Dennis Mandudzo's Photo Blog

Photography Class

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Raw-Rotation Wrap-Up

Taking pictures in RAW format was by far the most fun I had this year since I took the class in August.  I learned that RAW images are bigger in size, and therefore result in higher quality images.  You can definitely see more detail in the photos, which makes editing much better.  I liked being able to take my camera to several places, such as school, sporting events, San Francisco, and many others.  If I had more time, I would have probably fit in portrait photography, as I haven’t had much experience doing so this year.  At the same time, I realize there are so many other things that I could have done, and at the end of the day, it’s about shooting images that I am passionate about.  Cheers! 

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Here is another photo that I took over spring break while taking a spontaneous trip to San Francisco.  Although I have been in the city many times in my life, I notice that I see something new that I have never seen before.  The city is usually known for it’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge, Sutro Tower, and Twin Peaks, yet there are many other architecture attractions to awe and take pictures of.  This giant geometric ball is at the Exploratorium Museum on Pier 15, a popular tourist attraction.  You can find this ball lighting up in different colors, from orange, to red, to purple, and to blue.  In my opinion, this unique structure deserves to be on of Google Images top hits of San Francisco! 

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During my spring break I took a spontaneous trip to San Francisco to shoot some pictures. The city's unique architecture provides a great opportunity for photographers to explore buildings, and the towering impact they leave on inhabitants and tourists alike. Pictured here is me taking a selfie in front the Exploratorium, a science museum on the pier of the city. While I did take some pictures of people, I wanted to show that I actually visited the Exploratorium by taking a picture of myself.

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This week I started using a digital DSLR camera to shoot photos.  I focused on using light painting art, which involves lengthening the camera’s shutter speed to capture moving light.  While this form of photography produces great results, I found that it takes a lot of time and patience to shoot a satisfactory photo.  I had to figure out how long I wanted the camera shutter to be open, how much light I wanted to be illuminated on my face, and how still I needed to be in order to have a sharp picture.  I also found that it is easier to have a partner working with me, because of the amount of factors I have to control.  I was nonetheless eager for this challenge and enjoyed the process that it took take this picture.  

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Here are the last pictures of my mobile photography unit that I took. During the editing process I focused on increasing contrast and ambiance. As far as I can tell, the high quality editing features are comparable to Photoshop.

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Here are some samples of pictures that I took with my iPhone this week. As you can see, each theme for each picture is different. The great thing about mobile photography is that you take high quality pictures at a moments notice. I most cases, no prior planning is necessary.

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This week I started my mobile photography unit. I like this type of photography because I can take pictures instantly, and on the go. I could plan the pictures that I want to take, but since iPhone cameras are portable and user friendly, no planning is necessary to take a good picture. I took this picture of a piano frame using a fish eye lens that I attached to my phone lens. I like how the strings and sound board look distorted, almost as if the piano is spherical. This picture just goes to show you how powerful a mobile camera is.

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Here are some fish eye photos that I shot using my phone. When I got these results, I was surprised how sharp and unique the pictures look. I have always underestimated the ability of my phone to take unique, high quality pictures up until now. The great thing about a phone is that it is more portable, and user friendly than a digital lens. As I'm on the go, I can find inspiration around me and take pictures of settings that I previously have not thought of.

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Here is a picture of Jordan Herschel, one of the photographers I researched for my latest photo project.  As I look at this picture I am in awe of the picturesque serenity; it totally seems that he is “one with nature”.  This was taken in a remote lake in the province of Alberta in Canada.  

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Here are some photos I took last week of middle school students playing each other in a soccer scrimmage.  Since photography became my hobby a couple of years ago, I never explored the opportunity of shooting action photos until last week.  I learned from this experience that it is quite difficult, and requires moving around according to the action on the field to capture a decent picture. I  was also able to catch the middle school students posing in a victory stance after their exciting game! 

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This is my abstract work from this week. I tried to incorporate various textures and patterns to make my work more unique. I edited nearly all of them to change the clarity or make them black and white. Abstract work allowed me to be creativity and original, and I had a lot of fun!

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Here is one the pictures that I will be showcasing for my mixed photography rotation.  This photo was taken in the same engineering lab that I visited two weeks ago, where I saw students working on various designing projects.  I like this picture because of its shallow depth of field.  The actual power drill (the one in the middle) is in focus, and you can see a lot of detail on its metal surface.  The strong lighting also accentuates some of the scratches that are left from drilling objects.  For aesthetic purposes, focusing the camera on the middle drill makes the viewer think that there is a gun trained at the ridge of their nose, or head.   Rest be assured, this drill is not gun!  

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For my mixed rotation project, I took a visit to Whitaker Lab and photographed engineering students working on their respective projects.  Pictured above is a student grinding a metal bar.  The result of high speed friction between the rotating blade and the metal bar results in visible light sparks.  Lately, I have been interested in photographing settings that show light in a unique way, especially in dark backgrounds that accentuate the visibility of the light.  It is fascinating to watch a shower of sparks bouncing off a table!  I also took some other photos in the lab that I thought were pretty interesting. 

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Here is the last picture I recorded for my alternative process unit - an infrared picture of a birch. I like this camera because it records green colors as white, creating a snow like effect. This camera is great with shooting green vegetation, like trees, plants, and leaves. I used photoshop to shade the most of the birch as brown, while leaving this one in the middle as white.

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Here is a photo that I took last week.  I decided to take a pause from alternative process photography, and go back to the modern, more user friendly method of taking photos.  I’m a big fan of cycling during the holidays, so I thought a combination of bikes and Christmas lights would make a great picture.  I like how the spokes of bike are lit up, which mimics a sparkle effect.  It’s also pretty interesting to see that the bike tires are almost in a parallel line.  

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Here is some non-traditional photo work that I produced for this week’s alternative process section.  I have always had an interest in pictures that are recorded on non-contemporary media, such as wood.  So I thought I would give it a go this week.  The images on the wood are taken from the Internet, with some Photoshop editing done as well.  I edited the contrast on both images so that they would should up more clearly on the wood.  The last image I intentionally created a surreal effect, masking one image an top of another, while manipulating the opacity of the masked image.  Although I hoped for the images to appear cleanly on the wood, this wasn’t the case.  My observational learning tells me that recording images on rough surfaces (such as wood) won’t yield the same result as printing an image on paper.  Of course, this is all a part of alternative photography.  I’ll take it.