For this final assignment, we were tasked with another self-portrait. I was thinking about doing another reading picture but opted for a happier picture instead. In this one I am smiling in the sunshine as opposed to the first one where I apparently look quite cross.

This assignment required me to adjust my ISO to an appropriate setting to account for the bright sunshine. After taking a few practice shots I finally was able to figure out the appropriate setting. This was the best shot as the others I look very “whited out”.

Challenges associated with this assignment were primarily the lighting. It was super bright and that was the biggest issue I faced. However, it was a beautiful day and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to get some sunshine.

To cap off this semester, I figured a picture of me smiling would be appropriate. I started off with one semester standing in front of me and graduation and now with it looming just days away I am extremely excited to graduate from the same university my Dad did almost forty years to the date. I am incredibly grateful for everyone that has helped me get here and thankful I took this photojournalism class instead of fashion media.

On Friday, December 6, 2019 Xavier and I went to the Andy Hanson: Picturing Dallas, 1960-2008 exhibit. We both were blown away by some of the celebrities, musicians, politicians and just interesting people that Hanson was able to photograph. I chose the three pictures above to include in this assignment because they were some of my favorites from the exhibit.

Andy Hanson’s story is an inspiration for photographers everywhere. After first getting into photography as a ten-year-old in Falfurrias, Texas Hanson graduated from using a “Brownie” camera and his family’s garage as a darkroom to Texas A&I University, Kingsville. There, he served as editor and photographer of the campus newspaper and the school’s yearbook. He finished schooling at the University of Houston where he received a B.S. in journalism.

During school, Hanson worked in the darkroom part-time for the Houston Post. After graduating in 1955, he became a full-time photojournalist for the Houston Post until 1959. In 1960, Hanson moved to Dallas to work for the Dallas Times Herald and worked there until they closed in December of 1991.

Hanson continued to work as a photojournalist and covered various social gatherings, speeches and other exceptional events. His trademark was his tuxedo which he wore to almost every function he photographed. I think this was a testament to how serious he took his job, as he made it a point of emphasis to fit in at some of the events he was covering. I think this allowed him to gain notoriety as one of the go-to photographers in Dallas as he was able to shoot everyone from the Bush family to Ross Perot to Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman.

Hanson resided in Dallas and worked until his death in 2008. The archive of his work featured in the DeGolyer Library at SMU was a spectacular exhibit to check out. Hanson’s body of work will forever live on and the legend that Andy Hanson was will never die in Dallas photography circles.

This assignment was far and away the most fun one yet. I had a great time photographing my family over Thanksgiving. I definitely will continue to document the holidays I have left with my family.

The toughest challenge I faced with this assignment had to do with the lighting. Our kitchen was not the best place to photograph so it took me a while to play around with the ISO to find an appropriate setting. I wanted to do this because after trying a couple photos out using the flash they came out far too bright.

Aside from the lighting I had no issues with this assignment. My younger brother Will loves having his picture taken so he was easy to shoot. He definitely was the most helpful in being a subject for this assignment.

It was an incredible Thanksgiving with my family and they always are. We ate so much and I always look forward to spending the holidays with my loving family. I am already looking forward to Christmas dinner as we take that as serious if not more serious than Thanksgiving Dinner.

This image was taken during rush hour traffic in New York City. It was an absolute mad house outside and this lady kept on keeping on despite getting honked at and cursed at by many a New Yorker. I commend this woman.

This image took place close to Brooklyn. Brooklyn would be a cool place to shoot because there are a lot of interesting people who live and work there. New York City in general would be an awesome place to shoot.

Unfortunately I was not here to explore the city but rather for a job interview. The job interview went great. I still had to find a subject for my photojournalism assignment so I decided on this lady.

Next time I come to New York City I am going to explore the city more and shoot more photographs. Central Park and Times Square both would make some incredible settings to shoot. I can’t wait to be back soon.

For this your choice assignment, I decided to take a picture of this Christmas tree in one of the APSM buildings on SMU’s campus. The tree greets students and faculty as they enter the building from the north entrance. What is frustrating about this is the fact that Thanksgiving has not even taken place yet.

It grinds my gears when people set up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. It’s almost like nobody cares about Thanksgiving. I am not a fan of this short sighted view that after Halloween the next major holiday is Christmas. I don’t know when it became this bad but it seems as though lately more and more people are putting up Christmas decorations well before Thanksgiving.

This needs to stop as we cannot overlook one of the greatest holidays of the year. Thanksgiving is an incredible holiday that is only accompanied by great things. Family, football and incredible food all go into having a great Thanksgiving and are paramount for making the day special.

I was always raised on the idea that we put up our family Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving takes place. This also includes buying a Christmas tree. SMU, get with the program and don’t skip the beat on an incredible holiday.

This photo was tough to shoot for one reason in particular. My camera did not seem to want to work for the longest time. I tried everything but nothing seemed to work.

After troubleshooting for some time I finally took the picture above. The picture is of my roommate in action. While he may hate Peyton Manning, I hate his shirt. Usually he wears a New England Patriots jersey on Sundays to support his team but they were on a bye week this week.

This assignment was difficult due to the troubles I had with my camera. I am not sure what the deal with it was but eventually I got it to work. I truly haven’t a clue as to what the problem with it was.

Technology is rarely my best friend. I am not the most technologically sound individual and it is a weakness of mine that must be improved upon. Here’s to hoping that next week the camera does not cause me the same troubles that it did this week.

For this week’s assignment we were tasked with completing a fill flash shot. For this shot I decided to photograph my girlfriend. We took these pictures outside around 2:45 PM in the afternoon in Dallas, Texas.

This allowed for the sun to provide optimal shade so I could complete the assignment. I had her wear one of my hats so we could better emphasize the fill flash. In the first picture I did not use the flash. The second picture was taken with the flash.

The differences between the two photographs are pretty apparent in my opinion. The flash allowed for a better lit picture and made it so that the subject and background was more visible. The flash also helped emphasize the colors in the photograph.

This assignment made me shoot multiple iterations of the same shot. We shot from various different angles to try and see how the angle of the sun would impact the shots. After trying various angles I finally settled on the shots I used above for this assignment.

For this assignment we had to shoot images using our phone camera instead of an actual camera. This made this week’s assignment the easiest one yet. It also made it very convenient given my guest for the weekend.

This past weekend I had to look after my friend Sophia’s dog Munch as she was out of town. I have looked after Munch many times before and we are both very close. Munch is a four year-old 50 lb. English Bulldog.

For this assignment, using my phone’s camera was a lot easier than using an actual camera as I had to always keep a tight grip on the little propane tank of a dog that Munch is. If I had to use the actual camera I would have surely lost grip of Munch. I used no flash for the first two images and then used the flash for the last one.

This assignment was the most fun for me so far as I was able to take loads of pictures of a dog I love. Munch is a very photogenic dog which made this assignment go well. I look forward to getting to photograph Munch again in the future.

For this week’s assignment I decided to shoot at the Texas State Fair. This was my first time ever attending the Texas State Fair. I had a great time and successfully ate my body weight in fried food.

The first image is of Big Tex. Big Tex is a Texas State Fair icon that goes hand in hand with the event. The massive animatronic Texan will greet fair goers all throughout the day and night. The second image is of a rancher riding his horse throughout the fairgrounds. The third image is of a performer at the Texas State Fair named Mighty Mike. Mighty Mike juggled swords and sledgehammers and knew how to keep the crowd engaged.

For this assignment I took more photographs than any other one prior. This worked out well for me as it allowed me to have a greater selection of photographs to choose from. Some did not end up turning out well due to the subject being either out of focus or in poor lighting.

The Texas State Fair was an incredible experience. I went with great friends and we all had a fun time. I am glad that for this assignment I decided to shoot at such a unique and interesting event with a lot going on to photograph.

My younger brother Will is my best friend. When him and his girlfriend came back for Fall Break 2019 I knew I had a great opportunity for this assignment. Fall in Colorado had just begun and I thought that the two visiting Kansas Jayhawks would be great subjects.

This was probably my favorite assignment to shoot so far. It was fun trying to figure out what to shoot with them and they helped decide on which photos were suitable and which were not. We were lucky as the Colorado weather had finally begun to feel more like Fall when we got there.

First off, I had to adjust the ISO to an appropriate setting as it was a bright October day with not a cloud in the sky. Next, I had to figure out where would be the perfect setting for the shot. I decided by a tree which to me perfectly epitomized Fall.

Finally I threw my brother a football for a little personal touch. Nothing says Fall like football and he loved it. Both of my subjects were great to work with and easy to photograph. I enjoyed this assignment and hope everyone else had as much fun as we did shooting for this assignment.