Week 6- Plan

On March 14, 2014, my English teacher talked to us about how we should have a plan for our 20% project. Which is true because I think that most of us does not even have a plan. He also told us that we will be presenting starting May 29, 2014. Moreover, he showed us a video of how we should present. Now back to the plan, our plan is to take more macro pictures, so that we can show tons of the pictures during our presentation. My partner, Divina made a website, so that she can also put pictures there. My other partner, Gino will be running our Instagram account. And I made a Vine account to also share macro videos that i have taken. We believe that the plans that we came up with will help us to have a successful project. Also, I came up with an idea take a picture of my fellow classmates' eyes. Luckily, many of them wanted their eyes taken with the macro lens. Moreover, they were suprised when the saw their eyes up close and thought it was really cool. Please also follow us at out Instagram and Vine account @_macroworld

Week 5-Reflection

       In the first semester of my English 3 class, my teacher assigned a collaborative project. We had to create something to improve someone's life, physically, mentally, or spiritually. My team mates Divina Bartolome, Gino Delatorre and I had come up with different things: food blogs, virtual tour at Savanna High School, taking sunset pictures. These are the things that we've came up with, and we had agreed on a project that we think we can achieve, taking macro pictures.

       Looking back, I can say is that we are doing great. We have taken more than two hundred pictures and posted at least 30 pictures on our Instagram page. Also, we've posted videos. Also by every post, we partner it up with a meaningful quote or a trivia. In conclusion, I belive that by pushing ouselves through the finish line, we can proudly say, we have changed some people's lives in some ways.

Week 4- Buttons

Last weeks weekly topic was chocolate; this week is buttons. Buttons may have been invented almost four thousand years ago. In ancient China people used buttons made out of gold and silver. Sometimes they only put a button on the cap, and the clothes were held together by strings and buckles. So initially were used as ornaments. But when people did realize that they could use buttons to hold clothes together, they started making buttons out of wood, seashells, iron or ivory. But today all the buttons are made out of plastic. Early settlers in North America often used buttons in trading with the indigenous peoples. The manufacture of buttons began in the United States c.1826. Buttons, originally made of bronze or bone, have also been made of materials such as metal, porcelain, paste, wood, ivory, horn, pearl, glass, and plastic. There are two main types, those made with holes and those with shanks. The latter have a loop of metal let in through a hole or soldered into place. Below, you can see an up close look of a button.   

Week 3- Chocolates

Last week's weekly topic was spider webs; This week is chocolates. And I will be telling you some fun facts about chocolates. A recent study indicates that when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate. Aztec Emperor Montezuma drank 50 golden goblets of hot chocolate, dyed red and flavored with chili peppers, every day. Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous 45 second shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, Psycho, which actually took 7 days to shoot. The average American consumes more than 10 pounds of chocolate every year. 76% of Americans say the ears of the chocolate bunnies should be eaten first. 5% think chocolate feet of the bunnies should be eaten first. 4% think the chocolate tails should go first. One ounce of milk chocolate has only a little more caffeine than the amount of caffeine in a cup of decaffeinated coffee. White chocolate has no caffeine. Are you amazed yet? If you want to know more about chocolates, please visit http://morkeschocolates.com/chocolate-facts. 

Week 2- Webs

Last week's weekly topic was dollar bills. This week we are thinking of doing it on spider webs. Spider webs are threads of silk. Spiders can make as many as seven different kinds of silk, with all different purposes—from making egg cases, to hiding. They are mainly used to catch prey. The silk is made inside the glands of a spider’s abdomen, where it is liquid. When it’s drawn out of their spinnerets, it becomes thread-like. Spider silk is very strong—sturdier than a thread of steel that is as equally thick. Webs are spun by female and immature spiders. Argiope spiders form orb webs made of ultraviolet silk. Some flowers (their food source) are also ultraviolet, confusing insects, which believe they’re about to eat nectar. Instead, they end up getting stuck in a web. The slightest vibration of a web alerts a spider to the possibility of prey, which then rushes toward the movement. The picture of the spider web below is owned by Mike Hall, My Shot. 

Week 1- Bugs

Last week's topic was bugs. A bug is a certain type of insect. Some examples you might be familiar with are the boxelder bug, milkweed bug, assassin bug, and stink bug. True bugs have a stylet (a mouth shaped like a straw) that they use to suck plant juices from plants. The assassin bugs use their stylets to suck blood from other insects. The front wings of true bugs are thickened and colored near where they are attached to the insect's body, and are clearer and thinner towards the hind end of the wing. The hind wings are usually clear and tucked underneath the front wings. The picture below is a Fruit Fly. Did you know that fruit flies often feed on decaying fruits and vegetables. This is where they get their name from. However, one most note that they are often found in unsanitary conditions like garbage dumps and trash cans. Moreover, fruit flies are also a hazard to human health. They spread diarrheal illnesses. Their hairy bodies and sticky foot pads can carry germs and bacteria from sites that have been contaminated. Wash your hands periodically. Do not use your hands to kill flies. This week's weekly topic is money, and I cannot wait to see those dollar bills up close!

Week 9- Editing Pictures

It has been nine weeks since we started the 20 percent project. I can say that we are on track. I still could not believe that it has been many months! Last week's weekly topic was donuts, and this week is fruits. During the two-week break, I have discovered some of the cool editing apps that I can use to make my pictures better. The best thing about them is that they are free on the appstore. Snapguide, Camera Plus, and Fotorus are some of the apps that I liked. Why? Because the have everything that i needed to make my pictures better. These apps can brighten the picture, they can give the picture more details, they can give the picture a filter and a lot more! Below is a before and after of a picture I took. Also if you are reading this, please follow us on Instagram @_macroworld and please do not hesitate to like our pictures. We are working really hard to give you the best macro pictures we can take. 

(Before)

(After)