"Life in the Valley"

The Mcallen Convention Center at Night: A Beautiful Sight -Repetition :)

Enjoying the nice weather, a woman rides her bike along the convention center. -Framing

Bike Ride!!! This photo follows the framing composition, framing the woman who is peacefully riding her bike.

A great day to be outside. Children play by the water at the convention center. -Curves

Jazzy Garza speaks about how great it is to be at the park. -Rule of Thirds

Ducks!!! The ducks enjoy being outside despite the cold weather. -Center of Interest

Jazzy Garza walks along the dock to get a better view of the ducks. -Leading Lines

Mission After Dark. The city is busy as Jazzy Garza walks to Whataburger for a nice snack. -Rule of Thirds

Oh What a Beautiful Sunset! 

A little girl gazes at the ducks as she waits for her mother to come back from her walk around the park. -Curves, Rule of Thirds.

100 Photographs That Changed The World

1. The "story" here is a worried mother that is struggling to feed her family during the really hard times of The Great Depression.

2. Even though the main focus is on the mother,  her children leaning on her creates a greater effect.

3. I learn how tough these times were. We have been told about The Great Depression before, but words are nothing compared to pictures. 

4. This photograph has become iconic because it depicts what everyone went through during The Great Depression. It conveys the feelings of helplessness and worry. 

5. This photo appeals to me the most because it shows exactly how life was during those times. It conveys exactly how Americans felt. How they felt like giving up and that their struggles would never end. 

6. The photographer was trying to find shots that would depict exactly what was going on, and he got it. 

7.The impact I believe would be the same whether you see it right after it was taken or 100 years from now. It is part of history and conveys what one cannot see with words. People can read about The Great Depression but it is the pictures that illustrate the struggles and hardships during the time. 

 

8. This photograph in particular is in black and white. Our pictures now are mostly in color unless they are trying to create a different effect. Besides that there are not many differences. The composition used is the same as what we would use today. The difference between personal photography and photojournalism is that personal photography is posed and not always tells a story like photojournalism does. Even though sometimes photojournalism pictures may look posed, their purpose is to convey something and create a feeling in the viewer that is greater than what they would get from words. 

9. Professional photographers tend to pay attention more on finding what composition techniques are used and the effect they create. 

10. Any photo can be good. However, to make it great one has to portray emotion and show something extraordinary that would leave an impact on the viewers. Conveying emotion, telling a story through one single frame, and using strong composition techniques makes a photo great. 

The 10 Businesses the Smartphone Has Destroyed

1. Are you or people you know less likely to buy any of the products listed as a result of the development of smart phones? 

• Yes because I would rather have a really nice, awesome smart phone. New developments would make me want one even more.

2. In general, do you think it is an advantage or a disadvantage to have so many of your technological functions in a single device?

• It is an advantage. It causes you to do more things without wasting time having to go somewhere such as paying a bill or anything like that. It is just more convenient.

3. How have smart phones improved our lives?

• In ways, they make life easier. Although, they sometimes lead people to be too soaked into their phone they do improve many of the things we do.

4. What do you think has been the most important invention of your lifetime? How do your answers compare with the most important inventions of your parents’, grandparents or great-grandparents’ lifetimes?

• The most important invention of my life has probably been the cell phone and how it has evolved throughout the years. It has made communication much more easier and faster. My grandparents would say otherwise and talk about the television or any old school stuff like a kind of transportation. Things have changed a lot from then to now.

5. “There are plenty of studies which insist that smart phones will begin to replace the PC as the common vehicle for accessing the Internet.” Do you agree? If so, does this mean PCs are on their way out? Would you ever stop using them?

• I do see that happening however I would not want that to happen. If they want to make a smart phone like a PC that would be nice; but, I would still want the PC because it is just easier, bigger and better for me. So hopefully PCs aren't on their way out, unless they come up with a really cool holographic computer or some other great invention. 

6. Do you have any need for TVs, radios, and other devices, rather than just using your computer for everything? Would you ever want to use your phone as a TV or radio? What are the barriers to either of these things happening? 

• Honestly, I really do not because now you can do a lot on the computer their is no reason for anything else. I would be okay with using my phone as a radio but not as a TV. The screen is too small. The barriers lie within the size of the smart phones and the people that are prone to change. 

Critical Lenses: Looking Closely at Photographs

(Action Picture) Phillip Scott Andrews

1. When I first looked at this photograph I immediately found it humorous.

2. This picture defines spring break because this is what people do. People let loose and do not hold back during this time of year. It would not be hard to convey this in words as it is believable that a couple of friends wrestle for fun during spring break, however it illustrates it which makes it more colorful than words. 

3. The subjects of the photograph are the people that are wrestling. All of the guys attention in the photograph is fixed on the two men wrestling. 

4. The lighting is natural and the time of day could be after midday through the afternoon because of the sun. 

5. The boy's swim trunk colors stand out against the color of the sand. 

6. No parts are out of focus because they do not need to be. The attention is automatically fixed on the boys on the floor.   7. The photographer seems to be very close to the subjects, which creates a greater effect because it makes the action that much more entertaining. 

8. The subject is slightly centered, not rule of thirds though. One of the guys also seems to be framed by the others legs.

9. The photo is impersonal because they are just crazy guys having a good time.

10. The wrestling strikes me a lot because everyone is so focused on it.

11. The background is a lot of people on the sand at the beach.

12. This photograph was taken to illustrate how crazy spring breakers are.

13. This does qualify as photojournalism because it tells a story.

14. It is timely because it could have happened just this past spring break. It might become iconic in the spring break world, but it is not as important as soldiers in the war are.

15. I notice the people in the background also paying attention to the "fight".

(Random Picture) Jamie Mcdonald

1. This photograph is beautiful to me it creates a fun, happy feeling to me.

2. This photograph tells the viewer of a dancer happily performing to the crowd. It does capture something that wouldn't be conveyed in words because one would have to see it or be there to see the beauty in the colors and everything during the olympic games.

3. The subject is the woman.

4. The lighting is artificial but it looks nice. It's at night.

5. The gold stands out from the red in the background.

6. The background is out of focus making it selective focus only focusing on the woman in gold.

7. The distance may be far or close; however, it still creates a great effect and captures the emotions of the picture.

8. The picture is selective focus and rule of thirds.

9. The picture is impersonal because it is a performance to a huge audience.

10. The woman strikes me the most and how the photographer took the picture to where she is the one that captures the attention.

11. The background are the drummers in red which complete the performance.

12. The photograph was taken to show a little bit of the asian olympic games.

13. This qualifies more as commercial photography because it advertises the olympic games; it could even be art photography because of the performance.

14. This photo is recent it was taken in 2010 and it might become iconic because the olympic games are a big deal.

15.  I do not notice anything else.

(Close up) Sam Panthaky

1. This photograph makes me feel sadness and hope for the person.
2. This photograph tells of faith in that the person is touching the beads and praying. It would not be hard to convey in words, but the feeling wouldn't be the same.
3.The subject is the person's hand holding the prayer beads.
4. The lighting is natural even though it is inside.
5. The brown prayer beads stand out against the person's white robe. It focuses all the attention on that which creates a feeling to the viewer.
6. The background seems a bit out of focus because of the focus on the prayer beads.
7. The photographer is very close to the subject which creates a deeper effect of the prayer beads.
8. The picture is centered and in a way selectively focused.
9. The picture is personal because of the prayer beads,the hand, and the feeling of hope.
10. The prayer beads strikes me the most about this photo because they stand out a lot.
11. The background is the person's white clothes.
12. The photograph was taken to show the prayer before the person's departure.
13. This does qualify as photojournalism, it tells a story.
14. The photo could have been taken recently nothing says otherwise.
15.  I do not notice anything else.