Carla Warhol by Carla Prieto

     Pop art is a concept in which Andy Warhol presented to the media in the 50's and 60's. To create an image similar to his, you take a set of pictures or just one image and over simplify them, or the single image and create several copies, on Photoshop. After cropping and using the same proportions and resolution, you begin to mess with each photo individually. First, you crop out your subject and delete the rest of the image so the background is white. Then, you place the cutout filter to simplify the image. After doing so, you choose two different colors per image and set an empty background layer for each. Placing one color over the background layer, you make the subject screen through. Then, you choose the other color, and use the fill tool to make the rest of the image a different color.

     For me, it tool several tries before I created this image. Following the steps stated above, I was finally able to make this pop art image of myself. I had to mess with the brightness and contrast a lot to make my facial expressions still visible, because the cutout filter had simplified the image more than I wanted it to. Once I figured all of the steps and how each step worked, I was able to create my image a lot faster and just transfer it into a blank canvas where I just  manipulated where each image went.

     I think this image would have looked more like Andy Warhol's pop art if I had used three to four sets of colors like he did in Marilyn Monroe's pop art image.

Ray of Sunshine by Carla Prieto

This image is an example of HDR photography. This photo was composed of several (about 7) images with different exposures and processed into one image in photoshop using the HDR option. The different levels of exposure is meant to capture every detail and have a high definition picture. I chose to shoot this tree, because of the wind that day. I knew that the leaves and branches moving would have a blur effect once processed, but that had been my intention. I wanted to capture movement and serenity at the same time. I also made sure the sunlight was perfectly through the branches instead of being covered, because it gave the feeling of serenity. I wish I would've spent more time shooting and used more images to capture more deatil, but nonetheless, I captured what I was aiming for.

Varsity by Carla G. Prieto

     This panorama was made to capture the accomplishments and the significance of varsity athletics to the school. This panorama was constructed out of 44 images taken continuously as I "panned" across the gym. To get this set, I had to retake five sets of about 50 pictures in order to include all of the objects I thought were necessary to tell my story. After getting a set of pictures I really liked, I went on photoshop and "stitched" the images together.
     I took this image after the rally my school held for the fall sports. I wanted to capture the essence that this was not just an empty gym; instead this is a place where athletes take pride in what they do, and are recognized for their efforts. I decided to include the trash left behind from the rally on the far right, as well as the screen that showed the winning football game from the previous week. Those posters, as well as the CIF and Valley League Champion banners are meant to represent the recognition of the athletes, as well as the hopes of every athlete to be a part of the year that their team made the finals. At our school, that isn't often, so the banners provide as a type of incentive. The motto "Once a Patriot, Always a Patriot" served to show unity among the sports and the school, because in the rallies, every student is their to provide support. Rallies are the few of times where a majority, if not all, the students gather in one place at one time. I wanted to capture the importance of athletics in one image.

Double Exposure

City Light by Carla G. Prieto

This image was my final photo I submitted for my photography project. We were working on double exposures. We take two images, overlap them in photoshop, and using the outline of one image, we overlap them to create a single image. I had someone take a profile view of my body and using the magic wand I cut myself out. The process was hard, because I did not pose in front of a clean background (hence the pixels). But once I got the best cutout, I overlapped the image over an image of the New York skyline that I found on google. I had to change the gradient on the cut out of me so the viewer could subtly see my face as kind of a ghost image of me. I think that I needed a cleaner cut out of the picture of me and I could have used the "refined edge" option to make the image less pixelated. I could also have used a cleaner background as well.

Me photo by Eduardo Hernandez

About Me

My name is Carla G. Prieto, and I'm a senior at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, California. I'm a full time student athlete playing soccer as my winter sport and a cheerleader for our school's football and basketball teams. On the weekends I'm an employee at A Delight of France in downtown Escondido. I'm always on a busy schedule, but when I get a chance to catch my breath, I read, draw/paint, surf, do yoga, and work out at the gym. I'm a perfectionist so I like to plan my goals for the week and my schedule, as well as organizing my priorities and mapping out the time I have to complete my homework assignments. I enjoy taking photography and learning about art, especially of other cultures, which is why I took a photography class. I like seeing what other artists and photographers see through their "lens", and that is why I took an Art History class as well, because not only do I enjoy seeing their perception of objects, but I like knowing what their thoughts were and what influenced their thoughts.

Since I enjoy helping others and have a fascination with the development of infants, I want to pursue a career as a neonatal doctor. But I don't want to give up art completely. I want a minor in either Art History, photography, or journalism and publications. I like seeing how images affect the audience with social and political statements. Art has affected my life entirely. Since taking both a photography class and an art history class, I can relate and have conversations and share ideas with others that share the same interests as me. Going to museums and actually understanding what the art is saying has become one of the biggest accomplishments in my life, because art is its own language. The conversations become richer and I love exchanging knowledge with others. After these classes, I never knew how much art affected society and how big of a part it is in our every day lives. From billboards to commercials, to cartoons and television shows, art references are always being made. I hope to always continue to make art a part of my life no matter what major or career I pursue.