Tag Archives: Cindy Beal

Last goodbyes and my experience with my photography class

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Hi guys!

Unfortunately, this is the last blog I will be writing. Not only that, but this Saturday was my last day of photography class. I enjoyed this class so much. The first day I walked into the classroom I knew I was going to like it. My classmates were so nice and funny. That first week we took pictures of each other and talked to our classmates. The second week we also took photos of each other (aperture). The third week we shared our photos and received feedback. We also talked about different photography, looked at photos, and then went out and shot photos on our film cameras. The 4th week I missed class, so the 5th week I processed my film. Then the 6th and 7th week we processed the film. The 8th week we talked about our final project that we had to do — shoot studio. Then the 9th week we shared our photos and processed more photos.  The 10th week our portfolio was due and we also visited different galleries.

My favorite part of this class was learning how to process film. I learned so much and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed going outside and taking photos of our classmates, buildings,  and things we found interesting. Overall,  if you are into photography I think you will enjoy this class a lot. You will learn so much.

My least favorite part of the class, though, was waking up early. But once I got used to it, it wasn’t so bad.  I have really enjoyed writing blogs here. Unfortunately, I won’t be writing anymore, but if you want to see what I’m up to, check out my youtube channel. I hope you guys enjoyed reading my blogs like I enjoyed writing them.

Ciny Beal Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg76JCgl1n8oIVEfn-jDEQQ

~Cindy Beal

Processing film is much harder than it seems

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Welcome back to my 3rd blog post! I have been quite busy this week so this post might be a little late. This week I have been taking photos for my class. Our homework this week was to take pictures with a theme. My theme is action shots. I have been taking pictures of my team members in gymnastics doing flips and different events. I am also going to try to take pictures of some of my friends playing lacrosse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, last class was so much fun: I got to process film. Since I missed one class to attend the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., I am a little behind. Processing film is so much harder than I expected. The first thing we had to do is roll the film in the developing tank. The developing tank looks like a car wheel except it is much much smaller. We practiced putting the film on our developing tank using fake film so we wouldn’t ruin the film with our actual photos. After practice, we went into the darkroom and put our film on the developing tank. It was very hard. I could not do it so a classmate helped me out:

  • Then we put the developing tank in 3 different types of chemicals. The developing tank stayed in each chemical for about 10 minutes. The length of time depends on what kind of film you have.
  • We then put the tank in water for 10 minutes.
  • Afterward, we took the film off the developing tank and put it into a type of vent. The film stayed in there for 20 minutes.

Then we finally got to see the negatives of our photos. It’s hard to see them. Here is a photo of the negative strip. If you hold the negative in the light you can see it much clearer. This was such a great experience. I cannot wait to process the negatives into photos in our next class. See you guys in a flash!

~Cindy

Missing class for a good reason

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Hello guys!! Last week I did not go to class because I went to Washington D.C. over the weekend. I went to Washington D.C. for the March for Our Lives which was dedicated to ending gun violence. This was also a march in remembrance of all of the school shootings that have happened. The Parkland students did a great job organizing this march. The speeches were so inspirational. I made a video from the march.

Since I could not make my class last week I can not tell you what we did in the class, but I can tell you what I have done up to last week. My professor is Cornelia Hediger. The first day was an introduction to the class, we learned what we will be doing. We looked at the darkroom, the darkroom was very cool and there were many chemicals and machines in the room. Afterward, we took pictures of each other and also viewed photos showing different perspectives.

The second class was a lot of fun. We learned how to use our digital cameras in the class. One of the nice things about this class is that you do not have to have your own camera. FIT will provide you a camera if you do not have one. But we do need to bring an SD card for the camera. After learning the buttons on our camera we got to take pictures; we took pictures inside of each other and pictures outside of buildings and people. Here is one picture I took outside.

a picture I took from the class

I like this picture a lot because the building is on a corner and the colors really pop. For homework, we had to present the 10 photos we took that we liked the most.

In the third class, we presented the photos. Afterward, we got to use the film camera. The film cameras were so cool. All you need is film, but you can also bring your own film camera if you have one. Using a film camera vs. a digital camera is so different. You cannot go back and delete a photo on film and you also cannot view the photo either which is annoying, but it gets you curious about how the photo will turn out.

So far I LOVE this class. I have learned so much in the 3 classes. I can’t wait to go in the darkroom and process the photos. Anyways, see you guys in a flash.

~Cindy Beal

Introducing Precollege Blogger: Cindy

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Hi, my name is Cindy Beal! I am a sophomore at Westfield High School. I am 15 years old and love art and sports. I have signed up for the Precollege course: HPH 168 Introduction to Traditional Darkroom and Digital Photography! I love photography. I took a class in Toronto one summer and learned so much, ever since that class I really got into photography.

My town holds a photography contest every year. I entered one year and won 2 awards, second and first place. I have also done darkroom at my sleepaway camp, I absolutely loved it. It gave me a vibe that photography is my thing. I thought it was so cool to compare digital photography to darkroom photography. This is what made me choose this course for this semester. Photography is not my only passion, I also love videography, creating montages and vlogs. I started a YouTube channel with my good friend Maggie, together we film vlogs and do challenges. Our channel is called “Somewhatsisters.” We got this idea because we spend so much time together that we feel somewhat like sisters. So we decided, why not name our channel “Somewhatsisters.”

Maggie and I want to make content like Katie Defo, Katie Defo is a USC lacrosse player. Katie’s vlogs focus around her campus and she includes lots of lacrosse montages. We want our videos to be like hers because they are amazing. Maggie and I also love Casey Neistat who is also a vlogger. Casey Neistat’s content is very inspirational. I love taking and editing videos.

I edit my videos on Filmora. Filmora is a great editing software for beginners and you can also use it to edit pictures. The camera that I use for videos and photography is the Canon Rebel T5. This is a great camera to use for both. Taking photos and making videos make me happy. Photos and videos are a great way to share with friends and family so they can see all the work I have done.

Besides photography and videography I love interior design. I took an Interior Design class here at FIT. I honestly did not know if I was going to enjoy the class but I ended up loving it. I learned so much! I did not realize how much you really need to know for Interior Design. Making floor plans was fun. I got to set a vibe on what I wanted my room to look like. Obviously, I still have a lot to learn but just from a beginners class I feel like I know what I’m doing. I love sharing and showing my artwork with my friends and family.

I also take art classes in my town and at school. At school I take ceramics which is so much fun. Ceramics is so relaxing and it’s one great way to learn art. I also take an art class outside of school where I learn how to draw still lifes and portraits. As you can see I love art but I also love sports. I am on a gymnastics team. Gymnastics is one of my passions. This is a little bit about me and what my passions are. I look forward to sharing my experiences in my FIT class. See you in a flash.

~Cindy Beal