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.