SNOW

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW...

Alphabet Uh Oh

So I don't know why, but the colors of my alphabet set changed dramatically when I just posted it. I can't figure out how to view it normally. I kind of like it though...

My Alphabet

Here is my alphabet project. The assignment was to photograph an upper case or lower case set of letters found outside. I went out at least five or six times to shoot at different times of day. I played with shadows and searched for distinct color contrasts to achieve various letter forms. 

CARDBOARD

Here is my final design project. It was quite a process but I finally finished!

Here is my final project for digital media. It's a movie created from stop action photographs. I hope you like it!

Arriving Starstuck

I was thinking about the many photos I went through that didn't make it into the final of my poster project, and decided that they were an important part of my process, so I wanted to post them. I did a lot of night shooting in the rain and early morning shooting for this piece. I originally wanted the base photo to be a picture of me walking on a double yellow line down a street. This is not the easiest task because there are always cars during the day, and at night with a long exposure I got washed out because of the conflicting headlights of cars and lighting around me. I did have fun playing with shutter speed and using the lights of the passing cars and reflection on the wet street at night to get some interesting photos. I eventually gave up on the street idea because I could never achieve a picture where my body was not transparent, and even at three in the morning there were always cars driving down the street that I wanted to walk on. I then moved to the tunnel where I didn't have to fear for my life, and my camera, every time I tried to get a shot. So here are some photos that helped me arrive at the photos I used for my final product. 

Dreams Are So Hollow

I got my inspiration for this poster from the song "Starstruck" by Santogold. The typography is made out of  multicolored "gel gems" that I scanned to form various letters. I then warped them and blurred them in photoshop, and then stylized them with the glowing edges filter. I also used the glowing edges filter on the tunnel. I bumped up the brightness on the girl in the foreground and then saturated her. I also played around with the levels of the brick floor, and the saturation of the sky.

Edited

I edited the last assignment a little bit. Here is the finished product.

Latest Project

I just completed our latest Digital Media project and wanted to see what people think. So here it is. My inspiration came from a number of quotes that I stumbled upon. These excerpts spoke to a lot of my beliefs, so I wanted to incorporate them into the composition somehow. I ended up painting them onto paper with gray ink, staining the paper with coffee, and burning the crumpled result with a lighter. I then scanned the four sheets of writing into the computer and layered them on top of my self portrait. I played with opacity to give my body a ghostly sort of appearance. 

Sunrise, Sunset

I went abroad last January to the island of Martinique in the Caribbean. Whenever I travel it seems that I look for sunsets, and if the chance arises, sunrises. When I was there I saw some spectacular skies. This has something to do with the unusual weather that the island boasts. There are always  a tremendous amount of clouds, and consequently a ton of rain showers. The above pictures are a couple of my favorite skies that I witnessed.

Maine

Almost every summer I go to a place called Five Islands in Georgetown, Maine.  It's a unique location that I can say without a doubt is one of my favorite places on earth. I grew up spending time there with my dad's side of the family and have always loved it. One of the cool things about the houses we stay in, is that they are literally on a tiny island. You have to take a boat back and forth across the harbor to get on and off of it. There are only seven or so houses actually on the island, and a cook house where we get our meals each day. The landscapes are absolutely breath taking and almost every day you run into some form of unusual wildlife, whether it is a seal in the harbor, or a loon sitting on the docks. A little path loops around the island where you can walk from the forested part of it, to the cliffs that have tons of tide pools filled with shells. One of my favorite qualities that Five Islands offers is its calming atmosphere. I find a sense of amazing serenity there that I haven't found anywhere else. It could be the soft sound of the crashing waves that lull you to sleep, or the quiet hums of birds and lobster boats that wake you up in the morning, I'm really nor sure, but if you are ever in Maine, take a trip down to Five Islands. It's a hidden gem that is worth the trip. I included some pictures of the island, and some from a day trip we took to another island about fifteen minutes away by boat. I can't recall the name of the island now, but I thought the reflections of the buildings and the water looked so serene. I hope you like them.

LETTERS

For our current design project, we are trying to capture all 26 letters of the alphabet by finding their naturally occurring forms outside. It's interesting to walk around and not only look for sticks or bricks that might form these shapes, but negative spaces, and different perspectives that allow the letters to become distinguishable. I uploaded a few that might not work yet, but I think the ideas are getting there.

Shutter Speed

I decided to get back to the basics and play with shutter speed and aperture. I put my camera on the ledge of this fountain and just made the shutter speed higher as I went to get more definition of the water.

More Photographs

These are some photos I took of my friend. I was playing with lighting and trying to achieve some modelesque shots.

Blur and Stop Action Shots

The photo with the guy walking up the brick path is an example of a blurred shot. I had my shutter speed of 1/5 of a second and an f/stop of 1/13. 

The photo of the volleyball player is an example of a stop action shot with very high shutter speed to freeze her as she's serving the ball.

Byron Dudley

An interesting mixed media photographer that I came upon is Byron Dudley. His website is www.byrondudleyphotography.com. I tried to attach some of his work, but the computer was not cooperating. He explains his process as follows. "Mixed media works originate as photographs which are outlined onto canvas and then scanned. Various media, oil, watercolor, colored pencil, charcoal, spray paint, etc are then added, photographed, again and scanned individualy."

Other Photos

I just wanted to add a couple more of the DOF photos that I liked.

Depth of Field

Our latest photography assignment had us deal with f/stop, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. I had fun trying to find interesting perspective to convey depth of field. I'm including an image that I took of ivy and spiders' webs. I thought the silvery strands of the web added interest to the otherwise typical ivy. 

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I hope to use my camera lens as a third eye that will allow me to see even my simplest surroundings in an elaborate and intriguing perspective.

Today I went to a little creek near my campus and worked on my self portrait assignment. It was a nice change of scenery from the bustle of campus life. Between living in a dorm and being around people almost 24/7, it was nice feeling secluded. It was a beautiful day, and the flowers and trees made an appealing backdrop.  I had fun working with the sunlight and reflections of the water to get an interesting picture. I chose the above image because of the way the movement of the water contorts my arm, yet the rest of my body remains unmoved. I feel the photograph has some mystery because facial features cannot be discerned, but at the same time clearly displays a sense of question and yearning. I also liked the clarity of the rocks beneath the water, which gives the photo some texture.