Final

I took a different approach for my final. I've always been interested in documentary/photojournalism and decided that is how I wanted to shoot for my final project. I imagined that I was shooting for a newspaper. As commanded by Prof. Slade, if we had access to something cool, photograph it. And that is exactly what I did.

I've been attending air shows for as long as I can remember. My family would go mainly because my dad and my war veteren Great-Grandpa were obsessed with planes. I also have become slightly obsessed with them, too. My Great-Grandpa passed away two years ago, and every time I attend an air show, it is mostly in memory of him. That is my reason for going. The last two air shows were different - I wanted to know why other people were there. What brings so many people to these air shows? My reasoning has always been personal, but what about others? Is it because of family connections, obsession of planes, or pure patriotism? I was surprised to find many different stories at these air shows. It is amazing what stories you can find if you take the time to look around you.

Introducing the all mighty Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds will show up many times in this project because they were simply my Great-Grandpa's favorite planes to watch. I bet he got the best seat in heaven to watch these shows. One of the most fun tasks for me was to figure out how to make a plane look good while in the air. A lot of my pictures looked like the planes were toys floating space, but I finally figured out how to make them look like they were in action.

Spend a minute to take in the size of this plane. This is a hanger plane, meaning that it's sole purpose is to transport cargo. It is absolutely enormous. Also, this is one of the planes that my Great-Grandpa flew during his time in WWII. I was lucky enough to meet one of the current pilots of these beautiful cargo planes. We spent awhile talking about the plane and what got him started in flying. I found out his grandfather also was a pilot, which sparked his interest. How very interesting, indeed.

Just one of the many breath-taking maneuvers that the Thunderbirds can perform. Can you imagine the skill and preciseness the pilots need to complete this without hitting into each other? I cannot imagine the thrill these pilots experience. 

I met this young man while I was searching for some pilots to snap pictures of. He said that my camera was pretty cool and said that with my lens, I would be able to zoom in on the top of this building to see some snipers that were hiding out. I did, and sure enough - there were about five snipers up there. It didn't last long, because I didn't want to get sniped myself. I found out this young man, named Nick, has dreams of becoming a Thunderbirds pilot. He wants to attend the aviary program at UVU once he gets back from his mission. 

One of the best things during air shows are the parade of pilots. I was humbled to see how much respect and regard that the crowd held for these individuals. Some of the most enthusiastic crowd members were the youngest. Made my heart proud.

During air shows, many tributes are made to those who have lost their lives by serving our country. It is always touching to see the various reactions in the crowd. This particular man had been wiping tears for a good minute before I snapped this picture. It was obviously a very personal moment for him, and I can almost feel his pain by looking at this picture. 

Another show I attended featured the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, which are very similar to the Thunderbirds, but different enough that it is worth it to see both shows. I met this young man while he was walking around with his Boy Scout troop selling program guides. I stopped him for a bit and asked him if he had seen his favorite plane yet. He said no, but he really loved everything so far. I asked him what his favorite plane was, and he immediately said, "Blue Angels!" He pointed to their picture on the program guide and wouldn't stop talking about them. Luckily enough, I was able to capture the same Blue Angels plane formation shown on the cover later that day. 

Assignment #7 - Diptych

These images have very special meaning to me and my husband. The image on the left is a night time image of Seven Peaks Waterpark, which is the place where I met my husband. I was actually his boss, and I like to throw that in whenever I get that chance. Anyway, that is where we got to know each other the most and will always have a very special place in our hearts. The second image is actually right across from Seven Peaks, and right by that tree is where my husband and I shared our very first kiss. Awwww, right?As you can see, both of my images were taken at night instead of just one. This was on purpose and I chose to do it that way because 1) We both worked late hours at Seven Peaks and night time is when we got to leave together, and 2) we had our first kiss in the dark, during the night time by that tree. Very fitting. I really enjoyed this assignment because I got to experiment with bracketing in the dark! It was very fun to see how certain elements turned out, such as lights, skies, clouds, and wind. I accidentally got a motorcycle light trail in my second image, but I personally think it looks pretty cool.

Assignment #6 - Black and White Portraiture

Crooked nose

Last time we see her before she leaves for Florida

BLESSED

From the last portraiture assignment, I challenged myself to shoot people in their natural environment or somewhere they were comfortable with. I also challenged myself to shoot more people that I didn't know. That part didn't work out so well, as I ended up shooting two of my sister-in-laws (sisters-in-law?), however, I arranged a photo shoot with a girl that I had never met before. Her name is Al Fox, and she is basically a local LDS celeb. She speaks all around northern Utah at firesides, has created many outstanding videos about the gospel, and has even been asked to be in a Mormon Messages video. She is really amazing. I was very intimidated at first and was super nervous to meet her. But turns out that she is one of the nicest, funniest, most easy going person I have ever met! We got along fabulously and we had a blast doing the shoot! She has quite the story to tell, and I'm glad that I got to capture it.
As far as the black and white conversion goes, I definitely need more practice! As much time as I spent trying to tweak every little thing on each pictures, I still don't feel completely satisfied on the B&W conversion. But it was definitely a learning experience! Can't wait for more practice.

Black and White Conversion

Color

B&W Attempt #1

New B&W!

Assignment #5 - Color Portraiture

The anti-hipster

The bald man

Having never done actual portraiture before, this assignment was very fun and not as easy as I thought it would be. First of all, models don't hold still, like inanimate objects do, and so I got a lot of blurry pictures. Second of all, it's harder to adjust the tripod so many times when you move locations, subjects, etc. I ended up not using the tripod for the outside shots because I liked the mobility of just the camera. It was fun getting to know my new subject, Corbin, and finding out what was unique about him. It was harder to show exactly what those unique and quirky things were about my subjects. I learned a lot and really can't wait for the next portraiture assignment.

Assignment #4 - Color Theory

Monochromatic, although I can see a slight analogous scheme with the yellows and oranges found in the first two fruits.

Analogous - purple, red, orange, yellow, and green

Complimentary color scheme

Complimentary color scheme

Monochromatic - Orange + baby carrot = baby oranges.

Complimentary color scheme. I know it doesn't fit with my food theme, but I took it this weekend and think it couldn't be more perfect for a complimentary color scheme.

This was a fun assignment for me. I have always loved color theory. I was really hoping to find more usable color schemes at the air force base that I went to this past weekend, but unfortunately for me, I could only find red, white, and blue. Weird, right? Anyway, I shot most of these indoors because I only had time to shoot at night. I had fun creating these scenes and creating a perfect light. It was challenging to find a good scene, and I reshot over and over and over again until I was satisfied. 

Assignment #3 - Low Key and High Key

Low Key

Low Key

What the camera liked

What the camera liked

High Key

What the camera liked

What the camera liked

High Key

Bracketing was really fun for me. I couldn't stop doing it because I was intrigued by the different results I got by just adjusting my shutter speed. I really love learning how to work my camera. I used a box studio light, which gave me AWESOME light by the way, and it's amazing how much a good light source affects your photography. This was much better than last assignment. I also loved learning how to recreate a story. That is the hardest part, but once you get that "a-ha" moment, all that time you spent thinking about it was instantly worth it.