Blog 22

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
The one thing I'm most proud of in my senior project is the fact I was able to really advance in my own photography and I've grown to love photography more and more. 


(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Block Presentation (self-assessment)?

I would give myself a P. 

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

Overall I would give myself a P in my senior project. 

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
What worked for me is that I feel that I was able to create some really specific answers for my EQ. 

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
Personally I would've given more time in my research to find more in-depth and focused sources for the future. 

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

The senior project has given me a sense of direction for myself. Because of my senior project, I have come up with the decision to enlist into the U.S. Navy and hopefully be able to be a photographer for the Navy. My senior project has given me the preparation to really focus on my work while in the Navy because attention to detail is really severe while in the armed forces. As a result, I'm just really thankful to have this experience to end my final year here at Ipoly.     

Blog 21

LIA Response to blog:

    Literal

·     Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties updated on the right hand side of your blog

Done 

·     Contact Name and Mentorship Place

Jack Bohlka, ROP Digital photography 

    Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing I've gained from this experience is how important teamwork is for a situation that involves teaching students different skills. The reason being is that if the teacher has a difficult time getting to everyone at once, an effective TA can ease the stress of that.

 

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain

Most of my mentor-ship involved a lot of explanation for my answers 1 and 2. My first answer is composition, so I used this year to really get a good review of the different techniques of composition. The ROP class also deals with working with equipment such as reflectors and studio lights along with a DSLR camera. So that helped me out with the importance of a DSLR camera along with neighboring equipment that's necessary for an effective shoot.  

Film vs Digital

I just wanted to share some videos about the two rivals of photography and cinematography, film and digital. I always find this debate really wonderful because I get to learn about the experiences of film that I wasn't able to experience at all and I feel researching about film and it's legacy is the next best way to learn about it.

Blog 20- Exit Interview

1) What is your essential question and answers? What is your best answer and why? 

My essential question is, 

"What is the best way to run a profitable photography studio, whose focus is event and portrait photography?" 

My answers are: 

1. Employ Composition Techniques within your photos.

2. Having the behind the scenes knowledge of a DSLR camera in order to produce a properly exposed and focused image.

3. Create and implement an effective and efficient business plan in order to stabilize a clientele.

My best answer is, "Create and implement an effective and efficient business plan in order to stabilize a clientele" because although my first two answers are very important for photography, at the end of the day my topic is about creating a business and being able to sustain that business consistently. I also feel that a business plan would be able to help me kick-start a business of my own in the future, so I find it the most important of the three for this situation.

2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

Well I felt that it was smart to use my first two answers to explain fundamentals of photography considering the fact that most wouldn't necessarily be aware of the bag of tricks photography can have. My next goal was to consider many different factors of business. Factors like ways to run a business, the type of products a business will have, where the business will be located, how one would go about marketing their business, and so many other factors. With all of these overwhelming things to consider, I needed to develop a "starting point" of where all of these factors could meet all at once, and that's how I arrived at creating a business plan to organize my thoughts and to potentially sell my ideas to investors one day.

3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

Honestly the biggest problem is research. It is so difficult to find good research that actually pertains to my topic. So to resolve it, I continue to try to find any reliable and credible research that I can hopefully use whenever I find the time to do so. Another problem could be how I'll actually organize my senior presentation. I have a few ideas, but I still need to create a concrete plan. 

4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why? 

I feel that my most significant source has to be, "Entrepreneur's Guide for Successful Business Planning" by Bob Kazmierski. The reason being is that Mr. Kazmierski has more than 10 years of experience of community planning and economic development; and in his article, he created a very strong framework of what a business plan practically needs to look like if a person even thinks about joining a partnership with a well known firm or the investment of a venture capitalist. This article also has a strong influence on my third answer for the fact that all the factors I need to consider are within the article that Kazmierski has wrote.

My second most significant source is my mentor Jack Bohlka. Even though he has been there for me all of my senior experience, my goal however is to make sure my best answer can answer my essential question which is why Jack is my second most significant source. The plus side though is that I can ask him any business advice because he has all of the experience I seek to learn. So Jack is a great reference for both my photography and my future business goals. All in all, Jack is the best person I can go to for research or questions.  

Blog 19

LITERAL
(a)  I, Angel Flores, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component
I have to say that the person who helped me complete this component was Mr. Hogan the Sophomore English teacher. He was the one to made Fullerton Fest possible for Ipoly's drama department in the first place.   
(c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).   Post it next to your mentorship log.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnYHmA9FJpNgdFdvdW9qUTJxTHRhUkE2cV9SVDIyNkE&usp=drive_web#gid=0

(d) Explanation of what you completed.
I took photos of the event during both days. I also edited each photo that I used in my online portfolio. I also created a poster for Mr. Hogan to use if he wishes to do so.     
INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

http://www.angelboaz.portfoliobox.me

( This link will lead you to my online portfolio of the pictures I edited of Fullerton fest. )

APPLIED
How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

I feel that this experience gave me a chance to try to realize which moments were the most important for the event. I feel that I can now have a better opportunity to hone my skills of event photography in order to develop my photography even further down the road for my own photography studio one day

March- Monthly Blog Post

For this month, I decided to post up some photos that involve my sister. She's a dancer and her annual recital is right around the corner. So she needed some photos for the recital. So I helped out a bit.

Blog 18

EQ
What is the best way to run a profitable photography studio, whose focus is event and portrait photography? 
 
Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*
Create and implement an effective and efficient business plan in order to stabilize a clientele.
 
3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)
1) There are many different components to consider before even kick starting a business. Ex: Product, Locations, Primary customer, and many others. 

2) Any successful company out there has some type of plan to stay organized. Ex: Google, Apple 

3) Proper planning ahead of time can lead to a higher quality product. Ex: Any project for Ipoly. 
 
The research source (s) to support your details and answer
The source I used was "Importance of a Business Plan" By Daymond John. He is a top entrepreneur and is well known as the CEO of his clothing company FUBU, and also his appearances on the hit TV show introducing up and coming entrepreneurs, Shark Tank. He discussed the importance of planning for your business. Basing his writing on one quote, "Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail."
  
Concluding Sentence
There's more to running a business than just saying you're going to start a business. A business plan is a really good way to start a future career as a entrepreneur, so I want to focus on a business plan for my future business.