Toronto Maple Leafs Fan

I've been following the Toronto Maple Leafs since I was six years old. The Toronto Maple Leafs is a professional ice hockey franchise based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup, an ice hockey club trophy awarded to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs champion, was in 1967. As a Leaf Fan it feels like an eternity that they will ever come close to the Stanley Cup again.

I still remember to this day, the reason why I started to follow hockey and follow the Toronto Maple Leafs was because of Home Depot. My dad would take me to Home Depot and would purchase equipment and other miscellaneous items, as I sit quietly on the seat provided by the push cart. I would always be excited and happy every time he told me that "We're going to Home Depot!" After tons of times shopping at Home Depot, the Home Depot logo was brain-washed into my head.

On one quiet night, my dad was watching a hockey match between the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the New Jersey Devils. As I was walking by the television, they advertised Home Depot, right in the center. The logo was really big and centered, and I said to my dad "That's Home Depot!" and my dad said "yes, your right!" After that, I sat beside my dad watching hockey for the first time ever, as he explained me the rules and everything he knew about hockey. That was when I continued to watch hockey on television with my dad, and got to understand the hockey mechanics. As I grew older I would play street hockey with a couple of friends, and the rest is history.

It's been a rough decade as a Maple Leaf fan as we haven't made it to the playoffs for 7 consecutive seasons. The only team in the NHL that haven't made it to the playoffs since the lockout in 2004-2005. There might be a possibility of another NHL lockout this season, which would really suck. I am sure all hockey fans are praying that there won't be one this year.

Mats Sundin was my favorite Toronto Maple Leaf player ever since I had follow the team. I still have his jersey somewhere in the closet, but sadly it doesn't fit me anymore! My most memorable moment was when Mats Sundin scored the goal against Carolina Hurricanes in game six on May 28th, 2002 with few seconds remaining on the clock. It was an emotional moment as he tied the game, keeping us in the game. Here is a video of the playoff goal:

Sadly, that was not enough as the Carolina Hurricanes scored an overtime goal, removing us from the playoff run. I still remember that goal to this day!

Looking forward, it has been a quiet off-season, but there was some changes to the roster. Brian Burke, the Toronto Maple Leafs' General Manager had made a trade; sending Luke Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers for James Van Riemsdyk (JVR). JVR will help the Toronto Maple Leaf on the offense side, potting in some goals and assist points.

All in all, the season will be starting in October, which I will be looking forward to with millions of other hockey fans doing the same. Other than that, I have there words. "Go Leafs go!"

Huy

Black & White Photos

The photographer I had decided to choose was Ansel Easton Adams. He was an American photographer and environmentalist. He had a desire of producing black-and-white photographs. Most of his photographs were about landscapes. Most of the landscape photographs were taken at Yosemite National Park, which is located in Tuolumne, Mariposa & Madera, California, USA. He was different from other photographers, because he had a camera platform mounted on his station wagon, which would give him a better vantage point and angle for a better shot of the backgrounds.

The five pictures I had decided to choose are as you can see all black-and-white photographs. Ansel Adams was famously known in the western coast of the United States for his work of black-and-white photographs. The people loved his work. The photographs that he had taken were all, if not mostly, about landscapes. That was why I had chosen five photographs that were black-and-white and that were taken of landscape.

When you take a look at the black-and-white photographs, you don’t think about the colors. These photographs make you moody and relax. It makes the viewer focus on the subject, shadow and composition. Ansel Adams “had produced nearly 3,500 color images. Though he hallowed some of those pictures to be published in his lifetime, he never printed them himself or at least for the public (Lacayo, 2009).” Ansel Adams did not believe that color would produce better results compared with rich visuals to the fine-grained luxuriance of his work in black and white (Lacayo, 2009).

The pictures that are taken by Ansel Adams and the pictures provided here also have similarities of nature, a relaxing mind set when you think of it. Imagine yourself in one of the five photographs provided and close your eyes. You probably feel really relaxed and hear the sounds of water moving by and birds chirping and the cold air at night and maybe mist of water depending on the picture you’re looking at. Ansel Adams believed that black and white photographs were more superior in giving information to the viewer more descriptively.

Ansel Adam’s had an impact of other photographers who wanted to become like him or made them start believing that black-and-white dominance over color photographs. His photographs had made an impact on the West because he had taken many photographs at National Parks and then published them. He made the park more popular and people would visit the place for tourism. Then the National Park expanded, which made it bigger and bigger, and the popularity of the park kept increasing. This was all thanks to Ansel Adams. Ansel Adam had made a huge impact in the western coast and made photographers world-wide admire his great work and attempt to follow his footsteps to be a great black-and-white photographer.

Ansel Adam was not only known for his great work as a photographer, but he was a great speaker and was known for some memorable quotes. Some of those are still fond upon today.

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”

“No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.”

“When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my mind’s eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I'm interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.”

I believe those quotes are true and are connected to his work of photography.

References:

http://www.michaelmironov.com/

http://jasonthorndike.com/

http://methodphoto.com/?p=376

http://www.starlingphotography.net/blog/black-and-white-photography/napa-lake-sunset-napa-valley-california/

http://black-and-white.tumblr.com/post/238354707/simtan-photographer-gabriele-caretti

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1932894,00.html

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/ansel_adams.html

Press Photographs Versus Art Photographs

First Press Photograph:

 

Date: November 7, 2011 - Picture by Zoya McGroarty

A school war memorial in Toronto, Malvern Collegiate Institute, was vandalized.

Second Press Photograph:

Date: July 12, 2010 – Picture by Noah Markus

A picture of a massive crowd celebrating the victory of Spain in the World Cup.

First Art Photograph:

Date: 1990 – Picture by Andre Kertesz

A picture of a landing pigeon in New York City.

Second Art Photograph:

Date: 1942 – Picture by Ansel Adams

A picture of the Tetons and the Snake River.

The main differences and similarities between art and press photography:

The second picture from the press photograph and the second picture from the art photograph have one similarity, which is that both pictures are taken at a similar angle that shows scenery. The second press photograph shows a street car, a massive crowd, buildings, the sky, and of course the Spain culture and flags while the second art image shows trees, grass, a body of water (lake), mountains, and the sky. Thus, there are a few similarities with some art and press photographs as they contain the same thing in the picture in this case like the sky and clouds and that they were taken at a similar angle that shows scenery for the two images compared to each other.

The difference between press and art photographers “nowadays the photographer in the role of a photo editor (or other way around) could make the same picture in Photoshop. Of course you have to wait for it… maybe thirty minutes… and you might get a nice piece of art. Unfortunately some media will use it as a journalistic photography, to tell us the news of the day (Icevska, 2009).” Press photographers do not have a role of a photo editor as they are not allowed to later photographs at all. They have to wait for the perfect time to snap a picture and capture reality as best as they can. When the picture is captured there is nothing to do after. The photograph stays like that, so it can resemble reality as much as possible. No altering what so ever and the person’s job is done. The art photographer can spend as much time as needed to touch up the photograph after they have taken it.

Is it ethical and acceptable to alter art photographs? Why? Why not?

Yes, I do believe it is acceptable to alter art photographs. Art photographs are supposed to have your mindset somewhere else. Basically thinking outside the box, it makes you have a different feeling that you normally don’t feel. The photographs are not necessary suppose to show reality, but rather show the photographers creativity. The photographers are there to express their unique images to viewers to have their mind captured to the picture. Going over the top with altering the photos is okay as long as the photographer has believe it is nice enough to be represented to the public to view. Art photographers altering photo is a skill, so not all art photographers would have to the same editing skills.

Is it ethical and acceptable to alter press photographs? Why? Why not?

No, it is not ethical and/or acceptable to alter press photographs. It is wrong to alter a press photograph to deceive the public. In addition, altered press photographs would cause conspiracy. Press photographs objective is an image that tells the real story, in a way that they portray the reality of the event. Once alter the realism of the picture is not real anymore. The press photograph should only be published if it was the original photograph taken.

References:

Kertesz, A., & Cartier-Bresson, H. (n. d). Capturing the moment. Retrieved on November 8, 2011 from https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dc99qrtt_148ft2crzfz&ncl=true&pli=1

Adams, A. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-art_photography

Flack, D. (2010, July 12). blogTO. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/07/toronto_celebrates_spains_world_cup_victory/

Icevska, G. (2009). The world of Photographers and Photojournalists.

McKeown, S. (2011, November 7). CityNews Toronto. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from Citytv: http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/166470--malvern-collegiate-s-war-memorial-vandalized