Ha ha, take that school. You may have won the battle, but i will win the war and walk away victorious. In 2 more years that is. booo. untill then, the summer will have to do. You summer, you, you shall be very interesting. Bring it on.
April 3, 2009
Light & Shadow
What can i say. Light is the essence of color as darkness is the absence of light. Very thought provoking, what can i say. There i go, repeating my self all over again, kind of like im trying to make up crap as i go along.
I dont know if i can say i like working with light more than darkness or rather shadow. It all depends on teh lights as well as the objects that are being photographed. Some objects need lots of light while others can be self suffecient and use that darkness well. With lots of light, you can can make something almost feel like a holy atmosphere.
With darkness however, you can give items a feeling of depth. Also, you can make a gloomy attitude of it as well. Sometimes very depressing, but it can make you also think of things in a new light. Ba dum dish….pun intended.
Found
Shadow – its dancing, its very cool
Light – the color on this is very crazy. definitely develops some fear deep down in me.
Zombie – definitely reminds me of a zombie movie. good times.
Killer – yup, gonna be a killer one day.
Sample – guess i need to have one with lots of light.
Taken
I was going to put individual links and totaly forgot that i could put the whole set. Ha ha…almost wasted time.
April 1, 2009
Abstract
Abstract is the thing of geniuses and people that are completely and totally awesome. Like me.
Yes, that is a direct quote of me. I just came up with it on the spot. That is how my mind tends to work on a very daily basis of spontaneity. Without it, i would not be who i am. Of course, we are talking about abstract in the form of art or rather photography.
Abstract in photography is just another way to look at a picture and figure it out in your head what else you can do to it. Do I take a picture straight on? Do I take the picture vertically? Gasp, should i turn it at an angle upside down, too close to the subject at an angle, with a crazy depth of field and then on top of that add a color balance that is not the native for the color? Bam, that’s abstract. In a way of course. Abstract changes from user to user, but this is how i see it.
I mean, abstract can also be the items or people that you photograph. Like that weird person at school or church. Ha ha, just kidding. Im not ragging on anyone. Just thought it was funny. Popped into my head.
Abstract is another form. Its a necesity. We need to break out of the norm of looking at things. Why does everything need to be taken at normal height. Why not get dirty on the ground or high in the sky, where birds can perch on you.
Awesome or what?
Birds.
Found
Backlight – pure awesome.
Flower – wow, pretty intense. im sure he touched up the colors though.
Colorly – i wish i found colors and water like this.
Lines – must of used a cool mirror or something.
Mine
Random – who would of thought, middle of no where
March 21, 2009
Raphael
I’m not sure if Raphael is my most favorite renaissance painter/sculptor, but he has done some pretty amazing stuff. Also to mention there was a ninja turtle named after him. He was the coolest as well. Anyways, besides the point of this journal, my favorite painting has to be The School of Athens. The very concept of the painting is amazing. It is a painting of all the genius scholars and philosophers up to the age of Raphael that made a difference. That in and of itself is an amazing feat. Now, i don’t know if the original was meant to have lots of color and just over the years it started to fade. But it gives it the old Greco roman style of monotone colors. The image is very symmetrical with balance and a great depth of field. The hall that they stand in seems to stretch into the great depths giving this feeling of grandness. That these people deserve this are that they are. Because it looks cracked it almost feels like it was drawn on an epic wall. I want this in my room.
Similar to the painting by Raphael, this photograph about arches or a hallway gives the similar impression. It is very symmetrical. Sadly there is no people in this shot so it is not as similar as it can be. But that’s not the point of this exercise. The colors are not the same either because this is only stone with no sky like the painting. Still again, not the main point of the exercise. Recap incase you are lost or confused, it is symmetrical with the same depth of field. That’s about it.
Reflection
I find that whenever i look at a picture or a painting my eye goes to the thing that stands out the most. That thing is either a big object or something that has a rich and vibrant color. Makes it appealing to the eyes and very interesting. Sometimes I forget to look at the bigger picture and enjoy the rest of it. When i do tend to look at everything, I do a star look from corner to corner. Like the way you tighten the nuts on the wheel of a car you go in a star formation. Bad way to describe it, but it works. Its how i look at stuff.
Compositional Found
Vertical Compositional – I don’t know what more to say about this than what it is. It is a photo about vertical composition consisting of pillars. Its pretty monochrome. Overall, this doesn’t win any awards for amazingness. It just gets the job done.
Horizontal Compositional – This is a pretty cool picture. It has some nice color, but i mainly chose it for horizontal, because all the trees were set on the horizon. That and how the branches spread out from left to right along the horizon. And the people in the background. Pretty fun.
Diagonal Compositional – Oh, this must be a fun picture because it is in Spanish, but oh well. Its not so much composed diagonal, but that the building was a diagonal slant. But the picture had to be taken so it actually goes from corner to corner, exactly. Weird blue sky too. But cool.
All of Them – Oh my. I found something that has vertical and horizontal composition. But no diagonal. This does have frame within a frame. That’s pretty cool. Also the colors are very nice too, making this all the more appealing. Wish i could of taken this picture.
Mirrored – In the description this guy talks about how its mirrored, so this isn’t possible. But it is really cool since it is a landscape. Every thing is so well balanced and beautiful in color. The lines stretch really well.
Compositional Taken
Sinuous line – I know it says 3rds line, but i think it has some sinuous line. And might as well make it.
March 13, 2009
Renaissance.
My favorite painting from the Renaissance would have to be The Calling of Saint Mathew. Not only is it one of the few painting i could recognize on googles searches, one i thoroughly enjoyed in classes through life. The biggest thing I would say that makes me really enjoy this painting is the use of colors. It has a very warm color. The reason for this is the fact that they were using lighting that would give this effect if it were to happen even in real life. Maybe it did, but its really cool. The style of the people is impressive because they were now being drawn like really people. And not looking so muscular. The shadows are particularly amazing because they look so real and there. Everything is done just right.
My eye starts on the right side of the painting with the guy who seems to be hiding in the shadows, just because. Really, he has good contrast to the dark, so the intensity drives my eyes there. And then i go to the guy in the center and wonder what he is thinking. After that, every time i look at the picture, my eye goes to a different spot. Always taking in new ideas.
Ansell Adams
Ah, the infamous photographer we talk to much about in class and then criticize because of his dark room techniques. Sounds almost like an evil magician. Anyways. I chose this Road because it is the most interesting to me of course. The blacks and whites are always phenomenal and different in his pictures. Wish i could make some very stark contrasts in my photos. Also i like the idea of a wide open road. it is soothing to me.
My eye starts at the very bottom in the middle. Where the white center line starts and travels up the course of the road all the way to the horizon. Then to the touching clouds. Then i jus go in a clockwise rotation looking at anything i could of missed. It keeps me very intrigued.
Found Rule of Thirds
My Rule of Thirds
Mannequin (personal fav)
March 13, 2009
Personal Thoughts
I have to say, this is one of the more reoccurring things i do when i go out to take pictures. What’s not complete then trying to see if you can capture a picture with a very slow shutter speed as well as one with a very fast. Granted, you have to do it in a very nicely well lit place to get anything to show up. That’s why doing a slow shutter speed allows me to blur stuff and use it at night. I like taking night pictures. It is almost a necessity to have a very slow shutter when out at night. But i like to take it to extremes and have the ISO at 100 and the f/stop at 22. Course i hate doing that when out late at night during the winter. That’s when a tri pod comes in handy cause i start to shake too much and then the picture just looks terrible. Now later on in this blog towards the end, the majority of the pictures i took for the differences in speed i did while driving. Not me driving, but someone else. It makes things look really cool.
My varying speeds
I thought to myself, “Self, everyone is going to be taking pictures of cars or everyday things. You need to be creative.” That’s when i decided to take pictures of 2 guys playing ping pong. I figured it was something others wouldn’t be taking pictures of and it was cool. I found it hard to hold the camera steady the more and more i took pictures of with a slow shutter speed. The lighting was super hard. I did not have a set up, but it made some pictures look coo. Too bad the ISO is super high. Would of made it look better without the grain. Oh well, lessons, lessons.
For this type of shoot i would almost go for a fast enough shutter to try and capture the moment. But, slow enough to get the blur effect of something moving so you know that it is an action sport. Having it really fast makes me feel cool, because it almost looks like that it is frozen in time and that the ball is just floating there. Make you really see the character. Thats what I would do more of. Blur would work on something that is really fast. So you feel that there is no way of stopping it. Like a really fast car. Or runner.
Others Slow Shutters
Traffic – Ah, the infamous shot of a busy street and all you can see is the color of headlights and tail lights. Don’t get me wrong, i enjoy this, but its done all the time. After a while, since it is so dark, i feel like all photographers are taking pics of the same thing. Still cool none the less since it looks like lines of worms or something almost. By a stretch of the imagination.
Subway – This one is cool because the guy is just standing there and this train is whizzing by him like he isn’t even there. It mixes hectic with serene. Who knows what or why the guy is there, but he will take his time while other things craze around him in sporadic fashion.
Coast – Now since there is no motion in this picture, every thing looks like it belongs. Since it is at night, and the ISO is set pretty low as well as a fast aperture, you would need a slow shutter speed to catch the natural colors. The colors is what does it for me. I wish i knew of some places where i could capture some measly overpowering pics that make you feel like you are in heaven.
Spiny thingy – Now this is cool. Because it is in a circular motion, it almost seems that there is a similar thing on top of it with a transparency. That or it is a ghost. And just that the variation of colors caries over makes it a super well done piece. Its a circular moving rainbow.
Spelling – Last but not least is the “artistic” person who uses light to write his name. I have done this once or twice, and will do it more in the future, but is quite boring. I wish people would use color changing lights. That would make it more interesting.
My Slow Shutters
Drive – This picture was taken before i even thought about doing this assignment. Thats how much i enjoying doing slow shutters. This had a very interesting element of moving as well as dealing with cars coming on us and bumps in the road. Oh, don’t forget the user element of me not being able to hold it steady. Which gives it a almost heart monitor look. Ha ha.
Driv3r – This is super cool because i could not see if it was in focus or not, but it makes the drive have this clean holy look. Also, the movement of lights in the back show that its straight and that i didn’t move the camera, which is a feat of itself. I like the low blue lighting of the sunset we were hitting. It really has time to soak it in.
People of the Car – I was doing this to capture the people in the car. We were also passing through some heavy intensive lights giving it the tad over exposure. Its also funny to have seen me reaching across to hit the shutter. And the people in the back of the car squirming to do something funny for the picture. Its a nice random good feel picture of fun.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – Can you guess what that picture is? Some one told me it looked like sperm, but I’m not going to get into that. It is actually a plane flying in the sky. The hard thing to do is hold a long shutter and try and focus on something you can no longer see in the viewfinder because it is recording the pictures. Toss that in with the bumps of the road and you go yourself one interesting picture that people don’t know what it is.
Stuff – Same idea of not knowing what it is. I think this time i took a picture out the side window instead of the front. Not to mention that i forgot to focus outside the window. Which surprisingly gives a nice feel of glossiness. Makes it have a polished look. I like abstract things.
March 6, 2009
Personal Thoughts
Well, considering that i had not had any previous experience till after getting my own personal SLR camera I had not gotten any time to fool around with one. A friends mother is a professional photographer who takes lots of sports shots at football and what not. She let me touch her older Rebel and get around to taking all the pictures my heart desired and mess with all her preferences. She mainly left everything on auto and changed rarely some stuff. After messing around with it, i see my power and enjoy making sure every shot is set to be as perfect as possible. These couple of ISOs just reinforced what i already know and tend to do with all my shots. And that is have a slow ISO.
all pictures are comprised into the set
granted there are the ISO shots and White Balancing acts as well
Pictures
Reflection
Wow, I feel like the above is from a bad website trying to scam people. Don’t worry, it is not.
I tend to shoot in a slow ISO as stated in the above paragraph. Lots of my night shots that i have taken outside, i will set the camera to a super slow shutter speed and let it stay open as long as possible. In other cases, when having to hold my camera without setting it on anything when inside buildings, I will sacrifice a slow ISO for a high ISO so the shutter speed can be around 1/30 or so. Totally depends on the lighting of the room and if i want it to be nice and or professional.
A harder thing yet is trying to figure out the perfect White Balance. White balance isn’t everything that a shot is, but it can lend itself to creating the perfect colors of a shot. Which depending on what you are shooting for, you will need to set the colors. If its stylistic then you can set some weird white balance to give emphasis to certain colors that a picture may contain. I feel like i am grasping it fairly well, and will hopefully be able to make changes on the fly without having to think about it and hoping that it will work while taking many pictures. Problem you could run into would be losing the moment after its happened from wasting it on trying to figure it out.
Other High ISO’s
FACE – This is a totally cool shot because it was shot at a 3200 ISO. But what they did well is they had an amazing camera. Cant beat that fact. No artifacts or anything. And the color is crisp. Wish i could do this with mine. Oh well, i am happy about it.
BUILDING – This is just an incredible shot. Because there is no clouds out you can see how greatly this camera picked up lights in the sky that are millions of miles away. Yes, that is a science and more in depth than that, but the fact still remains that you can see it. They had the right idea. The lights also light up the building well and you can see the definition in the walls.
CITY STREET – This is another good example of using a high ISO because it did not use a slow shutter speed. Rather they probibly used a fast shutter that was able to capture all the lights on the cars. They are also not blurry. There is some blurriness because it was probibly taken with a fast F-stop. Some is in focus and other parts of the shot are not.
PORTRAIT – Also, like the rest above that i have pointed out, they were ISOs that used it well at a high speed. This is good because you know its dark outside and the light from the lamp is illuminating him. You can see the definition in his face and no artifacts or noise on any where of the picture. I wish I knew if they used some program to clean up if it did have some imperfections, but id like to think that i could do that sometime.
CONCERT ESQUE – Ah a perfect shot that i would like to replicate this weekend. Definitely a high ISO because she is not blurry. The lighting on her is superb too because it brings her out and you cant see the background. It just looks like black. But totally makes you concentrate on her.
My High ISO’s
FIRST THE WORST – As mentioned in other parts, I was new to this. I thought that maybe i should do a high ISO and do a slow aperture. I was wrong. Because of that I had to set my shutter to like 1 second. Making the little kid disappear. Ha ha. Also, white balance wasn’t perfect. But i feel like this picture has a nice warm feeing to it.
BUG VIEW – I like this shot mainly because i like shots from down low. Also, it had a high is to let in the little light there was even during the day. Plus some grain can be seen on the wall but i think it makes it cool because it gives it more texture.
SUNSET – This sunset needed to have a high ISO since i was holding it by hand. I did not want it to shake and mess up the composition. Which worked out well. Didn’t need to have the shutter speed too slow. I don’t see any grain or such. Mainly since there is lots of black.
KEY – This key shot had a high ISO because it was indoor and there was not substantial lighting. Fortunately the shutter speed wasn’t too slow and was good enough for me to hold. Since there is also a fast F-stop i could focus on only the key. Lots of detail can be seen on it and the table it was on.
FACE – Ah, another example of high ISO in a j. Alvin door. High ISO are always needed in here because of the lighting. This came off really well. You can see the detail on his face from the reflection of the light. Sadly you can see some grain on the wall way in the back. On first viewing you can not see that, so its all good. People could also go on to say that there is lots of texture.
March 3, 2009
This is a test of the emergency broadcast system for GSTVN. Thought I might give this application I didn’t think i would have use for some use. You might be wondering what this is. Technically i don’t know but Microsoft built it with a bunch of other Live enabled programs. Its called Windows Live Writer and I can type stuff up and put thing in all without being on the WordPress site and then upload it. I guess there are other programs on pc as well as mac that do the same thing, but i don’t care because they never made a point to make me use them. That and the fact that i don’t blog present a huge gap for using an application of this magnitude. Not that seismic vibrations have anything to do with uploading a blog on to the world wide web.
Wow, when was the last time you ever heard that full name for the Internet?
We should totally bring this back into our normal language and everyday conversation. We could all then be cool. Oh well, this is all that i thought about this week. Which obviously is not a lot. Oh, almost forgot, i have been making tons and tons of spelling errors, but this program is like word and pretty much fixes it. Hoo Rah. Makes me happy. Oh, be sure to check out my flickr next week as i hopefully would have been taking pictures of a battle of the bands competition. I think i should have some good stuff. Now….that’s all that is on my mind.
February 13, 2009
This is the part of my blog that i prommised would one day come about and be. So here it goes.
I would like to reflect on one of the pictures from this past picture-a-day in which I believe I submitted it as a long depth of field shot. The main object in the shot are considered by me to be my two feet. They do not totaly dominate the shot as you can see that the area taken is a walk way judging by the hand rails. I felt the angle and shot so intriging that i took pictures of same shot in monochrome, slow apature, fast apature, different white balances and the sort. Out of all of them this was my favorite. I feel that my white balance was off by just a tad giving a surreal effect to the color or my pants and my shoes. Which i feel makes it look extremey cool. The color also makes the sky look super blue while also being able to give the ability to see the clouds that scatter it. Also, if i were looking from an outside view of never knowing why this bridge was here and seeing the imprinting on the ground in front of me, i would want to know what it says. What makes it so important to have on this bridge to nowhere. Or is it just wilderness? Many questions that can plague the mind. Why also am I sitting down? I was tired. Ha ha, not realy, thats a short walk. But such a simple beauty of man meets nature. Not exactly sure how i could devide all these thougths up in to their own little microcasms of paragraphs.
With my awesome drummer friend Taylor I was able to capture the art of movement in drumming. I was hoping he would hold his head still, but alas he did not. But it is cool to see his hands masterfully pound on the drum heads. I wish I could of had better lighting to so I could of slowed down the shutter speed and speed up the ISO. With what i set it at though, gives a sort of power in movements. I tried framing it with him in there and his drum set. I found that I didnt like it with everything being able to be seen, so I framed it to what I wanted, a drummer. The warmness of the photo make it feel super energetic and lively.
On this next photo, I did a last second shot on my friend Brian as he stood into the sun creating this mystical feel around him. He was taking photos of objects that he could snap with a fast shutter and a slow shutter. I got him in the act. The orange feel of the photo gives this almost god like presence to this mere mortal. I also like how the light bends around him almost distorting his figure so you can barely make out that it is a man and or what he is doing. Also, the trees just seem to dissolve in the intense light illuminating the area at sun set.
This short depth of field photo makes me think of what a small dog or a bug might think if it could ever survive the nature of J. Alvin. It looks kinda cool with the very little lighting going on and the fact that it looks like there is a giant skateboard thingy in your way. Other than the fact that there is nothing else on the floor impeding the view that can be seen, it looks very well kept up and clean. Also a very classic style with old style tile that was placed on the floor many years ago before the dinosaurs.
With my final photo that was also doubled as a prelim picture is my cool picture. It is a picture of the presidents house outside of teh woods with an ajusted white balance giving it a cool feel in the woods. I chose the woods because wood is a cool color so why not make it cooler. I kind of dont like it because of the adjusted whitebalance and prefer it in black and white, but i thought, i cant like all my photos, so why not complain about one. It has an almost scary feel but feels almost superficialy fake like you can taste it. Not literaly. The composition is also not too good because i am not too far near the ground. Problem was that the land sloped down no matter what i did.
As i proceed in my journal I shall now hit upon the topics of the short depth of field.
I did not find any problems what so ever as i proceded on this objective. I found it amost repetitive as I had the camera set at 400 ISO and would knock the aperture up a notch and the shutter speed down a notch after every picture. I also tried not to move it to much so the pictures would have a stream of steadiness of flow. Its hard to have an aperture of 28 and a shutter speed of 5 seconds. You have to make sure not to knock it in any way. I did well. After teaching myself about night photography and learning that at 100ISO it takes a good 30 second shutter speed at 29 aperture. I wish i had a long ruler, but had to make due. That is why I added the skateboard to give more effect to the side of the camera. Also, outside in teh dayight woud of been nice, but have to work fast because of shadows and light.
Now for some photos that I have found on DeviantArt while looking for good exampes of short depth of field.
This is a great photo because the stone walk way looks like it might go on forever. Judging by the condition of it, it could of been placed there many years ago. The loose gravel that is in the center is interesting because it makes you wonder where it came from. Is it from teh walk or is there something else near by that is gravely? The texture is amazing.
Just a bland photo. Showing how people are monotonous and boring. No change or differnce in life.
Must be a chain link fence. Is it there to keep us out or keep us in? What is on the other side that needs to seperate us from them.
I think it just looks cool because of how it seems to of been taken years ago. The ISO is affecting the graininess but almost ads character. like it has been around way before us and dominates the land.
Found this, and though, “how lucky coud you be to get this shot.” The city of love with some peace doves. Makes me jealous.
Now in a final brief summary about my random shallow depths of field. I love them. Nothing makes me want to photograph more than making the background out of focus. I find it the most interesting. Always making you want ot know whats in the back. Like the one with the computer, I atleast, am interested in whats on it, and i was there. Oh well. The picture of the key is cool. With it being the main focus you wonder what it goes to and why is it bent. Has it always been that way or did someone do that to it. I know, but i am not telling. Isnt that what it is all about?
Until next week.
February 9, 2009
I thought we were starting off with journals but apparently we will not. But they care comming up soon enough as it is. Of course the past pictures that have been appearing are for some Photo a Day objectives and some preliminary work. The preliminary work is all done but the Photo a Days will go on till the end of the year. Woop. I guess. Also, my L button keeps flaking out on me on my desktop keyboard and am doing as best i can to spot the spelling mistakes. I might just get tired of it and let all the Ls slip on by without caring. Oh well. Peace.
