The Message of Photos

So you all know what photos are right? 'Cause if you don't, you're probably living under a rock. But besides that, have you ever tried to figure out the message behind the photo? Well there are three things you need to know about photos:

1) Camera Angle
Different camera angles that can influence the way the viewer sees a subject.

2) Lighting
Different lighting set-ups that can influence the way the viewer sees a subject.

3) Proximity
Different proximities (distances) that can influence the way the viewer sees a subject

So today, I will be studying the picture below (As if I didn't already have enough to study)



So first we have the camera angle which seems to be at a somewhat eye level by captures his full body. He is staring straight at us (Or staring into our souls...what? It is possible!) He has what looks like a confident (Smug) smile on his face, which what most presidents would be seen in any magazine cover (Unless it's another scandal,I mean really, who actually cares if Obama isn't American?!)

Next we have the lighting. The cover is in black and white, making it look like one of those old black and white photos that would give any elderly person a "flash" of nostalgia (Ha ha, get it? "Flash"? Because you know the camera gives off a flash?...I'm gonna stop with the jokes now...) The lighting looks like it's coming from the left, if you consider that the shadows on his face are more of the right side. The shadows are somewhat soft, not much of hard light so the other half of his face is hidden, but gives him that air of "I'm friendly and laid-back but I will get the job done".

And lastly we have proximity. Like I mentioned for the camera angle, we are at a sort of eye level but we can see his whole body. He is leaning over what looks like his desk with one hand on his hip, probably saying that he a nice guy, but if you get on his bad side, you best better run and hide.

So, what are my thoughts on this photo? Well...to be honest, I really don't care about presidents and politics, etc. So if your like me (Sucks to be you) you wouldn't really care about it and not give it a second glance. But if you are the type of person who's into politics, they would probably be interested in what this guy has to say, seeing a he is smirking oh-so-confidently.

And that reaches the end of my photo review, please give me feedback on what I can improve on (That is, if anybody actually reads my blog) and I will see you all later!

The Almighty Pencil

(Picture by fdecomite)

Hello and welcome to my blog about...penguins. Okay I'm just kidding, it's about pencils.

...I kid you not so wipe that smirk off you face!

Anyways, you're probably thinking "LOL I KNOW WHAT A PENCIL IS". Well read before you type alright? (That rhyme was unintentional).

So pushing that aside, according to Encyclopedia Britannica's definition of the pencil, it describes it as "A slender rod of a solid marking substance, such as graphite, enclosed in a cylinder of wood, metal, or plastic; used as an implement for writing, drawing, or marking". But if you want a less "fancy" term "A piece of wood that can make words". (...yeah don't use that definition unless you want your English marks to drop)

So now, a little history lesson for all you history nuts out there:

Pencils were firs created in the time of Ancient Rome where it was called a "stylus" (and not the little stick for the DS but looks kind of like a pencil). Before 1565 when they started to use graphite, lead was used instead. But in my opinion, after they realized that people were actually dying from using the "stylus" (which is because lead is poisonous) then they switched to using graphite and have been using them up to this day (and probably still will)

So how are pencils helpful?

Well, the most obvious is that they help us write things down. By things, I meant helping us write letters and notes to people. It's also helpful when writing stories or just writing a rough draft if you're the type of person that likes to plan things down (Unless you're me who likes to instantly jump on Microsoft Word and start typing). They are also a big help if you like drawing or drafting because they are easy to erase and start over. They also help with marking things, for example, if you're in a woodshop class (Or anything relating to working with wood) if you need to mark certain measurements, you can use the pencil. They help with planing/drafting. Just like I said with my first point, they are used by a lot of people for different uses. They can be used for planning on how to write a essay or a story, sketching ideas and working on your artistic skills or even just writing down notes for your classes. My last point is somewhat related to pencils but its more of the black dust left after you finished sharpening it. A person has used the black dust from the pencil and smeared it on his sketchbook and drew with the eraser. For more information, click over here to read the post, sothe pencil can also be used as another form of art.

The pencil is a very useful tool used all around the world and used in our modern day society. Pencils helped us write letters and write down new ideas thus creating the computer, which is mostly used nowadays because of the vast connection and how easy someone can e-mail someone else. So in conclusion, if you're thinking, ''Why are pencils still around when we have the internet and computers?'' think about this: before the computer was created, they had to write, and people wrote ideas down for a easier way to communicate with a...wait for it...a pencil.

And that closes this post and I thank you for taking the time to read this very long posts. Have a nice day.
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[LINKS]
Pencil History
Mini article on lead poisoning
More history on the pencil
Definition of the Pencil
Another article

-CITATION-

"Pencil History." (2011): n. page. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. http://www.pencils.com/pencil-history.

"Pencil." "Pencils, paint and pottery can give you lead poisoning". . 1972. Web. 15 Nov 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil

"Pencil." Early Office Museum. N.p., 2011. Web. 15 Nov 2011. http://www.officemuseum.com/pencil_history.htm.

"Pencil (Writing Implement)." Pencil. Web. 15 Nov 2011. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/449653/pencil.

"Pencil Dust Finger Painting." Pencil Revolution. N.p., 04/08/11. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. http://www.pencilrevolution.com/.

Halloween in the US

" You might be curious as to how the United States celebrates Halloween. Every year on October 31st people, young and old, join together to celebrate this spooky holiday. Adults may watch scary movies or attend a costume party while children go door-to-door knocking asking for candy using the motto “trick-or-treat”. "

Since Halloween is near, I decided to do a entry about a blog for students who want to study abroad which can be found here

So as you all know, Halloween is a time of year that you get free candy (at least, that's my belief). But what I'm curious is to what's Halloween like for other countries? I mean, it wouldn't be hard to describe what you do at Halloween if you live in the US or Canada, but have you see wanted to know what other countries do? Like the Philippines for example; instead of trick-or-treating, this is the time to commemorate their lost loved ones. It sounds pretty interesting to learn about different countries' cultures and history (maybe because I'm a history geek?). So post a comment down below about your opinions on this or even post on how different countries celebrate Halloween.

Photo Essay "National Flags"

Creative Commons is when you are using something but it's free of creativity, in which my theme is national flags.



Photo by fdecomite


Photo by michael_swan


Photo by jsteph


Photo by Mike Hendren


Photo by falcon0125


Photo by pargessiastes

A Blog's Purpose

The purpose of a blog can be narrowed down to three things:

1) To Inform
2) To Pursuade
3) To Entertain

For most of us who know how a blog works, usually see it as a form of entertainment such as sites like Tumblr. Like most people, I usually go on blogs for the entertainment. The two sites that I have recommended is what I would consider entertainment. In my own opinion, I think that blogs are more of an entertainment thing since people usually go on s blog to look for some laughs or just to relax (Again, my opinion), I have found that these two sites to be rather relaxing for me.

href="http://kimjongillookingatthings.Tumblr.com">Such as looking at things.
Or incredibly random facts no one is possibly not going to care about.

For those who are more into the persuading blogs, the two links below seem to do the job of persuading. Although I'm not a huge fan of these two sites (Because I'm more of the entertainment kind of blogs), they seem like a good sites to check out. Although they could be in-between the persuading and the informative types of blogs because they inform you about the information first then they try to persuade.

Green Peace
Game Reviews

Now the last one is to inform. Just like. I said above, I'm more in the entertainment blogs. But these two sites are good sites that inform you about technology or about everyday things that bother us (Like déjà vu). So I recommend to take a look at them.

Technology and other things.
Life help.

So there you have it. Any opinions? Comment if you think differently, I won't bite.

...This is Awkward...

Hello there random person and welcome to my blog! That I didn't want to create.


A few things about myself:

I like doing creative work such as writing, drawing, art, etc. I'm a high school student surprisingly that has a bit of a split personality. I like music and history, I play about three instruments (Alto Saxophone, Clarinet and Piano) and I have a disturbingly large knowledge about some countries most people probably wouldn't care know about (Be honest, how many of you know about Lichtenstein? ...Yes, that is a real country). I have a tendency to talk to myself, heck, I have arguments with myself!

(Creeped out yet?)

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Oh you're still here? I guess I'll talk a bit more:

My dream is travel around the world and learn more about the history of the world. My other dream is to become a artist or a fictional writer. If I can't be either of those, I'll resort into being a history teacher. I have a strange obsession with my IPod and my DS (Although I think my DS hates me...) I also have the ability to make inanimate objects hate me...yeah I don't really have much of a life now, do I?

...I guess that's it, I'll see you later...I guess...

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...Bye...

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AWKWARD OUTRO!