Here are some of the best pictures that we took at Silverstar.
Archives For Discovering
Back in 2006, my two friends and I could play instruments, and one of them could sing. We made up a song called “The Woodchuck Song”. It was basically just our singer yelling “How much would could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”. It sounded pretty good to us and to our families, but unfortunately we moved away from them that summer and couldn’t do it anymore. When we came back to visit in 2010, my friend, the singer, and I sat down and wrote an actual song with lyrics that didn’t just include things about rodents and had actual structure and guitar chords. That’s when we realized we were really good. The next summer, I moved back to Edmonton and we wrote our second song which was even better and started playing them in his basement.
I started taking piano lessons when I was 3 and I played for quite a few years until I was 9 or 10. We got a drum set when I was 5 and I took lessons until I was 10 but I still continued to play and I’ve never stopped. I got an electric guitar when I was around 11 and took lessons for a month at a music store then I took online lessons called Jamplay for the rest of the school year and taught myself from there. I haven’t taken lessons for a while but still use the online every once in awhile if I can’t figure something out.
What I wanted to do with this project was to write and record a whole song with instruments and vocals. I wanted to have at least two guitars, drums, and some keyboard. I didn’t really plan it out. We just were playing the chords and writing the music and the basic idea seemed to come together in an afternoon. I did most of the writing in my friend’s basement in a tiny room with all the instruments. I did the recording at my home by myself. The vocals came after all the tracks were laid down. Even without a plan, the results were astounding.
I had fun with creating the music and also recording it and playing with the different sounds I would get from placing the mic in different places. Writing the lyrics was also interesting. I also learned that it is ALWAYS a good idea to use a metronome when recording music. It makes it much easier when recording multiple instruments and vocals. I didn’t use one on the first version of the song that I recorded and it was off beat in some places. I remembered to use one on the second version of the song so it is almost all on beat.
I started using a program called Garageband that can record music at a camp in Texas so I was already familiar with it. I didn’t really get into any of the effects because they were a little complicated. I recorded the main guitar first. After that came the rhythm guitar, the drums, and finally the keyboard and vocals when my friend came over. I had to do the drums on the keyboard since the real drums wouldn’t record well with just one mic. Once we got a good mic, I had to try and figure out how to use it and what the different settings did. After I figured it all out, it was pretty easy to record and it sounded really good compared to the mic on my laptop which is what I used for the first recording.
I had quite a few problems. When I did the first version of the song, I was using the mic built in on my computer. It wasn’t that bad, but there was a lot of background noise from the furnace in our basements and it wasn’t as good quality as the song recorded on a higher quality mic. The new mic, called the Yeti, also didn’t record as much background noise as the one on my laptop. It was also tricky working with GarageBand and getting used to all the different effects that there are. It is hard to start recording in the middle of the song if you took a break or something like that. There is a delay on the time that you press the record button and when it actually starts recording and the music kicks in.
Also, I went to school for the second semester so that limited how much time I could spend on the recording. I didn’t really do much work on it after the day when we did the vocals. I think it sounded alright and it didn’t need much adjustment.
We had an opportunity to play for Capilooza http://www.capilano.org/capilooza-2012/ which is a fundraiser for a Haitian orphanage put on by our church. We jumped at the opportunity to play in front a crowd of more than 4 people. There were only two of us and we needed at least four to have all the instruments that would make it sound good. I got my brother to play drums and a leader at our church to play bass and it ended up working out pretty good.
Practicing for the fundraiser was a little difficult and I couldn’t make all the practices. I missed the first one so my friend and my brother had to teach our bass player the chords and notes that I wrote. They did pretty well, though, and they played all the songs except one which they couldn’t figure out. We practiced three or four times at our house with everyone except the bass player and three times on the stage at our church with everybody.
Even though it was hard at some points, I learned some things. I learned how to use the new Yeti microphone and use GarageBand more effectively. I got better at making up my own beats and riffs on the guitar and drums instead of playing music that somebody already wrote. It’s sometimes hard to come up with new music when there is already so much out there. You have to be careful not to copy someone else’s music. You can also use the same chords and progressions just as long as you don’t copy the words or beat of the song. I also learned a bit about poetry and songwriting and how some words fit to make a good rhyme and how some don’t. My friend and I would write the lyrics together when we had the time, and emailed each other when we had a good idea.
My band and I played at Capilooza and played three of the songs that we had written and two cover songs. We used all of our own amps, guitars, and drums. We brought all the stuff to the church early for sound check and to see how everything was going to work out. There were quite a few other bands there too so we got a little feeling of what it would be like before we even got on stage. We set up and played three songs to let the sound guy see how loud everything should be. We finished, got all our stuff off the stage and went home until when we were supposed to be playing.
Our equipment was already at the church so we drove there and listened to the other bands before us. The bands were slower and not that exciting at the beginning but they were nice to listen to. When it was our turn, we set up quickly and started playing. I was quite impressed on how we did and how everything worked out. My mom and dad each had a video recorder and we got some good footage. We also had a Gopro camera set up on stage so it would get us from the same position all through the time we were playing. It was the first time we played in front of a big audience. There were about 200 people there and I was surprised that I wasn’t scared. After we were done, I just wanted to play more, and so I did.
A few days later we got to play again at a Battle of The Bands at a local high school atrium in front of about 25 people. It was set up by a music store, Axe music, but we didn’t get to use our own amps and guitars. There were a few problems with the guitars and sound and I don’t think it was nearly as good as when we played at the church but it was still not bad. My mom was recording with a mic on an iphone and my dad had the video camera. I had fun doing both and we got some good videos to show from it. We helped pack up the equipment and it was pretty neat stuff, but I wish we could have used our own amps. The ones they had were restricting and didn’t have much adjustment.
Here are the three original songs that we played at Battle of The Bands and Capalooza.
The song we wrote summer 2010 is called “Here We Go Again”. (Click on link to go to song and lyrics)
The song I recorded is called “Save Me”
Our newest song which we played at Capalooza is called, “Worlds Apart”
The fun just doesn’t stop here. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to play at different places and get our music out there. Who knows, maybe we’ll get to tour around someday and get paid to play music. To get there is a long road and we probably need to start by getting some more official band members.
I used the rule of thirds in this picture with the snow and the trees. The snowy part isn’t going through the center, it’s off to the side. I was trying to get a good perspective or angle on where I was and how big the trees and cliffs were.
I was trying to get a good angle of the words on the school and also get the flags in the frame as well. The sky has a nice color and I think all the colors mix well.
This is kind of a portrait. It is different then most, but I think It works. He’s in a school, and he’s thinking.
In this one I was trying to put the objects in a way where they lead your eye on towards the left of the picture. I wish the back ground was a little more simple, but it worked ok.
I was really trying to get the right light and shadows for this picture. I also tried to get a good angle. I wish the background could have been better, but I don’t think it draws the eye too badly.
I was trying to set up the objects in a certain way that they would fit well and compliment eachother. Again, the background isn’t as nice as I wanted it. There is also some nice texture in the picture.
This is a sort of weird confusing picture but if you look close enough, the chair and the bag under it is mirrored so that there is two of them. The color is ok but I wish I had brighter and more colors.
This picture shows depth of field and also some good texture. The color is kind of weird, but it adds a different perspective to the picture. The light coming through the rings at the top of the pole looks pretty neat too.
I like the detail on the chain in this picture. The color is sort of dull, but it works with the atmosphere in the picture. I also used the rule of thirds to offset the linking of the two chains. The texture is a little more dull on the chains that I wanted though.
The clouds and the sun in this picture sort of makes it look scary in a way. It has a neat perspective and there are a lot of things to look at. I think the black and white works because the picture would look dull if it was in normal color.
In this picture, I was trying to get a good picture of shadows without giving away which one of the shadows actually has the camera. I guess from a perspective this picture could look spooky in a way. The shadows on the ground and all you see is footsteps.
This picture is pretty cool. The perspective could be from a child in a playground who is only focusing on one thing, getting from one object to another on the playground. They don’t hear their parents calling them or all the people watching and the sounds of the streets nearby. Everything like that blurs out.
I tried to blur the person in this picture out and have the background in focus. I also tried to get a better angle than just straight on which gets boing after a while. I also tried to get some good color with the lockers in the background.
This picture has some pretty neat lines and texture. I was trying to capture the cracks in the ground and enhance the darkness inside of them. The light in the corner doesn’t really help the picture too much though.
This picture is neat because the two people are lifting their feet at the same time and it adds an interesting perspective. I think the bike and the metal pole adds some interest to the picture and keeps it from being dull.
I got good depth of field on this one. The empty chess table and dark color makes the picture look kind of lonely and dark. The deferent’s of clouds in the sky changes the color and looks quite interesting. Looking at it now, if I was down and to the left a little bit, it might have been better.
I like this one quite a bit. The bright colors really stand out against the blackness or the background. The texture looks really neat and you can see a lot of detail.
Here I was trying to capture two friends having fun. It is actually quite funny. One guy is working and trying to get stuff done, and the other guy is trying to have a good time while doing so. The black and white effect works well in this picture. I don’t think it could work if it was in color.
I think this is my favorite picture. After adjusting the white balance, shutter speed, and depth of field for a while, I was able to get this picture. There is quite a lot too look at. I really like the look of the lights and the cars speeding up the road. I wanted to get the blurring effect like I did in the other picture, and I think I got a good balance of cars coming towards and away from me.
I was playing with the depth of field here and I think I did a pretty good job of blurring the background and only having the birds and the lightpost in focus. I actually brought the contrast down and tried to make it a little bit lighter so you could see the birds more clearly. This isn’t my best picture of animals. I was working more on the concepts.
This picture is quite interesting. One of the chocolates on the top looks like it’s popping out of the package when it’s just a print. It almost looks 3D. The right angle and the right light probably had something to do with that.
I like how the bracelet stands out against the dark skin on his hand. The blue in the bottom right of the picture also stands out quite a bit. I have to admit, I am not very good at taking these kind of pictures.
I like how this picture leads your eye to the top right with the curve in the road. There is a good balance of light from the cars going both directions and I still really like how the street lights look. The green signs are relatively focused while the cars are pretty blurred. It looks neat having something in focus and something blurred so close together in a picture.
For this assignment I’m suppose to pick out my best seven pictures.
I like this one because of the leaf standing out of the black background. The detail in the leaf is also pretty neat.
I used the rule of thirds in this picture and got some pretty good texture. I also really like the color of the dull brown over the sharp, shiny blue.
There is some nice texture and color in this picture. It’s pretty well balanced as well.
I like the contrast and color in this one. You can see the detail of the color and texture of the fire alarm against the wall.
This picture has more of a story. The person doesn’t have a shadow and is walking towards the light out of school. It could be signifying someone going out of high school and out of everything they’ve known into the real world. There’s no shadow because maybe that person hasn’t found they’re identity in the real world and is out to look for it.
I like the way the strings look quite shiny. This is the first time I’ve used black in white in photoshop. The texture is pretty neat too.
It kind of looks like there is a pole or something in the middle of the room that goes up to the roof in this one. You can also see the reflection of the roof in shiny railing.
For this assignment I had to take a picture and add some text to it in Photoshop. I had to determine where the best place to put it was, and what fonts, styles, and colors to use.
The font type represents the bold toughness of the “S” on the frame of the bike that has the same reputation. The font is all in capitals but the “S” is capitalized larger because it’s the most important. I didn’t make it smaller and put it on the sides or corners or anything because that would take away from the power and feel of the text.
Under law, the photographer who will own copyright on any photos he/she has taken unless the photographer is an employee of the company the pictures are taken for, or is an employee of a company told or hired to take the photos, or if there’s an agreement with another person to let him/her use the pictures.
In all other situations, the photographer will own the copyright. If the photographer is paid for his/her work, the payment will be for the photographer’s time. The copyright to the photos will be the photographers, and any copys without permission would be an infringement of copyright.
For this assignment I am suppose to take four pictures that include: Balance, Gradation, Repetition, Contrast, Harmony, Dominance, and Unity.
This picture has Contrast, Balance of the two cars and Dominance from the sun. I was trying to capture the light of the sun’s light coming over the two cars. I was also trying to catch some shadows from the cars.
You can see the Repetition of the weights on the stand and also some Harmony. I was trying to get a line of the same object and have some of them in focus and some not.
This picture has a lot of Repetition, Harmony, and also some Unity. It looks like the lockers on the left lead into the wall on the right where the other lockers are, but then if you look at the floor, it goes around the corner.
This picture has Balance of the tiles and the leaf. It also has some nice texture difference of the leaf and tile. The detail of the leaf is pretty neat too.
The assignment was to take the same picture of texture three different times. First angle.
You can see the difference in texture of the leaf, the veins on the leaf, and the wood behind it. Second angle
The leaf is a little more out of focus in this picture which adds different texture.
Bonus picture of texture. The lockers are smooth, but the wall and light behind them are a little softer.
I’m trying to find four pictures that incorporate Shape, Weighing/Placement, Emphasis, Dynamics, Balance, Point of View, and Rule of Thirds. This is hard to try to find only four pictures that include all of those things.
This picture includes Shape, Dynamics, Placement, and a little bit of Emphasis. I also like the Texture and light in this picture. Even though it’s quite a simple picture, there is a lot to look at.
This picture includes POV (Point of View), Placement and a little bit of Asymmetrical Balance. I found out by editing the photo that if it’s turned on the side, the picture looks brighter. I think that’s because the lighter sections in the picture are in the top, and when you turn it, it’s on the bottom.
This picture includes Rules of Thirds. The railing is appearing from bottom right of the picture and running through. It also has POV and Shape.
In this picture the main point I wanted to get was Rule of Thirds, but it has some nice color in it too. It also has emphasis of the blue. It’s a simple picture and has a main Dynamic and Placement.