Your Typical RIT Photo Student

Life as I know It

2012-02-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

And this, is the new chapter of my life. Real estate photography. I can't seem to find the words to express my excitement for this. I get to drive around my hometown, talking to the elite members of the District society, photographing their "cribs," and as a result of all this, simply enjoying myself.

I'll get to dance more often, see the friends I've missed for so long, and make trips to New York a priority. I'm thrilled for the change, and cannot wait to get started!

Before and After

2012-01-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

Before and After of the same shot. The first is the RAW... well as RAW as we can get and still upload here. I was learning to airbrush. There are a few extra steps that I took outside from the tutorial, but I think it turned out pretty good. I clearly have some work to do still, but it's a start.

Day 7

2011-12-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

The Poinsettia. There's a pink one in the lobby of the office. It stands alone on a wooden table that takes up most of the space in the lobby. And it's there that it greets each and every person who walks in the door, with a subtle Merry Christmas!

Day 6

2011-12-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

These are the bells that some ass-hat decided to hang on my office door. I frequently go in and out that door, causing them to smack against it, and ring loudly. It gets annoying after a while. Luckily, the Christmas season is short, and I won't have to deal with them much longer. On the upside, however, they are a lovely color, and they do add a nice touch of holiday cheer to my otherwise chromatically bland office space.

Day 5

2011-12-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

Shout out: WOOOOO!!!! Happy Birthday Kate!

I guess one thing that is nice about living in a southern, Christian town is that everyone celebrates Christmas. And the funny thing is that everyone just assumes that you celebrate Christmas, and rather than say "Happy Holidays," they always say, "Merry Christmas." I have to admit that despite this town's lack of political correctness, it's nice to see the decorations going up everywhere... there's a Christmas tree in the main lobby of my work building, and these lovely ribbons are hanging from the lamp posts near the entrance. It just puts me into the Christmas spirit.

Day 4

2011-12-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

Yes, another ornament from the tree. This time, the light from the window was shinning directly on it, causing it to sparkle beautifully. I had to take the shot.

Day 3

2011-12-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

A simple reminder to be thankful for what I have. This went up on the mantel while I was gone. It's so pretty; it just sits there and glitters.

Day 2

2011-12-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

I went shopping this weekend and bought a few things for some close friends. One of those gifts will be wrapped in this beautiful little bag! The red is faux velvet!

Day 1

2011-12-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make an advent calendar this year! I want to take one photograph a day of something Christmasy. So here is the first day of my project. Our tree has been partially decorated, and this is one of the ornaments.

Perfection

2011-11-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

Can kill you.

Which is why I embrace my flaws.

The US Open was this past weekend. The thrill of dancing on that floor is something incredible; an enormous amount of energy and support from all over the world. I can't even describe the amount of talent in each of the divisions... I feel so lucky to have been a part of it, and proud to know that I belonged there. Such a fantastic weekend!

David and Jennifer

2011-10-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

David and Jennifer both graduated from UVA, and they wanted to have their pictures taken there. I had a lot of fun walking around the campus... I didn't realize how pretty the other, normal schools in the country were. We had a perfectly clear morning, with some beautiful lighting! Here's an unedited sneak peek at some shots from this morning!

PS - these were shot with a macro lens...

Business As Usual

2011-10-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

Guess who had business cards printed? Why yes, that would be me! I'm so excited for them to arrive! They should be here in five to seven business days. But hopefully I'll be able to hand these out, and actually get my name out there. Now to update my website... and learn some complicated coding while I'm at it... or at least (embarrassingly enough!) relearn html.

Found Still Life

2011-09-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night, I was getting some grapes from the kitchen, and I placed my flashlight down on the counter so I could wash my fruit in the sink. When I turned around, I saw the light shinning through the water bottles, and reflecting off the bag of grapes. I had to grab my camera and capture it. I believe this was shot at something like f-10 at 30"... it was rather dark after all.

2011-09-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is about 2 hours after the power went out officially. I was bored, and my camera batteries were still functioning, so I set it up on the mantle to take a few shots. It was getting dark at this point, and I needed a long shutter speed to gather as much light as possible. As you can see, the image is still considerably dark (no post), as Irene was busy destroying my neighborhood and igniting the plague of darkness that followed her wrath.

2011-09-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

This is a shot from Saturday night. We were gathered together because the power had just gone out, and we had nothing better to do than sit around and talk to each other. They all hated me for taking this... I had the flash set on 1:1, so it would light the entire room. If blinded all of us. :)

This was the start of our week without power. We are still hoping when we get home today (Thursday) that it will be back on... but I'm not holding my breath.

Irene's a Bitch

2011-08-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

And here is the reason I will never see the light of electricity again. So may I give a formal farewell to my AC, hot water, refrigerated food, frozen food, microwave, wifi, and coffee maker. While I love all of you, I will learn to live a lifestyle where you are no longer necessary for my survival.

So on a lighter note, the chocolates in my last post have made their home in the fridge for the past few nights so they didn't melt or deform in anyway. Well, today, I figured there was no need for them to be in there... so i took them out and put them in my pantry... yet somehow one of them was devoured during the transition process. It was probably the best chocolate I have ever had. Dark, bitter, with a hint of amaretto - simply to die for. It was the perfect delectable treat for such a miserable afternoon.

Coo-Coo for Coca

2011-08-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what I think about this one. The chocolates themselves look pretty good, but the lighting definitely needs some work. I was trying to figure out how to get a white reflector in the front so that the chocolates would have detail in the side facing the camera. This one was the best example of that working, but I'm not ecstatic about the angle. I'm also disappointed with the strength of those shadows at the bottom of the frame. I'll work on these more tonight.

Crazy for Cupcakes

2011-08-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

My roommate was making Jello shots and cupcakes last night. It was a brilliant combination, resulting in the stickiest surfaces EVER. I think the "stick-factor" rivals that of a 4 year old. These cupcakes were strawberry flavored, and then filled with a homemade blueberry jam, topped with funfetti icing. They were delicious!

For the image, i used a little studio set up on my desk. I made a seamless with a piece of paper, and then lit the cupcake from the side using my off-camera flash. I took a few with the cake lit from behind, which my roommates thought were great, but I thought the lighting was too contrasty, and it looked like morning light shining through a window. Probably a set up better suited for pancakes. This lighting was my favorite... It's a little dark in the front though, as I need one more reflector to bounce some of that light onto the front surface.

Dancing Dancing Dancing

2011-08-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is my dance partner and myself. We are dancing at a Hand Dance venue - they were celebrating all those hand dancers who were Leos... so there was a 50 person birthday party going on... lots of dancing, free food, and plenty of good times. We got to perform for about 300 people. For the first time since starting to dance together, I wasn't nervous, and I actually danced smoothly. My arms were relaxed, and I just had a great time.

Thanks to the videographer for capturing this dance!

Blah!!!!!!

2011-08-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Spiders freak me out. Now seriously, they are eight-legged, little, venomous creatures lurking around in places where you least expect to find them... such as just behind the rice maker, or worse, your forehead in the middle of the night. Luckily, this little guy was of the former group, and I accidently touched his web while I was reaching for the rice cooker, causing him to dart away towards the small space behind the oven. His quick movement scared me nearly to death, but I decided then that I would photograph him.

Later that night, I got this shot. I had to throw a little piece of garlic bagel into his web for him to think his dinner had arrived. He must not have minded the smell of the garlic because he stayed in one spot long enough to decide that the bread was not some other "delicious" critter, allowing me to photograph him from several angles. He must have been one blind spider after that photo shoot...

Wakeboard Wannabe

2011-07-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

These are two friends showing me the way of the slalom ski. They are clearly some pretty incredible skiers... I couldn't believe they could stand up on the thing, let alone complete the course several times each. Talk about a serious work out, too.

Meanwhile, in stark contrast, this is me, attempting to wakeboard. Notice my lack of wake and spray. And of course my awkward facial contortions. Thankfully, they drove the boat slowly so I didn't die. Don't get me wrong, I certainly experienced my share of wipe-outs... I even have photographic proof of several of them!

Anyway, it was a fantastic morning. I got to hang out with two amazing people, take a million pictures, and laugh and relax in the sunshine as we skirted along the glassy river.

Pigment Abnormality

2011-07-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

I forgot to sharpen this slightly. But for web presentation, I guess I can't be too hard on myself. I completely forget what condition this patient told me they had. I distinctly remember them saying that it was VERY rare, and that I was one of few photographers who would ever get to image this specific disease, which of course excited me. Lucky for me, this patient was great, was well dilated, and allowed me to quickly snap all the pictures I needed for the montage you see here.

Terrible Tumor

2011-07-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

So this is a fluorescein angiogram... No I didn't miss the focus... I was told to focus on the tumor (the large, planet-looking thing). I guess my doctor was looking at the blood supply of the tumor, rather than the the blood supply of the retina. Anyway, this is probably the most intense FA I've ever shot. I had never seen an anomaly like this before, and it was cool to be the lone photographer here to get to document it.

Rules of Engagement

2011-06-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

Haha, what rules? Samantha and Gerson got engaged on New Years this year. They were my first (hopefully of many) engagement session, and we had such a great time! They were both very natural in front of the camera. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for this... I wanted all the images to be perfect. Obviously not all of them were, but there were plenty of amazing ones! These are just a few of my favorites!

Very Berry Excited!

2011-06-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

I just took this picture with the lens I got in the mail today!!! I've been looking forward to it's arrival for so long!!! Macro photography is my favorite, and now I can actually create more of it! This was not shot at 1:1, (I don't know the magnification I used...) and I just used a softbox for lighting. More to come soon.

Defying Gravity

2011-05-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

The boredom I've been dealing with lately is elevating astronomically. I'm forced to take out that boredom in various ways... mainly photography. I'm getting more daring with the lighting set-ups... Watch out fashion world, here I come.

The Incredible, Edible... Retina?

2011-05-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

And here is the cake that I've been wanting to decorate for a couple of weeks now. A fluorescein angiogram cake. I've been thinking about it, and planning it, and thinking about it more... and on Friday, I finally got to make this thing!!! Hopefully it will be more delicious than it looks... I mean who would want to eat an eyeball? Not me.

I had a rougher experience with the fondant this time. After the dying process it started to dry out, and rather quickly at that! If you look closely at the cake itself, you'll see the numerous cracks in the sides. I can't say this cake receives high marks for craftsmanship, but for creativity and design I have to pat myself on the back.

So Very Low Key

2011-05-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, the image itself is low key, but even the environment for the shot was really relaxed. There was no deadline, my model didn't need to like the shot, and I could just experiment with the lighting I kept seeing everywhere. To improve, I think I just need an umbrella or a beauty dish above her, in front to create a nice fill, without over powering the side lights... after all, I wanted them to be the highlights.

I like it... at least it's a work in progress.

Roommates

2011-04-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

I guess sometimes you get really close to your roommates. We just happened to be playing with the lighting kit that night, and somehow this happened. I think it's my favorite image I've taken thus far in Richmond. It looks like an Herbal Essence ad... at least the ones where they had the models fake orgasms. I don't know, there's something that I just love about this.

Gabor

2011-01-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

Talk about a crazy night. This shoot took place in a space that was about 5x5x8. I had NO room to manipulate the lighting, let alone move to a place were I could get rid of the shadows on the backdrop (my poor model had to stand so close to the wall, that he was casting these horrible shadows). I think this was one of the most successful shots of the night.

Giving Thanks

2010-12-05T19:16:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving. I get to hang out with my family. And eat. Seriously, what could be better than that?

I had my camera with me this year, so I took a lot of photos before during and after dinner. The portraits at the end of the night were really something. My mom and my brother had a grand old time, and they were laughing so hard... it made for some really great shots.

This one was taken before dinner. I set my camera down on the table and just did a quick lighting check. I think it's my favorite image of the night, and it really conveys a feeling of "is it time to eat yet!?" that we're all too familiar with.

Bachelorette Pad

2010-10-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I hit the jack-pot here. This is where I get to spend my afternoons and evenings so long as the weather is nice. I can people watch, read my books, tool around on the internet, etc, all from a comfortable shady spot high above the street. I can hear conversations going on, the birds chirping, dogs getting into fights (it happens a lot around here...) and the occasional kitten meowing. HA, last night, I heard a bit of a domestic dispute going down... I thought there was going to be a brawl... I looked out my window at the perfect time... one guy was getting ready to beat the crap out of the other. He ended up breaking the window of the apartment complex's door instead of anyone's bones. The police were called. No blood.

But seriously, for the most part, this is the best place in the world to relax. The only thing I wish I had was a hammock. But the wicker chairs are pretty great.

I like it here... sometimes it smells like California, which is amazing.

Please forgive me for the stretching of the panorama. I wasn't rotating the camera on the nodal point, so there are different perspectives going on there...

Broken

2010-08-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

I love butterflies! I think they're gorgeous! And it's hilarious how they fly. It's like their wings are too big for them to control, and they are at the wind's mercy. I always wonder how they manage to keep from running into things. Anyway, this one made a safe landing on the butterfly bush in Mom's garden. I had to crawl through the other flowers (covered in bees I might add) in order to crouch down to get this shot. But I'm glad I did. She's so pretty! I feel a little bad for her though. Her wings are broken. But she can still fly. Shortly after this picture was taken, she flew away and landed on another butterfly bush about 20 feet away.

Nature at it's Best

2010-08-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

A praying-mantis eating a grasshopper. I can't believe I saw this happening (it was dusk)! I'm glad I managed to grab my camera in time, so I could capture the food chain in action.

Flash Back

2010-08-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

How beautiful is this? It's from my trip to London in November. My dad took me here because he took my brother here (when he was 5!) for tea. I took the picture in hopes that Ry would remember this place, and tell me about it. Of course, he doesn't remember anything about it, and I had to tell him that he had tea there when he was a kid.

The raw file was underexposed. I didn't have a tri-pod so I needed a fast shutter speed. I had to boost the ISO in order for any of this to actually show up. I think I used something horrible like 400. Anyway, to me it looks a little over processed (no thanks to the increased contrast from digtial pushing) but I still love the final image.

I really wish I could have stood on the center tile though...

Refresh

2010-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at photo-restoration. This image came from one of those tiny "scopes" where they would take the picture on a half-frame color transparency, and then put it into the back of a little plastic case, so when you look into the hole, you can see your picture. A cute idea from the time before digital imaging.

The slide had faded... it was mostly blue, despite my attempts at color correction. I think I just might have to make it black and white... I color balanced off the grey shirt on the guy second from the right. Apparently, his shirt wasn't exactly grey.

On a side note, my dad (man on the right) says that he got together with this same group of guys, on the same golf course in the recent past (within the last 3 years or so) and they took this same picture again. Which I think is pretty cool. Anyway, Dad wanted me to find a way to digitize this and possibly blow it up from the little half frame slide it is.

I photographed this slide at 1:1 with a 60mm Nikon Micro lens. The slide was back lit with a light table. Hopefully it's good enough quality to get a decent print.

Musical Genius

2010-07-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

Seriously, these people are brilliant. They pick up instruments and start playing with each other. There's even this book full of tabs and lyrics so everyone else can sing along.

This is my favorite image from the night. In the heat of the moment, my friend (the guy on the left) started using his head as a percussion instrument. Who needs brain cells anyway?

Niagara Falls

2010-07-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should have titled this, "Canada - A View from the States." Because that is Canada.

Really, though, look at the color of the water. It's really that greenish bluish color! I think that's something unique to the bodies of water up here - they are these gorgeous, stunning, I-can't-believe-it's-really-that-beautiful type of colors.

I'm used to seeing water in Maryland, or really, the poop-colored (and sometimes smelling) Chesapeake Bay. We've completely ruined it. Maybe one day it will be at clean as this water.

In Vain

2010-07-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to learn about airbrushing and lighting. I took the photos as an experiment... I made a beauty dish from my off camera flash, and a foil tray that you'd use at thanksgiving to roast your turkey. I really like the light it created, and I'm happy that I'll be able to use the same lighting with my studio... I just hope potential clients don't make fun of my ghetto-ness. Besides, it's all about the beauty of the light right?

Anywho, I tried my hand at airbrushing too. I think I need to work on it. I look a little over done here... but i'll get the hang of it eventually. I have my camera and photoshop; no doubt I'll learn to airbrush like the pros in the magazines.

Dollop of Daisy

2010-06-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Okay. Daisies are awesome. Did you know that each of those yellow pods is a little chamber that opens so the pollen is exposed to the air? They're like tiny yellow flowers within a flower. I thought it was really neat! It's a challenge to see them up close, but the next time you pick a daisy, get a magnifying glass, look really close at the little yellow pods in the center, and see if they are blooming!

My Nemesis

2010-06-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

Wow. Pollen. This stuff is scary up close. No wonder I'm allergic to it. It's just thousands of these little death grains. But I have to admit, I love the smell of the flowers, so I guess I bring the death part on myself.

Back to the Grind

2010-06-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm back at school... this time for the summer. I keep hearing the summer in Rochester is supposed to be beautiful... and I have to admit, it's been gorgeous... BUT IT'S COLD!!! It feels like fall or spring... not summer. Anyway, there is a little bit of summer around here - on the way home from class I picked this flower. I thought it was pretty, and it's wonderful how all the flowers are still blooming. I'm so used to seeing snow. It's nice to know I won't see any of that this quarter!

In Awe

2010-05-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to really edit this yet. Forgive me for the little imperfections from the water droplets, and the lack of contrast. It's amazing to me how powerful nature really is. The thunderclap after this bolt rattled the house like an earthquake. It was something incredible, and I hope there are more storms like this as the summer progresses. Maybe I can find a hill and set up a camera and a wide angle lens to get more sky and perhaps the Rochester skyline...

On the Road Again

2010-05-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I set out to drive cross country. It was quite the adventure. We drove from Rochester, NY to Rockford, IL with a pit stop for dancing in Chicago! Later, we drove to Wisconsin for a meeting and some more dancing. I was a seriously awesome weekend, and I can't wait to go back to that lake...

Maid of the Mist

2010-04-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

It's foggy out tonight. My roommates say it's like Stephen King's The Mist, but I try not to think about such things when it's dark outside. I love it when the weather does this. It's relaxing; all you can see are little orbs of light from the street lamps, and hear the frogs chirping in the marshes.

Fool for Fondant

2010-03-13T18:36:00.000-08:00

Today, I learned how to use fondant. I decided I wanted to earlier this year when I was watching Ace of Cakes. I've heard that fondant is supposed to be really hard to work with... but I didn't have a single problem, other than I should have put the cake on the plate before attempting to cover it. I would say it's pretty good for a first try at cake decorating. I'm going to have to work with this and refine this skill.

Mom

2010-03-08T17:39:00.001-08:00

This is my mother. Isn't she pretty?

A Blue Moon

2010-02-25T16:51:00.000-08:00

This quarter I only took one production course; the dreaded AV Production for Biomed Photo. I enjoyed the course, believe it or not. It ended up being a single cluster-fuck of a project incorporating web-design, photography, video, sound, flash and a DVD component. My group's project can be found online HERE.

Anyway, I didn't get to take a photography course this quarter. Sometimes I forget about how much I love taking pictures, and the other day when the sun was setting through my open blinds, I excitedly grabbed my camera to capture this still-life, despite the amount of work piling up at my desk. I'm glad I did... there's just something about the quality of the light that seems to captivate me.

Random Travels of a Jet Setter

2009-12-26T13:05:00.001-08:00

Week 8 this quarter I got a phone call from Dad. He said, "Hey Bon, I'm going to London tomorrow, want to come?" Of course since it was a weekend trip I elected to go. So that Friday morning I headed out to Charlotte, NC where I met my Dad and boarded the plane for London. The plane itself was gigantic; probably about 10 times the size of my apartment. First class was full (like I care, I mean I am going to London after all), but i managed to snag a window seat in the 15th row. Naturally I didn't sleep during the flight, and when we landed I was dazed to say the least.

I managed to make it through customs, although I did receive many a strange look from the guards ("What do you mean you don't know the address of where you're staying?" ... "Well, Sir, I'm flying with the captain of the light crew, and I have no idea where we're staying. He didn't tell me!" ... "So let me get this straight... you flew 7 hours to stay here for a day, and then you're flying 7 hours back home?" ... "Err, yes? Is that a problem, Sir?" ... "Enjoy your stay." Oh and he didn't smile once. It was pretty intimidating.)

Luckily, the hotel was attached to the airport, so it would have taken us a grand total of 5 minutes to get in and out, however with both Dad and I fighting a losing battle with exhaustion, we decided to take a quick power nap (an hour) before heading out to the city. I woke up excited and energized, (HELLO, I'M IN LONDON!!!) and we left in a hurry to go watch the changing of the guards.

Now, apparently we were there on a national holiday (and a Saturday I might add) so going to see the changing of the guards was an experience I imagine to be similar to getting packed into a sardine container. Although... all the sardines around me were from different countries and speaking different languages - so I guess it was a variety pack of sardines. And while I didn't get to see the most of it, I did manage to hear the british (female) cop on horseback yell at me for touching the palace gate, and then mutter something resembling "damn americans" under her breath. I felt loved.

Eventually, we walked away from the palace and just started meandering around the city. We ended up on Bond Street, the 5th avenue of London. Not too far from there, we found Brown's Hotel, the spot where both Roosevelt's stayed for their honeymoon getaways, and where Dad made our high tea reservation. I couldn't believe it... high tea at Brown's Hotel... and then we walked inside, and my jaw dropped. It was simply gorgeous. Granted, I have a thing for beautiful hotels, but this just made me giddy. Soft window light, fireplaces, old fashioned parlor seats and tables that had little feet that turned out at the bottom, lace tablecloths and a smell that was refreshing, warm and just plain made me want to stay there. Perhaps my returning exhaustion was the real reason I wanted to stay there, but nevertheless, when Dad insisted it was time to leave, I took my time in order to savor every last second.

The rest of the day we spent walking around the town. We saw some guards and I took ridiculous-American-tourist snap shots with several of them. We witnessed a wedding in a courtyard, took a ride in a taxi (it reminded me of a hearse... black and surprisingly spacious inside with NO seat-belts), saw the largest bird I've ever seen - I'm positive it could have eaten me for dinner, experienced the night life in Piccadilly Circus, found as many hot chocolate joints as humanly possible (it was chilly!), split a pint with Dad and finally walked back through it all to find the train in order to return home. I nearly fell asleep on the train... I'm glad I managed to wait until I got into bed. And to be honest... that was the best night's sleep I've ever experienced.

The next day I flew home and I was back in class on Monday morning. It was as if the entire weekend had never happened. Was it all in my head? Well, Dad was there... and he insists we really took that trip. And I suppose my other proof is my passport, which now sports a London, England stamp dated November 2009. How cool.

The Infamous Contact Lens

2009-10-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

This, believe it or not, is a contact lens. I was assigned to photograph something round, wet, and transparent - basically it's supposed to be the hardest project. We had a month to do it, yet I spent an hour in the lab and ended with this. I spent my month watching how my other classmates attempted to get good lighting. I took note of their lighting set ups and which ones worked well versus which ones didn't. And it allowed me to come up with my own lighting that also seemed to work well.

Out of Stock

2009-10-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

This assignment was entertaining for me. We had to photograph "radiating energy" in a way that was captivating and interesting for middle school students. I decided that I wanted to photograph something with fluorescence, and luckily there was a vile of fluorescein from the Ophthalmic course sitting on a shelf in the lab, so I used that.

In the meantime, we also had to literally send this image to my professor's house. It's to show that we understand that to ship something, we need to have it finished prior to the due date. The image needs to arrive at his house the day before the critique.

I figured this was something that would end up on the cover of a textbook. Maybe it's not the most interesting photograph, but it's cool to look at none the less. I can't wait to see what my classmates are doing for this assignment!

I Really Don't Like Nature

2009-10-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

We took a class field trip to Mendon Ponds. It's a HUGE park between Henrietta and Pittsford, NY. The assignment was to be there at sunrise (7:15am on a Sunday!) in order to photograph nature in beautiful light. We were lucky in that just after sunrise, the skies opened up, and the sun shined down on us.
I feel like now I've been initiated into Biomed; this is an annual field trip that's been a part of everyone's experience as a second year Biomeder since Michael took the job here. Now the catch with this project is that was that each of us picked a word out of a hat; and that was what we had to photograph. I picked "water," so all of my photographs from the day are water-based.

The Leaves Change

2009-10-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

My class was given about three weeks to complete this assignment. And when we all handed in our posters, it was clear who did the project in advance, and who waited until the last minute. The students who started right away had beautiful green leaves in their images, while those who waited had leaves that were clearly changing with the season.

The point of the project was to learn how to use the scanners as cameras. You can take an 8x10 image of something at 1200 dpi, which allows for greater room to enlarge the final image. This poster is originally 16x20 (inches), and that large leaf on the left side takes up at least half of the overall poster... and it doesn't have a hint of grain.

The only criticism I received on the poster was the stylization of the in-situ photograph of the leaves. (I'm also aware that this has the incorrect species...)

Photographing Filament

2009-10-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is a part of the forensic assignment, but I wanted this image to have it's own blurb. The image is supposed to show the metallic qualities of the filament. The photograph was pretty elementary for the most part. I back lit the light bulb and added some black felt on either side to create a black line. The filament was lacking a lot of contrast, so I added that back in to achieve the metallic qualities my professor was looking for.

Forensics

2009-10-30T15:53:00.001-07:00

Here we had to take a photograph of our finger, as well as make a finger print. We then had to dust the finger print (a task that I found to be much harder than it seems- there's always too much dust!) and then take a photograph of it. I made my life easier and just made my finger print on a slide, and added the dust over top. Photographing it was easy, but I spent well over an hour trying to edit out all the extra dirt and dust from the slide.

Ew Mold!

2009-10-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

I get it. I need to go to the grocery store. But I thought this image was cool... there are a ton of different species of mold on that single piece of bread. But the reason this picture is so fascinating to me is because I thought that the mold might fluoresce under a black light. To my disappointment, it didn't. But it was a cool experiment. Strangely, it smelled like alcohol...

Polar Opposites

2009-10-30T15:16:00.001-07:00

I'm sure that all of you have seen a clear i-pod case before. This is what it looks like when you can see all the stress marks within the plastic. To do this, the subject is back lit, and then placed between to polarizing filters. The two filters block out all the light except for that coming though the subject. I think it looks pretty cool.

Double Bubble

2009-10-30T15:11:00.001-07:00

For this assignment we had to photograph bubbles. One had to be brightfield, and the other had to be darkfield. The project was an exercise in subject control - those crazy bubbles kept POPPING, and they were constantly moving around. It created quite the challenge, but I found that keeping it to only a single layer of bubbles really made it easier to photograph.

Cone Head

2009-09-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

I'm taking Photo 2 this quarter. It's the class where you actually learn everything that can get you through the macro and micro courses that one takes as an upperclassmen. Things make a lot more sense now. I should have taken this course last year...

In the meantime, the first assignment was to photograph a pinecone. Believe it or not, it's a lot harder than it seems. We needed to light it so we could see all its characteristics... and since a pinecone is mostly black and brown, it made for a difficult subject.

Drowning

2009-06-06T09:08:00.001-07:00

Or so it felt like it. This project was due on Thursday at 2pm. I didn't know how to make the sound trip work (so that when the ice hit the water the flash would go off) and I spent the whole night Wednesday trying to figure it out. Apparently I was missing one part of the system. Anyway, it wasn't working, and at 8am Thursday morning I had nothing to show for class... and in a class designed to develop time management where deadlines are EVERYTHING... that's not good. So Thursday morning I was at the cage, checking out a studio to attempt to do this by hand. Thank god we have ice in building 7...

So somehow I managed to shoot this project. And turn it in at 2pm on that day. It was brilliant. And my class loved the results. Hopefully you do too.

3-D Madness

2009-06-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not writing in a while. School was insane for the last couple of weeks while i finished my projects. Anyway one of my facorite projects (and one that I want to continue working with) thus far has been the stereo project. I used the QTVR tripod head which has two rails, and took two photographs of the same scene separated laterally by about one inch. I then deleted the red channel out of the first image and copied and pasted the red channel from the second image into the first (wordy enough for you?). This slightly offset red channel is what gives the illusion of a 3-D space when you put on red/cyan 3-D glasses. I hope you have some sitting around so you can see the stereo.

Video Editing

2009-05-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks my group and I have been slaving over this assignment. 5 minutes of video takes something like 3 hours of footage... it's really complicated. I tip my hat to those in the video industry. We had a lot of fun with this project because we were documenting something we were interested in... and the people we talked to were full of stories! It was seriously a great time, and I'm proud of this video.

2009-05-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

These were for my architecture assignment. MY class was really excited that I chose to photograph at night for this. Honestly, I think all architecture should be photographed at night. The lighting is so much better - usually buildings are lit from the outside to accentuate their architectural style, and I wanted to highlight that. I ended up compositing a few images together in order to get a single properly exposed photograph.

Don't Prick Yourself

2009-04-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

I love happy accidents. Although, I've been shooting this project for the last week and a half, and wasn't getting anything worth while. (The shot glasses below were the only thing for this project, prior to the safety pins that turned out well). I used a 105mm macro lens - and it was amazing. I LOVE the selective focus!

The point of the assignment is to use color to create an image of something "ordinary." My teacher wanted it to be similar to something you might see in an airline magazine. He suggested that we use colored gels and hot lamps, but I chose a different route. I used an off camera flash reflected off a sheet of white paper (draped around the pins so that it was reflected from all directions) and a colored card (courtesy of my color aid pack that I NEVER used from last year). I hope you enjoy the effect - I was pretty happy with the results!

Legalities

2009-04-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'm officially 21...

Which means I'm old enough to consume alcoholic beverages in the United States. Sweet.

In the meantime, I have some shots of Sake that I was up all night working on. Really it's just a black line/white line. But I thought it was pretty - so even though I'm not turning this in, I thought someone might want to look at it. Or at least know that I'm capable of photographing glass with a black background.

Elbow Grease

2009-03-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

I wish I knew what this sample was. It wasn't labeled, so I have no idea what it is. In the slide, it looked as though it might be snake skin. It was photographed at a higher magnification (20x), so there wasn't a large depth of field. I managed to take somewhere between 7 and 10 photos, each at a different focal plane. Then I took them into photoshop and merged them together so that I have one image with a much larger depth of field. Most people use something like Z-Stack to merge their stacks together... but I'm proud to say that I did this by hand. :)

Bad to the Bone

2009-03-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

This is a human bone sample. Aren't the textures awesome!? This is a map, meaning there are several images here strung together to make the final composition. This sample is magnified to 10x. I don't know how I feel about the color... I think it's supposed to be more of a desaturated, grayish neutral. I balanced the darker areas to be neutral gray, but the lighter sections are still yellow or magenta. I'm working on it.

Editing...

2009-02-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

This is a Hydra! Isn't he cute?! He was squirming all over the place as I was trying to photograph him. His movement made it difficult to find an interesting composition, as well as keep the image sharp. He was also squirming all over the place (and suctioning to the bottom of the container!) while I tried to extract him from his container to put him in the slide. It took a while, but eventually, I managed to get him into the slide, and take a decent photograph.

It didn't help that the lighting for the image wasn't even. As a part of my post processing, I had to paint in the background to make it one solid color, rather than an uneven vignette. It took a lot of time, but I think it's well worth the extra effort.

Geeking Out!!!

2009-02-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

For one of the assignments in Photo in the Mic we got to use a fluorescent system. This is a cross section of a tilia stem photographed at low magnification with a 4x objective. I ended up stitching 3 images together to get this final "panorama." The red is where the sample fluoresced under the blue excitation filter (basically the entire thing). I thought it looked pretty cool.

The next few weeks are going to be a little wild at school. It's the middle of week 9, so there's a lot of work to be done, and I'm actually really excited to get started on a lot of it! More later!

Eye Can See Clearly Now

2009-02-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

I'm FINALLY done with this assignment. I feel like I've been working on it for weeks, which in essence, I have. I went all perfectionist on this project, and I wanted everything to line up exactly. It was a painstaking process, but I managed to Free-Transform my way to greatness. I don't think Free Transform would be an accepted editing practice in the field... especially the way I did it. I literally changed small areas of certain vessels in order for them to flow freely from one frame to the next. At least now the viewer can't tell where I manipulated the image... and I've never been able to that in the past.

Playing with a Microscope!

2009-01-22T05:42:00.000-08:00

40x Objective

20x Objective

10x Objective

4x Objective

Lots of images today. This is from my first assignment in my Photo & the Microscope course. We had to "produce a minimum of 4 color digital image files from one sample using a variety of objectives ranging from the 4x (lower magnification) objective including and up through at least the 40x (higher magnification) objective. We also had to demonstrate correct exposure, density and color saturation (well duh to all three of those), proper use of Kohler Illumination and proper use of aperture diaphragm. In addition we were instructed to include a bar scale in each image, so we can figure out the magnification of the subject. Now, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea how to add a bar scale into an image... I just kind of winged it... But I think it worked.

Color balancing these was fun. In the first image (4x) there's a spot in the upper right hand corner that I used to balance that image... and then from there I had to find other places that were close to neutral and base the rest of the images off those spaces. (That probably doesn't make any sense... but basically the white spaces between the colors in the larger magnification images are not quite neutral, so I had to make the "white" spaces in the other images the same distance from neutral as the properly balanced photograph.) I found it to be rather challenging, but I'm glad I could figure it out.

On another note, I found it extremely hard to focus these images. Through a microscope, something may seem as though it's focused, but then once you take a picture, you find that it's not. And then sometimes when you think something is NOT as sharp as it can be, you find out that it in fact is. And that has to be the most frustrating thing... I cannot tell if my image has an optimized sharpness or not. I hear that I just have to train my eyes to see what the focus should be, and that eventually I'll learn what to look for. But as of now, I'm in this limbo state where I'm not sure if my samples are completely sharp. It makes me grateful that there's such a thing as a high pass filter (it increases the contrast, thus giving the appearance of a sharper image). Let me know what you think.

PS- my scales are wrong. oops.

Look at That!

2009-01-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

These are the nine cardinal gazes. The doctors use these images to assess the strength and flexibility of the muscles that coordinate the movement of an individual's eye. We had to photograph these and put them together on a poster (as seen here). I was kind of shocked at how easy this was to shoot... my partner and I set up a tri-pod so that each image would be at the exact same distance from the camera... thus the same magnification. It took all of five minutes to capture once we set the magnification (roughly 1:5).

We then had to make a poster. I learned that you can actually set your crop tool to a certain ratio, so that it will always keep the same dimensions for each image. I found that to be extremely helpful, and it made it so much easier for me to have uniform images on my poster.

Flash Midterm!

2009-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

http://cias.rit.edu/~cxg5750/316/Assignment2.html

No pictures for this post... but there is a Flash animation! We had to make a 90 second advertisement for something in Flash using everything we've learned thus far. I decided to make an ad for a dance event that doesn't exist yet... mainly because in the near future, my best friend and I are going to be planning and hosting this event. It's completely inaccurate because we have no idea when or where it will be... but it's a square one.

There are some areas in the animation where I absolutely cringe... I'm sure you'll be able to pick them out! But I hope you like it!

Retinal Mapping

2009-01-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

This is a rough draft of one of my recent projects in Ophthalmic. We have to create a retinal map using the 7 standard fields along with a few extra fields (including Nasal to Disc and Posterior Pole) in order to piece the entire thing together. This is just what I got when I did the Photoshop "Photomerge." There was really no effort on my part other than the individual images themselves. I'm going to go back and actually mask all the images together. I think that will work better, although I did get a pretty decent image here.

Making Another Microscope

2008-12-12T16:09:00.000-08:00

Okay. This is a piece of algae from a fish bowl. My partner and I decided that we wanted to shoot the assignment again after we looked at our images from the first shoot and realized that we forgot to clean the camera sensor. (They were the filthiest images I've ever seen!) Of these two, the first was taken a continuous light source, making it less sharp than the flash exposure. I spent a couple of hours trying to color balance these, only to remember that I didn't have to turn them in in color... I was so annoyed. But, the black and white definitely cut down on the amount of work I had to complete tonight. (And that's a good thing because I'm slightly inebriated this evening... ;) )

Just Dance

2008-12-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

This is Jody and I dancing the night I got home for Thanksgiving break. I hadn't danced in months, and he volunteered to be the first to lead me through a triple step again. I didn't realize it at the time, but after not dancing for so long, I completely forgot how much I love to dance.

Please keep in mind that this is just a "practice video." There is no need for us to be perfect here because there aren't judges around. This is just us moving to music, experimenting, making mistakes, and having fun.

Thanksgiving Getaway

2008-12-11T11:30:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving was rough this year. There was literally an empty table setting at my grandfather's end of the table. It didn't help that when we got in a circle to say thanks, my family broke down into tears one by one. It was really hard to watch; the most difficult being my grandmother who sobbed so hard she could barely stand.

I don't really enjoy being upset (who does?!) and so I had plans for the following day to escape from MD, escape from school, escape from this madness and dance all weekend long. At 4am on Black Friday I flew out to the west coast where I landed in LA along with nearly a thousand other swing dancers from around the globe. We were gathering for the US Open - the biggest swing dance championship in the west coast swing world. It's the biggest competition where the best compete with each other for the title. Of course, I was there to watch and social dance... no competitions for me... I'm not quite good enough for that yet. Maybe next year.

The hotel sits on Disney property, so on Saturday night a group of us went to Downtown Disney to hang out. We danced to the music they were playing in the park which drew all sorts of attention - It was an absolute blast and I'm so happy I got to go. The image is from our shenanigans at the Disney resort (Sorry for the blur!). We had a great time! AND I have to add this - normally everyone travels the Sunday after Thanksgiving so there is no way that i would make a flight home. However, fate decided that I would be flying back on Sunday night, and make it to Rochester in time for my 10am class on Monday morning. It was brilliant!

On Saying Goodbye

2008-12-11T10:59:00.001-08:00

As you keep reading in my posts, I've been interested in switching majors to Biomedical Photographic Communications... and about halfway through last quarter I finally did. It's the best decision I could have made for myself. I wake up every morning excited to go to class and make scientific images. It's so much fun! And the best part is that it's based on technical skill. If the images you produce aren't technically perfect, then they can't be used in the field... I like that. I've raised the bar for myself, and created a challenge to be the best photographer I can be... and the bar is always just out of my reach so I really have to stretch if I want to reach it.

The pictures above are from my last fine art project. In the middle of the quarter I got a phone call from my mom while I was on my way to the grocery store. It was one of THOSE phone calls... you know where you drop everything you're doing, break down and cry for a while, and then don't remember where to pick things back up again because you're so disoriented. She told me that my grandfather had passed away suddenly. He was doing some roof-work (adding toppers to the chimney to keep the warm air in during the winter so their energy bill would be lower), and then on his way down he fell backwards from the ladder, hitting his head on the concrete. My grandmother found him there when she returned from the store about ten minutes later and rushed him to the hospital. He was basically brain-dead when he arrived and the doctors told my family there was really nothing they could do for him, and to consider taking him off life support... no one in their right mind keeps a suffering person alive, so naturally my family decided to pull the plug and send my grandfather to heaven.

I went home the weekend after the accident and photographed everything I saw. I basically hid behind my camera that weekend. I didn't know how to deal with what I was feeling so I simply took it out in the images. I scanned them, and created a book (which I bound myself!). The two images are two separate pages from the book I turned in for my final critique.

More Eyeballs!

2008-12-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

My brother has requested to see more eyeball pictures. Probably because it's the only class I ever talk about, and the main reason why I began thinking about switching to Biomed. These images are from the High Mag project - the only "A" I managed to earn in Ophthalmic last quarter.

The first picture is the Macula (the dark circle in the middle) Centered at 30 degrees using an exciter filter. The image i turned in is not nearly as contrasted because I wasn't allowed to photoshop it (understandably, we want a high degree of simulacrum in science). The blue filter cuts down on the contrast making it harder to focus as well as harder to see what you're doing through the lens in general. I had to keep switching between the blue and green filters because I could actually focus with the green filter (because it increases the contrast!!!) in place.

The second image is the Optic Disc Centered at 30 degrees using a Red-Free (aka Green - why the hell can't they call it a green filter?!) filter. The Red-Frees were much easier to focus because of the increased contrast. Plus, they are just nicer to look at. With the green filter in place, you can see so much more detail through the lens of the camera. I wish I could shoot everything through the green filters! Again though, I did some editing in photoshop before putting it up here.

The Art of Networking

2008-12-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

I meet a lot of people. I think it's because I just like to talk to people. They fascinate me. I love hearing stories and gaining experiences through the eyes of other people. It's just plain fun for me.

I also travel a lot. I love to dance, and I travel all over the country to meet up with other swing dancers and party all night long. It's a great time.

So of course, I've managed to put these two things together. Because of my dance obsession, I find myself in airports or on airplanes quite frequently. And since I hate the awkward silence, I always attempt to strike up a conversation. Sometimes people just want to engage in small talk for the first five minutes of the flight, before they go back to pretending I don't exist. Others just ignore me because they think I'm a lot younger and inexperienced than I actually am. But the best moments take place when the person I'm sitting next to is just as lonely as me; and we talk for the entire duration of the flight. I get to learn all about them. And then as soon as the conversation starts, the flight is over and we land. And we both know that we will never see each other again. I wanted to document these interactions with people and photograph them while we got to know each other. It made for a really interesting book, and I'm glad I finally got started on the project.

I ended up using my iSight camera that's built into my computer to take the photographs. That way, my models could see what they looked like, and knew when the picture was going to be taken (I often let them hit the shutter, and then we could count down from 3 before the picture was taken). Therefore the images are very lo quality, but their significance is what's important to the project. The fact that they are strangers and I don't get a detailed view of their life... it's just for a second... a snapshot conversation if you will.

Making a Microscope

2008-12-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

Two more images here. The first was taken with a tungsten setting while the other was a flash exposure. You will notice that the long exposure image (the first one) is more blurry than the second - that was caused by the camera shake and possibly the fan within the microscope system. Both images are human lung cells, and both were captured using a makeshift microscope. Everyone in class had to make the microscope they used to shoot for this assignment. We had a few general parts and from there we had to place everything correctly in order to produce a circular micrograph. Easier said than done... I'm glad we had to do this in partners.

So one thing you will notice in both of them is that they are both incredibly dirty. We were using a DSLR to capture the images, only it didn't have a lens. So, naturally, dust and dirt from all over the lab made its way into the camera sensor resulting in VERY dirty images. The dirt really bothers me, and I can't wait to use a real microscope where the dirt factor is significantly lower.

Focused!

2008-12-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

We got to shoot externals for this ophthalmic assignment! We had to use a plethora of flash systems and cameras in order to achieve all the lighting scenarios required. It was a fun time... actually for the shot after this one (hand-held with a mask) we nearly set the room on fire... well we thought we were going to set the room on fire because the heat from the flash was making our paper mask smoke... and when we took the mask off the light there were carbon marks on the underside. It was rather entertaining!!!

I don't think I can actually turn this in. While I love the sharpness, the specular highlight needed to be within the pupil. In this image, my specular highlight is touching the iris... which I don't believe is perfect technique from what I've been told. But I really liked the picture and thought maybe the world might like it too.

More With Flash

2008-12-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

http://cias.rit.edu/~cxg5750/316/Software1.html

Sweet deal. I just made this in class today. I'm rather proud of it. And I'm happy that I got my website kind of working. So now people can see everything I'm doing in this class...

BioMed Photo Rocks!

2008-12-07T23:53:00.000-08:00

I got to make this in Flash tonight. Yeah, that's right, Flash. No Photoshop allowed. The assignment was to make an instructive illustration using the Flash drawing tools. It took me way longer than it should have... but at the same time, I understand a lot more about the program than I did when I started. I also know a lot more about espresso machines... even after I worked in a coffee shop for over a year.

Self

2008-09-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

A self portrait. How does one define self anyway? I've been struggling with this project for ages... it was due two weeks ago, and i just re-shot again tonight. For critique I turned in this collage of dance snapshots over a staff and a dance shoe, along with some really bright colors. I hated it. I mean it's cool enough to hang up in my room (then again my room is completely bare, and in much need of a facelift), but other than that, I really don't want it hanging in the cases in the hallway. So I shot this instead. I like the concept way better. And I like the fact that it's actually a statement on how I'm feeling about myself. For the most part I know I'm a photographer, and a dancer, but the rest of the time... I'm not quite sure what I am, or who I am. But I know that eventually I'll figure out who that person is...

Eyeballs Are Fun

2008-09-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is the reason I come home looking like a drug addict on Thursday nights. One eye is dilated because I've been photographed, meanwhile the other is normal because I was doing my own photographing. But this is what I get to take pictures of - the retina. It's actually the most interesting class I've gotten to take in a long time... to the point where I have to debate if fine art is really where I should be...

Old School

2008-09-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

What a crazy night... I can't believe we didn't get arrested for this. It was one of those bitter cold, clear nights in Rochester, and for whatever reason my friends and I decided that we were going to shoot one of my projects at 2am. The project was "Fire" and I used the theme to show how college students (mainly freshman students with nothing better to do) "burn" their extra energy. So this night, we caused a bit of a ruckus in an open field. We lit some small items on fire, attached them to a string and then let centrifugal forces conveniently pull the sparks out into space, away from the mischief makers (although at some points towards the photographer (>.<) ). As you can see, it made quite the impressive ground level firework... and it made for a really great time... until we noticed that the coyotes were getting closer. Naturally, we ran for the car, and sped off before anyone (and the coyotes) would notice that we were there.

...What a great night...

Sweet Tooth

2008-09-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back at school for the fall quarter. Finally. Summer was great and I met some of the most amazing people, but I was seriously ready to be back and bury myself in my work again.

My first photo assignment is "food." That's the only criteria I was given. So I decided to work with sugar. I've watched pastry chefs from all over the world compete on the food network and make all those really great sculptures out of sugar... and I thought I would try my hand. Surprisingly, the sugar worked out rather well. I was terrified because I had to heat the stuff to over 300 degrees Farenheight without the sugar caramelizing, or (more importantly) burning my house down. Of course I'm not skilled enough to actually make something, and this was my first attempt so I stuck with the abstract theme. I made this sculpture and used some blue food coloring within it... I think it's interesting how it resembles glass or water that's been frozen in time. The sugar itself was so interesting to work with... at the right temperature it didn't burn my fingers, yet I could stretch and twist it to morph it into shape.

In the photograph I decided to use a white background so the viewer can see the details of the texture as well as the color. I also backlit the sculpture so that there was a black line / white line to it. Hopefully in the future, there are more opportunities for me to use sugar as a prop.

Third Quarter Final

2008-06-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

So this quarter for whatever reason, I decided to carve soap for my final project. I thought it would be a great way to work on my studio lighting skills, and it turned out to work in my favor. I ended up lighting each piece using the "Hosemaster," a fiber-optic lighting contraption made in the 80s (complete with 80s style fanny pack!). I took several photos of each piece of soap with the light coming from different directions. I then put the pictures together so it became one composite image of each figure. Each is made from 5-10 different pictures. I ended up learning a lot about masking and compositing images. These are the most successful ones of the series.

Pretty People are EASY to Photograph

2008-06-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

Not only was she easy to photograph, but she made retouching simple and fun. You don't really have to do anything to a model who is already pretty...

The Greatest Thing

2008-04-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've been a non-teenager for seven days. Life is very different. Well... more so because it wouldn't be the same had I not decided to get that salad on my birthday.

2008-04-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

I have seven days left of being a teenager. It's weird to know that I'm leaving behind the so called "best years of my life." But I'm ready to move forward. I'll cherish these last few days. Maybe I'll do a digital diary and keep if for my records.

Figure Drawing

2008-03-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that I can actually draw? I had no idea... I thought I was going to loath drawing because it's something that I've never been good at. My art teacher in middle school basically flat out told me that I should give up on drawing. But then I went to class and we had to use charcoal... and we had to hold it as a "tool" not as a "pencil"... and you know what... I really, really love it. Sure, I'm not the best artist out there, but this is fun for me, and I want to try to make it as best as I can. I know that the perspective is off because of contraposto... give me a break it's my first nude.

Oh and check out the watermark!

2008-02-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

I love staying up all night. Especially during week 10. And it's best when it's two nights in a row. Especially during week 10.

I am but A Mannequin

2008-02-15T05:33:00.000-08:00

I didn't take this photograph. I'm on the girl on the left (stage right to you theatre kids out there) with the blue hair.

So last night was opening night for the show. Everything wet wonderfully, and I could not have asked for a better performance. I love being on the stage. We didn't have a full house, but there were a good amount of people there. We usually get our large audiences on Friday and Saturday nights. But last night was a total blast and I cannot wait to get up on the stage again tonight.

Funny story about the sneak-peak (no pun intended) "invitation only" show. That was on Wednesday night. I'm in the very first dance and we have the cutest costumes. We get to wear these ADORABLE sparkly strapless dresses! Now, I'm a little bit less blessed in some areas of my body that would normally hold up a dress like that. So we stuck some socks in the top of my dress and then used tape to hold it up. You would think that would have kept the top of my dress where it belonged...

Well it didn't. Within the first 30 seconds of the dance my top had fallen to the point where the audience (or well at least the straight male portion of the audience) would have agreed that they got their money's worth. It was pretty embarrassing. I'm glad that I'm wearing a wig so people really can't tell who I am in that dance.

Oh, and I mention that Wednesday evening we video taped the show for the archives? So now my breasts are in the archives. Great.

Gucci

2008-02-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've never shot a product before. Nor have I ever shot glass. I know that this does need a bit of work with the lighting, but I think it's a good start. I ended up having to do about an hour or so of photoshop work to it, but I really feel like I highlighted the perfume bottle. Which of course was the point of the image.

This picture actually came about from a mistake. I was trying to have a model pose for me for a completely different idea, but I really didn't like the lighting in any of the final pictures. I decided that with the last 2 minutes of battery life in my camera I was going to shoot my perfume bottle. This is what I got. I'll be turning it in tomorrow for critique.

2008-02-10T17:03:00.000-08:00

So this is where I have been spending all of my time recently. Panara Theatre in LBJ. We (the NTID Dance Company) are down to our final rehearsals before our show. Dress rehearsals start tomorrow, and the the show runs Thursday through Sunday. So now, for 6 hours a day, I'm in this theatre or the studio next door, practicing and perfecting my dances. It's a bit of strain on the body, but with only one more week of this left, I think I can handle it.

Pictures aren't uploading at the moment...

Open

2008-02-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

We have two open assignments. I'm thinking about doing night photography. I have my 17 million candlepower light, and I think I'm going to put that to use this weekend. It's hopefully going to be really fun! I can't wait for it! I'll write after the first shoot.

Fashion

2008-02-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

So I've started shooting this Fashion project. I'm really loving it. I feel like I can really experiment with the lighting and I'm doing what I can to improve my lighting skills. I'm practicing a lot with rim lighting, as you can see. I'm interested in how the light curls around a subject when you place it behind them. Plus it makes them glow. I don't know, I guess I just feel like the rim light is something special that you don't see everyday. It sets a certain mood. Anywho...

This first photograph is from a group of images I shot earlier today. My model was absolutely PERFECT! Isn't she beautiful? We went through a couple of different looks, and for each one she completely changed her character. It was a great experience for us both. I really hope that I get to shoot her again in the future! So while my model was great, I had so many struggles with the lighting kit. Apparently, my kit only had one plug, so I could only use one of the lights. (I'm so screwed when I return it to the cage!). So to get the rim light, I had to rely on quick thinking and I ended up using my off camera flash. I had to literally duct-tape it to the top of my tripod. Even my model thought it was pretty ghetto...but then again, the lighting is wonderful, so who cares what the set up looked like? It's the final image that counts.

The photograph below that was taken in the studio (obviously). I went in yesterday and attempted to do my model's make up. Ha, as I believe I've mentioned in previous posts...don't let me touch your face. I'm so horrible at makeup. So my makeup job was terrible, so we had to re-do it. But when we finally had something that I could deal with, it had already been an hour. The actual shooting went really well. I feel like I've learned a lot from my teacher about studio lighting this quarter. And I've really been studying other artists work, so while I don't quite have that perfection that the magazines have, my lighting is definitely getting better.

What do you think? (Okay so blogger isn't uploading pictures at the moment...i'm going to try again in an hour...)

She's Gorgeous!

2008-01-31T12:31:00.000-08:00

We had to shoot a diptych. I had this original brilliant idea of shooting things that hold the human body together when it cant hold itself...such as thread, screws, staples etc, and i wanted to show them in casual everyday manor. (If you look at a screw in a bone on an x-ray, it really just looks like a screw that the surgeon picked up at the hardware store on the way to work that day.) Anyway, I flat out didn't put the thought into the idea, and I decided to re-shoot after a discussion with my professor. This is a project that i think will take a lot more time than i had anticipated, so I'm going to ask around and see what I can do about finding specific people and objects that I'm looking for. My professor (and class in crit) suggested finding actual bone replacements, like an artificial knee or hip. They are the strangest looking things and make wonderful still life material, especially if they are lit well. so I'm hopefully going to find somewhere where i can get my hands on one of them...but seeing in how the price tag for one of those is a little expensive (several thousand dollars, from what I understand) it's a bit out of the price range for right now. But maybe if I get the opportunity to sketch my way into the OR...

I completely changed my idea for the re-shoot I decided to go with the before and after of adding make up and nice lighting. We have a fashion shoot coming up soon, and I wanted to practice for that. So I pulled an all-nighter on Tuesday night, and re-shot this. (The hair and make up took forever!!!) These two pictures are the ones that I was the most happy with. I had another model as well, and I shot her first, but i didn't like the makeup job...don't ever trust me to paint on your face. But I loved the second image. Her confidence just radiates. She's Gorgeous!!!!