Wednesday, January 17
By: Yazzie and Alice
Yazzie - First half of the day
We started this morning with our “daily photo inspo”, an assignment where students rotate turns sharing photography/photographer inspiration each day. Today, Max shared his passion for high-speed photography with the class, discussing the inspiring nature of photos that capture the still moments of high-speed situations or beings (ex., a photo of a hummingbird’s wings still – something never visible to the naked human eye). Talulah followed by presenting some of Annie Leibovitz's most unique work, featuring her famous abstract photographs of celebrities. She also provided an in-depth analysis of each photo and explained Leibovitz’s background to the class, which was very insightful in understanding the photographer’s personal style and influence on the art world. After the daily photo inspo, guest photographer Juliana Franco returned to share more of her photography wisdom with us. Today, she taught us about the importance of composition and the Rule of Thirds, the Rule of Odds, and the Golden Ratio/Golden Spiral. We watched a YouTube video about the Golden Spiral and the math behind it, and it was fascinating to see the correlation between math and photography. She emphasized the importance of leaving negative space in a photo to emphasize and draw more attention to the subject and to balance the elements in the scene for a more cohesive photograph. She also taught us a bit about diffusing lighting and how to remove reflections in photos. Ms. Franco’s teaching is fascinating because she utilizes her real work to show us her processes and outcomes, and she showed us her setup for photographing office spaces with glass walls and how she removes the reflection in them. Overall, the first half of today was very informative and prepared us well for the portrait photoshoots we did in the afternoon.
Early morning composition lesson
Emma posing for portraits while Kamilla experiments with the camera
Eli and Owen setting up the backdrop
Ethan setting up a light
Alice - second half of day
The group started the second half of the day by continuing to take photos using the lighting tools that Ms. Juliana brought. She let the students use her tools, which included different beauty lights, shadows, and large curtains. Essentially, our classroom was turned into a portrait studio. This inspired many students to play with new types of lighting and their classmate's features. Some new lighting techniques included 45-degree lighting and backlighting. Not only did the students use professional lighting, they also experimented with different types of natural lighting. While some students worked with professional lighting and cameras, others used the tools they had around them. This allowed them to adapt to the environment they would be usually using, without the professional lighting. Ms. Juliana helped students adjust cameras and lights to the best possible outcome. Her work and lessons have been a great guide for hands-on professional photography opportunities, When Ms. Juliana left, the students uploaded their photos for their creative personal and group projects. These photos will be printed tonight, so the students will be able to work on their projects tomorrow. We ended the day with our daily chores and reflections. 
Yazzie capturing Talulah's portrait
Max helping Evan take a portrait of Talulah
Student Reflections
Yazzie reflection
Overall, today was interesting and engaging for me, and it seemed like the entire class was very engrossed in the activity when we set up the black cloth and lights to take photos, and we all worked collaboratively to experiment with the cameras. I liked how hands-on today was, and how everybody had a role to fill. I was never left bored for a second and was always enthralled by the process. We all got some great photos out of the experience, learned new expertise, and got closer as a group!
Alice reflection
I loved how hands-on and more of a workshop class today was. I think we have a lot of freedom within the course, and each student can progress as much as they'd like to. Seeing how the lighting, backdrop, and different diffusers worked, allowed me to expand my vision with lighting and how to manipulate the lighting you have. I loved working with my peers and my camera, it made me feel a lot closer to the class and teachers. I will definitely miss Ms. Juliana’s explanations, lessons, and hands-on activities that we participated in throughout the day.
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