Essay

Essay

The definition of photography by the Merriam-Webster is the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor). The word photography comes from Latin, and means "to draw with light". But it’s more than that, the art of photography consists in capturing moments and emotions and putting in a frame.

I’ve always had the same perception of what a good picture is. A good picture is a lot more than just pressing the button in the camera, the photographer must have a good eye, analyze the scene, and then, capture that moment. A good picture must be able to show you the emotions that were there when it was taken, it should have a meaning behind the shot. By taking photographs, you are able to demonstrate anything you see and feel, and to keep them as memories.

Another thing that should be considered while taking photographs, besides the meaning behind them, is the angle you will be taking the photo, as that changes everything. The angle could be the difference between an ordinary shot and an amazing one. Something else that makes a lot of difference is the light. You could be taking a photo of the most perfect place in the world, but if the lighting is not good, it won't do that place justice.

I really love taking pictures of nature and beaches. I think I would also like to take pictures of people, and capture the love, friendship, or whatever feeling that exist between them.

In conclusion, to me, what makes a good picture is what's behind it, and how the photographer perceives, and chooses to express those moments.

Portfolio

Portfolio

-most of the photos were taken in my home country, Brazil.
-as I was not here for the whole school year, it was not possible to include examples of everything that was taught

This photo was taken at one of the gardens at Burnaby South. I really like it because it was the first photo I took in my old photography class. I also love how we can see a little bit of snow on the plant.

This one is from one of my first days here in Canada, and it is one of my favorite photos. I took it at the Grouse Mountain Gondola, on one of the school's field trips. I love how we can see the trees in the background.

This is a picture of the Space Needle, in Seattle, with some tree branches and street signs in front. I think this is a cool shot, and it is meaningful to me because I had always dreamt about going there.

This is also from one of my first days here, so it has a special meaning to me. It was my first time going to Granville St, and I loved the feeling of being in such a busy city, it reminded me of New York.

Also from one of the gardens at our school, I don't know what kind of flowers we are looking at, but I found them to be pretty in a different way. The shot is a little bit blurry, but I still love it.

I believe this is the last one from the gardens at BSSS. I like how dark this picture is, the shades of the green plants are darker, but covered in snow, which I love. The flower is also darker than how you would normally visualize a flower in your head.

I took this one while I was revisiting my old elementary school back in Brazil. I like how it brings me back to those days. These palm trees are located in the school playground. They are spread all over my city, and gives me beach vibes.

This is the view of Lisbon during the sunset at Castelo de Sao Jorge. My favourite thing about this shot is that there is a couple talking and drinking wine. It is definitely one of my favorite shots I have ever taken. 

This is the view from my uncle's apartment. I love how it's possible to see the street, the buildings, and also the green area. It is one of my favorite places.

This is the view from my friend's street here in Burnaby. I was amazed by the snow, and still think it's one of nature's prettiest works.

This is what the sky here in Burnaby looks like when it's getting dark. We see shades of dark blue, light blue, and also orange.

This is in Serrambi Beach, it is a beach city near Recife, where I live. I really like going there, as my friends are usually there too. 

This is in Aldeia, it is also near my city. This was taken at my friend's house. The views are really beautiful, and you can have contact with nature. It is amazing.

I love how the water is crystal clear, and how we can see the different shades in the water. Maragogi is a peaceful place to go, and it is not far from where I live. 

This is one of the views of Recife, my city, when it's beginning to get dark. I really like the look of the lights in the street.

In this photo, we can see a beautiful church, with some nature around and in front of it. It was taken last year during a trip to Chile. 

This is also from the trip to Chile. While I don't remember what these structures are, they give me a feeling of being historical.

This was at Paiva Beach, really close to Recife, where I live. I love going there, and have great memories of my friends there, as we used to go sometimes because one of my friends used to live there.

This is a delicate and beautiful red flower. My favorite thing is how it stands out in the middle of all the green.

This is more of an urban picture. It says "Hoje vai ser massa!" which could be translated to "Today is going to be a good day". 

This is the last shot from the Chile trip. It is a wonderful place that made me want to take pictures of everything. In this one, we see different types of trees, as well as a lake.

This is from my friend's family's farm. This is the road you take to get there, it is really beautiful and looks like a movie scenario. It is located in Palmeira-PR, in the south of Brazil.

I love photographing beaches, as well as nature. This is in Maracaipe, and I like how we can see the sand, waves, different colors of ocean water, and the sky and its clouds.

This was taken at Deer Lake Park, here in Burnaby. It is possible to see a lot of different things in this photo, such as the lake, trees, plants, the reflex of the sun, and also the city in the back.

Double colors exposure assignment

Double colors exposure assignment

  I took six pictures of a rock with my cellphone. I then chose my two favorites and used the app Adobe Lightroom on my phone to change the colors. It's an easy app to use, and to get different colors I changed the temperature, tint, vibrance and saturation. The edited photos are green and blue, because I really like these colors, and thought it would look nice.

Recreate a photo

Recreate a photo assignment

I chose these photos to recreate because they were easier and simpler than the other ones I found on the internet. It was hard to find photos that would be easy to recreate, mostly because the majority of them have more than one person, and they usually show their faces, something I’m not that comfortable doing.  All of them have differences from the original one to the new one. The first set of photos was really fun to take, and that was the closest I could get to the original; the woman and me are not in the same place, and we’re obviously not the same person, so these are some of the differences, but we are both standing on a podium and with flags behind us, and with a blue background, so these are similarities. The second set was also quite easy, but I made the mistake of taking the photo in the wrong angle, and I did not blur the background like the one from the internet, but the flowers almost look the same. The most similar one in my opinion is the one with the feet on the grass, but we can see that the shoes are not the same, and the pants are in different colours, also, the grass looks better on the original.

Stop Motion

Stop Motion - Project

We chose to draw our project because we would've needed more people than we had if we
wanted to do it some other way. So, our best opportunity was to draw and take pictures.
Our project is about an incident that happened this year in Brazil. A family was in their car,
driving on their way to a baby shower, in a poor suburb in Rio de Janeiro, when military men
started shooting at them for no reason. 80 gunshots, for no reason. The father, Evaldo dos
Santos Rosa, was the one driving, and was killed that day.
We decided to represent what happened in our project as a way of protest, and to show
people the horrible thing that happened, and keeps happening in out country, and in the
world.
The hardest part when we were creating the work was to draw the city, and to take the pics,
because the camera had to keep still.

https://youtu.be/BpF9KQ1NHxI

Script:

Our project represents something that happened in Brazil. The video starts with an intro, a photo of Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil's most famous cities, but that's also the place where this story, and many others, took place. The scene begins at night, with a man driving a car in a poor suburb of Rio de Janeiro. The main character, Evaldo dos Santos Rosa, is going to a baby shower with his wife, their son, goddaughter, and his wife's stepfather. But the family is surprised when, out of nowhere, some military men show up and start shooting at them, for no reason. 80 shots were fired. Unfortunately, Evaldo died, but thankfully, his family didn't get hurt. After the incident, brazilians started a campaign on the internet in memory of the father, but also protesting against racism, and Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, and his fanatic support of the military. In the next scene, we decided to represent a protest, for people to think about society's problems, such as racism and violence. We wrote down some sentences, and made them ''fall'' from what would be the sky, and that's how our video ends, with some people protesting, and with reflexive sentences.

Maria Fernanda Lyra

Rafael Rondinelli

Helena Ferraz