Ava Nielsen's Photojournalism Blog

5 things to remember when designing my magazine cover: 1. You want to keep a similarity from previous magazines such as the logo or a specific thing that people remember. 2. You want to have an emotional appeal to the image, making the viewer feel something towards the magazine good or bad. 3. Have mystery that stirs curiosity in the glancer. When they look at the cover you want to have something that a reader wants to see more of. 4. Make sure the cover is intellectually stimulating, and interesting 5. Don't have too many things going on at once, so it is just an easy glance for someone.

1. The most powerful picture in my opinion was the "Down and Dirty" photograph. It shows the struggle Ian was holding in, and the pain he was facing. It has the gun, the flag, and he is in his uniform surrounded by his gear making it a very self explanatory photo, but a great one. 2. The photos are taken at different points in Ian's life over the course of a year. The photos from the beginning of it all show Ian saying goodbye to all his friends and family and his efforts to try and fit in the Army. As the photos go on, you can see the hardships he goes through, and the kind of experiences he faces and has to decide on. These factors all help put a story together with just photos. 3.The captions for all photos were really detailed and descriptive, which really helped the reader see what the photo was about. Each caption had what all captions should have, present tense, action verbs, date and, the 5 W's. These factors really described what was happening in the photos...

Alter Your Perspective:   Most portraits are taken with the camera at (or around) the eye level of the subject. While this is good common sense – completely changing the angle that you shoot from can give your portrait a real WOW factor. Experiment with Subject Expressions:   In some portraits it is the expression on the face of your subject that makes the image.  Get your subject to experiment with different moods and emotions in your image. Play with extreme emotions, b ut also try more sombre or serious type shots. Mirror effect:   A mirror or some other reflective surface offers an even easier way to take a self-portrait. In most cases, the camera will be included in the scene (but this can help make a statement about your enthusiasm for photography). You can use your camera as a prop, and hold it away from your face. When you photograph into a mirror, be sure your reflection is in focus. An infrared autofocusing system will usually focus on glass if it's ai...

Patrick Felix splashes around in the water in Miami, Florida on August 26th for his grandson, Jimmy's 6th birthday. Patrick spends a lot of time down at the beach and has claimed he finds sand in the pants "soothing and cleansing." Martha Ruby plays her accordion and smiles while she still has teeth, on Sunday afternoon, October 14th, on her property in Virginia to raise money for her neighboring Elementary schools. Martha has been playing the accordion since the stone age, and is always finding ways to raise money for the kids, giving her an excuse to pinch their cheeks. Granny Smith celebrates her  Quinceañera again a few years late, at the Driskill Hotel on January 13th, to celebrate it again with her high school sweetheart who died in 1941. Granny Smith visits the Driskill often to have conversations with her boyfriend whom "haunts" people who stay in the hotel.

TOPIC: Music RULE OF THIRDS This photo is rule of thirds because the microphone is most definitely the main subject, but it's not super boring or mainstream since it isn't directly in the middle of the photo. LEADING LINES The strings of the guitar are the leading lines in this photo, making them the main focus of this photograph. While everything else is blurred they are focused on. SYMMETRY AND PATTERNS (repetition) This photo shows the set up of a stage during a concert. As you can see the screens and lights they installed and set up are symmetrical giving it not only an enjoyable view, but balance. FRAMING There isn't much music shown in the photo, but if you look closely there is a concert going on on the small stage on the baseball field. I REALLY like the framing in this photo- having the whole stadium as a huge frame to the small stage is a perspective that I found  very unique and creative. SIMPLICITY/BACKGROUND I chose this photo f...

COLD ELECTRIC PURPLE

1. I would really like to take my camera to the abandoned Six Flags up in New Orleans. I would really want to go here because it looks sort of like a run-down town and the rides and games still look somewhat in tact and would make really creepy and cool photos. Also in general, New Orleans is known as a pretty creepy place with all the voodoo and stuff so it just makes the scene ten times scarier and freaky. OTHER UNUSUAL PLACES TO PHOTOGRAPH Amazon Jungle Abandoned ruins Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee Burning Man music festival White Sands, New Mexico Nick Garbutt has taken many photos in the Amazon Jungle, including this one. I think it would be a really great experience to shoot in the Amazon. There are so many incredible creatures and species living there and things you have never seen before. Another thing is the weather, it is very wet and humid in the Amazon but you never know what is coming, because the surprise of a certain type of weather can make...