Wrapping Things Up

As I finish this project, I am feeling pretty good about it. Although I did not have time to do some of things I wanted to do, or go to some of the places I really wanted to go to, I realized how much I actually love Winnipeg. This project has opened up my eyes so much to all of the beauty we are surrounded by, all you have to do is look.

Even though I didnt accomplish all of my goals, I atleast accomplished most of them. I just didnt get to do a photo shoot with my friend and her boyfriend, because we just didnt have time. 

I think that I will continue with photography and try to keep learning new things and experimenting. I also really want to buy a better camera and lens in the near future, they just cost a lot! 

Biblical Through Lines

As this passion project comes to a close, I wanted to talk a bit about some biblical through lines that fit in pretty well with my passion project. Although there are many through lines that could apply to photography, I am choosing to talk about the three that I connected with the most during this project.

1) God-Worshiping 
Worship doesnt have to take place somewhere like a church. You can worship God wherever you are. 
Photography applies to this through line because when you are taking a picture of something, you can take a minute to step back and worship God for who He is, and what he has created. A pretty big thing for me is sunrises and sunsets. I find it amazing how different they are everyday, no sunrise or sunset is ever the same. They are all different. I also find that I am drawn more to them than anything else. But just taking a walk outside with your camera in your hand can easily inspire you because there are so many wonderful things that God has created.

2) Beauty-Creating
We can praise God through the art that we create.
Photography applies to this through line because by taking a picture we are capturing Gods beauty, and by editing it we are creating something new. Photography does take creativity, and we are honoring God when we create something with the beautiful things He has made.
"Creativity is about inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun" You can easily do all of these things through photography.

3) Creation-Enjoying
We can celebrate and thank God for the beautiful world that he has created. 
God has created such a beautiful world and it amazes me to no end. Even just looking at the simplest things like a field or grass or sand is truly amazing. God created it all. And we should enjoy it. Many people say that they hate living in Winnipeg and that its an ugly city. But through out this entire project, from day one, ive had so many moments where I've been driving around and I notice things that I never noticed before. It has given me a larger appreciation for the city I live in. 

Psalms 113:3 
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,  the name of the Lord is to be praised.


Psalms 65:8
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Practice

So, as I mentioned in my last post, my mentor asked me if I was willing to take pictures for an event at my church on December 6th. I hesitated when she first asked me, and I think she could tell I was kinda scared because she told me I could just have my camera on auto, so I wouldn't have to do anything except press the shutter button. At first I thought I would just have it on auto, but I figured I might as well practice what I've learned. So for most of the time, I had my shutter speed on 1/80, my aperture (or f stop) at around 5.4, my ISO between 3400-6200 and my white balance on the tungsten setting.

I woke up really early that morning to get ready and also because I wanted to research some tips and stuff for taking pictures of kids, and in churches. The only thing is... I didn't end up doing that. I woke up and while I was getting ready I noticed that the sunrise looked kinda cool. I figured I might as well venture out and take some pictures quickly, but "quickly" turned into half an hour. I walked outside for half an hour, my hair literally frozen and feeling in my fingers and toes gone... But I think it was worth it.

I'll post some of the pictures soon! 

After I came inside I had to quickly get ready to take pictures at the breakfast at my church. The children's ministry director informed me of the kinds of pictures she wanted, most of them being close ups of kids with their parents. She also explained what the purpose of the breakfast was. It was just a connecting type thing for parents and kids, and they also learned and heard about the Christmas story. It was actually super fun! The kids did crafts and there was a bouncy castle, and songs and short videos. I took way more pictures than I expected to, and editing them has been a long process because the program I had planned on originally using doesn't work on my computer so I've been testing out new ones.  The only bad thing is that because I had my ISO so high, the pictures turned out grainy/fuzzy. Also, my legs hurt for a while after because I was constantly on the ground taking pictures of the kids. Because they are so small I had to get on my knees a lot so I was on their level. 

Unfortunately I won't be able to post them due to the policy my church has, but all in all it was a great first experience. 

Meeting With My Mentor

So last Thursday I met up with my mentor. Her name is Amber Anger. She used to work for Lifetouch, and she also does a lot of photo shoots for people. I explained to her how this project works, and what the purpose of it is. I also told her what  I have learned already, what I want to learn, and what some of my main goals for this project are. She offered to come with me when I plan on doing the photo shoot for my friend, so that she could give me some tips. I'm not sure if I will take her up on her offer or not yet, and I also still have no idea when I'm going to do it. She asked me if I wanted to take pictures for an event at my church on December 6, so I will probably do it so that I can get more experience. I also asked her some questions that I had and she provided me with answers. 


One thing that was kind of difficult is that she works with Nikon cameras, and my camera is a Canon. Although most of the cameras have similar functions (if not the same for the most part) there was a bit of confusion when she was showing me some things on my camera, and explaining them. 

Our little meeting went by rather fast, and only ended up being around an hour. In that hour I feel that I learned a lot more things and understood them better. I learned how to change the white balance on my camera, and also what and when to change it. That part was super easy because its just straight forward. For example if you are inside, you should change the white balance setting to the tungsten light setting, which looks like a little lightbulb. I had never changed the white balance on my camera, so seeing the difference in the pictures I took was pretty cool. 

I also learned more about when I should be changing my ISO settings, and when. I learned that if I am taking pictures outside, I should have my ISO at a lower, or lowest level depending how sunny or cloudy it is. Usually if you are outside you should have your ISO at 100, or 200, and if you are taking pictures inside, you should have it at a higher level. In case you didn't know, ISO is basically the level of sensitivity of your camera available to light.  If you have a lower ISO number, your camera will be less sensitive to the light, and more clear. If you have a higher ISO number your camera will be a lot more sensitive to light, and your picture may also be blurry, or grainy.

A Work in Progress

Throughout the past couple weeks I have learned numerous things, and I now know how to properly work my camera. I've learned a lot of techniques and tricks for taking pictures when my camera is in manual mode. At the beginning of this project I had no idea how to manually focus the camera, or what types of things I should be adjusting while in manual mode. During the first week of this project I found myself just playing around with my camera settings and going on walks with my camera during my spares, and just have fun taking pictures. To my surprise a lot of the pictures that I took actually turned out decent. Here is one of the first pictures that I took with my camera:

Once my friend Felicity started giving me more tips and teaching me what settings to Adjust and when to adjust them, I started to feel more confident with the pictures I was taking. I haven't yet met with my mentor because she just recently got engaged so she has been very busy lately. I talked to her last week and we are planning on meeting towards the end of this month. 

One harder thing about this whole thing, is that sometimes I'll be driving somewhere like to school or church etc and I'll see something really nice and wish that I would have taken my camera along. It's weird because half the time I see something beautiful, I don't have my camera with me. For example, one Sunday I was on the way to church with my dad. We were passing along the red river and the way the sun was shining on the water, and the colourful leaves in the background was beautiful. I wished I would have taken my camera with me! 

A couple weeks ago my family and I decided to take a trip to Saskatchewan. I told myself that I had to bring my camera with me, just in case! And I'm glad I did. We were about 3/4 of the way there when the sun was setting. We had decided to take a more scenic route, and I happened to look out the window at the right time, for there was one of the most beautiful and colourful sunsets I have ever seen, setting over a body of water. It was beautiful! I took a few pictures, and they turned out decent. Here is my favourite one:

My Passion Project

For my passion project and 20% time project I chose to do photography. photography is something that I have been interested in for a few years but I've never really learned how to use a camera properly and to its full advantage. My interest in photography started when I was in grade seven. At my youth, we had a small photography group where we would just go out and explore and take pictures. I didn't really learn anything from the group, but it definitely sparked and deepened my interest for photography.

I'm not exactly sure what this project will look like just yet, but I'm excited for it. It's going to be so spontaneous and opened ended. My major goal for this project is to learn how to work a camera properly and learn editing techniques. I hope to do a photo shoot with a friend, and also just explore Winnipeg and its surroundings and capture things that catch my eye. 

Something I will struggle with during this project is showing my work to others. I find it scary because everyone has different taste and perspective on things. Everyone sees through a lens differently. We all interpret pictures, and art differently. It kind of shows our individuality in a way. I am not really not one for putting my work out there for others to see because I am afraid of what they will think. So not only do I hope to learn more about photography, I hope that I will be able to overcome my little "fear" of putting myself out there and showing others what I can do.

When a friend of mine heard what I was doing for my passion project, she asked me if I would be willing to take pictures of her and her boyfriend. Immediately I said no, but I've been thinking a lot recently and I've decided it is something I would like to try out! So my end goal is not only to just know how to work my camera, but to do at least one photoshoot. I want to do one in the winter, because I love the snow and it looks really pretty, but it might be a little tricky because snow tends to reflect the sun a lot and the lighting may be hard to work with. Another factor is that because winter can be so cold, that means my cameras battery is going to die a lot faster, but I'm hoping that the snow and cold will not cause major problems for me!