Evaluative Blog Post

Overall, I would say that my thesis turned out exactly the way I wanted it to. The only thing I would really say now is that my project is far from finished and that I can only move forward and continue photographing my father.

I felt that my critique with Justine Reyes went well. While she related to my project and life with my father, she was definitely a tough critic. However, she brought up some very good points. She talked about how technically I should be more wary of my lighting and the amount of details, such as in my highlights when I am shooting and editing. She also recommended that I used film to compete with the loss of details that occurs when shooting digitally. I suppose that is something I would change about my project. I would have liked to use film for my project, but I didn't really have the time for it. Digital made the most sense for time because I

could see what I was shooting and whether I needed to reshoot immediately, as opposed to waiting to develop my film, then having to go back and reshoot. She said that my project was a good starting point because I am by no means finished and because after school I'll have more time to refine my work. Personally, I thought my technical details were good, but I understand what she is saying. As much as this is my project and my ideas, it has been ruled by deadlines and crowded with other projects for other classes. This is my jump off point, my outline for later.

When talking about the book, I realized that there is some editing that still needs to be done. I would probably remove some pictures, when I think about it now, or include re-edits. Justine mentioned that my text could be more personal, but I felt that it was just enough--I didn't want to reveal too much (overly emotional), but I also didn't want it to not be enough--I suppose it's a matter of opinion. She said there was no reason not to be more emotional about it because it is a difficult situation to deal with. However, she mentioned that my images were strong in comparison to the text because the book wasn't really about the text, I meant for it to establish a sort of timeline, or narrative.

Basically, I realized that I need to learn to take my time. To work for images; focus on lighting, on color balance, etc., while I shoot. After school, I will have no deadlines, I will be working for myself and really fine tune my project. In general, I am happy with things. I have a lot to look forward to. I need to be more honest. While I have opened up, I am still a bit closed. It's time to hone in and push the envelope. To refine my work and technique.