Good Luck Seniors!

Hello!
            Deborah Chen here and I want to tell you guys that you have been amazing, influential people. I'm blessed to meet you guys and goof around with you. You make me smile and now it's the time to move forward into the unknown future. Even though many of us are going into different directions physically and mentally, remember these moments when we hang out and enjoy the time we have. Smile and don't forget who you are. And I'm a senior, no longer a junior. And you guys are college freshmen entering a new chapter of your lives. Dang, time goes by way too fast. But it's never over. Grow and experience. And God protect you guys on your incredible journey. I definitely miss you guys and pray for you. I hope this will not be the last chance I see you guys. Visit when you have the chance and tell us when you're visiting unless you wanna make it a surprise visit. Stay in touch and remember these great experiences.
I love you guys.

Shout out to my DP group and friends: Samuel Sze. Amandi Kwok, Michael Shen, Anish Bhanot, Vina Kong, Irene Wu, Sharon Hsu, Allen Hsiao, and Jessica Kam.

Shout out to my other friends: Kate Xu, Stanley Gu, David Shi, Varun Viswanath, Frankie Tanjuatco, Tammy and Tiffany Sung, Jing Li, Claudia Joy Shao, Aaron Chi, Joani Wong, Yoon Lee, Daniel Jean, Evan Chang, Albert Liou, Sean Li, Haroon Rasheed, Akila Cuddalore, Ashley Velando, Kimberly Nguyen, Andrew Xu, Alexander Sean Lee and more.

A song for you guys.
I admit I cried when I thought about you guys...

Final Exam

            This picture helped changed my view of photography because it helped me realized that photography is not only for fun but also to raise awareness of an important issue. "We live in a G.P.A. State" was inspired by Gordon Parks's "We live in a Police State" picture during the Civil Rights Movement and the way the picture was position is amazing. Then I learned that the way the background is set up can helped emphasizes the subject and completes the meaning of the photograph. While I was setting up the background with my previous report cards, I then realized I was making a statement that we students are not defined by mere numbers but by who we are as individuals. After I took the picture numerous times, I gained experience of what a professional photographer does and learned that photography is not just full of silly pictures taken with a phone but a medium used to spread the news. Last month, I showed the print out of this image to my friends and I feels that the image reminds them that they are not labeled by our grades and that the mindset at MSJHS is quite dangerous when people value grades above their personal necessities.

              The difference between shape and form is that shape is two-dimensional with only width and length while form is three-dimensional. Shape can be geometric like the circles, squares, rectangles and triangles on a design of a building. It could also be natural like the shape of a meandering creek or the swirl of white cream in a coffee cup. However for form, there are width, height and length that all expresses depth in the art work. Form gives more perspective than shape and consists of geometric 3-D shapes like spheres, boxes, cylinders, and pyramids.

               The difference between pattern and repetition is that pattern is when the object or symbol is only repeated throughout the art work and repetition uses pattern to animated the art work and create a sense of unity. Pattern is the repeating of an object with or without guided direction, while repetition shows repetitively the object in certain way that brings the art work to life and interacts with the viewer.

              Movement helps guides the viewer throughout the artwork towards a certain area with the use of lines, shape, colors and symmetry. This image of the sunset after a rainy day has leading lines and diffused colors that direct the viewer's eyes toward the center of the sky. The way the image is positioned and captured draws in the viewer as the eye moves from the sidewalk up to the bright sky full of soft red-orange-golden yellow light.

For more information on Movement, you may go this my blog post Principles of Design -Movement (Buildings)

               Of the three projects I have done, my most favorite is the Succulent project because I get to learn more about these amazing plants and take pictures of them. I took most of the images outside in the shade where the light exposure was just right. I also took them in the grass to emphasize the succulents and make the images look more natural. What also made this project special is that I researched the properties of the plant like their uses and characteristics along with a synopsis of aloe medical uses and how CAM plant conduct photosynthesis. This project is one of my best work because the images are clear, crisp and full of color and shape and there are fun information included.

                This project helped me see how nature is symmetric and geometric especially in plants. The way the leaves are arranged are special but ordered and I enjoyed positioning the succulents in a certain way especially for the Zebra Haworthia one. The project also aid me to appreciate nature more and that the camera can change the viewer's perspective. Most people would glance over the real succulent, but later would take another look when they realize there's another view of them that is amazing, And photography do help change perspectives by providing another view of the same subject. That what makes photography so powerful and fun.

 Thank you for reading this blog post and Good luck for college, high school, work. etc! Have a great summer! And I'll continue to post more pictures, so don't worry.

Random things

Some random pictures I took over the past few months!
And school is almost over!

Chalk art

Corridor

Piano

California Poppy

Tree 

 My friend's backyard

 A little flower by Mission Creek

 My new kitty Neko/Gracie!

 Me and the Orchids

 Starbursts and cards

 Sunset

 Sproul Hall (UCB)

The Clock tower (UCB)

Mission Creek

It's June. And it's dead week, meaning it's the week before Finals!
Wait WHAT?
I better start studying since they're within one week.

But I did visit the city's local creek over the weekend as a blow-off (as I wait for my English project group). The scenery was beautiful, but I was shocked by the eutrophication of Mission Creek and how dry it is. Hey that happens in this ongoing California drought. If you guys are interested, there's an earlier post called "Rain, rain and rain"in this blog comparing one rainy day earlier in the year from the pouring rainy day on December 7, 2014.

View of Mission Creek under the bridge

The Meandering creek

Algae flowing through the creek

Opening of the creek at Gomes Park

View of the sidewalk and Plant-overrun creek

Only plants can be seen here

Original Pictures

 Camera Raw edits:

Crop the image, increase exposure and shadow, decrease highlights, adjust temperature.

f/3.9

ISO-125

1/100 sec

Camera Raw edits:
Increased exposure, increase black content and white content, slightly crop the image

f/3.9

ISO-125

1/ 40 sec

Camera Raw edits:
Crop the bottom portion of the image, slightly increase saturation and adjust the exposure.

f/3.9

ISO-160

1/ 200 sec

Camera Raw edits:
Crop the top part out to only show the creek and adjust the contrast and exposure levels.

f/3.9

ISO-125

1/ 250 sec

 Camera Raw edits:
Slightly crop the left side and top side, then increase the contrast and white content of the image.

f/4.3

ISO-125

1/ 640 sec

Camera Raw edits:
Cropped out the left side and the top side, increase the saturation levels and increase contrast

f/4.4

ISO-125

1/ 800 sec

Eutrophication

In a balance ecosystem, there is a net exchange of nutrients that ensures the sustainability of the environment. There are limiting factors like nitrogen and phosphate that prevent some species from overgrowing. However due to runoff of nitrogen and phosphate sources like fertilizers caused by human activity can increases the limiting factors available and allow these species depend on them to overgrow. For water sources, when these aquatic plants and algae overgrow they decrease the water's oxygen for photo-respiration. And when they die off, the bacteria then use more oxygen to decompose the plants. As a result the water source is deoxygenated and cannot support wildlife eventually creating a death zone. All because of us.

So be careful when you apply fertilizes on your plants. It's best to naturally fertilize the soil with compost or other sustainable methods because in the end, the fertilizer along with many chemicals can accumulate in the food we eat and poison us and the environment.