May 16th

My presentation is really starting to come together. I am basically done with my power point, now it is just time to think of what I am going to say for an hour. I think that I will talk a lot about how I originally wanted to do Photography as a career but because of this project, I no longer can ever see myself being a Photographer.

May 11th

I feel like I have not been blogging as much as I should be. I know that I post a lot of blogs, but I do not think that I fill the requirement of 1,000 words per week. I have talked to some people though and they said that they only blog about once every two or three weeks so I think that I am doing a pretty good job when it comes to staying on top of everything.
These next two weekends are going to be really busy for me. I have Campolindo's ball this weekend and our ball next weekend. Since I do not have much time during the weekend to work on my project, I need to work a lot more during the week so that I am not rushing to finish my project a few days before it is due.

May 10th

My presentation is really starting to come together. It is actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. Getting motivated to start was the hard part. I am almost done with my power point presentation and I have started putting together presentation packets for everyone that comes to my presentation. I feel like I should not make that many. I do not think that a lot of people will come to mine since it is during 7th period, but you never know. I will probably make about 10 or 15 packets, just to stay on the safe side.
Bianca has agreed to also come to my presentation and be on my panel of judges. I am really glad that I know everyone who is on my panel. I think that since I will know everyone, it will make me a lot less nervous.
I have never been good at public speaking. To be honest it scares me a lot. I hate standing in front of people and feel like they are judging me on everything I do or say. I know that if I am able to do well with my presentation and get over my fear of public speaking, it will help me a lot next year in college when we do group work or when we talk in front of our classes. We also have to do a big project in Mr. McAlisters class. It also involves public speaking. If I get to present my project first in his class, it might help me with my project in this class.

May 7th

I am really starting to stress out about how much work I have to do before Graduation. I am required to keep all of my grades as Cs or above. If I fail to do so, I will not be allowed to go to Chico in the fall since my acceptance was a conditional acceptance. This means that I have to work extra hard in all of my other classes also. Right now is when my ability to stay on top of everything will show and hopefully I will be able to go to Chico in the fall.
Along with the stress of keeping my grades up, I am also sick again. I really have to rest and lay low. I do not think that the stress of school is helping me get any better.
About a week ago, I said that I wished that my project could have been harder and right now I think I am starting to find out that the hardest part for me will be getting my project finished and being able to go to college next year. I know that it is weird that I like the fact that things are getting harder, but I am a person who always likes a challenge.

May 3rd

Since I missed so much school last week, due to Strep Throat, I just found out a few things from Mrs. Stanton. I need to observe another student's presentation, another student needs to come to mine and I need to decide and ask a teacher to be on my judging panel.
I will be observing Andrew Walker's project. I am excited because he did his project about working out and completing a triathlon. I am excited to find out how his project ended. He is presenting exactly a week before I do. I am glad that I get to see another student present before I have to so I an get some ideas of what to do and what not to do during my presentation. I convinced Katie Records to come watch my presentation. I choose her because she i son e of my best friends. Presentations make me really nervous so it will be nice to have a friend in the croud that I can look at in case I get nervous. As for the teacher to be in my judging panel, I asked the choir teacher Bruce. I have been in his class for all four years of high school, more than one period a day for three of the years, and I think it will be good to have him be one of the adjudicators. He seemed really happy and excited that I asked him to be on my panel.

May 2nd

I have been trying to put together my presentation, but it is a lot harder than it sounded. There is so much I want to talk about and so much I need to put into the presentation, I simply do not know where to start. Maybe the presentation will be the hard part of the project that I was looking for.
So far my power point consists of a title page (Looking Through the Lens), and a few slides with pictures on them. I think that I need to make an out line of what I want to talk about in my presentation and then work around that.

May 1st

I have officially started working on my presentation. I have been working a lot on the reflection aspect of my project. I kind of wish that I had gone with my first idea for a project, which was to volunteer in a hospital. I think I would have learned a lot more when it comes to my future since I am going to college to become a nurse. I feel that my project was not challenging enough. I am not saying that the project was not hard and stressful, it just seems like everyone had to deal with a lot of big problems when it came to their project. My biggest problem was that my camera was broken, but I was able to fix that with some duck tape. I think the project was easy for me because I was able to choose where and when I was going to work on it, unlike a lot of other people who had to change things in their schedules so that they would have time to work on their project. I am a person who loves a challenge, and when I decided to take this class I thought that it would be a great test to see if I can handle the great amount of stress and if I can deal with problems easily. I was simply disappointed, but relieved at the same time, when it turned out that I had no big problems with my project.

April 27th

I know that if I do not start my project soon, I will end up putting everything off till the last week. I can not let that happen because I do not want to be over stressed during the busiest time of the year. I think that even thought I have had a history of being a procrastinator, I will be able to handle this project and finish it up very well.

April 25th

It is official, I will be presenting on May 26th. I have to skip 7th period to present because that is the only time Mrs. Pagano can go to my presentation. I kind of wish that I was going sooner. the last two or three weeks of school are going to get very busy. I have four different choir concerts, Senior Ball, finals week, and lets not forget about graduation! I really hope that I do not start putting things off till last minute.

April 18th

We only have a few more weeks of school left and I am getting really excited about everything that is happening and will happen as the year comes to an end. I have officially decided to go to Chico State next year. Now that I have almost all of the college stuff out of the way, I am able to concentrate on finishing my project and doing everything I need to do so I am able to graduate on June 10th!

April 12th

     I asked Katie Records if I can try out fashion photography and take some photos of her. She said that she would love to help me out. The only problem now is trying to find a time and a place for me to take the pictures. I was thinking the Lafayette Reservoir. There are a lot of really beautiful places at the reservoir. I could also take some photos of the wildlife there.

April 9th

     So I have been thinking a lot about the idea of doing photography as a career. I have come to the conclusion that I do not think I could ever be a professional Photographer. Some Photographers have to sit in one place for hours, just to get one photo of what they were looking for. I simply am not patient enough for that. I possibly could do fashion photography. I think I could do that. You do not have to sit in ridiculous types of weather to take a photo of a certain animal that you can not find. With fashion photography, you get to work with people, which I am really good at. Maybe I will try out fashion photography by taking photos of some of my friends.

April 4th

     Over the weekend, my family went to Paso Robles. My aunt and uncle live there so we decided to go down for a visit. Of course I brought my camera with me. It was the only thing that kept me entertained while down there. We spent most of the weekend driving around and going wine tasting. Since I am not 21, I just took pictures instead.
     We went to a very old winery. The wine tasting room was in an old barn. When we went in, we met the owner. He told us how he has lived on that property since he was born and it originally belonged to his grandparents. Before the land was used to grow grapes for wine, it was all farming land. When you looked into the field of grapes, you could see an American flag placed randomly among the grapes. We asked the owner why the flag was there. He told us that it is because during World War II, a plane crashed right there and the pilot died. It crashed due to engine failure, but they decided to place an American flag where the crash happened.
     While my family continued to talk to the owner and taste wine, I decided to take a walk. The property was really big and had a lot of cool things on it. There were about 2 other old barns, besides the one that was turned into the wine tasting room. The wood on the building was starting to rot and there was pieces of metal sticking out of the wood that was covered in rust. The way that the sun hit the building was really beautiful, so of course I took photos of it. As a kept walking, I came across a few cars. One was a very old Jeep. I think that it was one of the first Jeeps ever made. It looked like the ones that they used during the war. I also found an old Mustang. My mom told me that the Mustang I found was the same year and design of the Mustang she owned before she married my dad.
     I had a great weekend and even thought it was a little boring, I got a lot of really great pictures out of it. (The photos I took will be in a later post.)

March 31st

     Right when I thought things in my life were going to calm down, they simply pick right up again. Now that the musical is over, I have to concentrate on deciding what college I will be going to next year. I am really feeling stressed when it comes to finishing my research paper. I have taken all of my notes and I have done both of my interviews but now I have to actually put the pieces together to come up with an essay. Along with doing the research paper for this class, I also have to finish my community service paper for my government class. The paper for my government class is due the day after our research paper. Along with needing to finish both of these papers, I will be gone for spring break. I do plan on taking my lap top with me to Mexico to work on my papers, but I might have some trouble concentrating while I am there.
     I have decided to interview my cousin who was one of the photographers in the White House while President George W. Bush was in office. I am really glad to have all of the notes and the interviews out of the way. I have already written about two pages of my essay. I feel like my essay is going to be very long because there is so much to say about the topic of photography. There is so much history behind everything.
     I have also been taking a lot of photos. I am starting to pick out the best ones and chose which ones I will show in a slide show during my presentation in May. I know that originally, I was going to edit my photos using photo shop, but I have become a lot more interesting in the different techniques and the different lenses I can use. I have also been using different light filters on my lenses to see the different effect they can give. My favorite lens of mine is my fish eye lens because of the way it makes the curve of the photo look.

March 9th (Photos)

March 9th

     I have realised that I am a little behind in my project, but I am starting to catch up. I have started to write my rough draft of my essay. The essay is a lot harder than I thought. I have no much information and I somehow have to put it into an essay with correct grammar. I have both of my interviews set up and hopefully I can fit those into my essay also.
     For the photography part of my project, I have started to take a lot more photos. I have been keeping my camera with me in my car at all times. Today when I was driving, I saw a fence that I really liked so I pulled over just to take photos of it. If I had not had my camera with me, I probably would have never gotten the photo. I have also been using my fish eye camera lens a lot. It is fun to use because it gives a shape to the photos.
     I am starting to learn how hard it is to get the shot that you want. I had to sit in the mud to get a picture of a lady bug and every time I moved to take the photo, the lady bug would move to the other side of the piece of grass that it was on.

February 22nd

     I have officially started my research paper. I have made my outline and today I am meeting with Ms. Pagano to go over it. Then hopefully, I will start writing tonight. I still need to contact Jim Cooper about an interview and maybe he can guide me to someone else to interview. I am not usually good with talking to strangers so I think that the interviews will be good for me. They will help me a lot because next year at college I will have to talk to a lot of new people.
     I plan on going and taking more pictures either today or tomorrow. Once I take them, I will post them on my blog and then later I will post the edited version of it so that who ever is reading my blog can compare the two photographs.
     Now that it is almost March, I feel like I have been slacking off on school a little more. I know that right now is the most important time of the year so I really need to stay focused. These next few weeks are going to be really busy and so I need to stay on top of everything that I am doing. I think that if I just have a set goal for each week, I will be able to accomplish everything I need too. I just need to remember that I need to get stuff done, rather than spend my time watching TV, on the computer or texting my friends. This weekend I turned off my phone for a day and did not use the computer and I got a lot more stuff done than I would have normally gotten done. I think that I need to do that type of thing more often. I think that it will really help if I do that in college when I am studying or doing homework.
     Along with working on my essay, I have also been looking at the different styles of photography that I am interested in. I think that nature photography and fashion photography are very interesting. 
     I really hope that everything for the next few weeks go along smoothly.

February 17th

     This week has been very busy. I have so much going on with cheerleading and the musical, it has been hard to get enough time in to work on my project. I have been working a lot with my notes and I am forming an outline right now. When I meet with Ms. Pagano on Tuesday, I think that we are going to start forming the essay. In my essay, I am going to be talking a lot about the history of photography and also the different techniques used. I think I will also talk about a few very successful photographers who have mad a big career out of taking photos.
     I have started taking photos, but I am planning on doing a lot of work this weekend since it is the four day weekend and I do not have any plans. I really want to get some good photos of the weather right now. I love taking pictures of the rain and so right now is perfect timing.

February 10th

     I have decided that a lot of this weekend will be dedicated to working on my project. I have already made a list of goals I would like to accomplish:

1. Finish research for my paper
2. Start making an outline for my paper
3. Get my camera fixed
4. Get in contact with my outside of school mentor
5. Start taking pictures for my project.

I really am hoping that I am able to get everything done. If I am successful, I think that I am off to a great start. But if not, then it will be a very stressful semester.

February 9th

     Along with doing research and taking my own photos, I have been looking a lot at other people's photos. I think that the photography in the National Geographic magazines is the most amazing photography. It is really crazy to think that the photographers are so determined to get the perfect picture, they will sit where ever they need to sit, for hours, simply to get one perfect picture.

Click to go to National Geographic Photography Page 

February 9th

     Yesterday I had my first meeting with my mentor Ms. Pagano. We talked about my plans for my project and worked on setting certain goals to complete by a certain date. I am very lucky that I am a really organized person. I can not even begin to imagine how my project would go if I was not this organized.
     I also have begun doing a lot more research for my paper. I got a book about different technique used with photography. The title of the book is called The Photographer's Eye and it is by Michael Freeman. There is a picture of the book below. I have begun to read it and along with reading it, I have learned a lot. The different chapters are split up based upon things like basics of photography and different elements of photography. I am very excited to start using these techniques in my own Photography.

February 8th

    Last night I found out that my sister has the new Photo Shop on her lap top. This will make things a lot easier for me. I will not have to go into the Photography class room every morning to work on my project during first period. I am now able to edit my photos at home. Now I will not feel so rushed to edit all of my pictures in the 50 minutes I would have each day. I can take my time and do a better job at working with my photos. This will help my stress situation a lot.
    So far, I think that the hardest thing about this project is remembering everything I have to do. The Discussion Board is really hard to remember. I usually remember to write on it, but I do have trouble remembering to respond to another persons post. I think that as the semester goes along, it will become a lot easier to remember all of the little things that I need to get done.

February 7th

     I have been very busy lately to the point where I have not had enough time to go and take photos to start that portion of my project, and the fact that I do not have a car for last week and this week does not help. Because I have been so busy with a lot of other things, I have been working on my research paper a lot since I can work on it when ever I have free time at home. I really want to start it now and get it done so that I am not rushing to finish it. I am writing my paper on the history of photography and how the different cameras and techniques have formed. I have already learned a lot and I am excited to learn more.
     I do have a lot of different things I need to get done before I can start the photography portion of this project. I just found out this weekend that when my sister borrowed my very nice and expensive Nikon D40, she dropped it and part of the lens broke. This is not a very big deal because I do have other lenses, but if i want to use my fish eye lens, I need to get the broken one fixed. The fish eye lens attaches to the lens that my sister has broken. It should not be very hard to get fixed though. All that happened is that the piece of plastic that attaches the lens to the camera body has broken off. It is still usable, but I eventually do need to get it fixed. Along with that, I need to e-mail my 3rd space mentor. A sophomore's dad is a photographer, so he will be helping me with this project. I do not really know him or his daughter. I heard about him from a few different friends.
     I also am talking to Ms.Pagano tomorrow so we can get started with forming my research paper. I asked Ms.P to be my mentor because I have had her for two of my four years of high school. I was in her Literacy class freshman year and junior year. She knows how I work and she is really easy for me to talk too. I know that it makes the most sense for me to ask Mr. Porter to be my mentor since he is the photography teacher at our school. I choose Ms. P because I think that I will need more help in the writing portion of the project and not as much help when it comes to learning how to use Photo shop and edit my pi cutes.
     I am already feeling very stressed about this project, but if I simply stay on top of everything I need to do, and do not fall victim to Senioritus, I think I will do fine.

January 27th

     Writing has never been my strong point when it comes to school. I have never been good at writing essays about books and research papers, but for some reason it seems so easy for other people. When I signed up for this class, I knew that a big factor of the project was to writing and I knew writing is not a strong point of mine, but I figured that people only get better at things if they keep doing it over and over again. That's why I thought that writing a research paper and blogging about something that I am interested in may help me a lot with my writing skills. I also figured that I should probably become a stronger writer before I go off to college, where I will be doing a lot of writing.

January 26th

     This is the first week of second semester. Everyone who has graduated before me always would say, "Oh, you are going to love second semester senior year. It is so easy and you have practically no work." Well to all of those people who have said that to me in the past... you lied to me. Second semester has barely even started and I am feeling overwhelmed by everything I have to do. On the top of my things to do is this Senior Project. I have already been working a little bit with Photoshop. I am editing some pictures of my friends and I. This way I can practice on pictures that I will not be using for this project, I am simply learning the technique. I have been working with the liquefy tool. It is what magazines use to make all of the models more slender and make the muscles in their legs and arms stand out more. I am excited to start editing my other pictures.

Time to Start

     In one week, I will be starting my senior project. Most people say that senior year is a very important year because it is the year before you leave home and start living on your own. I guess that I am hoping that this project will test if I am ready to be on my own. I have always been a person who depends a lot of the people around them. For this project, I will not be asking my parents to drive me places or to help me find someone to interview. I want to know I can accomplish something big, all by myself.
      Yes, the main idea of my project is to expand my photography portfolio and learn how to edit my pictures, but I am hoping that along with all of that, I will grow as a person. I want to become more confident that I can do things on my own. I am going to be going into San Francisco and other areas. I will be taking pictures of things that people do not usually notice. I will also be helping in a few soup kitchens. I have spent a lot of time doing service projects and I want to continue that with this project. As I am working in the kitchens, I will hopefully get the opportunity to take pictures of the people I will be feeding and get to talk to them about their story. I find people and what they have experienced very interesting. Hopefully through this project I will get to do two of the things I love to do, help people and do photography. I also want to go to our sister school and take pictures there. Along with that, I want to ask some of the teachers what they need in their classrooms, such as paper, pencils, books, games, etc., and find a way for them to get what they need.
     I am actually very nervous to start this project. I do not think that I will have a problem with the organization side of the project because I have always been very organized. I have more scared of the final presentation. I have never been good at talking in front of people. That is also one reason I wanted to do this project, to become more confident with my writing and speaking because both of those are a big portion of the project. Hopefully, in some way, this project will help me with leaving next year and feeling like I will be able to do it.