HDR, which stands for High Dynamic Range, is the combination of multiple photos at different exposures to create a final product that more accurately shows the details in the darker and lighter regions of the composition. With a single photo, the lightest and the darkest areas are not properly exposed but with HDR photography one photo is taken at differnt exposures, one so that the darkest pieces of the composition are correctly exposed and one so that the lightest pieces of the compositon are correclty exposed.
In this diptych my intent was to convey failure and its role on the path to success. On the left are dead leaves that have fallen into a puddle of water. The trees from which they fall are reflected in the water. On the surface, to many, dead leaves are a failure; they represent death and the end of an era. However, looking at the image on the right, there are many trees on the way to the finish. Each tree, or adventure along the way, has leaves that will fall of and, in the moment, may seem like the end, or failure. In the long run each trees leads an individual to the finish but may have small failures along the way that only make room for further growth.
My idea for the left or starting image was to float a single leaf in a puddle of water. I found a puddle outside with leaves floating in it. This was exactly what I was looking for, the only exception being that it was raining outside. So, to prevent water from falling on the camera, I opened up a picnic canopy. To prevent the canopy from reflection into the shot I shot at an extreme angle which also allowed me to include the trees’ reflection in the water. To shoot the right or secondary photograph I climbed onto the roof to shoot a particular building off in the distance. Because I was shooting HDR photography I needed to take one underexposed photo, which is easy to do at night, one correctly exposed photo, difficult to do at night, and one overexposed photo, impossible to do at night Plus, the building I was shooting was a mile away and I was zoomed in with a telephoto lense. These two things meant that I needed to keep the camera extremely still, for a long time, to get the subject in focus. I ended up using a timer delay on the camera so that I could push the button and give the camera time to stop moving from the pressure of the click before the shutter opened. All of this was possible because, thankfully, the building’s lights were still on. Just to capture the three perfect photos I need to combine into the HDR photo for the left image I spend 3 hours shooting over 500 individual photos.
Welcome to my reflections website. This is the second website I have made as a senior. Since the beginning of the year the Digital Media class has learned how to implement JavaScript in our websites. JavaScript, in combination with CSS, is what allows the website to annimate or move. When one of the navigation buttons at the top of the page is clicked, JavaScript is what moves the website to the desired location at a specified scroling speed. All of these features were present in my websites last year. However, this year I wrote the code myself and constomized the functions to my liking. In Design class we learned about the benefits HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography provides and how to shoot using this technique. In English we explored surrealist writing and wrote a short personal statement. All of these projects worked towards the overarching question "Who am I?" which we explored through photography, digital video creation, and creative writing. Without a doubt, this is the period at Freestyle where I have grown the most which I attribute to the adherance of my projects to my initial idea. 
