It's mostly because of the effect the sparkler or lighter has, i love the look of this photo.  You can see each path they took when this blogger snapped his camera. 
• http://www.trueformstudios.com/2010/07/light-graffiti/
• This is a photo from, im guessing, a carnival.  The thing about this is that i love how she made the modern looking ride seem like its from a fair years ago.  The lighting and effects she added (if any?) are very nice.
• http://veronicarodriguez.aminus3.com/image/2010-09-14.html

Summer's Over?

So this is my first real post ever on a blog.  I have a tumblr, but yeah that never gets used and when i use it it's mostly re-blogging..  Anyway, I suppose that I should talk about something interesting.  Summer is over... (already..?) and school is started up again.  As a junior, the stress is already building up.  SAT's and HSPA's are approaching sooner than I thought.  I've always heard that junior year is the hardest, but I never really actually thought about it.  At least I'm looking forward to finding a college that's just right for me.  Some people dread college searching, but i think its kind of fun!  If only we could just leave out all the testing.  Other than that, my summer was an average teenager's summer. I got to sleep in late, hang out with my friends, go to the beach, Dorney Park, and even some concerts!  So in the end i guess i had a great summer, i just wish it was a little longer!