I think I have changed a lot since mid semester. I have grown through my art. Expert hours have really helped me. I got an outside internship and have been developing art separately from class. I have moved away from photographing nature and I photograph people more now. I enjoy capturing all the emotions that people express.

I’m not sure I always used practice time efficiently, but I kept to my promise of working at least 7 hours a week outside of class on my projects. Whether it was editing images to get them the way I wanted them or making a collage I spent time practicing the skills I will use for the rest of my life.

I believe I dealt with feedback better the second half of the semester than the first. The first semester I didn’t want to accept all the mistakes I had make or any of the criticism so I made excuses as to why things were the way they were. Now I feel that I am more open to what others think. It will always be my art and it will always in the end be what I decide but other people can help me see things I never would have thought about.

My level of love for my work has to be “I’m in this for the long haul.” I love photography and I love the work I make. I know I moan and groan and complain but I honestly love what I do and look forward to making new art everyday. This year my work has reflected who I am more closely. There are certain projects I based directly on myself and before this year I never would have considered that. I love everything I make, sometimes I just hate all the work I have to do to achieve the final product. But I’m in this for the long haul. This art is my life and it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.

My inventory of external “expert” experiences is small but mighty. I got an internship this semester and I am learning a lot from it. We did a photo shoot so I could learn how to pose people and he is helping me learn tricks on photoshop and Lightroom to improve my own photos. I went to a corporate event he was taking pictures at and edited almost 500 picture form it for the company. I look forward to all the mistakes and challenges because thats how I learn. I look forward to gaining “expert” hours and getting closer to where I want to be.

For my practice time grade I would give myself a B. I achieved my practice time easily but I didn’t push myself farther than that. I could have pushed harder and practiced more and gotten even better. For dealt with feedback I would give myself an A because I really improved with how I accepted feedback throughout the year and I believe I really ended up learning a lot and taking everything other people said into account. Also I think I provided other students with genuine good feedback as well. For level of love of work I would really have to give myself an A because I love my work and it is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I hope to develop some of my projects even more than I was able to this semester in the future. I really loved some of the work I was able to achieve though out the semester. Last but not least for inventory of expert experiences I would give myself an A because I worked really hard on gaining expert experiences outside of class. I went and found an internship I wanted and ended up getting the internship. I hope to continue working with this photographer and improving my skill set and gaining those expert hours we all so desire. This semester I have improved a lot from where I started. Thank you Tuan and Bill for all your help this semester. This was a great class. Thank you for helping each of us develop more in our work this semester.

Part 1: Based on the notes you took during class, write a brief description and response to each of the Faculty presentations.
Tammie Ruben: Her work with ceramic sculptures was incredible. The were bright and fun and made out of everyday items. SH elves nature and paints with airbrushed acrylic.
Kim Garza: Her work on Eventurist was amazing. I find graphic design very interesting because it is something I would never be able to accomplish as well as I can do photography. Her work as a graphic designer was extensive. Also her piece “Till the clouds roll by” was amazing.
James Lamsheran: His work as a photographer was shocking I never thought abut turning something so simple into art. His pictures of footsteps in the sand or rings on a table from a coffee mug were things I never would have considered photographing but he made them into art.

Part 2: Reflection on this semester and course. Feel free to write any and all comments here. We want and appreciate your feedback (both positive and critical).
I think this semester has been challenging at times but overall it was a great semester. This course was a very easy hour credit. I learned a lot from the presentations and it really helped me open my eyes to all the things I could do with a photography degree. Thank you for taking the time to teach us and help us grow.

My caption for this photo is “Deep in the abyss” it is for my project on mental health issues. Issues such as suicide, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety.  

The caption for this one is “People watching” she was watching the people walk by out the window.  This picture was for the bipolar part of my mental health project.

Part 1: Based on the notes you took during class, write a brief description and response to each of the Alumni presentations.
Lynne Bowman Cravens folds pictures into origami. Her work is inspiring I never would have thought to take something 2D and turn it into something 3D like she did.
Miranda Petrosky is an interactive designer. She has created several apps and websites. She provides insight to the life of a graphic designer.
Dustin Meyer is a well known wedding photographer in the Austin area. He has been published by USA Today and many other magazines. He was also displayed by Kodak in Times Square.
Part 2: Many of our successful alumni say that their internship was one of the most valuable experiences they had. By searching the web, find at least 3 potential internships that you are interested in, and post the links on your blog. Many art, design, and photo companies, organizations, galleries have internship information on their websites.
I recently applied to an internship with Dustin Meyer so he was one person I was very interested in learning from. Also I have applied to work with Christopher Durst who works in the music industry as a well known photographer. At the moment I don’t have a third internship I am interested in but I am always looking for new opportunities.

Who did you most relate to? and why? probably Rebecca Marina Because she never gave up interning and now has a fantastic job she was really inspiring because I hope to intern with someone like her because one day I might want to run a gallery.
Who surprised you? and why? the person that surprised me the most was probably Nick Swift his degree had nothing related to what he ended up doing but everything worked out for him. He has a company that will only continue to get bigger.
What was the most valuable piece of advice you heard today? No matter what happens keep going there are many paths you can take with a degree fro St. Edwards and you are not as limited in your field as you think you are.

You will write a blog reflection about the change within yourself via expert hours; how you used practice time; how you dealt with feedback; the level of challenge you gave yourself; and your inventory expert experiences.

I have come to believe that through expert hours I have started to develop as a better photographer.  At the beginning of this semester I was pretty sure that I could handle this class and it would be easy but already I can look back and see the changes I’ve made have really helped me improve.

I try to work on this class at least 5 hours a week outside of class either taking pictures or improving my skills in whatever Adobe program we are using at the moment.  When this semester started I knew how to use Adobe Lightroom but not any of the other programs.  I still struggle with photoshop but I can say with confidence that I am getting better and I have already improved a lot from where I was.

Even though class projects take up a lot of time I still try to get out and take other pictures just for myself.  I get friends together and we dress up, go out, and take pictures.

I would like to think that I deal with feedback well.  When someone critiques something I do I know I have an issue with getting defensive and talking back but it is something I have tried to work on.  I want to improve my work but without critique I can’t grow.  I also try to self critique so I can realize the mistakes I’ve made and improve even more.

I like to think that I try to really challenge myself I have never made collages before or even used an x-acto knife so I’m learning (especially trying not to cut myself) and I try to work as hard as I can so I can succeed and get good grades.

I don’t think I have many expert experiences. I think that even when I become an expert I will still think of myself as a non-professional because I don’t want that word to stop me and make me think that I know everything just because I have a title. I will always be a student and hope to always be growing.

SKILLS INVENTORY (copy and paste questions into your blog)

For each class ask yourself the following:

My greatest strengths in photography include: Post Production
For greater success in this course, I need to: work on focusing on my background
Computer skills: Lightroom and a little Photoshop

My computer skills include: Microsoft Office and Adobe Lightroom
I still need to learn: Bridge and more Photoshop

My greatest strengths as a researcher/writer include: Writing is my strength I am not good at the research part. If I am provided the research I can write a very well written paper.
I need to work on these aspects of research and writing: RESEARCH
I learn best & accomplish most when: I’m not trying to take notes and listen at the same time. I have to take notes and listen separately otherwise I don’t know what I’m writing.

Choose one class that you are struggling with or are not doing as well as you could. Visual Studies maybe? We just had a HUGE photoshop project and I had no idea what I was doing
Now make a list of 10 ways you could improve your performance in this class.

LISTENING, FOCUSING, WORKING IN PHOTOSHOP MORE, OPENING UP, CREATING MY OWN ART NOT FOR A CLASS, FOCUS ON MY FOREGROUND, FOCUS ON MY BACKGROUND, STOP WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT A VISION AND LET IT FLOW.

1. The goal of this project was to reflect a personal story of mine. The story was about how I felt I had to hide how I felt by putting on a mask.

2.  My mother tried to commit suicide by drowning and these photos represented that action.

1. The strongest part of these pictures I believe are the bubbles and how she is posed in the picture.  It gives the illusion that she was thrown in or is struggling and helpless, cannot escape her fate.

2. The weakest aspect would probably be the location because it does not connect directly with my story in any way.

3. The composition could be improved by moving her farther into the frame and moving the vingette so it is not as close to her body and more specifically her foot.

4. The project will change continually it will grow and change and when it changes it will become stronger.

5. The project could be strengthened technically by adding the photos of how I felt during this hard time.

6. I believe that with time my project will become stronger and will change into what it was meant to be from the start. I will hit obstacles but I will keep working on it and attacking it from different directions.

My idea of harmony was to overlay music over something industrial.  Nature and industry live together in harmony.  Music moves as all and shapes us into who we are without us even knowing just as nature has shaped and warped this metal.