Critiques

Aisha

First Time Using the Internet

As a child from the era the Internet had become something larger, I can truly connect with your story of your first time using the Internet. What I find interesting about your post is your choice to limit the amount of Internet time and social media time you have decided to use. My first thought about this would have to be on the line of wondering why you would choose to limit yourself from such a vast pool of information and entertainment. After thinking about it, I realized just how much I actually use the internet and find that your self imitations is a sense of control that most people don’t have when it comes to the internet.It’s funny how similar our uses to the Internet have been. You’re talk about using MySpace and AIM to get information from people is the absolute truth. The reliability of them as a teen was important to me too. The major thing that is difference in opinion is how I find that these social medias are still strongly important to my personal connections. I don’t entirely believe that the limitation of using the social media sites is help. I don’t think I could stay away as well as you do.

Web 2.0

Your knowledge on web 2.0 seems to be well rounded, when it comes to the social media aspect. I really like how you were able to connect your personal stories about your use of social media to your analysis. You seemed to connect with your audience in a positive way, by pointing out your own experiences with web 2.0 and social media.
Though you had some great points about web 2.0 and social media, I feel that you were lacking in explaining a bit more of the extent that social media has had on the population of the users of the Internet. Though social media is a major point to how it was utilized, there are still so many ways that it is being used. Maybe presenting a bit more knowledge upon those other topics might have been a useful to explaining the many different uses for Web 2.0
Your discussion on Apps seems to be a good basis as well as your social media. I think that again personal experience has helped you to talk about the subject. Over all, I feel that your information about specific parts of web 2.0 are well rounded and understood by you in a way only a person with experience could.

Social media positive and negatives

When reading your article, I feel that you lean towards social media is a good thing, but still can have a few problems involved in it. It seems that you share a few valid points to your argument, but is there any research to back this up? Some seems to be common knowledge, but I don’t think I can totally support your claims on social media, especially with a few of the negatives that you pointed out at the end.
You talk about social media being harmful to grammar and spelling errors, but it seems almost nonchalant. Many professionals feel that it is making many students have horrible sentence structure and all together the inability to produce a solid piece of writing. Your defense that parents should be teaching children how to use social media seems like a good idea. Most kids think that they are fun and games, but truly don’t understand the trouble that can come from being on those websites. Over all, I do believe that you make some strong points throughout your article, but I am just a little curious on where the information is from and if there are any solutions to the problems that you pointed out.

Video Review

It was interesting to read your personal thoughts about the way the videos were made and how they made you feel. I think that you have a decent grasp of video production, which enabled you to do this so well. While I was reading through, I could honestly tell exactly how each video made you feel deep down. The use of exclamation marks and word choice made these very enjoyable to read.

The way you talked about the video “My Life” made me laugh a bit. The very first sentence, “The quality of this video is AMAZING!” It made me smile. I like how expressive you started when talking about this peace, though the fact the quality was the first thing you had to say was funny. I also agree with you about the music to the video. To me it seemed to be very cheery and upbeat. I liked it a lot myself. After reading the part about the chessboard, it kind of made a click in my head. Though I noticed it, while I was watching the video, it just didn’t click the way it did in your head. That was a really good catch.

I really think that you did a wonderful job with the reviews.

Katie

First time on the internet

So many creepy people are still on the Internet; they’ve just gotten better at what they do. Thinking back to all those times that I was on the Internet dealing with people like that, you’re so right that it wasn’t safe. I don’t honestly think that any of us knew how dangerous it actually were to be in those chat rooms! Your connection of twitter being similar to chat rooms makes a lot of sense. I would have never thought to make that connection at all. How you were able to point out the power of twitter, by using the Michael Jackson story about his death, was great (even the part about your mom was funny). To simply put it this was a great article.
You have a style of writing that is fascinating. Reading this, I found myself laughing a lot. You have a great way of connecting with you audience on a personal level, which seems to be difficult sometimes with social media. I think that your stories are very well centered on the subject about your first time, though you might not remember your first time using the Internet. You did a really great job with this, I think.

Web 2.0

This is truly a strong piece about web 2.0 and how social media has been apart of it. I like how you pointed out a few of the more popular social media sites out there, it makes it easier to connect to my own personal thoughts about web 2.0. Though I believe there is bit more to the entire concept of web 2.0, I think that you have a strong grasp around the social media part of how it has ultimately affect everyone in the world. Under the sub-heading, “Does it live up to the hype,” I would say I would have to agree with what you’ve had to say, for the reasons that you gave and many more. It is absolutely amazing to see all of the advancements that have come from web 2.0, with social media in the mix of that.
The two articles that you have posted along with yours offer a great reading material about the subject of Web 2.0 and social media. Though I was only able to scrim through each of these articles very briefly, there was a lot of useful content that I found inside of them. I feel that I was able to get some information from this post that I didn’t know myself.

Social Media Positive and Negative

Reading this was both hilarious and informing, which to me is an amazing mix, hard to find on such a painfully boring topic. You have a gift to make things interesting that’s for sure.
As for the actual post, I felt that I had some valid points to it. Your personal story about you sister wanting to be on Facebook, while at the beach was crazy. Who in their right mind doesn’t know what to do at a beach to have fun? It seems that its time for people to teach these young things what life is about.
The subject of cyber-bullying I thought was a very important one to discuss. With it being such a major threat to thousands of people, even millions, many people don’t realize how serious it gets. I felt that you did a good job at covering the subject wish a serious tone, as was needed. It isn’t something easy to talk about, but you seemed to handle it quite well.
The end, when you talked about positives of social media, you didn’t need much to make it stand strong. I think that you put enough information to make people agree on the positives and not let the out weight the negative too much. This was very well balanced.

Video Review

At first glace, I was very confused with what exactly I was looking at.  After a moment to let my eyes and mind adjust to the way this was formatted, I got down to reading.  I have to first mention that you did a great job showing your favorite and then your least.  It shows that you liked some and others you found terrible.  It was even better placing visuals on you post.  It helps to remind me of the videos that I’ve already scene.  I really appreciated seeing them, though at times they became somewhat of a distraction.  The picture of your notes interested me.  I thought that your little scribbles added a personal touch to the post, which otherwise might not have been there with words alone. Over all, the critiques of the videos seemed to be fair.  Your opinion hold strong validations to what you’re stating and even if I were to disagree with you, I could see why you said what you did.  I would have to say that you did a great job with creating this post. I would like to read some more of you video post another time to see what you think about the rest of the videos.

Video reviews: Late I know!

Found out that this was posted on a separate blog! Well here it is on the right one now.  These are the video reviews that were done awhile back.

“Color and B/W”

Watching this video was like watching a love story with the two lovers hating each other.  The video has a simple feel to it, which makes it vague, and in decisive toward the way they feel.  I found that the black and white switch was more of a distraction than it was affective.  Thought that the video should come with a warning to people having seizures.  The use of the ocean was interesting and the sound track was ok, but the problem was it was all white noise to me.  It seemed to me that the sound track was a good cover to the white noise of the ocean.  Particularly, I wouldn’t watch a video like this and think that it was worth while in explaining who they are, only that they have to put more time into a concept and create something that has depth to it, like the ocean, and not shallow, like a puddle. 

Looking as the black and white, over contrasted, and inverted images, you can’t tell what you are supposed to look at.  I felt like I was view a tribal ritual gone wrong.  Was it suppose to rain or were suppose to be a god or goddess coming from the ocean to take it’s wrath for putting it in a underwater dungeon for thousands of years?  Either way, I felt this wasn’t a very affective video and had no outstand value to it what so ever.  Most of the time I would be kinder, but it was just that bad, in my own opinion.

“Type Overkill”

For this video, where should I begin?  The music started off good, though I felt the first 10 seconds was a waste of time, so I think he didn’t have enough footage or layout for a four-minute video.  To add to that thought at the one-minute mark, if you watch closely, he repeats his actions two or three times with him walking.  It wouldn’t be noticeable, but the same pull movies across the video and the exact same place for it. It make it look like the video is glitching, which if he is talking about everything being “broken” might work cause I feel the video does a good job of acting that way. Repetitive use of phrases and mirroring them to images of what looks like rocks on a beach seems to be a bit of bummer.  His idea seems to be that there is nothing there, but there is stuff there.  His message is lost to me. Was this an abstract piece of work? I think so.  I honestly have gotten bored of the video after only two-minutes in.  The music is slow and his shots are quick. The type flashes too quickly for the screen for people to be able to read it.  I’m still now sure why he is choosing to use blurry shots entirely. Watching this video was like watching paint dry.  I could have hoped to be interested in it, but honestly find no point to it worth taking from it.  By the end of the video the only thing I wanted to do was call the suicide hotline to see if they can track this kid down and help them out. Mean? Maybe, but that’s the gods honest truth.

“Weird and Awesome Self Portrait”

How can I put this? This was abstract and I loved it.  I don’t know if it was the Steven Hawking’s voice going on in the background or the actual shot choice.  The person has an impeccable eye for making sound cuts, which hold depth to them. I love how he uses everyday objects, which people never would think of using through the video.  The constant changing of subject matter and the repetitive reoccurrence of main subjects makes me sit through this video and enjoy it. The close shots with high depth-of-field on ever day objects make great for showing the things in his life.  By focusing on one object he is blurring out everything else around him and focusing on that one thing.  Between these shots, he places b-roll of random segments of filmstrips and noise, helping to separate the difference in each of his person subjects.  I was entranced by the voice, though it seems the words didn’t entirely seem cohesive (though I feel they still have a good meaning to the video).  If I had to pick my favorite video then this one will have been it.

Here I am, watching this video, and all I can think is that he make society seem to be an empty circle of robots.  He makes everything in life seem like a set routine that people follow, because that is what is necessary for them to survive.  He shows how he is caught in the rut and how he fits in with the crowd because of it. The was a well organized piece of work and I found it to be absolutely well done.

Facebook

            Facebook is a public relations and marketing departments dream.  It is the greatest way to gather information on a mass amount of people at one time.  The creation of the 2-way conversation with the consumer has allowed a booming growth in these fields.  “Social Media and PR,” touches on the idea of using this form of communication to grow a business’s connection to its publics. 

            Many of the ideas around Public Relations and social media, in general, are about creating a personality of a business and a long-term story of the business.  You will find that with time, people will know not only about a person’s life, but how a business has grown and become something much bigger than when it began. 

            Running my own photography business, I have done a majority of my marketing through Facebook and other social media sites.  I have found that it is a wonderful way to have conversations with my public and also show my own growth as a photographer.  Using Facebook to help my presence stronger to the people around me.  I am able to present images from recent shoots or show people where I am work and how I have set up a photo shoot that day.  Some days, I share websites or videos from the Internet to get discussions from my followers and hopefully a few new fans.  Facebook can be key to someone who is running a business today.

           

            On a personal level, Facebook has become something of a problem for many people.  This revolutionary tool has been known to cause people more trouble than it is worth.  Today, teenagers are known to make post and take pictures of them doing something that they shouldn’t be.  Many of these kids are now getting caught not only by the police or parents, but by their schools too.  It has been reported that many schools are now using Facebook as a way to keep an eye on their student’s activities, in and out of classes. 

            From my old high school, I heard a story about the girls cheerleading squad taking an inappropriate picture of the group at a party.  After the weekend, they were brought to the main office, where they were punished for their actions, by not allowing them to compete in the cheer competition the upcoming week.  Though some might say that this was out of line for the school, it was the schools belief that it would be a representation for the school and for the athletes to show up to a competition with an image like that floating around on the Internet.

            It’s not just teenagers that are getting into trouble with Facebook post though. Today, many employers are using Facebook to evaluate candidates for jobs and current employees.  Many employers now believe that how a person acts on Facebook, will directly affect their performance in the work force.

            My personal Facebook page has been kept clean for this very reason.  I have learned to keep specific subjects offline, because of who might be viewing this page.  I feel that Facebook is to open when it comes to my life and though I love to share many of the events that are going on in my life, most things I don’t feel need to be shared with everyone.  Compared to most people who use Facebook, My presents are very meek.

           

            For my Web & Social Media class, our instructor asked us to create a new Facebook presence. I believe the major reason for this is for us all to keep our personal lives private from the others in the class.  Though some of us may add each other freely to one another’s Facebook page, we might choose not to allow specific people to have access to our personal lives.  Creating a new account allows us to continue with the project of creating fan pages and events, without the conflict of using our personal accounts as part of the overall project.  Many problems occurred, when signing up for a new account, because of the security on Facebook, but when we were able to work thought the majority of it, this made it easy for us to keep our personal and school life as separate as we wish.

            What I find funny is that until I created my alternate Facebook, I never had an awkward moment on Facebook.  When I made may new account, about a week after, I was talking with my girlfriend and she asked if that was mine.  Though she knew that it was part of a class project, she wanted to still ask about the page.  Since then, many of the people who know me have attempted add me as a friend to their Facebook.  This seems to be the most awkward moment to my Facebook.

            My final note about Facebook is to always be safe with whatever you are doing on there. This webpage is both something to be excited about and to fear.  

The Importance to Groups & Events on Facebook

There seems to be no life without Facebook. Today, if you are apart of a social group, face to face, you are likely to be apart of a Facebook group also.  These is true even without the face to face connection. Facebook has allowed use to become part of a group for anything and everything that there is in life.  These groups help to connect people to a common idea in life, which helps to create a more cohesive society.  Groups allow us to the abilities to connect with other and share ideas about a subject that we have in common.  We can find common ground with people through these groups, that without, we might never have made any personal connection.

You can also find "events" on Facebook.  It's a simple concept really, but it is a powerful tool in take the online world to a social world.  Event can help people share with their friend and others things that are happening around them. It could be a concert that is coming up or maybe an art exhibit your friend is opening next month.  Events allow people to know that there is something happening.  It creates a connection again with people, allowing them to feel that they are part of the movements in life and not just sitting there stagnate at their computers wishing they knew something interesting going on.

Web 2.0

What is web 2.0
There are many definitions out there about what it is and how it works, but there isn't much about what it has done.  To define Web 2.0, there needs to be and understanding of what has made these simple internet sites better.  The first major difference is the ability for viewers to interact with the websites.  Social Networking over the internet has caused a majority of the massive growth of how the internet is being used today.  Before Web 2.0,  websites were basically used to output information, to inform the viewers.  Today, the internet informs the viewers, but it also get responses and opinions from them too.  It has created a two way conversation with the people running the webpages.  Looking at the design of webpages during the first era of web design to today, there is a dramatic difference on how sites are even being created.  Web pages today are being made to appeal to the viewers eye.  People pick web sites, not only for their information, but for the way they look.  Web 2.0 has aloud people to create a site that is not only filled with information and has a two way social communication, is has allowed people to create more dynamic sites.  The last major effect worth talking about is the marketing capabilities that have come from Web 2.0.  Social media, comment boxes, and much more has helped marketing over the internet become more effective.  By allowing the consumers to give feedback on there time in the companies store or site, the company can then further improve upon problems or keep stuff from where they are already doing well.  In the end, Web 2.0 is the ability to connect the users to everyone else in the world and the ability to truly have open information around the world.

Social Media and Marketing
One of the most common uses for the internet is the ability to communicate with other people around the world. Social media has aloud anyone to talk other people anywhere there is a computer and internet.  Many businesses, small and large, have begun using social media to connect with their public.  Marketing in a two-way environment has allowed for companies to improve their business at a more rapid pace.  Marketing and public relations might not be directly associate with the idea of Web 2.0, but the ability for companies to use social media sites, like Facebook, have allowed the development of a much more personal connection with their audience than they did in the past.  Today's market is no longer based around what the company thinks the viewers will like, it is about what viewers say they want from the company.  Social media has opened up new and innovative ways for or businesses to communicate with their clients and to make them want to buy their products or services. Sites like Hulu.com and Youtube have allowed advertising to be moved away from television and onto the internet.  Online shows now have ads placed at the being and middle of the video that a person is watching.  Facebook has keyword connect, which allows the site to places advertising on their site that is correct for you, by taking key words of what you write and relating them to different possible advertisements on the side.  Twitter allows instant updates on what a company is doing, or even make a joke now and then.  With Twitter, a company can get information about what is happening, by the use of hash tags.  There are many different ways marketing is being used in social media today, because of Web 2.0.

How to run a photography project on scene

This is a short guide to how to run a photography project from the beginning to the end.  Below will be a rough outline of the steps needed to have a successful shoot and, more importantly, a beautiful final image.

Before the Shoot

Prepare a photography project

This might be the most difficult and most important step to an entire photo shoot.  You must first come up with a concept or idea that you want to shoot.  It could be as simple as, "I want to shoot my friend in the park," or as complex as, "I want to produce a conceptual image, depicting how a dog sees the world."

Develop the project

Whether it is difficult or not, you have to go further with what you want.  Maybe write down a short list of what you want from the image or images. Here's a short list of questions you can ask yourself to develop your idea further:

• Am I trying to make an emotion connection? If so what emotion?
• What do I want to be in the image?
• Do I have a specific location to use or do I need to find one?
• Are there specific poses that I would like to use?
• What is the most important part of the image?
• etc.

The location and scouting it

The next important step is, if you don't have one yet, find a location.  With your idea developed, you should have an idea of what you are looking for in a location.  Finding the location can take time and you might not find the location that you imagined in your head, so improvising might help. Scouting the location, whether you know it or not, is key to success in making a solid image.  You need to pay attention to the lighting of your scene and other factors, like weather.  Things change, but having an idea of what you will need for lighting and for weather changes is nice to know going into a shoot.

Finding a model

Depending on your skill level, you can join a modeling website, such as ModelMayhem.com and from there you can locate a model that fits your needs for an image.  If you're new or don't want to join a site, you can always ask a friend for their time.  Usually finding a person to be in your image isn't too difficult, it seems.

Planning the Out fit
Sometimes this doesn't matter too much, but if you have a specific style for the photograph, you might want to take time to figure this out.  When you have connections to people or money to waste, you can always go out and get exactly the outfit you want, but that won't apply to many people here.  The best way to do this then, is to have an idea of what you want and explain this to your model.  It can be helpful to have images of what exactly you are talking about.  Visuals help people to be able to think of what they have that is similar to what you are asking.

Setting the Date and Time of the shoot
You have the idea, the location, the model, and their outfit planned.  You should have a understand of how the lighting of the photograph will be done.  Now it is time to set up a date and time for the shoot.  Timing matters.  There needs to be a common time for you and your model can meet, but this time has to also coincide with the time of day you want the image to be taken also.  When a date and time are finalized though, attempt to make a "make up shoot" day also.  This is a fall back, incase something happens to force the shoot to another time.

Day before Preparations
Usually the day before you shoot, you should make sure that your model is still ready for the next day and that the weather, if important, is going to be ok for you.  All of your equipment should be checked and cleaned and ready to be transported.

Day of the Shoot

Set up
It's the day of the shoot.  You've arrived early to scout the location real quick, just incase something is different or something needs to be changed quickly.  Before your model arrives, if they aren't early themselves, set up your equipment.  If you have any extra lighting equipment or backdrops needed to be place, make sure those are done. Set your exposure on you camera and fire off a few test shots.

The Shoot
The time has finally come.  All of your planning has come to this moment.  When everything is the way you want it, it is time to shoot.  When working with a person, it is nice to talk with them, make sure they are comfortable and relaxed. This is the fun part, so move around and even if you think you got your shot, take more.  Get every angel and every pose you can think of and then make some up.

After the Shoot

Post Production

Just because you're done shooting doesn't mean you're finished with your project.  Post production will help to further improve your already great image.  Take your time and look at the small details.  Ask yourself what needs to be fixed to make this image look like the one in your mind.  It doesn't matter if you have Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom when it comes to editing.  If you look around the internet you can find cheap or even free photo manipulation programs.  With these you will go into your image and begin fixing it.  When you feel that the photo is finished, stop and save.  You are finished with your photography project.

The truth is, this isn't always simple.  There are a lot of factors involved in making a photo project come together, but in the end, it is worth the work.  These steps can give you a guideline to what you need to do for you to accomplish any kind of photograph you are trying to create. All images property of Matthew Sodon Photography.

Tips

• To find ideas for a photography project, search the internet and look at images that inspire you.
• Lighting is important to creating a good image. You should probably study a few lighting setupsbefore you shoot.

The Good and the Bad of Social Media

After reading the two articles (located at the bottom) for class, I have come up with a short summery of bother the positives and the negatives of social medias and how they play into modern society.

Looking first at the positive side of the social media, I can say that there has been, for sure, a good use of social media in the past decade.  The first point to come across was the ability for people to connect with others, from around the world, with a click of a button.  Allowing intercultural communications has allowed us as humans to discover the ways of others around the world and make connections with people that previously were unheard of.  Another point that is made is the use of social media helps those who cannot physically be social with others, whether they are elderly, have a physical body issue, which doesn't allow them much mobility, or they cannot physically be around people without feeling uncomfortable.  It isn’t easy sometimes for people to me others, because they are frail when it comes to who they are, but the Internet has allowed these gaps in their personal lives to change drastically.   Social media can also be used to help people make connection with others, which might have never occurred otherwise offline.  Stereotypes have been tested and many people are now looking at people and cultures in a new light.  Social media has allowed people to connect and discover new things about other, giving them a better understand to something that previously was only perceive by a small percentage of a population.

Following the positive side, the negatives, in the situation of social media plays an important role in how to view this ever-changing style of living.  A front-runner problem brought up in the article, which I have personally seen, is the affects of social media on the human psyche.  Though social media has been known to create connections, it can also cause a person to slip into depression, whether it is from cyber bulling or noticing how much other people are doing than you.  Recent studies show that social networking sites, like Facebook, are causing people to feel that their lives are less than fulfilling, due to the mass amount of pictures and post people make about their own lives. The lost of social privacy was another major issue, discussed in the article.  We, as the users of the social media sites, believe that we have privacy protection on these websites, but the article brings up the fact that we just might not have all the privacy that is being offered.  Our information is being sold to companies for marketing research.  Also, everything that a person says of places on the Internet is free look at that person’s life.  Nothing is a secret if it’s on the Internet.  Other problems to be noted were: Lost of productivity, online predators, incorrect grammar and spelling, and much more.

With everything in the world, there are good a bad things to be said about social media.  The final choice is up to you on how to feel about it.  Do you think social media, being a powerful way to connect with people around the world, is worth all of the dangers and risk that come with it?

A Social Society: The Positive Effects
Negative Impact of Social Networking