A New View

New and old students have joined together for another photography class.  Exploring the View Finder Project lessons together, former students are guiding newer students in the process.  Please stay tuned as we post photos from this class.

Incredible Evening at the Photography Show

Mayson sharing her work

Ryan sharing his work

A great turn out!

Ashley's mom and daughter

On Friday, August 20th we had our first Photography show and fundraiser.  With a crowd of over 150 people coming to the LYN House, the students impressed each individual with what they learned over the course of the class.  Thanks to Canvas on Demand (http://canvasondemand.com/) for donating canvases to each child.  The canvases added to the quality of the show.  We also would like to thank Roberts Imaging for helping us with the cost of the prints.  Each child sold multiple prints and we are still taking orders!  As Director I could not be more proud of the students and volunteers.  The success of the evening was because of many dedicated loving individuals who have put in countless hours of their time.  Please continue to follow us as we plan to have more classes and expand this exciting ministry. If you are interested in ordering prints contact Heidi Lyda at heidilynnlyda@gmail.com

Photography Show

Click on the photo album and see ALL the photos that will be at our photography show and fundraiser. I hope that you will join us on Friday, August 20th from 6-8 pm, here at the LYN House!

Buildings

We took some of the students from both classes downtown to take pictures of all our buildings in our great city of Indianapolis.  Just two miles from our own neighborhood, the students had the chance to explore downtown with a camera and all the knowledge they have learned about picture taking these past months.

Mayson: Buildings

I think this picture looks cool, it has the rule of three and I like all the cars, shapes, and patterns.

Amir: Buildings

I liked this picture because of the water and flowers.  I also like the brick pattern and all the lines, also the symmetry.

Ryan: Buildings

I like this picture because it has another building in it and it is on the circle.

Shapes and Patterns: Take Two

This group of students set off to the same neighborhood as the last to take pictures of Shapes and Patterns.  Woodruff Place a neighborhood close to ours with a unique and beautiful history provided students with many different shapes and patterns to take.  Unlike last time, this day was hot and dry and made for very different pictures.  The reactions to this topic were as mixed as the time before.  For some this was their favorite topic for others they found this topic too be too challenging.

Courtney: Shapes and Patterns

I did not like this topic because it was hard, ugly, weird, and I was to short to take pictures of the tall signs. (Director Heidi choose this photo)

Mayson: Shapes and Patterns

I like this because they are cats and you can see a lot of shapes.  Their ears are triangles and those whiskers are cylinders.

Ryan: Shapes and Patterns

I like this picture because it has shapes and patterns and it is a nice fence.

Alisha: Shapes and Patterns

I like the colors, the randomness and how it filled the frame. I also liked that it looked faded.

Canvas on Demand

What is Beautiful? Part Two

Our second set of photography students went out in the same neighborhood to look for subjects they found to be beautiful. Some students found this subject to be more difficult as shown by less pictures being taken than when they took pictures of What is Ugly?. One student shared that she did not find it to be difficult because she would rather focus on the good things in life than the bad. Some students shared that they wish they could focus on the good things more easily. Our hope is that this class will empower the teens to make changes in their own neighborhood. Some of our teens have helped plant a community garden and landscape the LYN House in an effort to make our neighborhood more beautiful.

Ryan: What is Beautiful?

I like it because the dark clouds frames the photo.

Mayson: What is Beautiful?

I like this picture because I picked a green bean and held it up to take the picture. (Green bean grown from Mayson's own garden).

Alisha: What is Beautiful

I like all the green in the picture. I also like how I got mostly leaves then one little fruit thing. I also like the sun on some of the leaves and then there's some with shade.

Courtney: What is Beautiful?

The focus is the intersecting grass blade and it was meant to blend out of focus.

Victoria: What is Beautiful?

I like this picture because the way the light shines on it and the shadows in the leaves/flowers makes the picture look more interesting and unique.

What is Ugly? Part Two

This month we started our second View Finder Project class. New students, new eyes, same lessons and neighborhood. Some of the students took pictures of the same subjects as the past students. Many students found other subjects they found ugly that were uniquely different from each other. In a neighborhood where ugly is sometimes too easy to find, these students were able to take the ugly and make it interesting to the eye.

Mayson: What is Ugly?

I like this picture because I do not know what it is. Also it goes from dark to light. I also think that it is pretty because how the light hits the thing.

Courtney: What is Ugly?

I like this photo because the flower is ugly to me (not to some) and the grass is all choppy and messed up and the bricks are a good background. The whole picture is a dirty picture which I like.

Alisha: What is Ugly?

I like it because of the background I got. It's still focusing on the van and the grafitti, but the background is cool. I get little parts of the van and then the grafitti.

Victoria: What is Ugly?

It was a spider web that had rain bubbles on it and the angle that I took the picture made it look unique and interesting. I like it, and the shadows and shades made it "pop" more.

Ryan: What is Ugly?

I liked this one because I got the rule of thirds in this piece.

Shapes and Patterns

On a rainy Monday we sent the students to the Woodruff Place Neighborhood to shoot shapes and patterns. A neighborhood near our own, but uniquely different. Looking for just shapes and/or patterns was challenging for some and others enjoyed the challenge it brought. With each session they are showing remarkable improvement.

The purpose of the shapes lesson is to "identify and photograph a variety of shapes that exist in our surroundings to better understand what shapes us as individuals." The purpose of the patterns lesson is to "train the eye to see specific aspects of the world in which we live, slowing down enough to notice these details."

Jeremiah: Shapes and Patterns

The reason I chose this picture for one it is perfect for this topic. Not only that it is very appealing to the eye, it does not matter what you are doing, your eyes are naturally going to look at it. The color contrast is very good.

Amir: Shapes and Patterns

I like how everything lines up in this picture. Also I like the white polie in front of everything breaking it up.

Ashley: Shapes and Patterns

What I love about this photo is the reflection in the window. There are so many patterns around. But to me this picture says, "nature and man combined make a beautiful place."

What is Beautiful?

Students went into the same neighborhood and this time took pictures of things they found to be beautiful. Some of them found that this was harder to do than find pictures of things that were ugly, others found it was easier. Each student took risks taking photos from different angles and perspectives. One student shared that he found when taking pictures of the same object from different perspectives, eventually he found something he liked in the picture.

The purpose of this lesson is: "To help students identify what they do like in their immediate surroundings and ultimately in their lives. To help students understand that there is beauty in everyone and everything if we look hard enough and with new eyes. To help students understand that both the ugly and the beautiful coexist all around us and that it requires a conscience CHOICE to focus on the beauty instead of the ugly."

http://theviewfinderproject.org

Ashley: What is Beautiful?

I love the image capturing and shadow of this picture. It makes me think of some sort of board game. It says to me, "Hey! There is beauty in even the simpiliest of things. Just take time to look, notice, and capture it."

Emily: What is Beautiful?

I chose the picture of the stop sign because I like stop signs, and because
I think without the stop signs, no one would stop. They'd probably just
keep driving and then there would be more wrecks.

Amir: What is Beautiful?

I liked this picture because I like the plants surrounding the "Windsor Park" sign.

Danielle: What is Beautiful?

This is my favorite because I get into the flower and it keeps you
guessing what is around it and what type of flower it is. It puts you in the position of a bee or another insect that may cross this flower.

Emilee: What is Beautiful?

In this photo, I was unable to focus on the 'said' main object. The flower in the landscape has amazing visuals. The color contrasts, size, and shape clash well with what is actually in focus. The strands of grass in front of the flower. I also enjoyed the sunlight's effects on this image. It was a pleasure to take.

Jeremiah: What is Beautiful?

In this photo there is a plant. The view of this plant is at ground level and you see an animal's view. The picture has a lot of leading lines. It's bright and beautiful to the eye.

What is Ugly?

The first lesson of the View Finder Project is: What is Ugly?
We enouraged the students to go out in their community
to take pictures of items they found to be ugly. The purpose
of this assingment is "To help students identify what they do not
like in their immediate surroundings and ultimately in their lives; to
help them understand that they have the power to transform the
ugly into beautiful."
http://www.theviewfinderproject.org

Emilee: What is Ugly?

In this photo I'm focused on the graffitti. The angle of this picture is interesting to me. You're able to be led on by the bridge, yet, you're still focusing on the graffiti. There is also very nice coloring and lighting.

Emily: What is Ugly?

I chose this picture because it shows more of the paint chipping off at the swing set pole. Then there's the one blue pole that makes the picture stick out.

Amir: What is Ugly?

I didn't like this because someone threw a bottle of juice in the creek, and didn't even finish it.

Danielle: What is Ugly?

I took this picture because I found how the tire was sitting on the

hill by the creek ugly. I also find this picture pretty because of the nature and then it moves to civilization as you look further into the background.

Jeremiah: What is Ugly?

My favorite one of "What is Ugly?" is this picture. It's a picture of a house. The front porch makes you feel uncomfortable. There is bricks and broken boards on the porch. I personally wouldn't want to go on that porch. It's not a good site.

Ashley: What is Ugly?

Being in this photography class has made me realize how much this community needs our help. Seeing pictures like these makes us want to help our neighborhood.