Artist Statement

Adam X A.K.A Adam Dixon. I came into digital photography class not knowing too much. I was thinking, man I should of just took a regular art class but over the weeks and months I learned to like this class. And I’m glad I took this class because it’s pretty easy once you get the basic stuff down. I learned a lot about Photoshop and what it can do to your pictures.

Overall everything in my portfolio has a meaning to the pictures that you will look at. I feel pretty good about my portfolio, I think my most successful picture in the portfolio is my personal words. Because it describes me pretty good and what I go through almost everyday. All these words describe me and I feel good when people read my personal words.

There’s always improvement I can work on in this class. I think the most improvement is my ideas and how to be more artistic. I think I struggled the most with the social issues photos. I really didn’t know what to talk about or take pictures about at all. So that was my hardest project I had to do. Over the semester I have learned a lot, too much to write down. But the class is really fun and I encourage getting this class and having ms.cook!!!! She’s a really good teacher.

Personal Words

The lyrics I chose for this project are, "This special dedication, I want to thank you for the fuel I felt so inspired by what people say to me. They said I couldn’t do it they said I’d either be dead or be a reefer head. Motivation for me was them telling me what I could not be, oh well, I’m so ambitious. no matter what the conditions, Forget the personal issues when you been what i been through, hey if you believe it, then you could conceive it. But I’m different, i can’t base what I’m going to be off what everybody isn’t, they don’t listen, just whispering behind my back,no vision, lack of ambition. Dear people, your probably somewhere near a stadium, I’m balling out of control. my type a dreams seem dumb they said wise up, how many guys a you see making it from here,the world don’t like us, is that not clear, alright." By Jay-Z

I want to thank you for the fuel I felt so inspired by what people say to me.

They said I couldn’t do it they said I’d either be dead or be a reefer head.

But I’m different, i can’t base what I’m going to be off what everybody isn’t.

My type a dreams seem dumb they said wise up. I’m balling out of control. how many guys a you see making it from here,the world don’t like us, is that not clear, alright.

Thank you for the fuel.

I chose these lyrics because I hear people talking, saying I'm not going to make it in anything I do. Who are they to judge somebody and say that? My family said don't let anyone ever say what you can't do or be, you just have to be true to yourself. I personally chose these lyrics because whatever I do I am determined and so ambitious to take care of business. No matter what the personal issues I've been through I said forget them. If I really believe it I can achieve it.

Social Issues..Dreams are illustartions

In my photo there is a picture that has trees and leafs and there's a quote saying, " Dreams are illustrations..from the book your soul is writing about you". I think many people's dreams are crushed because people put them down. It all depends on you on how you react to peoples response. You can go deep down in your soul and do some soul searching you can do it. If you believe it you can achieve it.

This picutre sometimes relates to my life. Because I do believe that dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about me. People may put me down and try to crush my dreams. Like I said before, if you dream it you can achieve it. It all depends on the person and the motivation the person has to achieve greatness.

Scary Effects

Hallowen season is coming up and over the 2 weeks we have been learning how to use a lot of new tools. For example, the stamp tool, burning and dodging, clone stamp. I think my favorite new tool is the burn and dodge tool and favorite picture is then alien. As you can see in my alien picture I have octopus legs coming out my mouth. With burn and dodge tool you can highlight the legs of the octopus to make them some what scarier then what it already is.

Formal Critique on Parkeharrison

Art is judged in 4 ways, Describe, Analyze, Interpret, and Judge. Some guy that is hammering boards against the water he is on his knees just hammering maybe to get to the other side of the lake. The water seems shallow so he can walk or crawl to the other side. The leading boards create a low shallow feeling of that the man is lonely and it creates a grayish and black void. The emphasis of this picture is the man just hammering away there are no leading lines except the boards.
I like this pictures because of the man shows his determination to get to the shore and be safe from the water.

Photographic Effects

Over the past week we have learned how to use photoshop to make some of the pictures better. One of my favorite tricks in photoshop is how photoshop makes your teeth whiter than they already are. If you don't like how your teeth look you can make them look better. Also another favorite is the crossprocess.

Portraits

Contact Sheet

Compositional Trick # 8 Fill in flash

Fill in flash helps see your emphasis clearer but still allows the shadows to stay in the pictures. You can uses the fill in flash by turning on your flash. When your emphasis is in a shadow with a bright background you use fill in flass to see your subject.

Compostional Trick # 7 Drawing with Light

Drawing with light is one of my favorites because almost all photographers use light when they are taking pictures. Sometimes photographers over see the light of the subject when they take pictures.

Compositional Trick # 5 Extreme Angles

Extreme Angles show objects in an unfamiliar way. An extreme angle photo will make you feel like you have to tilt your head to be able to see into the photo. Also I think extreme angle photos gives you a bird eyes view on things you don't see everyday.

Compositional Trick # 4 Simplicity

Simplicity photography is one of my favorites because it teaches us to simplify the background so that our subject is easy see. It also avoids mergers because the camera is zoomed in and is focused on the background and subject. For examples on my simplicity photos, on my first one the water is the emphasis but in the background of the water you see the trees because the camera is focused on the emphasis.

Compositional Trick # 3 Macro

Macro Photography is a close up look at small subjects also it creates a small depth-of-field, which means that the backgrounds will get blurry sometimes. Macro is good thing because it focuses on the most important part of the subject.

Compositional Trick #2 Leading Lines

Leading lines are lead us strait to the point. Leading lines take us visually through the picture without any detours. Leading lines lead the viewer's gaze into and around the image.

Compositional Trick # 1 Rule of thirds

The Rule of Thirds is a compositional trick to help position a subject outside of the center of your photograph. On your camera you have a display grid and it shows how to divide your picture plane into thirds both horizontally and vertically.