Final Project - Open Your Eyes

For my final project I found that I was attempting to pick up on things that aren't normally brought to attention. I worked to find contrast colors in everyday things so that I could use them to draw a viewers eye into the frame. I also found a great quote by Albert Einstein:

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle

  I thought it was appropriate for my project. So here are the images that I have collected for my final presentation: 

1/100 sec

f/5.6

36 mm

ISO: 100

Canon Rebel

1/160 sec

f/5.6

55 mm

ISO: 100

 

Canon Rebel

1/320 sec

f/5.6

34 mm

ISO: 100

 

Canon Rebel

1/320 sec

f/5.6

24 mm

ISO: 100

 

Canon Rebel

1/250 sec

f/5.6

55 mm

ISO: 100

 

1/250sec 

  f/5.6

ISO 100

27 mm

 

Canon Rebel

1/500 sec

f/10

18 mm

ISO: 400

Flash fired

 

Canon Rebel

1/250 sec

f/5.6

36 mm

ISO: 100

 

1/250 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

36 mm 

 

Canon Rebel

1/250 sec

f/5.6

18 mm

ISO: 100

 

Canon Rebel

1/125 sec

f/5.6

49 mm

ISO: 100

Reflector used

 

Canon Rebel

1/125 sec

f/5.6

40 mm

ISO: 100

Reflector used

 

1/500 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

36 mm 

Reflector used

Canon Rebel

1/500 sec

f/5.6

55 mm

ISO: 100

Reflector used

 

1/160 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

27 mm   

Reflector used

 

Canon Rebel

1/160 sec

f/5.6

40 mm

ISO: 100

Reflector used

Canon Rebel

1/160 sec

f/5.6

25 mm

ISO: 100

Reflector used

 

Canon Rebel

1/250 sec

f/5.6

34 mm

ISO: 100

Reflector used

 

1/125 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

23 mm

23mm

Canon Rebel

1/160 sec

f/5.6

41 mm

ISO: 100

 

Canon Rebel

1/160 sec

f/5.6

55 mm

ISO: 100

 

Canon Rebel

1/640 sec

f/10

32 mm

ISO: 400

Flash fired

1/125 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

55 mm

Reflector used

 

1/125 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

55 mm

Reflector used

 

Canon Rebel

1/125 sec

f/5.6

55 mm

ISO: 100

Reflector used

 

Canon Rebel

1/100 sec

f/5.6

27 mm

ISO: 100

 

Canon Rebel

1/200 sec

f/10

55 mm

ISO: 400

Flash fired

 

1/100 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

46mm     

Reflector used

1/500 sec

f/5.6

ISO 100

27 mm

Reflector used

Getty Images

I found the website for Getty Images after finding them listed among recent award winners. I found their photos to be very interesting and moving. 

The are inspiring to me because I would like to go and take pictures of that which can bring awareness to Americans. I find that you can't really know about a place until you go there and experience it. And by experience it I mean 'do as the Romans do' so to speak, and talk with the 'Romans' to see how they view their life. 

If America view something as wrong, is it really wrong, or could it just be a cultural difference? Here are some interesting shots. I do like to keep in mind that photographers have an extreme power over their viewers. The viewer is not in the same position and knowing the same things about the photo so they can be deceiving. 

Prep Work for Final Project

For my final project I am going to be working with bubbles and kites. After taking one shoot with bubbles and not being super successful, I thought I'd look up some other works and see what would work the best for my future shoot. 

This shot below is kind of fun with back lighting and bubbles. Yet I think there are some various distracting elements that could have been removed to make this a great shot. 

 Below is another picture that I enjoyed from the website of 30 examples of bubble photography. 

I enjoy the desaturation of the background elements and the saturation of the bubbles. I think it would be a fun shot to try out. 

 

Below is another really neat shot with bubbles. Though I wasn't thinking of doing bubble shots in water It might actually be a fun thing to try. Especially if I have the tools at my disposal to capture a great background and clear image such as this one. 

http://psd.fanextra.com/articles/30-unique-examples-of-bubble-photography/

 

 

KITES 

What is cooler than hooking a camera up to a motorized kite and take aerial photos!?! I found Scott Haefner's site on aerial  kite photography. 

I encourage you to check out his site and the neat events of which he has been capturing. 

http://scotthaefner.com/kap/

Below is an example of silhouetted subjects and a colorful kite. I think it's a neat image and really captures the emphasis on the kite. 

This next shot is a fun black and white Image of kite flying. I think it will be fun to try and capture these types of images. The issue with capturing kites in photography is that it shall all depend upon the weather when i actually take the kites out for a fly.

Color Portrait

This week I took portraits of my same model for her graduation announcements. And this time I kept them in color. I tried to make use of bubbles but it didn't work out too well. I think I'll need to have many camera assistants in order to get the effect that I really want with the bubbles. Anyway, it's all a learning experience. 

For these photos the grass was not looking too outstanding but after a bit of saturation it still looked pretty good, especially in contrast with the model's blue jeans. It added a simple two tone background for the portraits and had a nice effect under the vignette. Enjoy! 

High Grossing Photography Auction Pieces

I found an interesting article about a series of spring photo auctions bringing in $19.5 million. What do these pieces have that is so extraordianry? Is it the name, the market, or the craftsmanship of the work? 

I decided to put in some of the highest grossing photos to assess... 

Cindy Sherman untitled #278

This piece was sold for $242,500. This piece reminds me that I can take pictures of people in my life and use them in the art world. I have a strange fear that because a photo is not of someone the buyer knows they won't want it. Art is all about paintings, sculptures, and pictures of people you don't know! Needless to say, I would not mind selling a portrait for as much as this one ;) 

Desiree Dolron’s Xteriors VI

Here is another example of a great portrait. This photo sold for $194,500. I enjoy the flawlessness of the subjects skin. The lighting and the simplicity of it all. It doesn't really look like a photo to me. 

Richard Avedon’s Marilyn Monroe, New York City, May 6, 1957

This photo went for $482,500. Richard Avedon is and probably always will be one of my photography favorites. His simple backgrounds and use of the subjects to tell the story is amazing. He strove to capture people at their most raw and unguarded. This photo didn't just sell because it was of Marilyn Monroe i'm pretty sure. Avedon has a gift! 

Eugène Atget’s La Villette, rue Asselin, 1921

This photo sold for $242,500. 

It is yet another example of a portrait and relatively simple surroundings. What makes this photo more interesting is that it was taken in 1921, a time void of the benefits of digital cameras. I find the use of stone work and line very interesting. 

These pieces and all of the rest are interesting to look at and pick up on characteristics. What do they have that can be added into a work and used to benefit photography today? 

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/news/Spring-Photo-Auction-2442.shtml

Portrait and Lighting Exercise

We had a wonderful day today with great sunset lighting. Did I use it to light my portrait... not really. I more or less used the warmth as back lighting and then used a reflector to get the foreground light on. I really had a wonderful time snapping some shots. Here are a couple... 

Bill Cunningham... Probably My New Photography Hero

What's more exciting than finding someone in the position that you have been longing to find for most of your life? 

Bill Cunningham just so happens to be a cultural anthropologist photographer. He captures the streets of New York and apparently finds styles that are not 'cookie-cutter' to be the most captivating. Bill spends his days riding his bike around New York and capturing the shots he wants. 

Many of his shots are of people walking, mostly unaware that he is capturing them. He reminds me of Robert Doisneau and his street photography. 

After much prodding they were finally able to have Bill agree to making a documentary of his genius. I look forward to watching the video and see the passion that has kept this man of 82 years riding his bike through New York as a living legend :) 

I hope to someday tie all of the things I have learned and majored in, in school, together to find one overarching job. And Now I see that is possible. 

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/fashion-and-style/debra-bass/article_dd0a809e-4f54-11e0-a39b-0017a4a78c22.html

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/119333464.html