AT 21.1 Hybrid Photography

So over spring break we had an assignment that was to shoot a roll of color film. I decided to shoot mine at the World of Wheels car show that was going on the weekend of spring break. I was really happy to see the results when the negatives got developed. Then we had to scan them and choose 3 finals to post on our blog. We also had to scan our contact sheet, I thought that looked really sweet in color. So here are my 3 final images that I chose for the blog. Enjoy!

Movie Week Extravaganza!

Born Into Brothels:

When we first heard about our movie week, I had no idea what movies were going to be playing or anything like that. When I looked at the list of movies, I just chose the three that jumped out at me. The first movie I saw on Tuesday morning was Born Into Brothels. I absolutely loved this movie and would highly recommend it to everyone. It's sad to see what kinds of things go on around our world. For anyone who thinks their life is hard, they need to see what this movie is all about. The movie is about a photographer named Zana Briskidsf, who had lived in the brothels for the past few years and was trying to make a change for the children living there. Their were a group of children which she became close with. She had given them all point and shoot cameras and was teaching them how to properly take photos. Some of these children were very good considering they have never used a camera before in their life. They had fun looking at thier contact sheets and saying what they liked and did not like in each others photographs. It was hard for me to see how these children were being treated and some of the names they were being called, by thier own parents. Very sad. They were just kids and some of them worked their fingers to the bone. Zana tried very hard to get these kids into a boarding school so they could get a better education for themselves. Some got accepted but sure enough their parents had either pulled them out or they just left on their own. The movie was great and if I can find it anywhere I will definitely buy it, and of course highly recommend it.

Pecker:

This was the second movie that I saw called Pecker, what a name for a movie. I had no idea what this movie was about or what I was getting into with a title like that. I must say though, I rather enjoyed this movie alot. It had it's moments that's forsure. The movie is about a guy named Pecker who loves photography and photographs everything from his girlfriend, to his family, his grandma, strip clubs and just about everything you can think of. A small gallery of his was being held at his place of work for everyone in town to come and see. That's when Pecker got discovered by an art director from New York. He was getting paid for his work and thought things were going great. But they weren't. I found this movie to be quite good and humorous at the same time. I didn't like the fact that you never saw Pecker change his roll of film though, I wish our cameras could just shoot forever. Overall the story line of this film was entertaining I thought. I'm glad I chose a funny movie to start out my day.

Manufactured Landscapes:

This movie was not really what I was expecting it to be. The movie was about a guy named Edward Burtynsky who is a photographer. In the movie he is photographing a factory in China. I really loved the shot of all the workers waiting to get into the factory. Their were hundreds of people all in groups getting ready for this photograph. Ed had some stunning images of landscapes, the materials that are no good anymore and of hills of tires and old pieces of plastic. Who would have thought that an image of a pile of tires would be anything good? I did, I loved that shot. It was amazing how huge that factory really was, I couldn't believe how long it took for them to go from one end of the factory to the other, and how many people actually worked there. It was an interesting movie, at times a little slower but decent overall. The movie really showed me that as a photographer you could capture some really interesting compositions wherever you might be. I love landscape/nature photography and some of Edwards images really jumped out at me. I would recommend this movie for everyone to see.

Dt 13.2 Blogging Non-School Related Photos

Well to start off I will say that I enjoyed out rather long break alot. I didn't go anywhere special but spent alot of time with my family which meant alot to me. It was nice to see everyone in one house all at the same time. Near the end of the break I was looking forward to getting back to school and back in to routine, as I found I slept in a little too often. Well i'll take you through my pictures to let you know how my holidays went...please enjoy :)

Well this was taken at my Dad's on Christmas Eve. Every year at Christmas he buys us kids (their are 5 of us) a can or two of silly string. We do it indoors, which i've suggested going outside, but my dad just say's "naaa whatever" So of course I wanted to take pics like I do every year so I was without silly string. I grabbed a can near the end and totally got my dad good. There are more pictures to this series and it almost looks like everyone gained up on our dad this year...oh well. Overall it's something we do every year and always have fun doing it :)



This next image is pretty self explanitory, it's the mess that we just created about three minutes earlier. We've learned now to do the silly string before opening presents. Some years we've had bad batches of string and it ruined some gifts and most of the clothing we were wearing that day. And since there are so many of us (the 5 of us plus our partners...then my dad, so 11 total) so the clean up is pretty fast, then we do our stockings and presents and enjoy the rest of the day :)

This is a picture of my sisters artificial tree with snow. I love this tree, it's very christmasy and full of bright ornaments. I took a few shots but ended up liking this one the most. I think I might keep my little Charlie Brown tree up all year...hmmm sounds good to me :)

This was one of my favorite days over the holidays. The day their was Hoar Frost. That is one thing I look forward to every winter because I think it's so beautiful the way the frost holds on to everything. This one was a favorite of mine, but I spent quite a bit of time outside on this day taking pictures of everything that was frosted up :)



This is my youngest brother Brett. I did some portraits of him one afternoon which was alot of fun because I haven't really taken any shots of him (professionally) before. He liked how they turned out and this one was his favorite so I thought I would post it :)

This one is the Chrismas lights on my mom's xmas tree I believe. I love the colors in this image. They just pop out at the viewer which is what I was going for. Now that my sisters know how to create this effect they tried it out themselves and really enjoyed it :)

These next few images were taken at one of out Sunday dinners. This time we let mom relax while we all helped out with dinner. This one I like alot, it's part of my brother Ryan's arm and you can see in the background that he's draining out the pasta. We made cajun chicken pasta, fried rice, caesar salad and dessert...yummy :)

This one is of my neice and she's telling a story of some sort to Ryan's girlfriend. I love this shot because she kind of looks confused but wanting to get her point across. I honestly had no idea what they were talking about, I was just there to capture the pictures of what everyone was doing. Now that I think of it, I don't think I really helped out with dinner, I think I was too busy taking pictures...oops sorry guys :)

This next shot is of Ryan. As you can see Ashley has taken over with the pasta because Ryan got distracted by our neice. We had alot of fun making dinner, but it did get a little too crowded in the kitchen at times. I'm wondering if she was telling him the same story she just told to his girlfriend :)

And the final shot to this Sunday dinner is my sister Shauna getting the salad ready. I love this shot of her. I have some of her looking strait at me but you could tell it was posed. This one came natural and you can tell she's either in conversation with a family member or maybe thinking "why am I stuck making the salad?" Who knows. I'm happy with the shots I chose for this assignment and I hope you enjoyed the little stories for every image :)

Yousef Karsh: William Lyon Mackenzie Kay 1940

I really enjoyed going to the WAG to see the exibits there. I especially liked the Karsh one a little more. It's nice to stop once in awhile and admire someone else's work other than always focusing on your own all the time. The images were very hard to choose from, I had made a list and had to go back around a few times to narrow down the one that really stuck out to me. This is the image that I chose.

The lighting in this image is amazing, it really draws you throughout the image. The light highlights the subjects very well. For me it's on all the right places. The photo is not too high contrast, but it works for this image well. The rule of thirds as far as the placement of the man and his dog are strong. They are also placed on a diagonal line throughout the image. That makes it interesting. It's hard to tell if Karsh dodged or burned this image. If he did I would have to guess that it might have been in the highlights on the ground and maybe on the couch he's sitting on. I think the way the lighting is throughout the image, that if he hadn't burned in the couch a little that the image would be a little darker. I've realized now how important lighting is in your images you take. It can make or break an image, or it can be the subject all on it's own. I definately pay more attention now when using any kind of light source whether it be natural or artificial lighting. Anyways this image really jumped out at me after awhile and I truely appreciate Karsh's work.

Color Block

For this assignment we had to chose colors to photograph. I chose Violet, Magenta, Orange and Green. For my similarity colors I chose colored paints that go from green to red, and for my complimentary colors I chose red and green. When I look at the color violet I feel very relaxed or at ease. For me it's a color of calmness and peace (it's also my favorite color.) Magenta is a brighter color and to me it has excitement and energy, and not to overpowering to look at. Orange gives off that warm feeling, like you want to be next to a toasty fire all wrapped up. Green is vibrant, well the green I chose. To me it is also relaxing and energetic. This was a very interesting assignment as well as a bit of a challenge. I mean you see colors around you all day everyday, but to stop and think how that color affects you and your mood is truely different. Like in class when we talked about red being either strong, warm or energetic, people could look at red and see love or romance while others may see danger or panic of some sort. I will be paying attention more to the colors around me everyday trying to determine on how that color makes me feel overall. Like I said...interesting assignment :)

CI Field Trip 1

So today after our test in Creative Imaging we were all going to the zoo. Minus the cold weather and rain, it was nice to get out for a few hours. I have not been to the zoo in years so it was nice to go. I had tried out alot of different shots that we were to be looking for, and some of them turned out, but some didn't. That's ok though. Overall it was just nice to get away for a few hours. Here is one of my favorites from the day :)

6.2 Photographic Hero Jeremy Turner

I chose to do this assignment on a photographer named Jeremy Turner. He is known for landscape, wilderness and abstact photography. What inspired Jeremy to get into photography was when he started to pursue outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking and long distance cycling. He had done tons of research on other landscape photographers while traveling through New Zealand. He is comfortable with color or black and white images. He does not limit himself. Here is one of his quotes: "I'm not a traditionalist, and I don't limit myself to one style or approach. But I do have traditional values when it comes to landscape images, as they must inspire a love for the outdoors and nature." Jeremy would like to one day self-publish a book of his own work, and hopes to do so in the next few years.

The picture on the top left is called New Fern Fronds, near Lake Mackenzie, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.

This picture has some great compositions in it. Texture is the first and most obvious. The ferns look sharp, and the way they curl into one another looks interesting. I like how Turner used a very shallow depth of field in this picture. You can see that there are more ferns in the background, but the main focus is dead on and centered. The rule of thirds doesn't really apply to this photograph, but I think that having it centered right in the middle really works for this particular image. The lighting is nicely worked on parts of the ferns as you can see some highlighted areas on it.

The picture on the top right is called Lone Tree, Big Sandhills, Moreton Island National Park, Austrailia.

In this photograph the framing and subject placement is what really makes this photo. You have the clouds all around the top filling the frame. The lighting is strong. You can see parts of the clouds lit up by the sun as well as the strong shaddows of the tree. To me this picture looks like the tree has been struck by a force of wind for a period of time and thats why it looks curved or somewhat leaning. I like that the photographer really gives a sense of depth and layers in this image.

The picture on the bottom is called Fence, North Island, New Zealand.

Turner did a wonderful job on the placement of this fence. It has the leading lines that take you from the right side of the photo all the way to the left side, then back again. Depth of field is high which is great for this particular image because your eyes follow all the way to the end of the fence. To me it looks like it goes on for infinity. And if I saw what was at the end of the fence and what was beyond it, then I wouldn't be sitting here thinking of all the possibilities of what could be over there. I really enjoy how this image is so simple and how it's framed so well.


To end off this assignment I am going to add Jeremy's advice for those entering the field of photography:

*Get out there and shoot images, lots of images
*Find your own style
*Look and learn from other photographers
*Don't be afraid to make mistakes, it's the best way to learn
*Experiment
*Photograph what you like, not what you think other people will like
*Don't ever assume that it's not worth getting out of bed, even though it's raining and cold outside. Sometimes the worst weather can yield some of the most beautiful and emotive images.
-Jeremy Turner

Hope you enjoyed this :)
Kristen