Awkward Fashion

I recently posted a few images on a social networking site that were fashion-types in nature.  One one of the images, I was told, was "awkward," and the model's hands were in an inappropriate position.

I stood by the image and defended the reasoning for its existence, citing examples of other, similar images that were in print and had made the model, photographer and company lots of money.

That made no difference to those who cited the inappropriateness of the image in question.

Here are the images I posted...

All photos ©Carlos Paradinha Photography

The image that was cast as "awkward" is the fourth image (second down on the right in the series) where the model is bent over, laughing, with his hand still inside the waistband of his shorts.  The commenters stated that the positioning of the model's hand, coupled with his laughter and bent over positioning lent to the idea that he was "caught in the act" of manipulating himself, or "grabbing his junk."  (I dislike that term - to state that a man's genitalia is "junk" is as offensive to me as calling a woman's vagina a "snatch" - equally as vile and uncouth in my opinion.)

I stood by the image and defended its existence as a candid moment and photographically relevant to the brand that was being 'advertised' for the school assignment (which was the use of ring lighting, btw).

With that image above in mind, please take a look at this image taken from a publication for the same line of apparel the model above is wearing:

©Abercrombie & Fitch, Summer Quarterly Catalog, 2002

What is on that lad's mind as he places his hand inside the waistband of his swim trunks and shorts while looking at the lass looking in the mirror?  Do we dare venture a guess?  Are we putting too much into the look, or the gesture, or the situation? Are we being prudish in our way of perceiving the image to be more that what it really is?  Are we taking the image out of context from the other images in the series that is an entire catalog of clothing (or lack thereof)?

My point, I would suggest, is that fashion is not only about clothing, but lifestyle.  We don't buy clothing just to cover our nakedness, but to adorn our nudity.  We accentuate, lift, shape and tuck (where necessary) in order to be alluring, sexy, appealing or what have you.  To capture that in a way that provokes attention is key to the industry, in my opinion.

Without a little provocative edge, or sex appeal, where would the fashion world be?

If I Could Turn Back Time

It's been a while since I created a post on here - and for that, I apologize.

This quarter at school has been a lot better, academically, than last quarter.  By miles.  I've been liking my Fashion class, Portraiture class, Alternative Processes Class and even my Digital Photographic Art Direction (in which I work with a graphic designer to create imagery for their layouts).

So - to get into a small bit of what's going on...  In Portraiture class we've been going through and working with lighting styles and looking at how to light both males and females differently to accentuate them as their sexual differences dictate.

For starters, We did a "self portrait" that was to show something about ourselves.  It could be as interesting, or bleak as we wanted to make it.  I, of course, went with the very symbology driven tack in an image that oozes metaphor and simile.

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

Yes, that's me as Captain America giving thanks for my spaghetti with meatball crosses and a strainer on my head and a halo behind me.  I could be here for a few hours explaining it all, but I won't.  The image is supposed to be about me "Losing My Religion" - or rather faith in the concepts that man has created around the farcical ceremonies a lot of us have been accosted by in our lives.

However, this blog isn't about religion or politics, sex or rock & roll - though there will be images that deal with those things in the future, I'm quite sure.  It's about imagery and the creation thereof - so let's continue!

The lighting pattern for this image was quite simple, and effective for what I was going for.  I used a medium soft box, up and to my right, with a fill of a white painted wall to my left and an ineffective backlight on a black background (I later Photoshopped the light behind my head in to make the halo).

I have the plate on a small table covered in black fabric that absorbs all the light and has a deep black to it to make it be less of a distraction to the main image.  I also made sure the meatball cross was right in the middle of the red stripe (I had to Photoshop that to make it 'perfect') for the proper effect.  Finally, I made my face clean and as plastic-looking as I could, without going too overboard.

I got some pretty good reviews for it, and was chided for a few weeks afterwards about it.  I kinda like it myself... :D

From the self portrait, we moved on to lighting styles - classic ones.  For males, my favorite...  Rembrandt lighting.  For females, the ultimate in simplicity... Paramount, or butterfly lighting.

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

For those unfamiliar with Rembrandt lighting, the setup is rather straight forward.  First there is a main or key light that is at 45º to the camera, high and above the subject.  The light falls across the subject's face and creates a 'triangle' of light on the opposite cheek, away from the light source.  This is to simulate a high window like they used to have in Rembrandt's day, and under which light he created his paintings.  A 'hair light' is added way above and behind the subject, feathered somewhat off the shoulders, pointing towards the camera to create a highlight on the hair and separate the subject from the background.  Lastly, a background light is added to give a subtle separation of the subject from the background even more.  There should be a 'glint' in the subject's eye(s) to give them a connection with you, the viewer, and to give them a look of life and sentience.  Dead eyes are not cool...

Rembrandt lighting is usually reserved for males because of the dramatic effect it has on the face, and the way it casts shadow that may be unflattering to women.  Hence this type of lighting...

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

Paramount, or butterfly lighting was created WAAAAAAY back in the day, at Paramount studios, to make starlets look awesome.  I daresay it works very well.  The pattern is ultra simple with one medium soft box above and in front of the subject, pointing downward to cast a pleasing "butterfly" shaped shadow under the nose (that is not to touch the lips).  We used a background light for separation, but it isn't really necessary if not desired.  A fill card was used on a table where the subject rested her arms, causing the 'light' in her eyes and filling in the shadows beneath her brows.

After we did these, all bets were off.  We were to create portraits using whatever lighting pattern we wanted to make the assignments "sing."

The next assignment was "a portrait of a woman" where we were to create an image that would be not only pleasing to the viewer, but flattering to the model.

I decided to go the classic route and see what my long dead photographic predecessors had done.  I have a really good book ("Hollywood Portraits - Classic Shots and How to Make Them" by Roger Hicks and Christopher Nisperos) that my partner got for me a while back with an image taken in 1928 that totally blew me away.

Eugene Richee took pictures of a young starlet named Louise Brooks with black on black and pearls.  I fell in love with the images and wanted to recreate them so badly I knew I had to do it.

Here are the results:

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

I thought that they were pretty stunning, and the lighting pattern for these images were very simple.  From what I learned, all he used were two beauty dishes at about 45º from the camera, aimed at the subject and at just at camera height.  

The background in these images is far away enough that it falls to a deep black quickly, and the model's dress was exceptionally black as well, absorbing most of the light with no sheen. 

Keeping with the classic style of portraiture from a past time, I looked at our next assignment - "a portrait of a man" and turned the clock forward a couple of decades from the previous shoot.  With  this in mind, I went with George Hurrell in the 1940s.

George Hurrell had a very vast array of lighting configurations and created masterpieces with them.  He must have done a ton of experimentation and in so doing, achieved superlative imagery that is still emulated today.

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

Borrowing from George's styles, I found images of Humphrey Bogart that made him look menacing and human, all at the same time.  One of the original requirements of the shoot was that the subject for the shot was to be over 35 years old.  My model had just turned 35 the week before (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!) and totally fit the bill!  I know he would make a great character for the shoot, and I wasn't wrong.  

The lighting style for these shots were not as simple as the one before.  For the bottom image, I added a background light (I didn't have one for the previous two) to make it more "Hollywood" and in character for Hurrel.  The first two were also in the Hurrell style, but I chose to leave out the background lighting and keep the rim or fill light in order to subtly define the black on black of the Fedora.  The 3rd shot still has the rim/fill lighting of the first two.

So with this shoot, I used a background light (which I then removed), a key light behind and at about 30º to the camera's right and at camera level, a second key light as a spotted Fren-L from as high as I could and at about 60º off camera axis to the right, and finally a fill/rim light at about 90º to the subject and at about shoulder level.

Again, the results were stunning.  I will definitely be taking pages from Hurrell's book of lighting and emulating his works in the future!

Our 5th assignment was to emulate a Master of Photography in the portraiture arena.  I immediately clutched to George Hurrell and worked with a model who wanted to do a conceptual piece where he was Achilles.  Since I *love* to do more editorial or theatrical imagery - I knew what was to happen...

The young man and I took a while to get the timing of the shot down, and we were plagued with an exorbitant amount of technical difficulties, including failed wiring and a burnt out lighting power pack - but we were able to get images nevertheless...!

                              

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

Speaking for themselves, the images were as close to Hurrell as I could possibly get under the circumstances.  the first one "Achilles," was a compilation of recreations of several different statues of Achilles we had found.  The second, "Achilles Before the Arrow," was a piece done for the sake of using a slower shutter speed to capture the ellipsoidal patterning in the background that can't be seen when using strobes, which we did for the first shot.  I was told that if Hurrell was alive today, he would most likely do nudes, both male and female.  I, out of my own liking of the male nude, created a piece in Hurrell's style with my (and the model's) vision.

Our 6th assignment was to capture an environmental portrait using any style of lighting that we deemed appropriate for the image.  My first attempt, was not to the instructor's liking, and rightfully so.  There was too much movement in the shot, and the individual's face was unrecognizable.

I didn't really "get" the structure and purpose of the environmental portrait at first.  After doing a little more research and going through some relevant photographs, I turned in this image:

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

With the image above, I chose to take it from a slightly lower angle in order to show that this guy was the owner, operator, creator, master cook and accountant for the business.  What people can't tell from this image is that Calozzi's started as a street vending business and is, at the time of this blog entry, just finishing their first anniversary celebrations, and expanding the business.  So, to convey that spirit of pride, hard work, dedication to something that's believed in and fought for - I captured this image of Al Calozzi next to his grill, armed with his spatulas, and beaming with tenacious pride.

One of the last assignments we had to do was either a group shot or a couple.  I had a GREAT idea for a couple's shoot, but that was not to be.  I would tell you all what that was about, but I may just keep it under wraps for a future surprise. ;-)

Since I had apparently been doing well in the class, my instructor pulled me aside one day and asked that I take a group shot of a graduating class in the Interior Design department at school.  I was more than happy to do it, and severely honored as well.  I found out that only those who are hand picked by the Photography department's faculty are able to capture that shot, and the image is displayed on the Interior Design's wall for a period of time - the length as yet to be determined.

It was a bit of a task to get the communications lines down, but once we did, I had a couple of classmates act as my assistants and we went to take the group portrait at a location of the group's choosing.  They chose a nearby pier area, overlooking the industrial side of the city.

Sadly, my poor camera was having mechanical/electronic issues and quite a few of the images came out with a 'soft' focus, though the camera had been indicating the image takes was indeed in focus.  I did what I could to save the day, but I thought it would be best to retake the image with a better camera - well, with at least one that wasn't acting funky...

Here is the image that was placed in the department's hallway:

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

Their instructor liked it a lot because it was fun and dynamic.  I liked it as well - but knew I could do better for them, so once I rescheduled the shoot, I chose the location and thankfully the weather was a lot better that day than the previous day of shooting.

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

For the most part, everyone dressed in the same outfits for the shoot (it was a week later) and the weather was absolutely stunning that day.  I thought the second shot came out weather nicely, and I was very pleased with the results.  I had a couple of other classmates assist me with the shoot on the second day as well, and just as on the first day, their assistance was incalculable and priceless.

Lastly - we had group projects in between the regular assignments where the class was split up into three groups (I was part of Group 3), and were given different tasks throughout the quarter.  The first task was to create an image from a word.  Our word was "Powerful."  We chose to use one of our group members to act as if she was a Captain of Industry and we lit her in a way that was more masculine and 'powerful looking."  The other words were "Spiritual" and "Dangerous."  We were told that we would get to re-do the task at the end of the quarter to se how our perceptions changed after we learned what were taught.

Our second task was to recreate a New York Times' Sunday paper cover using a down angle perspective with a very wide-angle lens.  It gives the person shot a very distorted and comical look.  Our idea was to do six stages of human life progression.  We did well :)

Our third task was to shoot for a magazine - our group's was Fortune.  We had to get a model who was young and and could portray an up-an-coming entrepreneur who had invented or created something of note.  We used my son, Milan, to be the young person who invented a way to use recycled materials to create skateboards that could then be themselves recycled after they expired.  

Our last task was to take the first task and create an even better image using one of the words (our choice).  I chose to use ALL of the words in one and came up with the concept.  I, as the model, played the part of a Powerfully Dangerous Spiritual image that was easily recognizable...

©Carlos Paradinha Photography

There was really no doubt in my mind that this image didn't convey the proper use of the words.  Having learned a lot about how imagery, through portraiture, could tell a story about the individual photographed, I think I'll be doing a lot better in future classes where people are involved.  I enjoyed this class immensely.

Next time - images dealing with... Fashion!

As Summer Begins (at school, that is)

So the first week of school is officially over for me.  I don't know if I should take the time to type "yeay!" or not.  I guess I just did.  Anyway - it was a good week.  I like all my classes, and I think the classmates I have in them are all quite awesome.  I like what we're going to be doing in Fashion class on Mondays, Digital Photographic Art Direction on Tuesdays, Alternative Processes II and Portraiture on Wednesdays...  I've scheduled myself for darkroom time at school on Sundays, late, just before they close.

I'm really looking forward to posting the images created this quarter here.  I'm also working on creating a web site for myself that is more professional, less bloggy, and full of imagery that is conducive to me actually getting a gig somewhere with cool companies that like what I do.

Let's see...  With Fashion, I'm looking at doing something that will be a bit on the whimsical side - hopefully my location pans out and I'm able to execute my vision for the shoot.  It's almost too simple of a shoot, with minimal equipment and all that, but sometimes the simplest things become a wet bag of worms.

With Digital Photographic Art Design, I'm going to be paired up with a nice graphic designer to create an ad campaign of some sort that is a bit on the editorial side.  My alley.

Alternative Process will be pretty cool with the prints we're to create - one of the processes, something unpronounceable by mere mortals, seems like it will potentially yield some amazing images.  Stoked.

Portraiture will have some envelope pushing potential, and I'm really looking forward to working with the people in the class.

But, before I can post anything here from school, I have to do homework!  And I'm still formulating some of the imagery I need to compose and stuff. So, until I can share my images with the blogosphere, I will leave you with some older images I did with a gentleman named Darrell who is a Yoga instructor in Virginia.  He's a very awesome individual and will BEAT YOU UP in Yoga.  I remember bleeding internally through my eyes under his instruction.  It was THAT good.

These were for you, Jennifer.... ;)

Becoming New Again

Have you ever gotten something from somewhere, or made something with your hands and really liked the way it came out, put it away (or moved a few times, misplacing it in some haphazard box), and then forgot about it for a while?  Have you then found that 'thing' and looked at it with "new eyes" (a new perspective)  and made changes to it with the upgrades and updates to your thoughts and feelings?

I have.

I've taken some images that I thought were pretty outstanding - but I dislike what I do for the most part.  Well, it's not that I dislike it, I just feel I should be doing "better" than I am, and I'm my own worst critic (reference "Not Good Enough").

So while on this 'summer break' from college, I went strolling through some of my 'older' images and attempted to exercise my creative muscles I toned during this past quarter and quarters prior.  I must say that the ability to change the image I had first taken into something more appealing (at least to me), made me smile a bit.

As from the post before this, I had images of Justin that I had 'thrown away' because of some sort of technical, esthetic, emotional, stupid reason and shelved them in the depths of my hard drive.

Taking the time to separate Justin from the background and using the tools I gathered in my Digital Illustration class, I was able to allow a more fatally flawed image to become a pretty good black and white portrait of a physically fit and handsome young man in his prime.

Not wanting to leave well enough alone, I went for another...

I did the same with the image above.  I took Justin from the background and manipulated both it and he separately.  I wanted to ensure I still was able to use the tools in my 'tool belt' and see if my new perspective on images made a difference on a shot that I would have formerly discarded as a misfortunate loss.

I know I should put up the original, but I don't want to spoil the imagery that I've created here.  I think that the law of primacy is in full effect here, and the image you all see first, will be the one you will remember best.  So to taint that image with my flaws, would be sad, IMHO.  I mean, if this was to be some sort of tutorial, I would gladly put up the originals and show the process of making the end product, like I did with "Something Old".

These are just about beautiful imagery to caress the eyes of the viewer who takes pleasure in them.

I was asked when I was going to take images of women like this.  I didn't want to answer.  I think there are SO many beautiful images of women out there in various stages of pose, dress, attitude, circumstance, lighting, color... that is exhausting.  There are few images of men that are as stunning as of women, so I would like to be one of those photographers that do the masculine form a bit of justice.

It's All In The Way You View It

We've been taught in school that photography is not capturing an image as much as it is capturing light.  The image itself is just what is seen through reflected light that bounces off a particular object and is captured in our eyes, deciphered through our brains, and decoded after being put through filters and blinders and stigma and prejudice and emotion.

It's true.  Though we pretty much all see the same way, physically - for those who can see (and I'm trying to split hairs here - lol), we all don't actually view the same thing the same way as the person right next to us.  That person can be our identical twin with the exact same genetic makeup as us and that twin would have a different concept of what was being seen.

So when I capture light, I would like to do so in a way that pleases *me* most, first of all, and then if it pleases others... awesome.  In so doing I've started to refer to myself as a time cop: I arrest light (and therefore, time, since there are theories about the two being intertwined) and place it under my complete control and scrutiny.  I then bend it to my will, altering its essence in some ways to ultimately put it on display for others to see.

An ant in amber, or a mammoth in Arctic ice have nothing on an image frozen in time and space - virtually incorruptible.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of working with a guy who had done many images for myself and my partner to create card art for both online and physical card/board games.  He was skeptical at first, but as time went on, he saw that what we did was not only fun, but interesting and challenging.  After a session where we did a shoot for one particular card game or another, the camera was still at the ready and he and I went for it.  "Tim" was feeling artistic, and wanted to get some images to help him with his own modeling gigs that sometimes popped up.

Some of the results of that shoot have been posted on my deviantArt 'gallery'.  I recently went back through the images we had taken and did a bit of creative editing, the results which I'll post here.

"Tim" has undergone some medical issues as of late, and he doesn't look as you see him above at the moment.  He, like me, has to work hard to maintain his physique - though I have never even remotely looked as good as he does! LOL.  We both are quick metabolizers and lose weight quickly.  For those who suffer from weight loss issues, I must say being thin all the time is no picnic either.  But that's another issue...

Looking at these images allows me to go back in time to the actual shoot and the amount of fun and creative energy that was part of it all.

I don't think that there has been a time where I haven't been nervous about taking imagery of people.  People are much different than taking images of landscapes or buildings  - people have attitudes and are WAY more dynamic and fluid than anything else that can be photographed (with maybe the exception of animals... or water. :D)

To say I was nervous during this shoot is an understatement.  I wasn't yet in school for photography (remember, this set was taken in 2009...) and I was going by instinct and what I had seen in books, magazines, the internet, and TV.  I wanted to ensure I captured Tim in a good light and with enough masculine drama to make it worthy of anyone's attention.

There are those who really like to photograph women with the lack of clothing and in soft, feminine settings.  I have seen so many exceptionally beautiful images of exceptionally beautiful women that they have become commonplace.  I would like to do the same for men, but in the opposite direction: create exceptionally handsome images of exceptionally handsome men in hard, masculine settings.

I tend to think that there aren't enough of those out there, and as a time cop, it's my responsibility to ensure that justice is served.  ;-)

Looking Back a Bit

I wanted to continue adding images from last quarter onto this blog in order to not only show what progresses I've made in my photography, but to also keep the discipline of blogging.  :D

My former entry dealt with my Advanced Lighting class and all its challenges.  This entry will be centered around my Digital Illustration class, which is heavily Photoshop intensive course of study.

The first assignment was to create a panorama using six or more images stitched together in Photoshop that held some visual interest.  I had three different panoramas that I created (and have blogged about them in past entries) but entered the one below as my final for the first assignment.

I added the extra bubbles to the left because the bubbles blown by the model wouldn't fly to the left.  They had this strong desire to follow the breeze to the right and wouldn't listen to creative reason.  Sad, really, that we can't bend soap bubbles to our will.  But I guess that's the ultimate joy of being a free spirit.

Our next assignment was to take an old photo and restore it to a more digitally, and printed beauty that it may not have possessed when it was first taken, or would enhance the image to make it even better than the original.  The image below was the final product of that assignment.  I did write an entry for the entire process for the image below, so if you want to read about what I did to create it (even though I got my port and starboard backwards...), please do!  It was a very interesting process that required quite a bit of patience and dedicated effort.

Assignment Three was to take a color photograph of our own capture (the more color the better) and transform it into a black and white image that would be appealing to the viewer.  To do that colors would have to be altered away from their compliments, shades, hues, brightness and chroma in order to create the varying shades of grey necessary to allow the photo to be visually appealing.  

The following image was taken in color and then manipulated to make it the black and white image you see here.  The swordsman to the far right is wearing red and black.  The lass next to him was in green, as was the young rogue with the machete-like blade.  I had to change the lass' tunic from green to blue in order to separate the couple from each other, but make the color not so blue and to be the same value as the red of the swordsman.  The 'take' of a knight to the far left was easier to deal with since the biggest color saturation was in his cape/cloak.  Tweaking in 10 different color palates was a bit of a challenge, but it yielded some great results.  The biggest complaint for this piece was that the 'tank's' metal legging was 'blown out' and lost the detail of individual plates where the lines were lost to the bright lights.  Also, they weren't 'dirty' enough for their positions as fighters and medieval characters.  Personally, I thought they looked pretty awesome...  :D

Taking what we had learned so far with color manipulation and selection techniques and our growing Photoshop skills, our next assignment was to produce a high dynamic range (HDR) image.

Desiring to expand on my 'Black Balloon' theme, I took my model armed with three black balloons into the light link rail stops beneath the streets of Seattle, WA.  We started at the International/Chinatown station, and worked our way, one station at a time, to the Westlake Station, the last stop in the line so far.  Though we were approached by the security guards at a couple of the stations, we were mostly left alone and allowed to take the images necessary to satisfy the creative assignment I wanted to capture.  

It wasn't altogether easy.  

The balloons, not unlike the free-spirited bubbles of my first assignment, didn't want to stay still very well, and swayed desperately with every pass of a bus or light train.  The image above was one capture of at least a dozen or more different settings with the balloons in different areas and different positions and different lighting scenarios.  Honestly, it was a 'happy accident' that I was able to stop the bus that is zooming by at the exact instant that a clear area could be viewed and my model could be seen through that clear spot.  Sadly, the balloons are not able to be seen, and he looks a little lost as he holds strings that go seemingly nowhere, and looks to me on the other side of the station for direction, though the bus cut us off to each other's viewpoint.  Only the camera's eye was fast enough to 'blink' us together.  

I used a faux HDR effect on this image in order to bring out the lights and darks of the image to make it not only grittier, but more visually correct - since our eyes see more than the camera 'sees.'

Because we had so much 'fun' with HDR, our assignments changed to encompass more of them, and to expand on them.  We were to go and start taking images that actually *meant* something to us and had visual story-telling in the mix.  Attempting to gather images that fit the criteria asked for in class, I went on a small photo walk with my son and we took some shots around town.  It was tough to find any sort of 'muse' in the mix of images, and I didn't really have a 'focus' as far as finding a theme or meaning in what I was capturing.  The following HDR image was created as a result of putting more into the photo than was really there.  By that I mean I gave it meaning when it really didn't have much other than visual appeal to me, and gave me a very small sense of a reminder of my time in the navy.  I was exposed to quite a bit of nautical flora and fauna, and never truly appreciating it for its beauty and complexity.  It was a stretch, and I knew it gave off a scent of cheese, but I went with it.  I really liked the vibrance of the colors and the depth of blue sky.

The major complaint for this piece was the lollipop looking shadows in front and behind the couple walking together to the right.  The moon could have been enlarged as well for a dramatic effect...  I guess the main thing I took away from all of this was to keep looking at the world around me with a different eye.  I walk around with an attitude of more meaningful observations of situations around me.  I look around and inject meaning into meaningless situations, areas of disinteresting scenes, sad and worn out places or human interactions.  Doing that makes what I see be a little more meaningful, for me, but doesn't mean that what I capture in the future will carry any more weight or hold any more interest than the stuff I created or captured in the past...

Lastly, we were to create an HDR panorama.  The ultimate in both panorama skills and HDR skills.  The image was to be the afore mentioned interesting creation that had some sort of personal meaning and theme.  This is what I came up with:

In this image I tried to tell a story that was not only a bit complex, but a bit themed.  I titled it "Color Theory" and told the story that as a rule I don't tell others what I was "thinking" when I create a shot like this. I allow the image itself to do the talking to each person and to allow it to manifest itself within them as a personal "conversation." 

So here's my thought process behind this image: First, I wanted it to be colorful. With that in mind, and with the added difficulty of balloons outside in a breeze (due to the previously epiphany of bubble's and balloon's free-spirited nature...), I set off to do a color theory piece where the shirt and balloon were compliments of each other. That turned into a bit of a statement of creativity and I orchestrated the piece to be a little more interactive. The gist of it is that we're all different, and we all have our talents, imperfections and quirks. From the red shirt with the green balloon talking to the orange shirt with the blue balloon who is paying more attention to the yellow shirt with the purple balloon - that's a bit of a statement about cliques and the way they work. Also about how sometimes those we are interested in are more interested in something/someone else who are seemingly more attractive or outwardly vibrant, even though they are not altogether different than either ourselves, or the other(s) we ignore... 

The green shirt with the red balloon is being consoled by the blue shirt with the orange balloon while the purple shirt with the yellow ballon is walking away, looking down the road. In this set I wanted to show that the creative is always available and happiness is for the taking - even looking to see who else can be taken in by a sunny disposition (yellow balloon). And finally, there are those who "have it all" (grey shirt with all the balloons) and pass us by every day while we are aloof (man with no balloons, hat & glasses) to their potential and awesomeness as people. That was my little story with the colors and such... :D

And yes, I put the Needle on the yellow shirt's head on purpose - I knew the tangency has been and will be a point of contention, remark, and observation. It also stands for the imperfection of the creator of the piece who (seemingly) didn't take this into account. (I have a few images of yellow shirt without the Needle above his head, and chose this for statement's sake.)

So, with all that said, the six assignments allowed me to touch on even more creativity within myself, and draw upon the creativity of others as we all walked along the same road, though not necessarily together, or at the same time.  I can't say I didn't totally enjoy the process of bringing these images to life and to the eyes of others who both enjoyed them and critiqued them to be better.

I'm looking forward to the next installment of this class - Digital Illustration III, in the fall.

Spring Quarter's End

I have no idea why this past quarter has been so shitty.  It was pretty much a general consensus that my classmates and I had a very creatively crappy 11 weeks.

Although they were not of the highest caliber, there were some lessons learned and new techniques acquired that will serve me well in the quarters to come.

From my Advanced Lighting class, we started with a gradated background and a simple product shot:

This was supposed to be a shot where we were to "sell" the product in some way that was flattering and appropriate to the subject.  Since these are Magic: the Gathering cards, and the cards above the pack are cards dealing with 'flying,' I thought this wholly appropriate.  The instructor, however, thought differently, and I had to reshoot...

The above was the result of the reshoot.  The first image is to be black and white, but because I wasn't approved for its go-ahead, I left it the way it was, in color.  The second shot was approved and it went forward.  

Assignment Two was the black on black image that was supposed to be something 'interesting' that would be cool to see in a black on black setting.  I wanted to keep things in the genre that I have been working with for a while now and take the focus away from boring boxes. I previously posted the image in an earlier blog entry, but here it is again for your viewing pleasure:

Though meeting the criteria of the shoot, technically, the instructor wasn't happy with the content of the image and wanted a reshoot to be done.  He found the most nit-pickiest of flaws to call for a new image to be created.  It was then that the nail was driven into the coffin for the final time.  I wouldn't be doing any arguing on my behalf, I would do as I was told and move on.  A reshoot followed:

Here is the result of THAT reshoot.  A very interesting box that was well-lit and a black on black epitome of quadrangular perfection.  Much better than the first image, don't you agree?

Assignment Three was that watch shoot that had us dealing with shiny specular parts of the watch with the pesky glass parts.  I made sure I did *exactly* what was required.  The watch was set at the exact time required, and I set it up on a very manly leather background, propped up on the backbone of a moose from Alaska.  It was quite dead and picked clean when we found it near a glacier.  We deduced the moose was hit by a semi and killed by the side of a highway near the national park where we saw how far back the glacier had receded.

This particular image was allowed to move forward without a reshoot!  Yeay!

Assignment Four was to be a shot of silverware where the fork was the main focus of the shot.  it had to be set up with a particular template layout and look very shiny!  This was my input for that particula assignment:

Needless to say it wasn't good enough.  I had to reshoot this image because the fork had a grey area on the belly of it.  So off to the studio I went not too much later to reshoot the image...

So there it is - the image that made it through.  Notice there is no grey on the fork at all, and it is very shiny!  There was an issue with the image because it lacked enough styling.  There was nothing that stated there was to BE styling, but that's the nature of the way we were given assignments...

Assignment Five was a portrait using a background light, a hair light, a key light and a fill light (which was to be a card to bounce the light from the key light).  The key light could be directly in front of the model (butterfly lighting), at 30º of the model (loop lighting), 45º of the model (Rembrandt lighting) or 90º of the model (split lighting).  I chose Rembrandt lighting for my image because I like the way that looks.  Here was my first attempt:

This, of course, wasn't good enough.  It was too dark and the hair light wasn't right because it lit part of the model's forehead.  So, after a bit of regrouping, I went back to the studio and reshot.

This was the result of the reshoot.  It did come out a lot better, I must say.  With ever redo I was learning some sort of nuance that I didn't have in my toolbox from the first shoots.

Assignment Six was to be a challenge since it was an outdoor portrait with lots of caveats.  I did have a pretty good place to do the outdoor image for myself, and I thought I executed it pretty well...

This was done in a kind of nasty part of town, near the highway and between downtown and an older part of the city that is very 'colorful' to say the least.  This image, of course, wasn't to the instructor's liking, and was said to be under exposed.  I just agreed and looked for another image in my list of images taken that day that would be closer to what he wanted, since going back out to do a reshoot would have been impossible.  Finals were looming and there was a lot of work in other classes that needed attention as well.

This was the image I selected for the 'reshoot.'  It was accepted though the sun was in the model's face, and the fill light wasn't right, leaving a shadowed gap between the light of the sun and the light of the strobe. Oh well - I knew it was not the proper image that time, but I was pressed for time and availability of equipment, so...  I took what I got and was happy to have it.

The last assignment was to take what we had learned and come up with an image that demonstrated our accumulated knowledge of lighting in an advanced manner - on a metal, specular (shiny) object.  It was to be a creative shoot that could be used in an advertisement or catalogue.  Here is what I turned in:

I titled this "Gun Safety Announcement."  I used what I learned from the silverware shoot, plus my modest abilities in Photoshop to create the image above.  There really wasn't that much in the way of Photoshopping done to the image.  I had a few shots with the gun bathed in red light like it was being reflected from an ambulance, as well as a few images done with a blue light like there were police cars present.  All I did was add the blue light onto the red lit gun to create what you see there. The concrete sidewalk was actually just a 16" x 16" slab from Home Depot.  They also had the caution tape.  I got kid's sidewalk chalk from Office Max to make the hand outline.  The revolver is my own and quite legal, thank you very much.

It was met with quite a bit of praise and verbal accolades.  Seems like I did a good job of 'telling a story' with my image.  See, this is the stuff that I want to get into - editorial photography.

I had other classes that were challenges, including Photojournalism, Psychology, Digital Illustration II (the images of which I will post later), and Alternative Processes I where I learned to create images with chemistry on cool papers.  I'll post those in a future blog post as well.  I really liked those classes, but they were overshadowed by Advanced Lighting - the frustration which I displayed above.

I *was* given the chilling warning that I need to step up my game.  I took this very much to heart, and have already vowed (internally, of course) to take the old motto from the shelf I placed it on after an admired colleague left school to pursue a life in our 50th state: "Go big or go home."

Well, now it's the summer break, and I intend to take the motto of the past and revive it.  I'll share the fruits of my labors once Summer Quarter rolls forward.

Thanks for reading until now.  I appreciate your patience...  :D