Chibi-Photos

I have long since graduated and decided to check this dA cuz I guess I kinda sorta abandoned it ... but anyway. Done with High school. was gonna attempt college but then I didn't get financial aid and stuff in time >fail boat< Aaaaaaaaaaand then now I has a job. I babysit three little kids , a 1 year old, a 4 year old, and a 10 year old. they love me so it's a good job =] anyway. imma go now.. cuz idk what else to type lol.

My presentation thingy for school that required that long paper in my last journal?

I passed! X3

yay.

go me.

but i didn't graduate yet...

boo me.

I'm sorry it's so long, but this was the required essay portion of the project for school.. I hope this has some good information for people in it.. If I have the time to do so, I'll put up little journals for each thing by itself..? Maybe.. I don't know at the moment

What skills do I need to become a professional photographer?
When I first started this essay, I already knew a lot about cameras. For example, when I'm with my friends and I have my camera. I pose them in all sorts of ways. I know when to use the flash and when not to use the flash. Knowing this allows me to capture the moment anytime, even at night. (Though there are also night view attachments for some cameras.) I also know that if a picture doesn't turn out right, there are ways to edit or fix it so it turns out possibly better than the original photo. To do this, you need some sort of program like HP Photosmart Premier or Adobe Photoshop. There are lots to choose from. These programs let me take a picture from my camera and "fix" it or edit it. I can do anything from cropping the picture or add things that didn't exist before in the original picture. I can also take something in the picture and make it disappear or stand out more.  It all depends on how I'm feeling when I decide to edit a picture, or how my friends ask me to edit it. I also know how to take videos with cameras, if the camera has the ability to do so, and I am pretty good at how to edit the clips together into a movie. While I seem to know a lot about cameras and taking pictures, there is still a lot I don't know and want to learn about.
I chose this topic for many reasons. One of the main reasons is my friends. I love my friends and they are always willing to let me take pictures of them. They have as much fun posing for pictures as I do taking them. After we're done taking pictures, they usually take the pictures that were taken and upload them to their Myspaces, and if they have them, their deviantART accounts. (For those that know, deviantART is an online website for people to upload and share their art, pictures, or writings.) We also occasionally make random videos that we put up onto our YouTubes, though most are pretty random. They always give credit to me if I take the picture and sometimes I get asked to take more. Another reason for choosing this topic is my dad. He bought me my first camera for Christmas one year and it was one of those little disposable ones. I remember running around taking pictures of everything until it was full. My dad also took me with him once to a place called Cape Flattery and he let me use one of his cameras, because he had two, and he said I could take pictures of anything. I was kind of surprised at how much I enjoyed it and also at the fact that I was kind of good at it as well. Eventually, I guess had bothered my dad enough about letting me use his camera; he bought me my own camera for my birthday a few years ago. Now I take it with me everywhere. Another reason why I chose this topic is because of the simple fact that I enjoy taking pictures. It is fun and a great hobby that I can use when I'm bored or want something to do, and it also can make people like my friends happy. All in all, I guess I decided to choose the topic of photography because it is something that I love to do.
The summer before my junior year, I had received a Fujifilm Finepix Z digital camera for my birthday. My father was the one who had given it to me because I had expressed an interest in the art of photography and had always borrowed his camera to explore it. After learning how the camera worked, I carried it around everywhere, and still do today as well. I took pictures of the skies outside, the ocean at the graveyard, my cats, my friends, my family, everything. It was entertaining because once I got the hang of that camera, it became more fun and something I did pretty much daily. My friends and I took pictures and made random videos all summer almost, and we still do this now.
Around December of my junior year, we started working on the Senior Culminating Project. I must express that as much as I love photography, it is not the only thing I can and like to do. Aside from taking pictures and videos, I write poetry, create art and explore the wonderful world of music by playing the clarinet, piano, and vocalization. For this project, you pick a question you're interested in and do the whole thing based off this question. I took the things I was good at and decided this project would work better on Photography. So I asked the question: "What skills and abilities do I need to become a professional photography?"
I realize that there is a lot that I don't know about photography. So much that I probably wouldn't be able to learn every little thing over the course of this project. Having only worked with few cameras, I don't really know much about stuff like different lenses to use or when to use them. I decided to start there. First of all, there are multiple types of lenses you can use. Of course there are the normal ones that you use when you buy the camera itself. According to www.photography.com, these are some of the lenses you can find, and what they do. This website says, "Although some will take landscape shots with telephoto lenses, most photographers opt for the wide-angle lens" (photography.com).  Wide-Angle Lenses have a wider peripheral vision than human sight.  They are better for things like landscape photos and are considered more preferred of the landscape camera lenses. This kind of lens has the ability to focus on both the foreground and background at the same time. These are better for larger, more dynamic, eye-catching landscapes. The website, www.photography.com also says that photographers should avoid using wide-angle lenses if they are focusing on single, distinct details.
Another lens you can get is a zoom lens. Zoom lenses let you widen or shorten the focal length of the lens. The website, www.photography.com says, "This feature makes the zoom lens a popular camera accessory in many types of photography, ranging from landscape to portrait photography" (photography.com). There are two types of zoom lenses. One type is the Optical zoom lens, which magnifies an image. Then the other type is a Digital zoom lens, which crops an image when the maximum zoom has been reached. Digital zoom lenses though, usually result in a picture with poor quality caused by a lower resolution. Optical zoom lenses tend to create photos with better quality than digital zoom lenses. Telephoto lenses are similar to Zoom lenses, but there is a difference. Zoom lenses enlarge and magnify images. Telephoto lenses make the object appear to be closer to the photographer. This effect makes the distance between the photographer and the object being photographed seem closer than they really are. These lenses show more detail from a distance than a human eye can see.
Fixed focal length camera lenses are "permanent, non-adjustable lens found on some low to mid-range quality cameras" (photography.com). These lenses can often double as wide-angle lenses, only these usually work better for low-light photos. Fixed focal length camera lenses are good for beginner photographers. They can help them learn the art of photography. The lack of zoom causes them to create more general thought to basic photo composition to make a good shot. If new photographers were to choose a fixed focal length lens, they could learn the basics of quality photography quicker.
A lens that seems particularly interesting to me is a fisheye lens. Fisheye lenses "distort the subject image, producing photos with curved and convex appearances" (photography.com). Fisheye lenses were created originally for astronomy photographers who sought to capture as much sky in a picture as possible. Fisheye lenses are more popular today within landscape photographers. The fisheye lens distorts the curves of horizons and shows more hints at the curve of the earth. If a portrait is taken of a person, it is almost as if you're looking through the peephole of a door. Macro lenses are used to take close up shots of objects. The short focal length lets the user take shots at a close distance without distorting the final image which turns out as large as or larger than the subject. Macro lenses were originally an extension tube for cameras. With today's cameras, they're often created with a macro setting, which has the same purpose of a macro lens. These settings or lenses are used mainly for increasing the size of details in already small objects, like the ripples on water or the morning dew on a flower petal. Those are a few different lenses mentioned on www.photography.com but now I want to talk about how to profit from photography.
Michael Russell says "There are ways for an amateur photographer to get recognition and financial reward and that's by selling photographs" (Ezine). Magazines are good places to submit photos, and company or areal magazines are usually glad to accept submissions of color transparencies or prints or even black and white photos. In doing this, you can receive a line of credit with your name or a check for some odd number of money as payment. A good thing to do would be to find a way to talk to someone that publishes the magazines and get a copy of photo submission guidelines. Michael Russell also says "The most valuable source for finding publications that buy photographs is Photographer's Market, a book that is updated and published annually by Writer's Digest Books" (Ezine). This book details multiple publications with information like contact information, photo types, payment rates, and photo editors or art directors to submit photos. These books can be found at public libraries or local bookstores. It's a good idea to use most recent copies of this book because picture requirements can change over time and based on publications. Editorial photos do not sell for as much as photos for advertisement. Advertising photos require a model release sign or even a property release form so that the photographer may use their photos of the model or building and not get in any trouble or have any consequences. These forms can usually be bought at camera stores and once you get them, they should be stored somewhere like your camera bag so that they're always on hand. "One of the best publications with down to earth advice is the ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, 6th edition, published by the American Society of Media Photographers, Inc." (Ezine). You can get these books at some bookstores and then camera stores, or if not there, then directly from ASMP. Of course, none of this can matter if your photos aren't good.
Special effects can enhance an image and produce a possibly better photo. One special effect is something called a "starbust." "Starbust and diffraction attachments are colorless glass or plastic disks which work by breaking up the light. Commercial photographers use starbust attachments to give glamorous, theatrical effects on subjects that contain small, but intense light sources" (Langford 50). Kaleidoscopes are also good for special effects. "A Kaleidoscope is a very old optical toy for forming symmetrical patterns from bright-colored objects. It consists of a triangular-shaped tube of mirrors which you look down, while pointing it towards some simple, colorful scene" (Langford 58).  Langford also goes on to say that the first serious use of a kaleidoscope in photography was done so by some "Cubist-influenced Vorticist artists like A. L. Coburn"(Langford 58). You could use these to get an effect in a photo that you would get by looking through the kaleidoscope. In another book, Special Effects Photography, by Kathryn E. Livingston, she also talks about the different types of special effects used by different artists in photography.
In this book, Livingston talks about and shows the different styles of eight different photographers. One of the photographers she talks about is Michael de Camp. "Though his photographs communicate an aura of surrealism, his "special" effects are generally created without artificial means; the images themselves do the manipulating, altering the viewer's sense of perspective and scale" (Livingston 34).  On page 39 of this book, it shows a photo taken by De Camp. This picture shows two doors on top of a still pond, along with a cut out of a man floating near.  "Standing knee deep in water with his Nikon F and 24mm lens, de Camp captured the mysterious serenity of the objects—and of the place" (Livingston 39).
In an interview with Danny E., he stated that one skill that one would need to be a professional photographer would be"the ability to take different types of photographs, like portraits versus landscapes, animals versus people, and indoor versus outdoor" (Interview 1). He also recommended the book Art of Outdoor Photography Techniques for the Advanced Amateur and Professional by Boyd Norton. One thing that Boyd Norton says in his book is to look down. "Look down! So many potentially great photographic subjects are those things we often ignore and trample underfoot" (Norton 15). He also states to look up, because often, there can be amazing photo opportunities wafting around in the sky, such as the sun or the flow of the clouds. Danny E. also recommended the book Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography by Jeff Smith. Smith says "Portrait lenses offer a solution to an age-old dilemma: how can a two-dimensional canvas (or in our case, a piece of photographic paper), record a third dimension?" (Smith 15). For most portraits there is a foreground that leads to the subject, the subject is in critical focus and then the background recedes away from the subject, bit by bit. "While the depth of field produced by a normal lens is too great to capture the relative changes in distance from the foreground to background, a portrait lens records the elements in a composition differently" (Smith 15). Portrait lenses make the elements so they are completely out of focus near the camera and as they approach the subject, progressively sharper.  
Along with the books recommended by Danny E. in my first interview, Ski Jones from my second interview recommended two books as well. When asked what books or websites he believed would be of some use to me for this project, he said to try one or two of the Life Library of Photography series books and see if those were any help (Interview 2). In The Art of Photography, it shows multiple pictures and little blurbs about what the photographer did to get the shot or why they chose said shot (as do all of the books in the  Life Library series). On page 122 of this book, there is a photo by Thomas Brown of a table set with two little bottles, (probably salt and pepper), with two chairs and two windows.  "It was the muted quality of the light that first caught Thomas Brown's eye and led him to make this picture. In what he calls the "long moment" that the kitchen scene represents, everything is in static balance, at rest and with no hint of impending movement" (Art of Photography 122). I thought this was a good little blurb because you can tell that the photographer is probably intelligent and also has the capability to think deeply to produce a great photo.
In another Life Library book, Photographing Nature, I found a spot on photographing birds. Having tried taking a good picture of a bird in flight myself, I know that it is not that easy. "Of all nature subjects, birds are among the most tantalizing—and satisfying—for the field photographer. Their habitats range from back yards to remote ice caps" (Photographing Nature 56).  It also mentions that birds are repetitive and will often repeat things multiple times in a recognizable pattern. "Flying birds put the field photographer to the ultimate test. Aiming, focusing and finding the right exposure in the split second of a mid-flight picture take a degree of skill and dexterity that comes only with practice" (Photographing Nature 62). Taking pictures of birds flying back and forth from an accustomed place like a nest, birdbath, or feeder, is a good way for a beginner to start. If using a tripod to attempt photos of flying birds, a photographer can use the tripod with one leg extended, therefore giving the photographer the ability to swing the camera in the same manner as the bird flying, to follow it so when the bird comes into focus, you can get a good shot. Practice and patience will help to learn and get techniques such as these down and on the way to becoming professional in no time.
When I began this project, I knew the basics of photography. Now that this project is drawing to a close, I feel that I do know a significant amount more than I did starting this. What I learned over the course of this project was multiple things, such as different techniques to get good photos, like using starbursts and kaleidoscopes. How to take different types of photos, like portraits or landscapes, the different types of lenses there are in photography. Also how one would go about selling or marketing their photography. I personally believe that I have, for the most part, answered my essential question, "What skills do I need to become a professional photographer?" If any friends of mine that ask or if anyone on deviantART asks, I will most likely share this information to help them.  Photography is something that I greatly enjoy but not the only thing, as I have stated previously. I will more than likely use this information in the future, as I do intend to continue in my learning of the art of photography, though I don't think that is all I am going to do. Rather than continue down the photography path, I will probably also take another path to a different type of art, such as music or mangaka, (one who creates Japanese style comics, also known as manga). This research project has taught me a lot, and I hope I can further my knowledge on this subject sometime down the road.


Works Cited

"Photography For Profit." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. <ezinearticles.com/?Photography…>.
E, Danny. "Photography Interview 1." Telephone interview. 12 Oct. 2009.
Jones, Ski. "Photography Interview 1." Personal interview. 13 Oct. 2009.
Langford, Michael John. Book of special effects photography. New York: Knopf, Distributed by Random House, 1981. Print.
Life, Time. Photographing Nature. New York: Time Life+ Books Inc, 1972. Print.
Life, Time. The Art of Photography. New York: Time Life+Books Inc., 1972. Print.
Livingston, Kathryn. Special Effects Photography. New York: Watson-Guptill Pubns, 1985. Print.
Norton, Boyd. The Art of Outdoor Photography Techniques for the Advanced Amateur and Professional. New York: Voyageur, 2002. Print.
Photography.com. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. <www.photography.com/articles/t…>.
Smith, Jeff. Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography. Buffalo: Amherst Media, Inc., 2002. Print.

I don't have a lot up, I need to upload more.

So I made this dA account for my senior project for school and I have to include things on here that help other people, so I have to put information that I learned from my project on here so other people can possibly learn from my research as well... so I'm going to write some stuff up on here^^ Comments are appreciated^^

I will upload more soon, I have to find my paper T^T

This account is going to be used for my photography, mainly, i guess.

my other account is and i have a lot on there too soooo yea^^ I'll upload stuff soon.

^^

~Mo~