Scott Tamaro

Although this is the end of the school year, I am kinda sad that this also means the end of digital photography. I decided to substitute the final assignment with the optional Scott Tamaro one. I found this assignment to be more challenging then what I thought it was going to be.

For this pair of pictures I really like the left picture a lot, but the thing that I think I could've worked on more was to relate the pictures more. The only thing that they have in common is the line of the flag and the road, and how the trees do a some type of ying yang flip which I kinda like.

Although the comparison in these two pictures are obvious with them both being bridges, I still like the combination. I like the full colored effect of the left that contrasts the right picture greatly, and how the two bridges have the same lines and how it kinda continues into the next picture.

This is my favorite picture of the assignment. I took the picture of the stairs for the scary places assignment, and it goes perfect with the bridge picture with the railings. I think this is a wonderful image to end the the school year on, and I dont regret one minute of choosing this class.

Landscape (independent study)

With only 2 weeks left of school, i really wanted to end strong. One thing i noticed about our assignments was that we never did landscape, and a lot of famous photographers or pictures in magazines are mainly photos of beautiful scenary. So, i decided to do landscape for my last independent study.

The plan for this assignment was to take a trip to Millcreek Park and take pictures of the scenery there, because they have amaznig scenery, BUT i didn't know that there were so many districts of Millcreek Park so i ended up in the Boardman section when i was actually supposed to go to the Youngstown district. But as for this picture, i love the color temperature and the how there is a foreground, a medium, and then a background. And if you really notice the picture, u can see a very nice lake in the middle.

As soon as i saw this picture, i immediately thought of the cingular bars commercial. I also like that the sky is dark at the top, and then fades out...

This and the first one are probably my most favorite 2. I really like this one a lot, because 1. it's just an amazing picture with amazing coloring, 2. I like the Ying/Yang feeling with the green and blue colors splitting right down the middle. I saturated the picture a little bit to brighten up the colors, but i think it turned out to be an amazing shot.

Mulligan Assignment (Starn Twins part 2)

This week looked to be easy and interesting because it was "mulligan" week. Basically, we get a redo attempt at any previous assignment we want. I really wanted to give the Starn Twins another whack at it, and i'm glad i did.

I really like this picture a lot, and i might like it even more then my previous Starn twins. I love the colors of the flowers because they contrast greatly with the black fence and green stems, and i also like all the parallel lines. I also like how the sunlight hitting the right side. Let's just say that i'm really glad i picked the right assignment to redo because although i love my first Starn Twins, i really like this picture a lot.

Starn Twins

This week's assignment was a choice of the Starn Twins in which we made a 3x3 grid of one picture cut up, or Hockney which is one picture completely messed up by having many different angles of a picture. I chose to do the Starn Twins because i think a Hockney of my subject wouldn't look as good.

Mr. Hill told us that if we were going to do the Starn Twins we were supposed to take one beautiful picture, and that's it. Well i remembered a beautiful garden at the back of this restaurant called Sorrentos on Parkman Rd., so i decided to take a drive up there and take a picture of it. And i am glad that i did because i think this picture turned out perfectly. it has beautiful landscape and a lot of symmetry.

Exterior of the House

This assignment was called 'Exterior of the House' in which we basically took pictures of our crib. I actually kinda did this assignment the wrong way, in which the one time i try to be creative and find interesting angles, but instead we were supposed to take nice, normal, straight, non-creative pictures. I was still very happy in the way they all turned out though.

This picture is a perfect example of what we were supposed to do. This is a front view of my house on a perfectly clear day with the wind slightly blowing the flag in an american, patriotic way.

This is an example of what I did instead. haha. This is from the side of my garage and i wanted to try something different, so i turned on the light and made the picture black and white. Although you can't tell, it is actually really sunny and light out, but the black and white effect gives it a spookie erie feeling in which i was going for.

Mr. Hill refered to this picture as the strictly disciaplined house. He said this because everything in this perfect is completely symmetrical, which is the way i staged it.

Homies A.K.A The Crew!

This week's assignment was titled "homies" in which we had to take pictures of us with our friends. I was looking forward to this assignment the most because the friends i hang out with the most, we call ourselves "the crew", and as soon as Mr. Hill said that i knew it was gonna turn out awesome. I think this is the assignment i was most pumped to do.

The only problem about the crew pictures was that a lot of our crew was in digital photo, so we decided for everyone to claim all the pictures because we helped each other out with each shot, to make them better. We used my tripod and everyone's self timer in all the pictures which i am glad turned out great. In this picture we are all sitting on a slide at the park, and i like how the eye just travels up the slide but also goes to me and shannon because we both are wearing white and it contrasts with the rest of the picture.

This picture was taken at the gazeebo by the waterfalls, and the plan was to have all the guys below the girls and holding the girls legs on their shoulders. The only thing that was a little wrong with this picture is that Coop does the same stance in every picture he is in, so he isn't holding alli's legs. We also discovred that in all the pictures of the crew i am touching someone. I am currently seeing a physical therapist about that need. haha

Of the few that were on my camera, this is my favorite because i love the tree and the water tower in the background. It shows that we are from a simple, small town which makes us really close. I also like the higher color temperature and the fact that once again, cooper is doing the same pose and i am touching not 1, but 2 girls.

Important Person In My Life

This week's assignment is titled 'An Important Person in My Life' and i couldn't think of anyone better to use then my mom. I am like my mom in a lot of ways and thank god i got it from her then from my dad, because we are the ones with personalities. This assignment i decided to do a 2 shot narrative, and some humorous pictures.

This picture is the first part of my 2 shot narrative in which i come down the stairs into a completely ridiculous outfit, and my mom pointing to go up and change. I decided to do this picture because whenever i was younger and we were going somewhere nice or decent, i wanted to wear whatever i wanted and be casual, but she always made me change.

This is the 2nd picture of the narrative and i like the shift of moods with the blue tint. It shows the sad me walking back up the stairs to change while my mom just gives me a stare. I think these 2 pictures go well together because although they tell a story, i feel that they are still good quality pictures.

This picture is supposed to be a humorous shot of my mom taking care of me and putting some alcohol on my knee because when i was a kid i was always out playing and getting scraped up. My mom was always there though when i got hurt to patch me up so i was always able to go back out again. i like the sepia effect on this picture and the brightness coming from the window to make the picture more intense.

America's Workforce (independent study)

The first week's assignment of the final nine weeks was independent study, which basically means that we got to do whatever we want as long as it interests us and is good. I decided to do an independent study called 'America's Workforce' to show what people do almost every day of their lives, and I thought it was a pretty good idea.

This image is of my mom's boss at Pamida pharmacy. The man's name is Phil and he is a bonafide pharmacist. The reason i took a picture of him is because a pharmacist's duties are often hazy to people, and Phil is one of the nicest guys i know, so I wanted to take a picture of him. I like the way this turned out, but i don't exactly know why.

This picture is of a plumber at Pamida pharmacy, and I wanted to take it because plumbers have a difficult job and sometimes don't always get the respect they deserve. I like this picture because it shows the plumber in his natural position and I like how he is smiling while holding up the tools he is using.

This picture is of Doug Cochran, and he was my former boss when I used to work at Positive Images up in downtown. The job he is doing now (screen pressing) is actually what I did when I worked for him, and i just thought it would be an interesting picture with all machines involved. I like the colors in this picture especially the green ink and the purple shirt, and also the fact that Doug looks like he actually enjoys doing the job which i think is important to find because it's what you are going to be doing for the rest of your life.

Assignment #8 Seniors '08

For out last assignment of the 3rd nine weeks, we had to take pictures of seniors. This was probably the easiest assignment we had because it could be serious, funny, wacky, black and white, color, basically anything we wanted as long as it turned out to be a good picture. Also, Mr. Hill said if we get TCTC kids we get extra credit, so ONCE AGAIN being the overachiever that I am, me and zach left school early and drove down to TCTC and took some pictures. They turned out pretty well and it was a good way to end the nine weeks.

Assignment #7 Silhouette/ Religion

This week's assignment was a choice of silhouette or religion. And of course, once again, being the overachiever that I am I did both. For this assignment I knew a very bright background and dark subject would be key elements, and maybe if I have a person wearing all black to make the object more contrasting.

I liked this picture a lot because it's a profile shot of me driving, and the snow really makes it contrast. I also like how my body eventually just fades into complete darkness.

This is no doubt one of the best pictures I have ever taken. This picture was from the 1st Church of God right by Rite Aid and the guy that let me take the pictures was very kind. He turned the lights on for us and there is a back light right behind the cross and when contrasted a little bit it makes it look like it is on fire. I guess you could use this for silhouette and religion really. Either way I think this is an amazing image.

This is the same cross as before, just zoomed out some and in black and white. I also like this picture a lot and I am very pleased to see they turned out so well.

This picture is mainly just for humor, but it has a serious twist on it. I put all black on and a black winter hat that I pulled down all the way. I have this lamp in my house that has like 8 heads that you can manipulate so I used that for this assignment and it worked out pretty well. Also I like the one point perspective on the walls and the symmetry of the glare on the walls also.

Assignment #6 A Day in the Life of Me

This week's assignment was A day in the Life of Me and it is supposed to be an accordian style book, in which we were supposed to transit from each picture by similar patterns. I just did mine by chronological order and they turned out pretty well I believe. We also had to use the holga feature on picnik.com which darkened the borders and highlighted the center of the image.

Personally, I liked most of my pictures better without the holga affect especially in this one because without the holga affect, the shadow covered half of my face, and I really liked that affect. Anyways, this picture is supposed to represent me doing homework because I do a lot of homework especially this year because junior year is the worst.

Naturally there would be many school shots because we all go to school everyday (mostly). Well this picture is in chemistry class and I liked the smoke coming from the beaker, but not my facial expression. But I do like speck's expression as Mr. Hill said it looks like he is admiring me.

In this picture the Spanish teacher is supposedly giving me a detention, but since I am to good of a kid to get a detention I am going to say it is more homework.

Assignment #5 Flip Book

This assignment was Flip Book, in which we had to have 50 pictures. This assignment sucked, well at least for me, cuz I used Megan's camera which takes a lot of pictures really quick, well I didn't like the way they turned out the first 3 times so I had to delete over 150 pictures and I still wasn't pleased with the result I got, but oh well, it happens.

My idea for the flip book was to have me looking for something and slowly getting closer to the camera, and still not finding it. The object I am trying to find is a mystery to the viewer and myself, lol. I selected this picture though because I look like one of those gophers that stick their head above the whole and searches around eaglerly, and I like that.

In this picture I am looking under the pillow and the only real thing I liked about this picture was the use of one point perspective, and repeating patterns in the stairs and ceiling, also with the symmetry of the pole by the stairs and the futon pole/coat hanger.

This picture is the final picture of the series and is supposed to represent my frustration for not finding this mysterious object that I am looking for. I still dont like this series at all. I felt like I could've done better.

Assignment #4 Family Member 3 x 3 Grid

For the family member grid I knew I would be using my dad from the start because anyone who has ever met my dad could tell you he is a character. He has so many facial expressions and he has one famous one that is usually on his face that we call "The Disgusted Face". I liked how this turned out especially with the blue tint. What was really funny was when Mr. Hill looked up a picture of Mario and compared it to my dad, the resemblance was uncanny.

Assignment #3 Pets/ Inappropriate Subject vs. Environment

Ok, this assignment was a choice of inappropriate subject vs. environment or pets. Well, being the overachiever that I am, I did both, but I like my inappropriate subject ones a lot more. I was siked about this assignment when I asked Nicole if I could use her tiger mascot outfit and she said yes. So I had some pretty darn good ideas cooked up for this one.

This picture is probably one of my best pictures I have ever took. I love the humor and wackyness of it. Sammi Hintemeyer is in the suit and I was happy to hear she would help me do this. This picture was taken inside the Brew Basket downtown, and when we asked if we could shoot this, they were more then happy to help. They even asked us for a copy of a picture when we were done with them to put on their "wall of fame", and they even said they would pay for it! I couldn't believe it! Of course I said no, because I was greatful enough for allowing me to do this in the first place so I told them I would give them a copy for free.

This picture I also liked a lot because of how natural the tiger looks to be grocery shopping, even shopping for produce! I believe the posture of the tiger is what really brings the comedy out and I also like the orange on orange color scheme. I believe this is an overall great picture.

This picture was actually taken the same day because Mr. Hill and Rikki gave me such an amazing idea I had to go back and do it. Alex Speck is in the tiger costume this time and it was a lot smaller on him. The idea was to get a bunch of Frosted Flakes cereal, put it in the basket, and do the same impersonation, and it turned out wonderfully.

Like I said before, I am a huge overachiever, so I did the pets too. Unfortunately, I dont have a pet so I went over to my friend Brooke Rodger's house and took pictures of her dog. They basically all turned out bad except like 2 because her dog would not calm down. Although in this picture she looks perfectly calm. It was just a lucky picture, that's all, but I was really pleased with how it turned out with the low angle and the black and white affect.

Assignment #2 My Childhood Memories

This week's assignment was "childhood memories" and since I'm mostly all grown up now, I think it wouldn't work if i was in the shots, so i thought of using one of my neighbor kids because there are so many. So I called my one neighbor up and asked her if I could use her son (CJ) for a digital photography assignment and she said "sure, you can even take him home with you. lol" My childhood basically was the same thing I do now, play sports with my friends, play video games, and just enjoy being a kid.

I like this picture a lot because of the low angle, and the light/shadows. When I was a child I always imagined dunking like Michael Jordan or making the game winning buzzer shot, as I every other kid did, and I believe this shot captures that feeling exactly.

Another activity I did (and still do) is imagine I was in an awesome, kick-butt band. I remember me and my friends would just go to my room and listen to music and remember air-guitaring it, or grab a broom and just act like we were rocking out. This picture i think is a nice portrait because you can see the joy of the kid's face that he has playing guitar.

In today's day and age, you cannot go into a young kid's house and not see a toy gun. I had one, and I always remembered shooting the dog, my parents, my sister (many times) and just having a good time destroying a couple aliens here or there. Basically I just shot everything in sight that moved, and that is what this picture shows. I like the sepia affect, and how I contrasted the shadow greatly, and I think it turned out very well.

Assignment #1 Zoom Object X 6

After ending the first half of the year strong I felt a lot more confident and happy with my work. The first week's assignment was zoom object X 6 in which we had to take a pictures of an object and slightly zoom out with each shot with the final shot being the whole object. I thought my fireplace would be a cool object because there is a grate in front of it and the design would throw people off, plus the fire and shadow would make the pictures look great. I also had an advantage because I have a tripod so my close up images turned out remarkably clear. I was very happy with the way they turned out and i believed I did a great job on them.

1st Nine Weeks Artists

1st Nine Weeks Artists



Sandy Skoglund
Born September 11, 1946. She is an American photographer and installation artist. She creates surrealist images by building elaborate sets or tableaux, furnishing them with carefully selected colored furniture and other objects, a process of which takes her months to complete. Finally, she photographs the set, complete with actors. The works are characterized by an overwhelming amount of one object and either bright, contrasting colors or a monochromatic color scheme

Cookies on a Plate- 1978

Margaret Bourke-White
(June 14, 1904- August 27, 1961) Grew up in the Bronx of New York. Margaret began to study photography as a hobby while a very young woman. She was most famous for her war pictures. Margaret Bourke-White is a woman of many firsts. She was a forerunner in the newly emerging field of photojournalism, and was the first female to be hired as such. She was the first photographer for Fortune magazine, in 1929. In 1930, she was the first Western photographer allowed into the Soviet Union. Henry Luce hired her as the first female photojournalist for Life magazine, soon after its creation in 1935, and one of her photographs adorned its first cover. She was the first female war correspondent and the first to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II, and one of the first photographers to enter and document the death camps.. She wrote six books about her international travels. She was the premiere female industrial photographer, getting her start in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Otis Steel Company around 1927.

Fort Peck Dam

Duane Michals
(born February 18, 1932) is an American photographer. Largely self-taught, his work is noted for its innovation and artistry. Michals' style often features photo-sequences and the incorporation of text to examine emotion and philosophy, resulting in a unique body of work.

Madam Schroedinger's Cat in the Box

Arnold Newman
(March 3, 1918, New York, NY — June 6, 2006, New York, NY) was an American photographer of a Jewish decent, noted for his "environmental portraits" of artists and politicians. He was also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images.

Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz is a noted American portrait photographer whose style is marked by a close collaboration between the photographer and the subject. She is most famous for her portraits of celebrities such as John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, and many more.

Whoopi Goldberg

Guido Harari
Guido Harari is an Italian photographer and music critic who combines the two. He creates a slideshow of pictures and then plays music in the background to give it a theme. In 1983-1984 he started his first exhibition with ambient music specially provided by Peter Gabriel and David Sylvian in Turin, Milan, and Barcelona.

The High Priestess of Rock

Loretta Lux
Loretta Lux (born 1969) was born in Dresden, East Germany and is a German fine art photographer known for her surreal portraits of young children. She currently lives and works in Monaco.
Lux graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich in the 1990s, and debuted at the Yossi Milo gallery, New York in 2004. The show put both Yossi Milo and Loretta Lux on the map, selling out and setting prices never before seen from a new gallery.
In 2005, Lux received the Infinity Award for Art from the International Center of Photography. The artist executes her compositions using a combination of photography, painting and digital manipulation. Lux's work - at once alluring and disturbing - usually features young children and is influenced by a variety of sources.

The Drummer

Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz
Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz are known famously for their photographs of snow globes. They portray scenes inside them which can either be humorous or frightening. Some of the scenes contain old ladies in them which is the main character. These photographs are blown up immensely and turn out to be very large. Their most famous snow globe photographs are the “Travelers Series”

Telescope snow globe