Week 10 - Nothing

   This week the photo challenge is to take a picture of nothing. Shooting nothing seems so easy, but I was confused on how to make “nothing” look good. I brainstormed different ideas on how to shoot something that was nothing. I tried a couple different ideas but nothing really appealed to me. I then decided I couldn’t just shoot anything. I would have to photograph something. As I tried not to over think it I thought photographing a place I like to go where I can just sit and do nothing Red Rock came to mind.
    When I was smaller I used to go for hikes at Red Rock with my dad. Sometimes we would stop to take a break but all I wanted to do is keep going. I remember him laughing at me and telling me to slow down and just look around. Sometimes when I am stressed and need somewhere to go, I take a drive to Red Rock and just sit and look around. Red Rock is not “nothing” but it is a place where I can just sit and think about nothing.
    I took this picture on one of my “get aways” and the equipment I had with me were just my Canon XSI and my 18-55mm lens.

Week 9 - Food

  

   This week the photo challenge is to take a picture of a food. I was so excited to hear that about this assignment because food photography is what I want to do. I love being able to style an edible artwork. Food photography allows me to combine both my hobby of cooking and my passion of photography. Well shoots I am able to engage all of my senses.
    For this image I worked with a student chef named Heather at the Art Institute. She prepared a pecan crushed sea bass filet over a bed of sautéed brussel sprouts and pan seared polenta triangle. The yellow sauce is pureed yam and the green is pureed parsley. For a decorative touch she also added bean spouts and toasted seeds. She made a totally of eight identical plates to practice her constancy.
    I had so much fun with this photo shoot but it got very hot in the kitchen. For the lighting I just used the available light. Unfortunately the only light that I had access too was the ugly fluorescent light from above. I also used my Canon XSI with my 100mm marco (my new favorite lens for food photography). Using the marco lens allows me to get in close and show those little details.

Week 8 - News Worthy

"E String Host Benefit Concert"

     This week we had to produced a picture that is new worthy and also come up with a title for the news story and explain why it's news worthy. For my picture I documented a benefit concert that was hosted by a local bar called E String. The concert was to help a foundation called Candlelighters. Candlelighters is a nonprofit organization that raises money to help kids who have cancer. I believe it is an amazing foundation because if you can stop cancer in kids it will allow them to actually be kids instead of having to deal with the terrible sickness. The concert had a $5 cover charge at the door and had 3 different bands play in order to help get people to donate. That night everyone who attended helped raise more than $600 for the foundation.

     As for the equipment I used, I had 2 seperate cameras with two different lenses in order to be able to shoot quickly so I didn't miss anything. This particular image was shot was a Canon 7D and a fish eye lens with a Canon 580 EX II flash attached. I did very little editing to this image because I wanted to keep it as true as I could so you still got a feeling for the energy that was in the room.

Week 7 - Eye Reflection

 

     This week the photo challenge is to take a picture of a person's eye but have you in the reflection. This was actually kind of tricky. I first tried taking a picture of someone with light eyes and it didn't work very well. I then took a picture of my friend with dark eyes. This final image was probably the fifth or sixth image I did. It didn't turn out how I thought it would turn out. The colors of the image were way to saturated and looked awkward so I decided to make the image black and white. I first tried taking a picture of someone with light eyes and it didn't work very well. I then took a picture of my friend with dark eyes. This final image was probably the fifth or sixth image I did. It didn't turn out how I thought it would turn out. The colors of the image were way to saturated and looked awkward so I decided to make the image black and white.

     I had the pleasure of being able to shoot this with a Canon 5D Mark II. It was the first time I had ever touched one so it was a little weird. I have to practice my focusing. The lens I used on the camera was an 85 mm.

Week 6 - Paparazzo

     This week we had to take a picture inspired by the documentary of Ron Gallea. We were supposed to photograph someone famous. At first i had a hard time thinking of who to photograph. I don't know many famous people let alone have access to them. At first I was just going to take a picture of my boyfriend because he is well known around our school but he is very busy with getting ready to graduate I didn't want to bother him. Then I remember the concert that my friend's band was performing in. Their band is called Crash Kit and they have been becoming more and more popular around the Vegas valley. I decided to photograph their lead singer Ashley. She has great energy and always is a blast to shoot.
     For the equipment I used a Canon 7D with a fish eye lens. I used a fish eye lens because I wanted to get that "rock and roll" type feeling to it. I also made the image black and white to stay in the feeling of Ron Gallea's work since he shot in black and white film.

Week 5 - Who Won the Super Bowl?

     The beginning of February is always an exciting time for both football players and their fans. Why you might ask… Super Bowl. More than 100 million viewers were expected to watch the nail-biting game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, broadcast on Comcast Corp.'s NBC. Nationwide football fans gathered around the TV screen to watch this thrilling game. The final score was 21 to 17. Giants won Super Bowl of XLVI. But were they the only ones who won? Think of all the commercials you saw, the ads on the field, the sports memorabilia. I think the true winners of Super Bowl are those who do the advertising but more specifically the auto-industry.

     According to Wall Street Journal, the auto-industry won over audiences for the second year in a row. This year I lost count of how many car commercials I saw, all nicely done. I remember saying after almost every ad “Ooh that’s a nice car! I want that!” Several of the car commercials had celebrities who we all know and love. My favorite car commercial was probably be the Acura commercial with Jerry Seinfeld being one upped by Jay Leno. Not only was the car beautiful and I want it really badly but also it was hilarious.

Week 5 - Comparative Analysis

     I want to do commercial photography so that’s where I started on Google. The first website I found was Mark DeLong Photography. Mark is based out of New York and does more work with people than I would think a commercial photographer would. The look of his site is simple, just a black site with little color. The simplicity of the website really makes his work shine. I think that is one of his main strengths. One of his weaknesses I think is the fact you can’t see thumbnails of all the pictures. In order to view the pictures you have to continuously click the arrows that appear over the pictures. I feel like his website is more of a glamour site than a business site. I don think it is a real business but his site is more glamour.

 

     The next website I found was a local man named Jeff Green. Like Mark DeLong’s website Jeff Green’s is also very simple. His website has a white background which also makes his pictures pop. I love how he has food photography on his. But unfortunately like Mark DeLong’s website, I couldn’t find a way to view all thumbnails. I did like how there was a scroll bar for the pictures so I didn’t have to click and click. His images are amazing and I will be contacting him to see if he takes interns. I think his website is also a little bit more of a glamour site because there are no prices or business things on there but I do believe it is a business.

     The next website I found was by Eric Raptosh. Eric is based out of Los Angeles. I think I like his website the best. Yet again it’s a plain background on white. The tabs are neatly displayed and the pictures are good quality. I like how he breaks up the different categories more in depth. However Eric’s galleries do not have an option to see thumbnails. I really liked how he had the layout of his studio on there. I haven’t seen that in the other website but I don’t think his site is a business forward site but I think it is a real business.

 

     The last website I found was by Mark Robert Halper. I have to be honest, I did not like his website at all. I like the simple layout of the site but it was so confusing to navigate. Everything is square on the search and the text is so small. I don’t even know if he’s considered a commercial photographer. I couldn’t find his picutres so I have no clue how to critique his work. I do like how his name is biggest thing on the page but I don’t know how to navigate his site. I don’t know if it is a real business or not because I don’t understand the website. The little thumbnail on the main page are nice looking but I would like to see more. I just don’t know where to go or what to click on.

Week 5 - Painting with Light

     This week the photo challenge is painting with light. I love painting with light. I feel like a little kid again but instead of using paints or crayons I use light. This final image was probably the fifth or sixth image I did. When I first started I was trying to light up my boyfriend with my flashlight app on my handy dandy iPhone. The picture came out really cool looking and it was kind of creepy looking. Then I started thinking of being more playing. I wanted to have color in my picture but I had not colored light that I could easily maneuver. So back to my handy dandy iPhone, I looked in the app store for something I could use. I found a strobe light app that was very annoying. It was perfect.

     It was kind of difficult to paint with my phone though. In order to change the color I had to swipe my finger on the screen but I also had to tap the screen to make it flash. That is why my spiral looks like a dotted line instead of a fluid line. I would have liked to have a few more colors in my final image but just changing it that much was a pain. The reason I picked this image is because for one it was the only picture that I liked the spiral. Also the colors reminded me of a fruit roll-up. For the equipment I used were my usual Canon XSI and the standard 18-55mm lens.

Week 4 Photo Challenge - Wedding

 

     For this photo challenge we were to take a picture of something that read “wedding”. This challenge was kind of difficult because when I was trying to plan my shoot I didn’t know of anyone who was getting marriage so I had think of something else.

     So I took to my favorite time wasting website, pinterest. I started seeing picture after picture of adorable couples looking in love. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I said thinking about possibly staging a couple shot. I tried to contact some of my favorite models but unfortunately they were not able to help me. I had to go back to the drawing board (back to pinterest).

     I started seeing pictures of detail shots, like pictures of tables, rings, cake, shoes, the dress, etc. I thought to myself, “I could do that.” I decided to do the “ring” shot. I looked around in my costume jewelry for the perfect wedding ring and I found the one in the picture and a simple silver band. I wasn’t sure how to place the rings at first so I continued to brainstorm. On pinterest I saw pictures of the rings laying on the wedding invite and several other poses. I saw one picture where the rings were on top of the bride’s bouquet. I decided to use that because it looked classy. I used a bright yellow (fake) rose because yellow is a very happy color. I think my picture turned out exactly how I pictured it in my head; I just wish I had more light.

     For the image I used my Canon XSI with an 18-55mm lens and a 10x marco extender. For my lighting I just used my bedroom light. I had to clamp the rose to my desk so that it didn’t move and had to continuous reposition the rings.

 

Week 3 Photo Challenge - Action Sport

 

     For this photo challenge we were supposed to capture sport type action like how Bob Badalucco does. I had a hard time thinking of what to do because I don’t know of very many sports that play in January. First couple days I just tried to wander around the park to see if I could find something but no luck. Then my boyfriend told me about this soccer league that his acquaintance’s son plays for. It is called Shining Star and it is a soccer league that helps autistic children interact with one another and get some exercise while still having fun. I decided to tag along and snap some pictures.
     Unfortunately unlike Bob Badalucco most parents didn’t want a stranger taking pictures of their children so I was focused to do an “in the moment” type shot. The team I was cheering for was named The Pumpkin Seeds and are the wearing the orange shirts in my image. Luckily the day I decided to go it was a little overcastted so that made the natural light very soft and diffused making very little harsh shadows.
     For the equipment I used, I just had my Canon XSI with an 18-55mm standard lens. Nothing fancy. Like I said before I wanted to go for that “in the moment” type action shot so I got close to the sideline and followed the action the whole game. I had it in my mind that it was going to be a bright sunny day so I didn’t bother bringing any extra lights but good thing there was a nice quality of light due to the overcast. I did edit my image slightly using Photoshop CS3 (sad I don’t have the new version). I toned down the brightness of their orange shirts and added a little bit more contrast to the overall image.
 

Week 2 Photo Challenge - Crime Scene

     This week the photo challenge was to take a picture of a crime scene. I was actually very excited to do this shoot. I started thinking of different ideas and getting the creative juices flowing. It was kind of scary and morbid how many ideas I came up with and how excited I was to actually do this assignment.

     My original idea was a lot different than the final outcome. I wanted my model to be female and shot in an alley but unfortunately my model cancelled and I was unable to find a new one in the amount of time provided. My other idea was to have a female be the victim of domestic abuse and strangled in the bathroom, but yet again complications occurred and I did not find a big enough location for my idea.

     For my last idea I was thinking of an old crime scene photo that you see in history books. I made my image black and white to get the feel of being old fashion. Plus I also used on camera flash to try and achieve the same quality of light that they had.  I wanted the picture to be in the kitchen as if there was a dispute against husband and wife. I wanted to have a huge puddle of blood on the floor as well but unfortunately the fake blood I was using started to stain so I had to quickly remove it. It wasn't exactly how I pictured it and I would like to change some things but overall I like my image. 
     The equipment I used was simple. I used my boyfriend's Canon 7D with a 50mm f1.8 prime lens. Like I stated earlier, I used on camera flash as well. As for the model, well that is my lovely boyfriend. Unfortunately the fake blood wasn't as washable as I thought it was. He was such a trooper.

Week 1 Photo Challenge - Self Portrait

     Let me start off by saying, I hate self-portraits. I am no Cindy Sherman. I do not like being in front of the camera. I tried to think of how I could take a picture that is reveling enough without showing anything scandalous. Also I started trying to think on how am I supposed to show who I am just with one picture? When I think of an intimate self-portrait I think of something close up and just of your face, so that’s what I did. I also kept my hair messy because that's how I am on everyday. I did my makeup like normal. I didn't do anything special. I wanted to keep my portrait as natural as possible to try and capture me, which is very hard to do.

     I took a picture of myself in the studio with a single strip light from my right side. I wanted to try and achieve a rembrant light pattern because I feel like that lighting pattern is one of the most beautiful. I placed myself in the thirds because that’s where I usually place my portraits.

     I don’t like showing my teeth when I smiled so I gave a simple smile. I believe that you can see the awkwardness on my face. I also edited my image to be sepia toned. I feel like I am a friendly and warm person so having a little bit of color I think it helps a little bit. But I do believe I achieved a nice portrait.

     The equipment I used was just a camera and a flash. I used my Canon XSI with a 35mm portrait lens. Like I stated before I also used one strip light on top of a Speediton 400w flash pointed at me then I also used the same type light on the background.