Rag Rug

Fabric assignment shot for my product lighting class.

   I have a love hate relationship with working in the studio. On one hand, there are so many different ways to manipulate light and your surroundings. With so much equipment to choose from, there are endless ways to get the image you are going for. On the other hand, it is a little overwhelming. With thousands of dollars worth of lighting, stands, props, etc it is so hard to choose what to use.
   So this week I really tried to let myself play around with things I enjoyed. Well, at least what I thought I might enjoy. I think there are many things I could improve on, but I did enjoy what I was doing so I am completely satisfied with my results.

All Natural

Available light project shot for my product lighting class.

   This picture was shot with the help of window light and a spare black sheet in my apartment. I hung the sheet from a lamp post I had in my bedroom and draped it over a small table. I made sure to place the setup at the back corner of the window because it always has nice soft light pouring in. After that, all I had to do was place the subject. I also manually focused on the bracelet so that it was the most in focus while keeping a high enough f-stop to have pretty even focus on the bag as well.

Painting With Light

Picture taken for a light painting assignment given in my small format class.

   I have always been very interested in night photography. I love the thought of being able to see stars travel across the sky in the background of an image while seeing a perfectly lit subject in the foreground. With this last assignment, I found out that this beautiful photography is not nearly as easy as it may seem. It takes long exposures that can last anywhere from thirty seconds to fifteen minutes. During the entire exposure you have to run around lighting different areas of the frame, testing to see how bright the areas need to be and where the flashes should go off. And finally all of this has to be done in complete darkness. It is a look that I hope to test more on my own time and get better at.

Get On Their Level

Taken while working on my street photography assignment for my small format class. 

   While explaining another assignment involving strangers, my small format teacher told us that we should primarily focus on taking pictures of people over the age of 12 because anyone younger that that will not have be as interesting of a subject. I for one love taking pictures of kids and am realizing it more all the time because they are so enthusiastic about almost everything.
   These girls were waiting in line for food at a church cookout and while every adult had an impatient look on their face, these three were cutting up and having a great time. When I asked to take their picture, they lit up and this was the result. I do not mean to say this is the case with every kid all the time, but a lot of kids are happy to have there picture taken (as long as they can see it once you are done.)

Perspective

Taken in downtown Asheboro. 

   I love getting a new perspective on the world. The day I took this picture, me and my roommate were walking downtown when I noticed this one spot of grass. It was only a few feet long and a few feet wide, but it looked to fresh. It almost seemed to swirl and it looked soft to the touch. And regardless of all the people watching to the restaurant next door, I knew I had to lay in it and get a picture. I wanted to capture the movement of the grass and make it just as important as the cars and buildings surrounding it.  

Worth While

Self portrait taken for my small format class.

   Becoming a photographer is very time consuming. And by that I mean making photography into a career. I think photography as a hobby is great, but when you aim to make it into more than that you have a lot more to consider. Suddenly it is not just to express your creativity, you have to learn to keep customers (or in my case teachers) happy while still keeping that creative edge. You are also expected to know the technical side of it all like the back of your hand.
   It can sometimes be hard to remember that it is more than technology and people pleasing, but when you do know how to apply both the technical and creative elements to your pictures, it ends up being worth all that time and effort.

Stranger Danger

This is not the picture I used for the assignment, but I think it really captures how I feel about approaching strangers.

   I am not the most outgoing of people so reaching out to complete strangers is hard for me. This past week, one of the first assignments I received was to take a picture of a stranger that really emphasized their eyes and get their full name. I wasn't really too nervous to start out with, but then I actually had to go ask people. It should not be hard, I mean the worst they can do is say no, but for some reason the idea of taking time out of their day just for my project stresses me out. 

   I had already photographed a fair amount of people (another one also being a young child), but none of them were quite up to par, and then I found this little guy. His big brown eyes were amazing and his grandmother was more than willing to let me take pictures of him. I only spent a few minutes shooting but I knew as soon as I finished that I would end up using one of those. They all had incredible focus and met the requirements for the assignment. This is not the last time I have to photograph strangers this summer and I am still a little iffy about it, but I think this first assignment has really boosted my confidence in approaching new people!