Watch THIS!

In order to really capture the amount of dislike I have for my Advanced Lighting class, I'd have to write this blog with the tip of my dry and calloused tongue after I dragged myself across my studio floor, hands tied behind my back, beat with a rusty tripod, nude.  And then doused with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, depending on the level of mercy my torturer contained.

So - the image I created for the "boxes" product shot had to be redone because it was dark, admittedly, but the composition wasn't to the teacher's liking.  He's the boss.  So, I reshot it and it 'barely' made the cut.  It'll be here after this entry.

Next, the black on black image of the skull was rejected for exceptionally minor lighting flaws, but mainly because the teacher didn't like the subject.  He never specified it had to be a black box-shaped object, or some other technical thing.  Just that it had to be 'visually interesting.'  And, since I had to reshoot it anyway, make it a black boring box presented in an interesting way.  No worries.  He's the boss.

Next assignment was to shoot a watch.  Yes, a watch.  These things seem like they'd be easy to capture on film since they are, by all practical means, still life.  They have to be set at either 1:50 am/pm (0150 / 1350 for you 24-hour types) or 10:10 am/pm (1010 / 2210 for you afore mentioned 24-hour types). This requires the battery to be removed, and to ensure the pin that sets the time is pushed in.  Also - it needs to be an analog timepiece of either the wrist or pocket watch variety.  The metal must be silver or gold, and can be shiny or brushed.  The watch should be presented in a pleasing way, well lit as to show all sides without darkness on its specular surfaces...

I have no idea if I did the right thing.  I guess we'll see when the critique comes, but holy hell...

Paint it Black

As far as set up goes, there's hardly anything that's simpler than a Black on Black set.  With a simple stand to hold the black velvet background, an overhead medium sized soft box, another stand to hold the pole or dowel that will have the simple black object attached to it and some white fill cards here and there (as well as the object to be photographed) it's pretty much all there is to it.

The tricky part is lighting it well enough to show three good sides and 'depth' in the object being photographed, as well as keeping the lighting from blowing out behind the object and ruining the black that's back there...

So though the rigging is simple, the execution is very tough.  Add a factor of interest, and you've got the beginnings of a recipe for disaster or utter failure at the very most.  An awesome shot at the very least...  Or something "meh" in between.

After some playing around with the concept of not wanting to shoot the mundane, I did a little creative blackening of the object below and attempted to do it some macabre justice.  I hope I succeeded...

©Carlos Paradinha Photography
Black on Black

I Just Want To Be In Your Panorama

The third quarter of school started with a flurry of assignments.  From Digital Illustration II, to Advanced Lighting, I had more image capturing assignments than ever before.  Somehow I got them all done, and even had some sunny moments to work with!  I was really surprised.

One of the assignments we got was the interesting task of creating a panorama from multiple images taken in sequence of something that would be considered "not your typical panorama."  A few of my classmates had some creative images, but the instructor thought them either boring, or not interesting enough.

I tried to get something less cliché than the usual panorama of a cityscape or a beach or a forest... So the following few images are panoramas I've created for class.  I'm only turning one of them in, and I've yet to make that decision.

"Black Balloon"

©Carlos Paradinha Photography.
Eight images put together to form the whole.  Clear Creek Nursery, Silverdale, WA.

"Playing In Traffic"

©Carlos Paradinha Photography.
Twelve images put together to form the whole.  Sodo, Seattle, WA.

"Battling The Troll"

©Carlos Paradinha Photography.
Nine images put together to form the whole.  Fremont Troll, Fremont, Seattle, WA.

New Digs

After a stint in Bremerton, we're now back in Seattle.  Why?

Because.

It was a matter of logistics and the availability of non-aquatic roads for both work and school.  The new place is temporary, for now, and so it would pan out, but a couple of years is still a couple of years and time has this really crazy tendency of going faster than it's expected.

There may be a change in career options in the not-too distant future.  This would throw a proverbial wrench in the current works as the new work thing wouldn't be so much in the way of photographic stints - nor would it be conducive to schooling.  But all of this is a feather blowing in the wind at the moment, and may all be for naught.

If that's the case, I'll be posting works for not only the upcoming quarter, but the quarter after that and the one after that for a few quarters after that.

So the new place will be able to 'host' gallery showings in the future - once we've set things up...  here are a couple of images of the way it looked before we moved in.  I'll look better once we have art on the walls and stuff...

The "gallery"

Center hallway area - the fireplace is
non-functional... sadly

Titus is the master of all he surveys

Photo(s) I Always Wanted To Shoot... #2

So the quarter has finally drawn to a close, and it was a very quick, yet drawn out 11 weeks.  I remember getting the first assignments in class, going on photo trips and then here we are taking final exams, doing final presentations, handing in final reports, and presenting final images.

Wow.

Next quarter will be on us very, very quickly, and it'll be a little more intense than this last one - at least for me.  I think I said that about this last quarter at the end of the first, didn't I?  I dunno, I think I did.  :D

For the final image of the quarter, I'll post the image that was the final in my Photo Design class.  Like the first Photo I Always Wanted To Shoot (PIAWTS), this is a concept piece that I want to carry through to other shoots in the future.  It's a recreation of a sculpture of the Greek Hero, Theseus, slaying the Centaur.  It was originally done by an Italian sculptor, Antonio Canova, in 1811 for Napoleon.

Hopefully this is just one of many to come in the future.  I love the Greek/Roman sculpture of heroic scenes and mythological characters from their old pantheon.  To be able to "bring them to life" is a desire of mine whereby I recreate them with artistic quality and aesthetic grandeur, bringing my own vision to the classic/archaic masterpiece as well as updating the vision behind the dynamics of the sculpture.

I'm looking forward to images to come, and sharing them with others!

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

Canon 7D with Photoshop manipulation of the Centaur.  ;-D

Symbolism

So - it never ceases to amaze me that life has a way of making itself known in a tangle of ways which ultimately makes it more complex than what it needs to be.

I've noticed that each time we have been poised to move from one place to anther, something dramatic looms in the distance, waiting to strike and spitting piss and vinegar.  This time it's no different.

I would like to be able to rant and rave and carry on about the woes, trials and tribulations that accompany this move, but I will not.  I dare not.  The reason is because I feel that the more that it's dwelt upon, the more life it's given.  What I will do is move forward and allow the past to recede into the background.  As it does, it will not only become smaller in my rearview, it will also become less din.

So onward - this past week's assignment for Photo Design was to come up with an image that would tell a story in and of itself through the imagery alone.  We had a very broad range of topics from which to choose.  Hopefully my topic is readily apparent.

©Carlos Paradinha Photography. 

People have prescribed many different people to the wearer of the black shoe in this image.  Undoubtedly you will too.  What remains constant is the feeling that the image conveys the sentiment and acknowledgement of a lot of folks who feel that it rings true.

The Magic of Lighting

As a photographer in training, one of the first things I was taught was that no image can be captured without light.

I was like "duh."  But the truth of the statement sank deeper and I thought about it a lot more as the weeks progressed and I was playing, shaping, caressing, toying, experimenting with light.  Oh yes, I also cursed it and its fickle ways, but I knew it was a tool that was constant as math, and sometimes just as frustrating and confusing.

I learned a bit about the absence of light as well - I believe that's something more to be explored, but the appearance of something can be just as dramatic as its non-appearance.  "negative space" as it's called.

I'm hoping that as these weeks go on that i refine my shaping of light, and constrain it some - enough- to make images that are not only alluring, appealing and interesting - but memorable as well.

Lighting Class' Product Shoot.  This was supposed to have had specific
criteria as far as background gradation and lighting on the products.

Lighting Class' Silverware Shoot. Trying to light very shiny objects without
getting 'hot spots' with the light and blowing out the edges is tough.

Lighting Class' Texture Shoot.  This was a lesson in directional lighting
to capture the textures of the objects lit.  Directional lighting is key,
and shadowing plays a huge part.  I kinda missed the mark a bit on this,
but I learned a lot in the process.

Lighting Class' Glassware Shoot.  This is mostly to get the
idea that backlit objects can be not only beautiful, but
practical in its execution.

Lighting Class' Glassware Shoot.  This is extra credit work.
We had to come up with some alternative lighting styles
to light glass in a pleasing way.