I am not one who makes believes, I know the leaves are green...

Blog Post: Week of April 15th

For lack of anything else, I have decided to post a melange of photos. I do believe these are the first photos I have posted on this blog using my 50 prime, though I have certainly posted a number of photos on Facebook. Using my 50 is drastically different than using my 18-55, and I much prefer it to the latter.I feel as though I have a lot more control over how my photos turn out as the f stop range dramatically greater, thus I have greater control over the depth of field, which is arguably second to composition in the success of a photo.

Over the Spring Break and for the past few weeks, I have been experimenting with the 50 continuously, mostly outside of school. I have been trying to figure out how to compensate successfully for a wide aperture using differing shutter speeds (demonstrated in the fifth photo, will describe below). I also have been trying to experiment with how changing the aperture, white balance, shutter, etc etc. will change the look of the photo. I mostly played around with such at the beach with my Daddy and my sister (fourth photo). Finally, I have been trying to master manual focus. Admittedly, I often just rely on auto focus because it's easy and pretty risk-free; however, if I want photos to turn out exactly as I envision them, I fully understand that manual focus is imperative (which is annoying but oh well).

I hate cats, but they're kinda cool to photograph, I guess.

Simone, Cherie's sister, is incredibly photogenic. No wonder Cherie posts so many photos of this girl.

This is my friend, Buddy the crab. I think he's dead, but I love him all the same.

I used manual focus on this one and it turned out acceptably. I really like that crab. He's a magnificent subject, I'm kind of depressed that I didn't do him justice. This sort of rude, but reasonable man told my sister and me that we couldn't take photos so near to the dock. So I caught this one and had to leave in a jiffy.

I call this one "The Lonelies" lol artsy.

For this photo, I set a pretty high aperture, creating a pretty deep depth of field, in order to try to focus on both my father and the single tree atop the hill. I do not this that this photo was nearly as effective as I would've liked it to have as I was trying to manually focus, which I suck at. I also increased the shutter and decreased the ISO to try and create higher contrast and a darker atmosphere in the photo (it was an incredibly bright day). 

I fully accept the accusation that the bokeh in this one is slightly overwhelming.

For this one, I lowered the aperture, thus creating a shallower depth of field. I did such because I was at the pond and thought that it would be perfect for a light-oriented photo that highlights bokeh. AKA, I basically just really wanted a ton bokeh in a photo and this was the perfect opportunity. To compensate for the wider aperture, I upped the shutter and the ISO settings to create a surprisingly dark and grey photo considering the amount of light reflection on the pond.

A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake...

Photo # 12
Week of February the 25th

I'm not quite sure if I have to do a blog post this week considering I did one last week, but here I am. This is my blog post.

I am a black hole right now.
What happens goes in through my eyes, my ears,
and somehow ends up
somewhere else
entirely.
But it's not
my brain
or
my heart.

Like,
What am I even saying right now?
I'm a wee bit emotionally
drained.

It is probably due to the weather. Without snow, the winter is nothing. Without the sun, I am nothing. I am suffering with Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is SAD. (LOL, see what I did there?)

According to the NIH, SAD is due to the reduced amount of natural light. It affects at least half a million people every winter. Symptoms (that I have experienced) include but are not limited to:

-Feelings of emptiness, apathy
-Feelings of hopelessness
-Lethargy
-Overeating
-Irritability

Isn't it strange that the weather should cause such drastic changes in the human body? Just goes to show that we, as human beings, have an undeniable connection to nature. Why are we destroying it, I don't know.

Anyhow, other than "light therapy," which to me seems quite ineffective for the healing process for such a depression, the only cure is for the sun to come out again. Only then will I feel myself again. The summer not only does wonders for my skin (I do get quite the golden-brown during the summer daze), but I always come back to school feeling rejuvenated.

Perhaps my unhappiness could stem from my Third Quarter Blues, but I'm positive that looking out of my window in the morning and seeing gray contributes considerably. 

So, naturally, as I do whenever I am feeling overworked or stressed or depressed, I decided to bake. I made Gluten-Free Caramel Cinnamon Buns, and they turned out really well, surprisingly! They are pictured above. That photo was taken before I slathered on a healthy helping of cream cheese glaze. You can see the caramel sheen on them, though, can't you? Yumm.

As you can tell, I have definitely been overeating due to my SADness. No regrets, because these things are ridiculously good.

Do I really have Seasonal Affective Disorder? Or does the fact that I am mentally overworked at school leave me emotionally drained everywhere else? Is it the fact that I feel like no matter how hard I try, I won't get the feedback that I so desire? Or is this feeling stemming from my general unhappiness at the weather?

It is just a cycle that just keeps
building on itself.
And everything just gets bigger,
every feeling of sadness
is intensified
until all that's left
is emptiness.

Luckily, I have Cinnamon Buns to make everything better, eh?

If love can heal a broken heart, then it has to be the cure.

Video # 4
Week of February 18th

I never posted this on my blog. It's my group's 60 second film that we created while the British kids were here. We had no British kids in our video, but I think it is great all the same.

For this project, like most, I was cinematographer (as I hate being in photos or film). It was a new experience, in a way, as we used lighting to our advantage. So, instead of just using the light that we were given in a certain shot, we carried around a very hot light and manipulated it to make our shots more dynamic. I also used a tripod, which I rarely have the patience to use...Mostly because I do not film very often...Basically, I only film in Mr. Mayo's class.

Anyway. I am altogether quite proud of the shots I was able to get, though some of them are shaky. The premise of our story was pretty original and I think that we pulled it off pretty beautifully, if I do say so myself.

While in the editing room, however, we came across a couple of obstacles. After we had titled all of our clips (there were 49 of them, I believe), we put them all in order in the timeline. Everything seemed almost done until we realized that we could not put transitions between the clips, and we had zero time left. Max, John and Ian came in after school to fix the issue and finish the editing process. I am very grateful because they pulled it off wonderfully (probably a lot better than I could have, tbh). 

Do enjoy!

The future's calling and I'm going to answer...

This was one of the very first photos I took with my D40. Also, I know my sister looks at this blog, who knows why. So here's to you, Julia.

Photo # 11

Week of February the 4th

Currently, my primary concern is making Silver Chips Print (or Online) Photo Staff. My sister (pictured above) was photo editor for Silver Chips Online in her time, probably about 5 years ago. She's ancient, I know. In any case, I suppose there will always be a considerable amount of competition amongst siblings. Well, not even competition. As a younger sister, I just feel the need to not fall beneath my sister's shadow, the need to keep my ship of accomplishments level with hers. 

It may seem as though the driving, underlying, motive for my applying to Silver Chips is my frivolous need to measure up to my sister- but that is untrue. I just think being on Silver Chips, an award-winning school newspaper, may give me an edge when applying to colleges....

I hope you didn't believe that, for it is only partially true. I think it is self-evident that those applying for Silver Chips are genuinely interested in pursuing a pass-time, passion, perhaps future in an area for which Silver Chips serves an an opportunity. In my case, the pass-time is photography. I am no Tolu Omokehinde or Emma Howells or Peter Berger etc. but photography is certainly a worthwhile hobby that I would like to continue during high school.

I am almost done with my coversheet and it is almost midnight, so I bid you goodnight. Wish me luck in my endeavor! My next blog post will most likely concern my success or defeat. Stay tuned!

This Old Routine

Video # 3
Blog Post: Week of January 21st

Assignment: Independent Video Assignment, documenting MD

For this project, I worked with Andrea. We wanted to capture what our typical day was like, so the first half is at school and the second half is at her house/around her neighborhood. We both edited it.

To be quite honest, this is not one of my prouder moments in terms of the independent video assignments. I did not want to use wevideo again (as they have added their logo to all of the videos made on their site), so Andrea and I had to edit on iMovie, but we didn't have very much time together, so the editing is rather choppy. Also, a lot of the shots are quite shaky as I do not have a tripod. I would really like a tripod.

Enjoy!

This was shot with a Nikon D5100, 50mm f/1.8.

I like to eat, eat, eat.

Yes, I ate the entire fish. No regrets. #CleanPlateClub

Photo # 10
Blog Post: Week of December 31st

            Renee Heiss’ article, Flavorful Food, details the chemistry of natural and artificial compounds that contribute to the flavors found in the foods that we eat every day.  The article directly asks answers the question of “Why do foods taste the way they do?”, “Why do people have different reactions to the same food?” and “How does chemistry relate to flavors (artificial and natural)?”  Then, it goes into more detail and asks “What are Esters and where do we find them (in foods and everyday items)?”

Heiss explains that there are four factors that contribute to a food’s flavor- its texture, its color, its temperature and its aroma.  Different chemical compounds create flavors in foods; for example, chocolate is a mixture of 300 flavor compounds. Flavor chemists use a variety of chemical compounds to create artificial flavors.  By extracting the juice of an orange by removing the water in the juice, for example, flavor chemists can create an orange flavor/concentrate used in the drink mix, Tang. 

Furthermore, the article discusses esters, which are chemical compounds that create artificial aromas, formed by the chemical reaction of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid (OH).  For example, combining ethanol (an alcohol), botanic acid creates ethyl butanoate (the ester), which eventuates with a pineapple odor.

The purpose of the article as a whole was to inform readers about the foods we eat and why they taste the way they do, natural or artificial.  Most people don’t understand the chemistry behind the flavors in the foods that we eat, such as simple fruits.  The article also educates readers about the use of chemistry of artificial flavorings and aromas.  People take flavors for granted, without understanding the chemistry.

Personally, from this article, I learned a lot about the flavor profiles of the foods I use and eat every day.  I pride myself as an amateur baker/pastry chef, so understanding the chemistry of flavorful foods doesn’t change my perspective of food, but rather makes me feel better educated and self-satisfied that I understand what I am doing when I add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to a cupcake batter. 

I learned that the aroma of foods is just as important as the actual flavor of the food.  The aroma travels from a channel between the throat and the nose which strengthens the flavor of food.  I also learned that artificial and natural flavors are both chemical compounds, though most people assume that only artificial flavors are chemicals.  Artificial flavors are actually derived from chemical compounds found in plants, fruits and animals.  In addition, I learned that artificial flavors come in different forms.  So, limonene used in lemon-lime candies is different from the mix of chemical compounds in lemon-lime drinks, such as Sprite (which I drink quite often) because limonene is not soluable in water.  I also learned that when ethanol (the alcohol found in alcoholic drinks) is combined with an acid, such as the ones we learned about in class like heptanoic acid, it creates and completely new flavor and aroma.  These esters are used in both foods and the hand soaps, lotions, and perfumes that we use every day.

After reading this article, I am left with a few questions. For example, other than the natural components from an orange for example, what compounds/chemicals (unnatural or natural) are used to create artificial flavors, such as those used in Tang or in Sprite?  Also, are there chemical reactions to create different textures in a food (the article discusses both flavor and aroma)?  

First Position Review

Blog Post: Documentary Review

First Position (2011), directed by Bess Kargman, is an emotionally compelling observational documentary that sheds a new light on the youth ballet industry. Kargman manages to create a dramatic and almost inspiring story by following six young aspiring ballet dancers competing in the Youth America Grand Prix in hopes of winning scholarship money. The film shows the strains and overwhelming time commitments that young dancers and their families endure in order to pursue their dream. 

The real appeal of the documentary, to me, was the amount of depth in each different young dancer. The literary aspects of the film really got my attention. All of the different dancers, with various different life stories and point of views made the movie’s charm. Aran Bell, an American army brat, manages to dance even though he lives in Naples with his family. He travels everyday to train, maintaining an innocent friendship with an Israeli dancer, Gaya Yemini. In contrast, Joan Samora left his country, Columbia, and lives alone, with few contacts in New York while he trains. Miko Fogarty, a young girl with an overbearing dance mom, has had to completely change her lifestyle (diet, school and all) to train.

As with most dance competitions, the dancers wear extravagant and expensive costumes and make-u to appeal to the judges (dramatic aspects). The most climatic parts of the movie take place on the stage. The documentary, in other aspects, is very simple. The cinematography is nothing special and the sound effects are mostly diegetic sound.

I would recommend this movie to anyone with free time on their hands, it is not one to go out of your way for. The human interest stories of the young ballet dancers are moving, especially that of Joan Samora (it doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome). The dances are interesting, and by the end, I found myself really routing for all six dancers to win awards at the Grand Prix.