Emily Hannak - 3 Star Photos

For the most part, I agree with my classmates in the photos that they ranked with 3 stars or more. I was proud of a majority of my images, and I really like the close up photographs they chose, as well as the ones where the lighting turned out best. I think all of these photos, apart from perhaps the ones that focus mainly on my friend/trail guide Evan and not the forest itself, fits my project's theme well. The images of the creatures we found along our hike, the long lens frames featuring small details like rocks and plants, and the few showing how we interacted with nature really fit my project's point and meaning. I feel like so far, I have a substantial base for the rest of my photos and I'm happy with how they turned out in relation to my proposal. There are some in my first set of 100 pictures that weren't included, such as a few of unique looking trees I found and a sign for fishing along the creek, that I feel would really add to my project. I think they weren't included by my peers because to them, the subjects were very simple objects; trees are a dime a dozen, and the sign likely had no relation to them. To me, the trees had a whole new level of beauty due to their unique look or shape from the hardships of growing in competitive spaces, and the sign detailing how that creek is to be fished appropriately by sportsmen is an important part of the area and my interests.

Aileen Clarke- Art Museum

When you first walk into a museum, it can be overwhelming at first. You are surrounded by massive paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and much more. There are so many different things going on that it is hard to focus on one specific piece and really grasp the details in a specific piece of art. To be honest the thing that was most present on my mind was making sure I did not bump into anything to break a piece of work. Not only for the sake of the artist, but for the sake of me having to pay a hefty fine as a college student. But after spending a decent amount of time walking around the exhibit and trying to redirect my attention from my phone to the art pieces, I started to narrow down my favorites. The ceramics caught my eye at first since I did ceramics in high school for two years, it always fascinates me to see what other people create and make. Something the items that look like such an easy shape/delicate are the hardest ones to make. After spending time looking at it though, a piece of art in the corner caught my eyes. Vivid colors of blue, yellow,  and orange shine in an enclosed in a glass box. It was blown glass made to look like a piece of coral reef you would come across while snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea. It almost looks like a clam being opened up and the lines of blue add an extra pop to the viewers eyes. This piece of art was created by a man named Dale Chihuly. I believe this is a piece of art because it was Dale’s vision of seafoam using his imagination and creativity. I have mixed feelings about the location of this piece of art. I like that it is not right next to another piece of art because it is such big piece drawing lots of attention to the piece. So I like that it was isolated in a way. But I did not like that the staircase was right next to it. I think the staircase takes away from the piece and the boldness of the piece. The only reasoning behind it that I could come up with is that the creators of the exhibit wanted to give the viewers a taste of what is to be coming on the second floor since the first floor is a little more simple and the second floor is a little more extravagant with bolder pieces of art.  Overall, I thought it was an exquisite piece of art and stood out most to me in the art museum.

Devon Barthold: 3+ Photos

For the most part I agree with my peers, they picked out all of my favorite pictures. But they also picked out some pieces that I was not a huge fan of. It's interesting to see some of the photos that people found interesting that I actually found bad. But having others look at your pictures is very beneficial. I believe that all of my top photographs go with my proposal. I wanted to capture nature and all of its beauty, and I believe that I captured that very well. It seems like the photographs of flowers and leaves worked out the best, so I plan on taking more pictures like that for the second set of 100 photographs.