Eucalyptus - San Francisco by William Dassonville

This photograph was taken by William Dassonville and is named Eucalyptus - San Francisco. It was taken in c. 1925. He photographed many scenes of nature in North California. He was born in Sacramento, and became interested in photography as a young boy.

From the credit line, it read that this picture was taken in San Francisco around 1925. I think that it's amazing how great of condition the photograph is in. At first, I thought that Dassonville was a modern photographer because this picture seemed to look as if it were taken within this century. But it amazed me when I found information that he was born in 1879, and then died in 1957.

I found this angle of the eucalyptus trees soft, and I enjoy the lighting of how the trees as if it were a silhouette. I think of the trees as a silhouette because of the way that the sun and the cloud are behind the trees, making the tree against the light as a silhouette. I also like the color of the picture which may have been because of the picture's age, but I like the way the picture isn't just black, white, and gray, but it's almost like a soft sepia color. Plus, the picture itself has a soft, glow-y feel, and I like it when pictures are soft, and not always exactly sharp and grainy. I find that the colors are very well contrasted, almost like a black and white photo, but in what looks like a dark brown and cream color.

I think what Dassonville was trying to interpret was that anything as simple as trees can look beautiful. Also, that great lighting can make a very big impact. I believe that he also wants his audience to know that details aren't always needed to make a point. Lastly, I think that he wants us, his audience, to realize that you don't need to go to exotic places to take amazing pictures. This picture was taken in San Francisco, probably a local place, and he probably wants us to know that you could even take a great picture in your backyard.

This picture of eucalyptus trees is very successful. It gives off a local, home-y feel, and the silhouette lighting is wonderful. It kept my interest and it made me think, like when I thought that the picture was very recent, when in fact it was taken almost a century ago. I think it's interesting to look at because I enjoy silhouettes, but the fact that it's not a silhouette portrait and they're silhouette trees is impressive. I wouldn't change anything in the photograph because if I were to change anything to change it to my preferences, it would change the entire integrity of the picture.

M'aimer pour qui je suis

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So, this assignment is for a CD cover. I didn't really know what I wanted in the beginning, so I just shot whatever I found interesting the day we were given the assignment. The picture on the left is the front cover, and the picture on the left would be like the back cover. My CD cover is actually more of a CD single than an entire album. The title of the single is called M'aimer pour qui je suis which is french for "love me for who I am" and the artist of it is called 337.

I based my cover on the artist Corinne Bailey Rae. Her music is pretty chill and acoustic, and when I took that picture, I thought of how sweet sounding Corinne's voice is. When given the assignment, after school I went home and asked my sister if I she could pose for me. I didn't have too much in mind, but that I didn't want her looking into the camera. I wanted the cover to be "soft-looking" so I tried out this filter that made the picture come out very soft. When I developed this picture, it was a lot easier since I had already gone through the learning process. It was so fast, that it was like those click, buy, and print! commercials. Designing this cover in photoshop, I realized that I didn't like how black and white it looked, so I decided to spice it up with some color bubbles, and overlaying it on top of the image. I think when I put text on top of the color bubbles, it added a sort of focal point away from the big picture of my sister and more focus on the title. I also wrote the artist name (337) twice, once in really big, but faded letters, and another again in a smaller, but more obvious look. I really the way that the typography of the artist name looked. Oh, and I also added a white flower-ish thing to accent the 337.

The backside of the cover was really fun! I took the shot during seventh period when we weren't really doing anything. It just so happened that my models, Wilfredo and Pum, had brought their guitars that day and just have a little jam session during class. When I took a few pictures of them playing, I used the same filter from the first cover to make both sides consistently soft. In the printing process, my first test strip I didn't like because the picture came out really gray and dull. So, in the dark room, I talked to Miranda and Ms. Miles, and they advised that I try using a filter to add more contrast to the picture. Contrast, meaning making the black parts darker, and the white parts lighter. I really love the way the picture came out because of the fact that my models came out a lot more focused with darks, and then pretty much their background was a lot lighter. When using photoshop, I used a lot of the same elements from the front cover to keep the entire project consistent. I used color bubbles, and very similar typography. In terms of the back cover, I decided to use the picture of Wilfredo and Pum and use them as a different band, but as a featured band, as if it were a collaboration between "337" and "Bloo & Ex".

Overall, I'm really happy with how both prints came out, but I know I still have a lot of learning to do. I want to become more better with using shutter speed, aperture, and the light meter. I also want to learn how to use my Minolta a lot better.. I'm called a student, because I learn! Haha, I don't really know where that came from.