Reflection

Today was my last Monday class for my first semester. Overall, I enjoyed these past few months, but I am so glad to have a whole month off. I am proud of the work I put in especially in the digital photo one class. All of the projects were interesting and allowed me personally to explore what I liked to do most. When I first entered the program, I thought I wanted to be a strictly landscape/nature photographer. I still enjoy photographing that but now that I am at the end of the semester, I have found that I really enjoy portrait work. For my final project, my theme was environmental portraits. I contacted some of my friends and we went to various nature trails and beaches. I wanted to portray through my images of my subjects connecting with the environment around them. I am really pleased with the out come. It was everything I hoped it would be. I was thinking of continuing the project beyond just ten images. I am visiting my family in Tennessee over break, and all eight of my cousins plus the rest of my family will be there. So I was thinking I could use them to continue the project for my own personally enjoyment. However, I was also inspired by one of my professors today. In photography seminar, Professor Keener and Professor Cyr shared their career stories and their projects with the class. I was inspired by Professor Keener's work of documenting his parents. Even though he only showed two images of them, it caused me to hatch an idea. I was thinking maybe I could start a whole new project when I am in Tennessee and document my family. I feel that it will be even better since it is going to be a huge family reunion, and I can document the excitement. If all of this goes well, I will post the outcome. For now, here are some of my final project images as mentioned before.

Reaction Paper: Janelle Brooke

Yesterday in my photo seminar class, we had a visiting photographer named Janelle Brooke. She and her friend/assistant are mainly wedding photographers, but just recently got into the new born photography side of business as well. Her presentation was very professional with a sweet spark. I loved how genuine she was when she was expressing her joy for what she does. She expressed that through her introduction video, which is found on her website, and when she was presenting her work to the class. I also really enjoyed how thorough and informative she was when she was explaining her business methods. She showed how she did some of her edits, her pricing chart, and what services she offered. I also liked how she showcases her images for viewing. She uses this really cool company to make her picture books that contain her sample photographs. It was also really cool that she literally started out of her own dining room. She gave some really great advice that has inspired me to get started with a possible business of my own in the future. She said that even if you don't know where to get started, just get started. Even if it is something as small as starting a facebook business page, just start building a reputation. All in all, even though I don't necessarily aspire to become a wedding photographer, Janelle Brooke gave some really great advice and pointers regarding starting a business. I am really glad she came to speak. To conclude, her is a picture of hers that I find really sweet.