WHNPA Make-Up Assignment

Marina Locks- Make-Up WHNPA Assignment.

Analyzing winning entries from The Eyes of History 2011 Contest.

The Two Entries:

1) "Tea Party America" Insiders Washington category of still photography.

Link to the photograph: http://www.whnpa.org/contest/eyes2011/stills/insiderswashington/index.shtml



2)Also, "H Street" In the Video Photography Feature category.



Link to the Video: http://www.whnpa.org/contest/eyes2011/video/feature/index.shtml


My Analysis is as follows:

The first winning entry I looked at was the picture titled “Tea Party America” in the Insiders Washington category of still photography. I think that this picture won because it was a truly unique behind the scenes view of a Washington Insider. I really liked the picture because it says a lot about the subject and his life. The caption reads that he came to the set after running from his son’s soccer game. This shows the “human” side of politicians. Politicians are expected to be prim and proper. This shows him just being a regular guy trying to balance his job and his personal life, like many people do. I think the photo looks honest and not staged. I am sure he would have preferred not to be photographed at this very moment because he looks like he is deep into his thoughts. It looks like he is thinking “man, i’d rather not be here right now but this but my goal is to win my election so I have to be here” His expression is relateable to other people, and I think that is why it was picked. This related to what I have been learning in class because it follows the rules of thirds, and it has excellent light. The technical aspects of the photograph are excellent on their own, a good clear view that they are in a news station, but the focus is still on the subject.
The second entry I looked at was called H-Street from the Video Photography section in features. I think this entry won because it had such a fresh story with amazing photography and video. They took such a simple topic, fashions related to people’s personality, and made it so interesting and I couldn’t keep my eyes off it. This piece related to what I have been learning in class because all of their photography in the piece was perfectly composed. The images were either centered or to the left or the right following the rule of thirds perfectly. The video also used the rule of thirds and had such excellent quality. They used the man on the street style, sequences, and got really close to performers and subjects, and overall varied their medium, and long shots. One of my favorite aspects of the piece was their use of natural sound. They used the music from the performers they were filming and weaved it through most of the piece in such a seamless way. It really added a lot to the overall piece. Another thing that I think helped this entry win, was they never focused too long on a particular person, or scene. They would focus on them just long enough so we could get a sense of their style and personality and then would move onto something else, and that is something that kept me very visually interested. There are a lot of video pieces that seem to drag and I didn’t feel like pressing stop or multitasking my eyes remained focused on the film.
I think that the two pieces, though completely different did have a few things in common. The photography style was the same with the good use of the rule of thirds, and excellent light. The photographers from both pieces knew what they were doing as far as keeping viewers eyes on the subject, while still having some interesting things to look at in the background. It also looks like the photographers from both pieces likely took quite a few pictures and found that quirky, unique, and visually interesting one to submit.