Photography Class

My photo gallery!

Photo Analysis with a partner.

0 Favorite Photographers ideas in 2024Jan 8, 2024 - Explore Dominic Ariola's board "Favorite Photographers" on Pinterest.

Pinterest board refelction.

I assembled an all-star trio of photographers that really capture my taste in photography. My "taste" is really just intuition, however I have been challenged to find what specific photographical elements are in common. This will help me get a better sense of why photos may grab my attention, and possibly inform my own style as a summation of my favorite photographers. That being said, allow me to tell you what I noticed. Larry Clark captures the human experience under a harsh and undescribable aesthetic. In "Tulsa", a book of photos that I actually have a copy of in my own home, Larry Clark paints a picture of a rejected and harsh way of life that residents of Tulsa Oklahoma are experiencing. The entire book is in black and white, which is one of my favorite things about it. I love black and white photography, and I have always had an inclination towards it. The use of B&W solidifies the aesthetic that Tulsa plays into. The imagery itself speaks to the condition of the subjects. This is most present in one of Clark's untitiled photos in Tulsa that made it onto my pinterest board. This picture shows a man with a complex demeanor in the reflection of a broken window. The fracture cause a spider web of cracks in the glass that run perfectly around his face. This is Clark playing with the concept of lines, texture, and of course tone. Tone is an element never lost in a Larry Clark photograph. To me, that is what elevates his work, specifically in "Tulsa", where the tone of the city is shown to the audience.

Dom 15 catagories 45 photos

Scavenger Hunt

One of the most enjoyable assignments I have ever completed, the scavenger hunt assignment calls for a photographer with a good eye. This assignment is exactly what it sounds like: you must choose fifteen prompts such 'a happy place', 'movement', or 'danger'. Three photos you take in this three day span must be assigned to each category, leaving you with minimum 45 photos.

Burning house

The project prompt was: what would you bring with you if your house was burning down?

-Outfit

Crutches (I sprained my ankle)

-Shoes

-Camera

-Soap

My strongest photos from the Scavenger Hunt:

From BElow

Stillness

Danger

Mystery

A HAPPY place

A Happy Place

elements n principles

Elements and Principles scavenger hunt.

What makes a photo good? It is all subjective! Or at least that is my reflex when discussing the "goodness or badness" of art. In photography class we dove a little deeper and tried to point out consistent themes in art that make it appealing ot the human eye. The elements of art and design apply directly to photographic composition as much as they apply to painting, cinematography, ect. Just learning about these elements is not enough, we were tasked to capture each and every one of these with our own cameras. I went out with my dad to echo park at magic hour and acheived some magical shots. Enjoy!

Emphasis and Color

Shape and contrast

Space and Emphasis

Space and Balance

Abstract Dominic

Abstract Safari

I set out on this abstract safari assignment looking to reimagine everyday objects, and I can say it was a successful mission. The abstract safari assignment challenges the photographer to capture normal things in a way that makes them look alien, all while following compositional guidelines. Who thought composition was still intwined in abstract work? I did not think so, however this this assignment showed me how wrong I was. Abstract work is something I am quite drawn to. I love Science Fiction, and so I love how easy it is to make normal things look like they are from outer space. My final photograph in this slideshow shows exactly that.

Umbrico Investigation- Dominic

Abstract Investigation

The Abstract Investigation was the finale of our abstract unit. The assignment was to pick a well known and well respected abstract photographer, provide background information about their upbringing, analyze their work, and finally emulating their style with your own photoshoot. I picked Penelope Umbrico. She works as a professor of art, but her abstract work has been showcased in galleries across the nation. In my final project I aimed to replicate her style by placing multiple photos next to each other to form a collage piece. I did this because that same technique of multi-photo collaging is what makes her work distinct. That is also why I was drawn to her work in the first place. I was very proud of my final photoshoot, because I feel like I struck a perfect balance between emulating her style and making it my own.

Dominic_Exploring Composition through Film Stills

Composition in Film Stills

First Photogram

This was my better photogram of the two.

Final PHotogram

Disclaimer: The paper was off centered when placed into the scanner so it appears cropped.

In the final photogram we were meant to tell a story with the image we created. I tried my best to create a metaphor of evolution, using different action figures from around my house to mimic the traditional image of the steps that led a monkey to evolve to a human:

I intentionally left the subjects in a plastic bag to show that evolution is more of an illusion than it seems, and that we are still similar to other animals.

My sunday

Weekend: ONe photo per hour

My Monday-Dom

Weekday: one photo per hour

Manual 101 Reflection

The exposure triangle is the combination of ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture. Manual 101 was dedicated to getting a good grasp on the exposure triangle; what it is, and how to use it. ISO is quite simple: raising the ISO changes the camera's sensitivity to light. On digital cameras there is a light sensor, and on rolls of film the whole roll has the same ISO. Shutter speed is self explanatory: it controls the amount of time the lense is exposed to light. The faster the shutter speed, the less time captured in one photo, which is why techniques like freezing action are only really possible on high shutter speeds. The slower the shutter, the more blur you are allowing. Aperture is how wide the lense of the camera actually opens. The wider the aperture, the more light is let in. Aperture has controls one more concept besides the amount of light, and that is depth of field. With a wider aperture, the depth of field is shallow, meaning only the foregrounds is sharp and the rest is blurry. With a smaller aperture you achieve a wide depth of field which makes everything sharp relatively sharp.

One moment in this unit when I really felt like my understanding of my camera and how to capture a photograph how I picture it in my head took place during the aperture shoot. I was trying lots and lots of different strategies on manual mode to capture a wide depth of field without having an extremely dark image. I have thought of myself as somebody who is pretty adept at working with technology sothe fact that I could not crack this was starting to damage my ego. I knew that I need to learn how to manually control my depth of field without having a distorted exposure, so I kept playing around with settings. Luckily after too much time had passed I found the perfect focus, ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed to capture what I had intended to capture.

Below are photos from my final aperture shoot, my experimentation with shutter speed, and light painting.

Light Trails (sLOW SHUTTER SPEED)

Motion Blur (semi slow shutter speed)

Light Painting (SLow shutter speed)

Aperture shoot

The First photo has a shallow depth of field with high aperture, while the second two of these photos have a large aperture with a wide depth of field.