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Final Reflection

1)  What was the most challenging aspect of completing your project, and why? (This might be technical aspects, time constraints, problems that arose, etc.—be honest, this is your space to reflect!)

The most challenging aspect was finding the time to go on photoshoots that worked well for both me and my friends as well as finding time to edit the photos near the end of the semester. Since my project involved having college students act as models, I had to communicate with my friends to organize times for photoshoots. This became more difficult towards the middle of the semester with different mid-term exam schedules especially if I wanted to arrange an off-campus trip to DC which would be more time consuming. I also learned the basics of PhotoShop for the first time this semester so I had to take time to watch YouTube tutorials on more advanced PhotoShop skills and these skills were difficult to master as a beginner.

2)  Looking at your learning agreement(s) on ELMS, how do you think you succeeded (or not) in completing your Learning Objectives? Which ones did you fulfill? Which ones did you not fulfill? Why?

I think I succeeded in completing all of my learning objectives. I did learn how to balance ISO, shutter speed and aperture since I watched tutorial videos online and also had the benefit of being in the photography workshop class which gave me more time to practice using my camera.  I took a variety of shots in creative poses that caught the attention of the audience by using accessories and inspiration from fashion photos on social media as well as on fashion blogs. I also like the photos I took in the Clarice and ESJ building where the backgrounds appeared more modern and enhanced the quality of the photos. Lastly, I became familiar with using Photoshop after watching YouTube tutorials and editing my nature landscape photos for the photography workshop as well as editing the fashion photography ones.

3) What were the most helpful aspects of the (semi) weekly class meetings? What would you like to see added or subtracted for next year?

The most helpful aspects of the weekly class meetings involved presenting on the progress of the projects and explaining the importance of the project. Creating PowerPoints for the First Look and Second Look presentations motivated me to stay on track with my time-line so that I had something sufficient to present for each assignment. It was also interesting to watch other students’ presentations and see the progress that they made from the First Look to the Second Look presentation. It was helpful when we did an exercise on describing who our target audience was, what value our project contained and the emotions that we wanted to provoke from our project. This made me think more deeply about my purpose and inspiration in choosing a fashion photography project and how I wanted to express the diversity of fashion styles as well as the beauty in fashion photography.

4) What part of the project were you most proud of? Why?

I was most proud of the photos that I took during my last few photoshoots. I definitely felt more confident directing my friends and finding creative poses or settings to capture near the end of the semester so the photos for the last shoots turned out the best. Since I arranged my photos in the order of earliest to most recent photoshoots, I could see the overall growth in my photography skills. This was also one of my main personal goals for the capstone project so I’m glad to have achieved it.

5) What part of the project would you have changed if you could? Why?

I would have liked to arrange one-on-one photoshoots in the beginning of the semester so that I had a greater variety of photos to choose from. It was difficult to conduct photoshoots with many people at once since I didn’t want to take too much time with one person and as a result, the poses weren’t that creative and I didn’t like many of the photos. I also planned on having the printed photos be 5in by 7in rather than 4in by 6in to show more of the details in the clothing and accessories, especially in the full-body photos where there was a lot going on. Although 5in by 7in photos were much more expensive to print for the small difference in size. If I had the time, I would have added frames for each of the photos as well to create a more professional look.

6)  If you had to offer advice to next year’s Capstone students, what would it be?

First, I would tell them to choose a capstone project that they’re truly interested in. Since the project is spread out over a semester, it’s easy and common for students to push the project off but if someone enjoyed the process of creating the project, then it’s more likely to be completed on time and in better quality. It’s also important to follow through with the time-line you constructed in the beginning of the semester as well as you can, unless you change a significant part of the project. By working on the project every week or every other week, you won’t run into situations where an obstacle could prevent you from completing it. Instead, you would have the time to find a way around it or change your project slightly so that it still resembles an idea you like and can be proud of.

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Capstone Agreement Form

CPSA 250: College Park Arts Scholars Capstone: Solo Project, Spring 2018

Name: Kelsy Song

Email: ksong1@terpmail.umd.edu

Advisor: Montse

Weekly Meeting Time: Friday 2:20pm

Purpose/Mission Statement: I hope to learn more about controlling the manual settings on my Nikon D3400 camera so that I can take photographs with purpose. I also hope to gain photography editing skills. The end result of my project will be a poster board organized with the fashion photography photos I take over the semester. The beginning photos will be taken with the “Auto” function and then the following photos will be taken with manual settings. The photos in the end will be edited using Photoshop to display the clothes in a better manner. My goal is to show my growth in photography skills over the semester in the slideshow as I research articles and learn more about specific tips from the CPSA201 photography workshop.

Learning Objectives:

·     Learn how to balance ISO, shutter speed, and aperture when taking photos

·     Take a variety of shots in creative poses that can provoke reactions and or grab the attention of the audience

·     Become familiar with using Photoshop to edit photos

Workshop Process:

To complete my project, I have to research the concept of fashion photography and research how to take photos that portray clothing in the most attractive way. I’ll also need to research famous and successful fashion photographers to learn about their processes and read their advice on how to take the best photographs. Once I understand the concepts and steps on how to take the photos, I’ll need to learn photo editing skills and find accessible websites. I’ll take the steps of researching photography skills for my Nikon D3400 camera, going on photoshoots, learning how to use Photoshop, and editing photos. I’ll present my work with a poster board with my fashion photographs at Arts Fest. I’ll also have a list of steps and tips that I found helpful in learning about fashion photography to demonstrate my thought process throughout working on the project.

I’ll document my work by uploading pictures from popular fashion photographers and fashion clothing photos that inspire me on my CPSA Tumblr account. I’ll also upload a few pictures from each of my photoshoots onto Tumblr to mark my growth as I develop photography taking skills and editing skills.

Resources:

·     Photoshop and or other photography editing websites

·     Fashion magazines

·     Poster board

·     Possibly another SanDisk memory card

Project Timeline:

·     Meet with my advisor and review my Learning Agreement - 2/2

·     Find creative fashion photography photos with concepts that I want to incorporate in my photography and go on my first photoshoot using the “Auto” function - 2/3

·     Research fashion photography more deeply and find professional photographers that inspire me - 2/5 to 2/11

·     Learn about the processes of other fashion photographers, update my process binder -2/12 to 2/18

·     Turn in the revised copy of my Learning Agreement – 2/14

·     Watch videos and or read articles on settings for my Nikon D3400 camera and organize my previous research more formally on a Word Document, update my process binder – 2/19 to 2/25

·     Present a 2-minute presentation of my capstone project, exchange Critical Response Feedback with a partner and record it in my process binder - 2/21

·     Go on my second photoshoot using the “Auto” function – 3/3

·     Go on my third photoshoot using manual settings – 3/10

·     Watch videos and or read articles on how to use Photoshop, update my process binder – 3/12 to 3/18

·     Meet with my advisor and review my progress – 3/14 to 3/29

·     Go on my fourth and fifth photoshoot using manual settings – 3/17 to 3/23

·     Begin editing photos from the fourth and fifth photoshoots using Photoshop – 3/24 to 4/1

·     Present a 2-minute presentation of my capstone project since the first presentation – 4/11

·     Continue editing photos from previous photoshoots using Photoshop - 4/2 -4/15

·     Order photos from Shutterfly or another reliable website – 4/16

·     Develop final list of steps and plan the final arrangements of the photos– 4/17 to 4/26

·     Present my project at ArtsFest – 4/28

·     Meet with my advisor for the final faculty advising meeting – 5/2 to 5/9

·     Present my project at the Academic Showcase – 5/4

·     Turn in Final Advisor Conference Reflection – 5/14

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I saw the new Avengers movie, Infinity War, this past Friday at the Regal Hyattsville movie theater. Since the movie had just came out, the theater was extremely crowded but that was expected. This movie featured many popular Marvel characters, serving as a finale for all the previous movies and every scene was engaging to watch. The audience was particularly active as well. People would clap and cheer when certain marvel characters came on screen such as Captain America and Spider-Man and then laugh at remarks made by Tony Stark. The audience felt like a community during the movie as we all felt similar emotions during the action scenes and the ending.

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CPSA250: Conference Report

NAME: Kelsy Song

ADVISOR: Montse

MEETING DATE & TIME: April 5th, 4:10pm

In 3-4 sentences, please describe what was discussed during your meeting.

During the meeting, the progress of my capstone, the arrangement of my photos for Arts Fest/Academic Showcase, and the editing of my photos was discussed. According to the timeline that I created in my final learning agreement, I’m currently on track for finishing the project a few days before Arts Fest. I have 30 photos although I’ll most likely cut it down to 24 photos and I’ll print them from CVS using the 60-minute option in the 5in by 7in size. I might construct frames for each photo if I have time and if not, then I’ll display them on a panel simply in the order of least recent photoshoot to most recent photoshoot to show my personal growth in photography. I’ll only edit 5-6 of the photos with Photoshop and focus on increasing the contrast, vibrancy and clarity of the images. I’ll also crop certain images rather than edit out backgrounds to save time and play around with the color balance in the photo. 

In 3-4 sentences, please explain what the next steps you will take with your project will be.

I plan to finish selecting the final photos and finish editing with Photoshop by April 13th and then print them on April 14th. Then I’ll finalize the descriptions for each of the photos (clothing item – store bought from) and print it out on April 15th. Next, I’ll work on creating an artist statement to describe my project and what I hope to gain from it. I’ll include the steps I took to improve my photography skills regarding fashion photography such as moving from manual settings to auto settings and speeding up the shutter speed to capture the movement of hair blowing or someone jumping. 

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Photos from a photoshoot done this past weekend in ESJ. I liked the modern architecture incorporated within the building and thought it would serve as good settings for fashion photography. Next, I’m going to start narrowing down my favorites and begin editing some of the photos with photoshop.

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I recently painted five canvases for my sorority little, incorporating her favorite colors of pink and blue. I looked up canvas ideas on google to gain inspiration from the various patterns and quotes. I also used my previous idea of writing the words in sharpie since the tip is more fine and I could write the quotes quicker while helping it look neater. I drew and cut out circles and then placed them on the canvas so I could more smoothly draw/paint the circle around on the top left and top right canvas. I used tape on the top middle canvas to create the distinct lines. Overall, painting these canvases was therapeutic and I’m happy with how these turned out compared to how they looked when I originally started.

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Some new photos from a photoshoot at a friend’s house. I also just downloaded Photoshop so I’ll start working on it soon to learn how to make the photos look more professional.

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Inspiration for possible poses for future photoshoots. It looks natural enough that it shouldn’t be too hard for my models to incorporate and the addition of motion will help my photos appear more interesting and creative.

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Some favorite photos from a photoshoot in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

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Some favorite photos from a photoshoot around Jimenez Hall and McKeldin Mall.

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I attended the arts scholar coffeehouse on Friday. This was the last coffeehouse that I planned as part of the Arts Advisory Board and had the theme of St. Patrick’s Day. We painted paper green and cut out shamrocks from them to put on the walls. We also painted a backdrop for a photobooth, planned which St. Patrick’s day props to include, put up tinsel decorations and blew up green balloons. Succulents were also ordered with the plan of selling them for $3 each. It was fun planning these events as well as listening to both arts scholars and non scholars students perform at coffeehouse.

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Critical Response Feedback

I analyzed Lily Huang’s First-look presentation using the Critical Response Method and she analyzed my First-look presentation with the same method. It was encouraging to hear someone else’s opinion on my photos and listen to what she liked about it as well as the fact that she could already see the improvement in my photoshoots. The suggestions were also helpful in providing inspiration for other background settings to use.

 Me analyzing Lily’s presentation 

Audience states things they notice about the art:

·      The backgrounds are brightly colored and filled with detail – looks good!

·      The names of the locations on the map are cute and I like the idea of making the story backgrounds and location names more child-like

Artist asks questions:

·      Do you get the sense of a fantasy with the drawings of these backgrounds?

·      Do you think we should be cutting off the story later? Or is the prologue a good length of the story to animate?

·      What kind of music are you imagining when you think of these scenes? Especially with the desert.

Audience asks neutral questions:

·      What types of animation does your inspired youtuber make? Is it similar to the type you’re looking to produce for your project?

·      Could I hear more about the plot of the story with the two main characters?

·      Are there going to be climaxes in the animation prologue? Or is the animation mainly going to be cheerful?

Audience offers opinions and artist chooses on whether or not to hear the opinion:

·      It would be interesting to see the characters achieving their goal of finding the dragon, Chimo, at the end of the animation rather than stopping at the prologue

·      It might be easier to interpret the animation with the inclusion of some text to indicate the location of the scenes and what’s currently happening

  Lily analyzing my presentation

Audience states things they notice about the art: 

·      She said she could see the improvement with each photoshoot even though it’s just the beginning

·      She likes the lighting of the photos – looks artistic

·      She can definitely see the influence from the fashion magazines in my photos – from the way my models are posed

 Artist asks questions:

·      Do you think I should incorporate a common theme with my photoshoots? Or should each photoshoot be different to represent the varieties in fashion?

·      Do you think all the photos should be the same size? Around how many photos do you think is sufficient for my project?

·      Do you think printing the photos out and arranging them on a poster board is the best way to show off my project? Is there another method you have in mind? 

Audience asks neutral questions:

·      Have you done fashion photography in the past? Or anything related?

·      Is it different from taking photos on your phone?

·      What other kinds of settings are you thinking about posing your models in?

·      Do you ask your friends to wear something that they think is fashionable or do you have a bigger role in planning the outfits?

Audience offers opinions and artist chooses on whether or not to hear the opinion:

·      If you want a magazine cover look, you’ll need to use Photoshop to adjust the levels of each photo and adjust the lighting

·      You could try posing them more dynamically and be more creative with background settings of the photos

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A collage of some of my favorite photos from my last photoshoot in DC (National Cathedral). For my next one, I’m going to start using manual settings and I also plan on incorporating motion in the shots to create emotion and fill the photos with more energy.

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Yesterday, I attended a lunar banquet hosted by the Chinese Student Association at the Stamp Colony Ballroom. It was held in honor of Chinese New Year and it was great to watch performances from various clubs at UMD that related to Chinese culture. The picture above is the final pose of the martial arts group, Terp Wushu and watching the performance reminded me of the days in which I did Chinese martial arts back when I was in middle school. Other groups that performed included the Tianyi Dance Team and the G-Girls and the Wasabi Boyz. There was even Chinese singing and Chinese instruments played near the end of the banquet.

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Advising Form 1

CPSA250:

Conference Report

 NAME: Kelsy Song

ADVISOR: Montse

MEETING DATE & TIME: Bel Air Office, February 2nd

 In 3-4 sentences, please describe what was discussed during your meeting.

 We discussed the timeline of my project with the different photoshoots as well as the presentation of the project. It was agreed that learning how to effectively use Photoshop and editing photos with Photoshop would be time consuming so only a few photos should be selected to be edited. Also, in order for my growth of photography to be properly analyzed, the models in my photos should be consistent for each photoshoot and the background should be fairly similar. The photos were suggested to be printed out rather than shown on a laptop so that it would be easier for people to view although that cuts the timeline even shorter since the photos will take time to ship from whichever company I decide to order from.

 In 3-4 sentences, please explain what the next steps you will take with your project

will be.

 I will continue with my timeline of five photoshoots, with two of them using the Auto function and three of them using manual settings. Although I’ll only edit the last two manual photoshoots with Photoshop rather than all three manual photoshoots. I’ll also begin researching popular fashion photographers to gain inspiration from their photos and learn tips from them to succeed with my photoshoots. As I gain inspiration from photos, I’ll upload them onto my CPSA tumblr account.

 Please use the space below to indicate any further questions, concerns, or

confusions that were NOT addressed during the meeting.

 A concern is the shortened timeline due to printing out the photos instead of showing them on the laptop. I’ll have to finish editing and selecting all the photos by mid-April in order to ensure that the photos arrive in time.

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Nikon D3400 settings

Manual Mode (M)

·      ISO: camera’s ability to sense light

o   Higher the number, better the chance of capturing a good picture in low light

o   Higher the number, the more “noise” (more grains)

o   Set your manual ISO to 100 and enable auto ISO to set its maximum to 3200 or 6400

·      Shutter speed freezes action

o   Specify manual shutter speed as 1/60th of a second

o   Stop motion of someone who’s walking – 1/125th to 1/250th

o   Stop motion of someone who’s running – 1/500th to 1/1000th

o   Nikon D3400 will only go to 1/4000th of a second

·      Aperture controls background blur

o   Portraits, landscapes photos

o   Lower aperture, the larger the opening, more background blur

·      Hold down “plus/minus” button on the top and rotate dial to control aperture

·      Rotate dial to control shutter speed

·      Pay attention to exposure meter at the bottom of the screen

 Program mode (P)

·      Rotate the top dial to the right for an action shot, rotate the dial to the left for more detailed shot like a landscape

·      When “ISO-A” flashes, it tells us the automatic ISO is in effect

 Menu button -> shooting menu -> ISO sensitivity settings

·      Minimum shutter speed: telling the camera to not implement auto ISO until I go to a value less than 1/60th of a second (go any slower)

 Menu button -> button left button -> Focus mode is AF-C, Focus area set to single point, Metering set

·      Metering spot mode with a strong light behind (sun) increases exposure for the center subject so that it’s brighter than it would be with metering matrix mode

 Shutter Priority Mode (S)

·      Lower the shutter speed, the higher the ISO

·      Lower the shutter speed, the quicker the action that can be captured

·      Aperture remains the same

·      Used for sports and action shots

 Aperture Priority Mode (A)

·      Higher the aperture, the lower the shutter speed

·      Higher the aperture, the higher the ISO

·      Shutter speed remains at 1/60th of a second

·      Used for portraits and landscapes

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So far, I’ve only went on photoshoots using the Auto function which results in some good photos but since the camera has no knowledge of the specific types of photos I want to capture, using the Auto function is not always efficient. In order to gain more information on the manual settings of my camera, I watched a demo youtube video to learn the basics and took notes on a Word Document.