Keep on striding.
This is my current portrait photo showing how I believe others see me. Most friends and classmates usually see me in a mask and being a little stressed out. My forearms are shiny with sweat in this photo, which connects with how my teammates see me as a hardworking badminton player. This photo was taken by my friend Kira at a shutter speed of 1/400, aperture of 2.0, and ISO of 1600, in sports mode.
Below is another photo of me that a badminton teammate took using Freestyle’s DSLR camera.
Hairspray oil is a product that my mom uses often, so I wanted to create an advertisement-quality photo for it. I want to try to add on some text in the blank foreground space to the left so as to include some central persuasion selling the product. The color of the sunlight is my favorite component of the image. I took this photo in a wooden cabin in Arizona!
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Arguably, we can’t live comfortably without lotion, so I also took this monochrome photo as an advertisement for hand cream! I thought the small candle and the flattened leaves propped between it and the cream’s packaging were interesting accessories to augmenting the nature aspect of the product.
Sunlight penetrating the thick sides of a glass bowl cast a rainbow belt onto my backyard deck. With the shamrock-green glass next to it, placed upon the weathered wood that represents with Earth and nature, I’m reminded of leprechauns and stories about their pots of gold hidden at the ends of rainbows. Of course, the stories share of humans that seek to steal those riches and generally what doesn’t belong to them. In this way, my photo symbolizes the deadly sin of greed.
These three musicians could be celebrating the elephant in front of them, or, given the moody feeling created by photographing in monochrome, they could be like the Pied Piper in children’s stories, casting spells over the elephant.
The figures have a special meaning for my stepdad, who bought them when visiting Thailand years ago. I took this photo using a shutter speed of 1/60, aperture of 4.5, and ISO of 400.
What’s happening in our brain circuits? Pops of light and sparks, as dendrites conduct electrical signals to other neurons, sending information to your limbs to carry out a motion, or to your higher-order brain regions of consciousness to support thought. (I don’t know actually about the pops of light and sparks, but the rest is true!) I took this photo at a shutter speed of 2 seconds, an aperture of 6.3, and an ISO of 100.
Before working on this blog prompt, I didn’t know how to take long-exposure photos, but I fell in love with the beautiful effects we can create through applying it to light. This image, a zoomed-in view of a foil Christmas tree with small LED lights embedded at points in its branches, reminded me of our neural anatomy and the processes of how our physical biology influences our higher-order functions like remembering, planning ahead, communicating, and reasoning.
While I was home, sick, I often took walks around my neighborhood with my sketchbook and camera. I always pick up pretty fallen leaves, and this tree was no exception. The golden sunlight filtering through the canopy and illuminating the leaf reminded me of the simple joy we can take in beautiful things. I love how the Bokeh (blurred out) effect on the canopy makes it seem there is a whole new dimension between the sky and the subject. I took this photo at a shutter speed of 1/640, aperture of 3.5, and ISO of 100.
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For humor, I also want to share this photo embodying the ‘season’ of SAT test preparation! I took the photo using a shutter speed 1/60, aperture of 5.0, and ISO of 100. Over the summer, I took practice tests (from a book that I found in a Little Library) outside at this table because the sunlight was too nice not to enjoy. The light happened to pass through a blue vase nearby (shown in the background) casting a UV-colored ray onto the bends of my practice book.
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Additionally, I liked this photo below, showing my street on a rainy day. For a change of style, I changed the focus so that the image is composed of a blur of shapes and figures. The red and green circles come from traffic lights beyond the sidewalk. The sky is gray with a hint of pink from the trees, showing the season of rain.
Stripped of colors, this photo’s appeal to the viewer’s imagination depends on differences in light tone. I can see many different possibilities – the painted wood suggesting a dark brown walnut, or a warm mahogany cherry. This photo was taken at a shutter speed of 1/60, aperture of 3.5, and ISO of 160.
I chose to represent my mom for this photo blog prompt. Even with all the ups & downs we’ve experienced with each other, I don’t think I’m easily able to represent her through a photograph or piece of art, but this is one try! Over the original photo (in full color), I fixed a black-and-white adjustment layer; I like that it creates a vintage printed image effect from the photo. The effect draws out the color of the central pendant’s sun decoration, including the smile on its face. Through this image, I hope to show my mom’s value of optimism that she applies in life.
I took the original photo using a shutter speed of 1/60, aperture of 3.2, ISO of 800.
My parents and I visited San Francisco’s Chinatown for the first time since before the pandemic. Although I don’t buy anything, I love visiting the stores and seeing what trinkets they have on display. As I took this photo, I told my mom to stop where she was (in the doorway of a store), and turn around, and I snapped down on the shutter to seal the moment. She is an important person in my life, and we have encouraged each other throughout our journey of moving to the US from China and adapting to a new culture.
Although the store collection is crowded, the shapes and colors of each object together form a unique background. The casual, vibrant scene somehow makes perfect sense, which is what I love about this photo.
Taken at shutter speed 1/128, aperture 4.5, and ISO 200.
The very first time I felt I finally had independence was being on a shopping mall trip with my friends without our parents around a few years ago. Now as a high schooler, I experienced great freedom over this particular week, revolving around the event of prom. I met up with friends to make corsages and buccaneers, and my parents were really supportive toward us through helping with our transportation. After having a week of AP tests and finishing the Science Olympiad National tournament, this event was a chance to have fun and relax with friends. However, maybe this freedom was given too early. Now, many peers who attended prom are testing positive for Covid. I hope everyone gets better.