Environmental Portraits

Eddie, a child at my mother's daycare center, loves to play sports especially basketball.

Eduardo Gamba, senior, loves to record and take pictures. You never see him without a camera!

January Current Events

Earthquake in Haiti

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Martin Luther King!

MLK always standing up for what is right!

MLK very attentive to what his people want and what is right.

Real or Hoax?

Write a paragraph discussing: In what situations is it okay to digitally manipulate photos? In what situations is it wrong to digitally alter a photo? How can altered photos be harmful to photojournalism?

It is okay to manipulate photos to convey an important message as long as they are not falsely advertised. If someone wants to poke fun at the economy or even say something through a picture without lying about it as in putting it out there that it is indeed just a photoshopped picture, it's okay to manipulate. As long as people aren't saying that the pictures are real and are using them for bad reasons then it is okay. It is wrong to digitally alter a photo in very serious situations or situations where people are misrepresenting a photographers work, therefore possibly damaging their reputation. Altered photos are harmful to photojournalism because it can lead to loss of credibility to photojournalists and false representation of the journalistic views of photojournalism.

"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.