Robin Michals | COMD 1340 Photography 1

Author: Alan Castillo Perez

Final Statement & Moodboard

The place I have decided to do my photo shoots/final project is called Caesar’s Bay. There are a couple of reasons I decided to go with this place, because not only is it next to a shopping center but an arrangement of activates next to it. For instance there is a sports center and a park within the bay. Although I like this final assignment to mainly focus on the bay and its people who come look across the ocean. People can be seen fishing, playing in the park, jogging along side the bay and some even riding family bikes or petal-powered go-karts. Overall just having a good time taking in the view and relaxing on the benches. Strangely a calm environment. Another key point of using this area is the view of the Verrazano Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island. Its a great spot for people to take pictures and hangout.

So since this is mainly focused on a bay, it would be a good idea to take morning picture when the sun is rising or midday as it casts the shadows across the bay. Similar to the Exposure lab in a sense and a good place to capture freezing motion which I was able to get for the assignment back then. I might even be lucky to capture a picture of the Verrazano Bridge during the night where the light cast into the water. Which would silhouette the people within the shot as its night. As well as focusing on light directions from that assignment, since the sun basically shoots its rays on the bay at all times. Showing of the environment which is like it’s own wholesome area where people gather to chill and watch the scenery.

HW 1 Composition – Alan Castillo Perez

The Photograph below is called, “Moon Over Downtown”, New York City, USA, 2006 by Michael Kenna. This photograph stood out to me because of its scenery and photograph elements. You can clearly see that the main object being focused on it the city in the back. It kind of shows a strong connection towards Manhattan being an island. Showing off the emptiness of the photograph with the ocean then with the city’s bright lights and atmosphere. It gives off a sort of quiet and tense feeling of the city being surrounded by endless ocean. Could also represent the sense of opportunities, where the moon is guiding us by its light path leading to the city. As well as the gloomy or vibrant old style colors with the grays along side the white from the lights.

Some elements within this photograph would be Leading Lines, Figure to Ground & Symmetry. Figure to Ground strongly affects this by the ocean taking up most of the photograph and the city being place in the middle but far into the background. Another would be Symmetry because when you fold this photograph, both sides look very similar to each other thanks to the city being at the center. Lastly, Leading lines with the light from the moon casting off on the ocean showcasing a sort of “path” leading towards the city. Even though its very limited, the moon’s light helps guide my eyes towards the city in the back. Overall if I had to structure the elements by the photo, 1st would be Figure to Ground, 2nd is Symmetry & 3rd would be Leading Lines.