At the beginning of this school year I didn't know how to use a camera at all. I knew how to push the button to take a picture. But during this school year I was educated about cameras and how you can change some settings to effect your pictures. Some of these settings include shutter speed, depth of field, light exposure, ISO, and lens aperture. While I still struggle with the technical way to deal with these elements, I do play around with my camera and adjust how I need to get the effect I want for my photos. I am glad I took photography class because I always enjoyed photography, and now I get to do it in a more formal, more professional way. I learned that while just taking random pictures can be fun and look pretty, you can take really meaningful photos with a story behind it. There are many factors in taking good pictures. These factors are called elements of design, compositional techniques, and principles of design. In my photos I tend to use the same compositional techniques such as getting close and off centering my photos. Most of the pictures I take in my free time are of nature. This summer I have a couple goals for myself. One of my goals is to master the use of my camera, and be able to use other cameras at the drop of a hat. Another goal of mine is to try to use different subjects than just nature. I want to branch out and try different things. I also want to find my voice through my pictures and tell my story. A way I can do this is by practicing the use of the four critical methods of art making (describe, analyze, interpret and judge) on others photos and other forms of art. Then I will apply these methods to my own work so I will hopefully have more meaningful, more impactful photos.
TO BE A TRUE ARTIST, YOU SHOULD MASTER A FEW SKILLS. FOR EXAMPLE; YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO CRITIQUE ART PROPERLY. THE FIRST STEP IS DESCRIPTION. TO DESCRIBE A PICTURE YOU NEED TO LOOK AT THE MOST BASIC/OBVIOUS THINGS. I LIKE TO LIST OUT THE COLORS, SHAPES, AND SPECIFIC OBJECTS I SEE BECAUSE IT IS A QUICK EASY START. THE SECOND STEP IS TO ANALYZE. IN THIS STEP, I LIKE TO ADD DETAIL TO MY DESCRIPTION. I DO THIS BY TALKING ABOUT THE TEXTURE AND VALUE WHICH COULD SET THE POSSIBLE TONE OF THE ART. AN EXAMPLE IS IF HAS MORE OF A DARKER SHADE TO THE PICTURE THEN IT WOULD MOST LIKELY BE A MORE SERIOUS/SAD TONE. ANOTHER WAY I ADD TO THE DESCRIPTION IS IF THERE ARE PEOPLE, I LIKE TO WRITE ABOUT WHAT THE ART IS SHOWING ME ABOUT THEIR EMOTIONS. THE THIRD STEP IS TO INTERPRET. I LIKE THIS STEP THE BEST. THERE IS NO "RIGHT WAY" TO INTERPRET ART. AN ARTIST DOES NOT LIMIT ONESELF TO THE INTERPRETATION. SOME WAYS YOU CAN INTERPRET IT IS BY EMPHASIS. BY EMPHASIZING SOMETHING, YOU DRAW ATTENTION TO IT, MOST LIKELY MAKING IT THE MAIN THING THE ART IS ABOUT. ANOTHER WAY YOU CAN INTERPRET ART IS BY LOOKING TO SEE IF THERE IS SOME SORT OF PATTERN. PATTERN CAN GO ALONG WITH EMPHASIS BECAUSE THEY BOTH DRAW YOUR EYE TO SOMETHING. ARTISTS TEND TO USE PATTERN TO MAKE YOU THINK. AT FIRST YOU MIGHT NOT THINK IT IS IMPORTANT, BUT ONCE YOU FINISH THE FOUR STEPS OF CRITIQUING, YOU MAY REALIZE THAT WAY THE BIG MAIN IDEA OF THE ARTWORK. THE FINAL STEP IS EVALUATION. THIS FINAL STEP IS LIMITLESS BECAUSE YOU ARE BASICALLY FORMING YOUR OWN OPINION ON THE ART. YOU ARE NOT ALWAYS GOING TO LIKE EVERY PAINTING, AND THAT'S OKAY, WE AS ARTISTS NEED TO LEARN TO ACCEPT THAT NOT EVERYONE WILL LIKE WHAT WE DO. SO YOU JUST NEED TO JUDGE THE WORK AND ASK YOURSELF, "IS THE ART EVEN GOOD OR NOT". IF WE WANT TO BE ARTISTS WE NEED TO LEARN TO JUDGE ART AS WELL AS DESCRIBE, ANALYZE, AND INTERPRET IT.
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