Lighting Exercise

I need to crop some of these. This is my best friend Maggie... before I took pictures of my object, I did a bunch of her with the studio lights.

 I like her face in this one and also the very bright, yet not overexposed quality.

 I love this one because she was really laughing and it was candid.

 This composition was my favorite... I like how the necklace lines up with the shadow and it sort of divides the picture diagonally... Also the amount of her face that is lit up intrigues me and her hair is in motion.

 I liked these two because it kind of looked like she was in a parking lot.

1Hour Nature

Interview an Artist

I Interviewed Rhea Nowak, a professor here and my advisor.

1. What motivates you to do your artwork?

       -Life experiences and metaphors

2. What are you trying to communicate through your artwork?

       -For this she sent me to her website, rheanowak.com, to take a look at her artist statement, particularly the last line:

Different formats have always intrigued me both formally and metaphorically. A long narrow format in the horizontal is reminiscent of the horizon or a timeline, in the vertical it reaches into infinite space. I associate this long narrow format with continuity and interconnectedness and am reminded I am always part of a much greater whole, one so much greater than the human imagination that I am simultaneously humbled and inspired. The square format is a young circle- awkward to turn but able to have four orientations and maintain its shape. I often create squares out of long and narrow formats or build other shapes out of squares. It is in the process of taking things apart and rebuilding them that I see aspects and relationships in new and intriguing ways. This expands my perceptions of and actions in the world.

I am intrigued by the relationships between clarity and chaos, rhythm and awkwardness, mark and intention, presence and absence.

3. What interests you in the artworld?

       -Museums and galleries. Seeing other professional artists' work that is out there.

       -Technology in art and how it has changed so much over the last few decades.

Break Photos

1. Cityscape... I was in Binghamton with a friend and decided to take pictures of the architecture.

2. Reflections... I was experimenting with reflections. I came up with a lot of cool images, mostly confusing and abstract... this one is some pine branches reflected in a bucket of water. I like the colors.

 3. Nikki, my dog! ... I had to put 2 up for this one... the first one i like because of the lighting and how regal she looks... come on... thats a respectable hound. The 2nd is just hilarious and though not very technically good... its very blurry from motion and out of focus and a little dark, but I really like the action in it.

                     4. The Kill.... My cat brought me a present and as grotesque as it sounds, I took pictures of him devouring it. I wish the sky wasn't so blown out in this one, but I really like how clearly defined the bird is and how the cat is towering over him.

5. Flowers... Self explanatory.

 and here's my cat thinking deeply about his life:

Assignment... 5? .... Fashion Shoot

One thing I really like to photograph is people... wearing cool things. I love fashion ads... volcom jeans and hurley ads always get me excited. So I dressed my friend Jess up a few times and took a ton of pictures! Heres 5 that I really like:

Levels

So I decided to try using what we learned about levels in photoshop on some of my photos outside of class...  This one was probably my favorite... I remember being excited about it in the first place... but after this, I think it looks so much better!

Before:

 After:

Week 4 Writing Assignment

1. What motivates you to make photographs? When the motivation is internal, how do you benefit from your photography? If the motivation is external, what results do you hope for?

     I really love the feeling of looking through the lens and clicking the shutter button. It feels good and that's a big part of it. I've always liked looking through old pictures, and so I want to take a lot so when I'm older, my family, friends and I can have those to look back at. Seeing other photographers' work motivates me as well because I see something that I think is really awesome and I want to figure out how to do it on my own.
     With internal motivation, I am rewarded internally. Even if my photos aren't that great, I still get that great feeling of actually using the camera... for this reason I also love film cameras because I'm not distracted by what each picture looks like after I take it. External motivation gives me a goal... new things to try and learn from. I hope to come out with photographs similar to the ones that motivated me. I have a lot of music magazines and the photos from live concerts always inspire me... I have yet to successfully shoot like those photographers do, but it's something that I hope to achieve.

2. What interests and inspires you as an artist in your broader life? For you, what connections are there between what inspires you and your photography?

     Music is always the first thing that comes to mind when I think of things that inspire me as an artist. Connected to that is the idea of emotions; the complexity of our minds and everything that happens inside us is something I have consistently explored through my art... I think part of what inspires me so much about music is that I often hear songs that accurately convey a feeling that I have such a hard time expressing. Other things include nature, other peoples art, God, etc.
     Other people's art is the most obvious connection because it gives me new ideas and goals to work towards. I also really want to do concert photography, which ties in with music. Nature is all around us just waiting for us to take pictures of it, so thats clear too. God and my emotions and 'etc.' are much more apparent in other media I work with, but I'm sure there are ways, however subtle, that they work their way into my photography.