Roman's blog: October 2009

My photographer that I chose for this assignment was Eddie Adams. I was able to find a series of his images on the internet. And I was able to come to some conclusions based on them, as well as the many readings based on him. He is one of the most honored and published photographer's of our time. From looking at his images, it is quite clear that his early works are in black and white film, this is apparent, because of the dates the images are taken. It seems as though his later works he did more color, but a large portion of his early work from the 1960's/70's is in Black and white film. His most famous image is on black and white film, it's the image he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969, which was his unforgettable photograph from Vietcong.

The format he uses seems to vary, most of his Black and White images are of different shapes/formats they are not all one size/shape (example: square, 5x7, 4x6). This makes it hard to tell what type of camera he uses since I was not able to see specific information regarding his camera equipment, so I am unsure. I would assume he's using many different types of cameras though, probably since he has many different photos at so many locations. He has photos dating back to the 1950's so it is fair to assume that he has had many cameras. It also appears as if he's not just using one single format/camera type. I would assume he used different cameras for different jobs, considering he has photos from Vietnam during the war, I would assume that he's not lugging around a large format camera, and would naturally assume he's using a 35mm camera or even a smaller Medium Format camera. But as I haven't been able to find specific information on his camera types I don't know for sure. It looks as though he also used many lenses and this may hint at what Format he is using, if the photo has a shallow depth of field, than it may be fair to assume that he's using a larger format camera. This image for example:

1. Image link: Here

1. My personal opinions on this photo: Well obviously this photo tells a story. It is a very strong image, it has a perfect composition, Focus, contrast, everything technical is pretty much perfect. It has tons of emotion in it as well, the depth of field helps focus on the main subject, the persons body positioning tells so much, as well as their attire. This photo is of an Israeli soldier in the Suez Canal in 1973. I think it is a very strong image.

2. Image Link: Here

2. This image I enjoy, and maybe it's because of the subject matter as I am an avid boxing fan myself, but I feel it portrays Muhammad Ali quite well in his facial expressions. he was known as being a very confident boxer and is known world wide for his personality, I feel this photo shows him off as well as any photo could. The photo from a technical stand point is also very good. It's sharp, lit well, and composed nicely. I also like that the eyes are lit up perfectly, and how they are framed in between his hat and glasses.

3. Image Link: Here

3. This image is of a coal miner in West Virginia in 1969. It's a very strong image in my opinion, the contrast between him and the background/surroundings really helps bring attention to the main subjects. The tracks act as leading lines. The facial expression and body positioning are also important to the image as they portray a certain mood.

For this assignment we took photos in our homes and using design elements to help improve our compositions. The design elements were, Line, Shape or form (I chose form), Pattern or Rhythm (I chose to do pattern), Texture, Symmetrical balance, and Depth.

I found this to be an interesting assignment. I did find some harder than others, but mostly I was able to find enough objects in or around my house to photograph that wold fit the assignment outline. The hardest for me was probably depth, because I had a hard time picking a photo/subject for this. I think I probably did texture the best, as to how it related to the description, I also felt my photo for form was a good example of form going by the description.

Line: