Final Review

Looking back on it now, the 30 day challenge, the digital story and the project as a whole i'm happy with the outcome I got it from it and what I gained. When I started my 30 day challenge I was skeptical about it, how it would turn out, if I would succeed or not, all of it. But then I started my challenge, taking beautiful and iconic pictures of Colorado and I really started enjoying it. I went to many different places throughout the 30 days to capture my photos, I went on many hikes during my challenge to take pictures and I really enjoyed capturing the photos of nature, especially during the fall season with the changing colors of the leafs. Hiking and nature pictures however are not the only type of photos I took. I went to place like downtown Denver and golden the photograph as well. Taking pictures of the Denver skyline fit in perfectly with my challenge as I was trying to take iconic photos. In my collection of photos I took for my challenge I also have many car pictures I took. For a while now I have really enjoyed taking automotive photography so I was happy when I had an opportunity to tie it into my challenge. When the 30 days was up I had a great collection of photos id taken and I was happy and proud of them. When it came time to create the digital story I was really nervous and didn't see how I was gonna pull it together. I started writing the script for my story and my challenge took on the theme of iconic photography which I feel like I had taken. Putting the story together and seeing all of my picture together was phenomenal and I was very pleased with the end result.

Although I was nervous and had skepticism at first I ended up really enjoying the project. I thought it was a unique type of project and I liked how we went into many different and not so common genres. I did find it difficult to at times, wanting to do my challenge was not always easy and it was hard at times to find motivation. When it came to the digital story I was extremely nervous to record my narration, however in the end was very happy with my digital story. I liked that at the beginning of the project before the challenge had even started we were left with the option to choose what to do our challenge about. This made the project much better than if given something to do it on because I stayed interested in what I was doing. If I could go back and re do my challenge I would do something differently. I would better map out a plan and try and get to more places to photograph. However in the end I am very satisfied with my end result for this project and I hope anyone following it is as well.

Artist Statement

My digital story was for my class and although I had to do it I am very proud of it. I chose to present my digital story by talking about the importance photos can have and how they can be very iconic for people to look back on. I wanted to tie my digital story and my photos to something bigger and make it seem as though they were impact full and iconic photos. I was really trying to capture photographs for my story that went along with the iconic theme and I did a pretty good job of it by showing pictures I have taken of places like downtown Denver and Los Angeles. If there one one way I would want my story to be remembered it would be remembered by the iconic photos I took and the message of what a photo can do.

I use mostly the appeal of pathos in my story because it fits best with the theme. Pathos usually shows a more emotional side of things and although my story isn't necessarily emotional it does capture the pathos also by trying to be inspirational. I wanted my story to get inspired about photography rather it be taking photos or even just looking at them i wanted to show people that a single picture can inspire many.

Digital story

For my end assignment of my 30 day challenge I was assigned a Digital Story. My story has all of my photos I took during my challenge and some narration I did to go along with it.
Here is a link to my story I hope you enjoy!

My Digital Story

Final Thoughts

Well my challenge is officially over. During the last 30 days I have put much time and effort into my challenge and I am very glad I did it. Over all I would have to say I could of gotten better results from it. I know that if I had more time available and wasn't always so busy with life I could of focused on my challenge a lot more, and put together a better album. I also think I learned about myself during this challenge. I learned that there are limits on what I can do, what I have time to, and that I am not always going to be able to go all out with everything because I have to balance it out with  everything else. Maybe sometime in the future when I don't have so much on my plate I would love to re visit my challenge and complete it up to my higher standards. I also discovered in my challenge that I am very into photography. I find it very fun and get a very rewarding feeling when going over all of my shots and thinking they are very good. In the end I am very pleased with my effort I put into my challenge and i'm glad I attempted it and had this opportunity to learn about myself.

Earlier in this week I drove up Lookout Mountain . Lookout is a very well known mountain here in Colorado as it serves in a way as a gateway into the rockys. Lookout mountain has always been a place I have loved. When I was only 7 years old my family moved onto lookout mountain and lived there for nearly ten years after that. Lookout is most well known for one thing, its tremendous views, hense the name "Lookout Mountain". From the best view points on Lookout you can see everything from down town Golden witch is right at the base of lookout, all the to downtown Denver, and even the plains far past that.  As I approached Lookout I captured a couple images of the mountain from its base. The mountains peak elevation is 7,379 feet and is a nearly 2000 foot climb to the top. Lookout mountain also has some very deep history that took place there like the berrying of Buffalo Bill, in witch a museum and grave were created at the mountains top as a memorial to him. In addition to attractions like this one Lookout Mountain is also one of the Denver Metro areas premiere biking areas. With its steep incline and switchback roads many road biker head to Lookout for riding and several large races have been held there as well. I was very pleased that I came here to take pictures and go for a beautiful drive along the way, Lookout is always a fun and beautiful place to go.

Classic Colorado

Yesterday I went to a couple different spots to photograph. First I headed downtown, specifically to the Denver Public Library, witch itself is a piece of art. The Library is in downtown Denver and  the back of the building faces Downtown. As I got to the library I had already known what part of the building I wanted to go to for capturing these images. This wasn't my first time at the Denver Public Library, I had been there a couple times before while working catering jobs. One of these times we were catering an event on the fourth floor and it had a magnificent balcony with a great view of downtown. I knew when I got to the Library this is were I wanted to go.

 
 
 I am very happy with the finished product of these photos. They capture downtown really well showing it from a few different perspectives and zooms.

As I said earlier I went to two spots to photograph yesterday. The second spot was a small hiking trail in Lakewood near Green Mountain. I went during sunset to capture a beautiful and classic Colorado sunset.

 This image I am as well very pleased with. The picture shows Lookout mountain of course with the beautiful Colorado sunset in the background.

Challenge Update Plus Some Photos

Hello all, here is an update on my challenge. So far in my challenge I have taken some pictures that I am very proud of and happy with. I have been to one new place so far and was glad I did. In the soon future I plan on going to places such as Red Rocks Amphitheater,Sloan's Lake,City Park and Lookout Mountain. Although my challenge has been going well I could be doing better. My biggest problem so far is the amount of pictures I have taken.I know that if I apply myself a little more and get out there more often I will have more opportunity to take pictures and therefore of course have more photos. Another strategy I will now be using is to pre plan were and when I want to photograph. Something else I find help full is this Ted Talk video on 30 day challenges.

In the video the speaker Matt Cutts talk about 30 day challenges and how they can add self confidence and excitement to your life. He also discusses 30 days being the perfect amount of time to make small and sustainable changes to your life that can last. 

As promised in this post I have some pictures to share. These photos are all of my car during a car wash using a multi color soap. I think these pictures are really good quality and are cool shots. 

Golden

Yesterday I went to Golden, where I took some photos from a couple different locations. The first place I went to was the "Dawn to Dusk' parking lots. This location is half way up north table mountain and it has a fantastic view of Lookout Mountain and the city of Golden.

These first images show the Golden from the north. The images feature downtown Golden and of course The Coors Brewery. In the very background of these images you can see views of South Table mountain (in the third and fourth image), and Lookout mountain (in the second image). The last image you see features a large white house. This house is known as the Coors Mansion which the brewery was built around. 

Those were not the only photos I captured from this location. 

In this first image is a view of north table mountain, and in the second is a image of my car with Golden Gate Canyon in the background. 

Aswell as going to this location to photograph golden I also went into downtown. 

These pictures i took in downtown Golden, along the side of Clear Creek. Clear Creek runs right through the heart of downtown and supply's The Coors Brewing Company with its water. This beautiful creek consists of run off snow melt from the mountains and is most commonly known for being in Golden. 

Somewhere New

Today I made a trip to go hiking at Elk meadow open space in evergreen and of course I took many photographs. Elk meadows is one of Jefferson county's many open spaces and is a beautiful place.

This is the collection of photos i took from this hike.Elk Meadow is as you could guess known for many elk and deer herds.These herd feed off of the large amount of un treed area in elk meadow with large fields of grass. I enjoyed coming here and I do plan to return. Where this time I hiked up for about an hour i would like to go further. My plan is to continue on the same trail I was on this time however next time go much further, when continuing on this trail till its end you will find yourself on Bergen Peak. Bergen Peak is nearly 10,000 feet high in elevation and is 2100 feet above the trail head making it a steep climb. 

Over all my challenge is going well and is very enjoyable. My biggest struggle thus far is that I

am having some issues with my camera which may account for lower quality of my photos, however I plan on getting this problem fixed soon and having more quality photos. I hope to return to Elk Meadows soon to complete my journey to the top of Bergen Peak.