Digital Imaging #3

To create changes in this photo I lightened the photo, heightened the variance and reduced the colors using Photoshop.

Written assignment 2b

Interpretations and Evaluation:   After shooting pictures for assignment 1 and 2, I have learned to utilize the many different settings on the camera and gotten brave enough to step away from shooting in the automatic setting. I also began using RAW with JPG format so I would have JPG as a backup.  I now feel comfortable enough with Photoshop and Bridge to shoot only in RAW format. Even though I have taken pictures for many years, I have learned many new ways to enhance my photos.

On the critique sheet I received lots of positive comments and critiques on many of my photographs.  I was fortunate that people were honest and straight forward. The comments about cropping and lighting helped me obtain a new perception of how I could enhance the photos to make them stand out more. My photos of Sparty taken from below and with zoom was well received and appreciated for being shot from a different perspective. Overall I learned a great deal from my fellow students about creating a better photograph.

Written Assignment 2a

Written assignment #12a

The photos I took for the second assignment were of a church that my brother was married in over 20 years ago and Sparty and the Wharton Center on campus because I am graduating this year. My goal with the church was to capture the age of the building as well as to symbolize my beliefs. After a difficult year I have realized that faith is an essential part of who I am and what I need to get me through both good and bad times. Additionally, my father had not passed away yet and I have photos of him standing in front of this church with my brother that are very dear to me.

The pictures of Sparty are representative of the efforts I have made to finally get to this spot, graduation in 3 short months. I have traveled a different path than most students and the most important path along this journey was raising my 2 daughters. This is fulfilling to me because they both know that I’ve worked hard to be a good mom as well as to continue improving who I am. It has also given me a great pride in taking a bad situation (last year) and creating something positive out of it. I will mat and frame Sparty, along with my diploma and show them with pride after graduation.  I shot the Wharton Center because I liked the lines of the building and the reflection it gave off of the trees in front of it.

For these photos I used mostly aperture and shutter speed because it was snowing and the sky was drab so there wasn’t good light to work with. I was able to use the white snow bouncing off the objects and creating the light I felt I needed to get good photos so didn‘t need flash for any of the shots.

Written Assignment #1b

Written Assignment 1b - Getting Ready

Interpretations and evaluations: The first set of critiques I received for my pictures of my daughter and her friends getting ready were favorably received. The picture that received the most comments was the photo I chose as one of my final four. The girls are looking in the mirror getting ready and the class agreed that it appeared to be a collage with all of the items framed around the mirror. The lighting was effective because I darkened the shadows of the trophies on the shelf as well as on the girls. This was a fun project because it allowed the viewer to go back to a simpler, more innocent time in their lives. A time when the most important things you had to deal with was; did your makeup look okay and who would you dance with? It was fun being a part of that activity because it was my daughter’s last homecoming dance as she graduates from high school this year.

The prompts that I used in the photos were lighting, with and without flash, different apertures and shutter speeds. I wasn’t very comfortable with the changes needed to create clear images so occasionally I would use auto focus to ensure I had clear images.

Since shooting this set of photos I have learned a great deal about using the shutter speed and aperture in conjunction with one another to get a better shot. I have also learned that it is necessary to check the auto and manual focus button so the pictures are clear!

Blogs 19 and 20

Blog Prompt #19 & #20

#19. Can you think of anything that:

1) should not be photographed? Why?

As I think of different items I can’t come up with anything that shouldn’t be photographed except child pornography but unfortunately there is no way to stop that abuse with the internet and pedophiles.  Most everything else I think of either represents something that could educate, such as the photos shown in class of the Berlin Wall being torn down, or the wars being fought, teaching us history; or can bring pleasure, peace of mind or joy just by viewing them.  I believe that no matter where you are, there are photo opportunities that can help you grow.

2) cannot be photographed? Why?

I thought that the wind was something that you couldn’t capture but that isn’t true, you can catch it in the sheets on the clothes line, or the curtains blowing in the window so although it isn’t tangible, there is evidence that wind can be shot in a photo.   I don’t think there is anything that can’t be photographed.

3) you do not want to photograph? Why?

Haven’t had a camera yet that wouldn’t photograph something!  I can’t imagine anything that I wouldn’t want to attempt to get a photo of.  That is the challenge, get the shot and see if you can create a unique perspective that is different than anything else you’ve taken.

#20 Describe at least one photograph that you could take for each of the following “place” prompts.

·         An image of a synthetic “place” such as Disney World, Las Vegas, a Hollywood set, a diorama, etc.

Prompt would be to photograph the same street three different times of day, using different aperture settings to utilize the different lighting: 

Disney World – A photo could be shot using morning light as the sun comes up over the buildings and just barely touches the streets and sidewalks.  There won’t be people because the park hasn’t opened yet.  This will allow a clear view of the entire “Main Street”, there will be a calmness and serenity in the photo.  I would use the shadows from the buildings to contrast with the bright sun and emphasize the shapes of the buildings and other structures to create a collage feeling.  The perspective would be almost forlorn in the loneliness of the “happiest place on Earth”!

The second shot is taken at noon when the sun is shining directly on the people walking and the vendors selling their wares.  The scene would be chaotic and hectic with all the different color clothing, young and old people, a kaleidoscope of movement.  The lighting would be much different and it would be necessary to adjust the aperture and exposure from the morning shot to darken the photo down. 

Lastly, a shot Cinderella’s castle just after the sun has gone down.  The park lights are on and everyone is settled down to watch the fireworks rising behind the castle, showing a reflection in the lake.    There is a quiet lull in the crowd that you can sense when you look at the photo.  The shadows could be utilized to enhance the movement of the lights or to soften the crowd and show babies sleeping on their parents’ shoulders.  You would have to use a slow shutter speed to catch the images in this dark setting.

This photo would be social/cultural document.

Las Vegas – it would be taken on the strip at night when most of the activity is occurring.  You could hear the pirate ship making its trip up and down in the water, the fountains rising and falling at the Bellagio hotel and in the background of the picture you catch a shot of a prostitute selling her goods.  The social statement about prostitution in Vegas is far different than that in the Midwest.  It is culturally accepted in Vegas but if it were to occur in a rural town such as Coldwater, Michigan, it would not be accepted by the masses.  The picture would show a vast difference in lifestyles.

The prompt used for this photo would be Urban picturesque.

Hollywood set – The movie is in New York and I envision a photograph of a beautiful balcony on the 24^th floor in New York with flowers and plants all around and an incredible view of the skyline.  There is lovely lounge chairs and a table set up for a candlelight dinner overlooking Central Park.  This photo would capture the essence of security and happiness.  It would be taken at night so the lights would be twinkling in the distance and the shadows of the buildings would add a contrast to the lights of the buildings.

Historical photographer - Charles Steeler

Charles Sheeler is a painter and photographer born in Philadelphia, PA in 1883; he died May 1965 in Dobbs Ferry, New York. His education included the School of Industrial Art (1900-1903) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1903-1906), studying with the William Merritt Chase.  He left Chase when he noticed the paintings and artwork of the Italian Renaissance. At this time, in addition to painting Sheeler began working with commercial photography as a way to make money. His first camera was a $5.00 Brownie and the photography was self-taught.  He called himself a precisionist because his work emphasized linear precision.  Through his photography he landed a job with Ford Motor Company in 1927 to photograph the Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge plant.   Although he always regarded photography as secondary to his painting, it became important in his research for his paintings.

The photograph I was given was used for the cover of a book written by Karen Lucic, it is called - Charles Sheeler and the Cult of the Machine.  Here is an excerpt from the book; “At the dawn of the twentieth century Henry Adams proclaimed that the machine was as central to our modem American culture as the Virgin was to medieval culture. We worshiped in our factories as our ancestors worshiped in cathedrals. In this century we also raised up bridges, grain elevators, and skyscrapers, and many were dazzled by these symbols of the Machine Age—from American presidents such as Calvin Coolidge to European artists such as Marcel Duchamp. Charles Sheeler (1886–1965) was one of the most noted American painters and photographers to embrace the iconography of the machine. But was he high priest or heretic in the religion of mass production and technology that dominated his era?”

He is regarded as one of the pioneers of innovative American camera work as stated by Charles Millard in 1968 “Sheeler's “straight”, unsentimentalized, sharply focused pictures of urban and industrial life, so remarkable in an era steeped in pictorialism, helped shape the vision on which almost all the best contemporary photography is based.”  He is famous for the photographs taken at River Rouge as well as those taken of Shaker architecture, buildings in New York and the Chartres Cathedral. 

His work is significant because it is created in the industrial environment with dispassion.  If there are people in the photos they are minimized so as to not allow personalization of the print.   In the 1940’s he began using modified abstraction and double exposure to create new abstract forms.  He utilized gelatin silver print to print his photos*. 

He preferred using abstract subjects with geometric metal shapes along with American functionalism merged with Technological perfection and his goal was to have one viewing the pictures as if looking at a time of idealized present.  No matter what the photo was, he wanted to create perfect harmony in the universe. He accomplished this by not putting storm clouds in a blue sky, no deterioration of buildings was allowed, barns were photographed to avoid sentimentalism and he made all fields green.  As quoted on the webpage listed below it was stated “Yet for all his seemingly detached concern with the abstract purity of American rural architecture and industrial environment, Sheeler remained a highly introspective lyrical painter”. 

*(Gelatin silver prints are the most usual means of making black and white prints from negatives. They are papers coated with a layer of gelatin which contains light sensitive silver salts. They were developed in the 1870's and by 1895 had generally replaced albumen prints because they were more stable, did not turn yellow and were simpler to produce. Gelatin silver prints remain the standard black and white print type).

http://www.answers.com/topic/sheeler-charles

Memory excercise

We have had our cat Buddy for 10 years.  When he was adopted, his sister Honey came with him, she is the smiling cat on the right.  Changes that have occurred since the original picture are; Buddy is older, wider and a little bit gray and lives in a new house.  The other change is my daughter was 10 years old and in 5th grade; she is now 20 and a junior at U of M.  The memory of my daughter holding the cats in this photograph brings back the joy seen on my girls' face when they got the kittens on Christmas Day.  It was a very happy time because they had wanted pets for a long while.  To take the current picture the cat was laying on a bright pink fuzzy blanket with lots of wrinkles that contrast with the stripes on the his paw.  I enhanced the shadows using Photoshop giving it a sharper perspective and more of a 3D look and it also creates a starker contrast between the gray and black colors.

Final 4 images - assignment 1 & 2

Contemporary Photographer Assignment 3 - Chip Forelli

‘Chip Forelli's photographic objective is to acknowledge and celebrate the existence of beauty - he often finds it in unexpected or overlooked places and circumstances. He refers to these encounters as "Visual Gifts" and in turn offers them to us in the form of a fine photographic print for our own reflection. Like a Zen garden, composed of a few uncluttered objects, each of Forelli's images invite the viewer to imagine himself in the landscape. "My goal is to suggest an emotional response to the viewer and leave enough room for interpretation. I like the images to provoke a second look with some questions not immediately answered." The essence of his approach is a delicate balance of aesthetic and technical controls, this being the foundation of the workshops he conducts.’ http://www.bentleypublishinggroup.com/bios/forelli.html

Mr. Forelli was born in 1950 and began his career as an architect and a musician.  He discovered photography and was “drawn to it because there’s a demand for a fine balance between aesthetics, sensibility and craft.  If you alter the balance you run the risk of becoming overly conceptual or preoccupied with technology”.

Mr. Forelli has been a photographer for the past 25 years and provides photos and videos for companies such as Microsoft, AT&T and Olympus cameras to mention a few.  He is the recipient of numerous awards internationally.  Today he lives in the Delaware River Valley of Pennsylvania with his wife and their three sons.

http://www.chipforelli.com/

Blogs #16 – 18

“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams

I agree with this statement because at times you come upon a beautiful scene such as a sunset over a lake and you want to capture it to share with others.  You take the shot and when you transfer it to the computer screen it doesn’t look like it first did and doesn’t reflect the initial feeling you had.  I think that’s where the supreme test comes from, recreating the image you remember.

“Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.” Arnold Newman

This statement is a bit confusing but when reread it makes a lot of sense.  Since every person bases their opinions on their own life experience, 2 people could view the same landscape setting and see completely different views, thus creating an image in the photographers private world. 

“Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.” Berenice Abbott

I agree with this statement.  When you take a picture you are living in the present moment, documenting where you are in space and time and once it’s developed and framed it becomes your past.

Blogs #11, 12, 13, 14 and 15

#11____Memory of a Place: Try to imagine a place from your past. Do you have pictures of this place? Describe this place as you remember it. What might a photograph look like of this place if you were to go back and photograph it? What would it look like in the past? What would it look like to you today? Where are you standing in this place? What other items are in this place? What colors do you see? Are there other people or are you alone? Make a “written photograph” of this place using words/description.

The photo was taken on the Presque Isle Lighthouse in Presque Isle, MI.  There are 200 steps to get to the top; they are gray and circular with quarter size holes in them so you can see all the way down to the bottom.  When you get to the top you have to climb through a small hatchway, ducking your head to get on the final level and through the door to the deck.   When you step out you see a crystal clear day with beautiful blue skies, fluffy white clouds and a 360’ view of Lake Huron, it’s very windy, warm and peaceful.  I am there with my two daughters and their friends.  As you look to the north the sun is reflecting off the boaters enjoying the sun and passing by, below you can see the visitor parking lot, and a building housing the restrooms.  There is a road running the entire length of the park and it turns right and goes directly down to the water.  The south side has shadows on the trees and the soft sound of waves hitting the beach as well as a small portion of building skyline from the city of Alpena.   Looking west is water and trees, the picnic pavilion and a small, stony beach. Eastward is the caretaker’s home, trees, the lake, a large ship passing ever so slowly in the distance.  The walkway is about 4 feet wide and you are able to walk around the entire lighthouse, being careful of the door that will hit you if someone else comes out!  If I were to take the picture today it would be a frozen lake and snow, it would seem almost desolate because there would surely be no visitors on this day.  When the lighthouse was being used for the ships it would have looked differently because there would be no parking lot, no pavilion or restroom building and the road would not have been as well groomed, possibly a one lane path compared to today’s two lane dirt road that encircles the lighthouse and keepers home.

#12____Memory of a Photograph: Which photograph from your past do you remember most? Describe this photograph. Describe how it makes you feel when you remember/think about this photograph. How have you changed? How has the place in this photograph changed? What would a reenactment of this photograph look like? Would you act or look differently if you reenacted this scene today?

The photo that comes to mind immediately is one of me lying on the hammock in front of my cottage.  It’s a slightly cool day so I have a blanket covering me as well as a great book on my lap. Behind me there are jet skis flying by, fishermen sitting patiently trying to get the days catch.  When I think of the picture I feel peaceful and relaxed.  Since the photograph was taken I have divorced my husband, my oldest daughter is a junior at the University of Michigan and my youngest is graduating from high school this year.  I kept the cottage in the divorce and now when we go it is less family oriented than before.  It looks different because I sold the jet ski and the boat lift for the speedboat.  The dock isn’t necessarily as straight or sturdy as it was before and it needs to be painted.  The background wouldn’t necessarily look different but I am 5 years older with a little gray around my ears and instead of good novels, I’m reading about photography and Power, Authority and Society.   It’s a different type of enjoyment when we go there now.

#13____Human-Made Space: In the past, photographers who were interested in how humans impacted the natural landscape grouped together to form the New Topographics. “"New Topographics" signaled the emergence of a new photographic approach to landscape: romanticization gave way to cooler appraisal, focused on the everyday built environment and more attuned to conceptual concerns of the broader art field.”http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibTopo.aspx

In addition, at the same time in history artists created (and still do create) “land art” in which they use materials found in the landscape to make sculptures that remain in the landscape. Many of these works now only exist as video recordings and photographic documents.

Pay attention to the number of ways in which you encounter humans’ interaction with nature and the physical land. Write these down. Using these as inspiration, describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might create that would be documented by a photograph. Describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might make in a man-made landscape that would be documented by a photograph.

A small bridge over a creek comes to mind, the water running underneath is bubbling and moving swiftly, this could be used to create a collage style photograph, using the water, seagrass  and stones as part of the shot.

#14____Unknown vs. Familiar Space: When photography was invented, it became a way to document and reveal the specific aspects of both familiar and faraway places. Imagine a familiar place. Imagine a faraway place. How would you use photographs to convey the difference? Can you imagine any places that have been “touched” very little by humans? How might you photograph them?

The photo I have in mind is the People’s Church in East Lansing, the faraway place is the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.  One way I would create the differences in the images is to take shots from the inside out first, showing the different types of architecture used, building materials and what the building is used for.  I would then then take different angles outdoors that showed the extreme differences in style, use and look.

#15____In-Camera Collage: Collage brings together two or more items that were previously separate. The resulting piece usually visually references the fact that they were once separate entities. Imagine an important place in your past. Imagine an important place in your present. Imagine who you were in both of these past and present places. Describe how you might use a slow shutter speed and/or double exposure to capture two moments in one image that tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.

I would take a photograph of the home I lived in for fifteen years and raised my daughters in and then I would shoot a photograph of my new, improved house that I purchased 3 years ago.  In my old home I was a mom, girl scout leader, soccer coach, cheering mom, crime victim advocate and wife, with a turbulent married life.  I was active every night of the week with some activity for my girls.   We owned 15 acres of land, there was a swing set in the side yard and a pool on the opposite side of the house.  In my new house I only have one daughter here with me, the other is in college and we don’t have nearly as many evening activities as in our old house.  I am much calmer now and our house is much more peaceful and loving, there is no swing set and only one-half acre to mow!  I think I would have to use some Photoshop magic to make a double exposure because the houses are approximately a mile from each other.

Blog Prompts #8, #9, #10

#8 “My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.

I believe his comment is based on the idea that when someone takes a photo, no matter what the subject is, it's based on the photographer's idea or concept of what they are trying to portray in the image.

#9 “You don't take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams



The photographer is essentially creating a piece of art that has meaning they wish to share with others. I believe that is why pictures are made not taken.

#10 “All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” ~John Berger


I don't necessarily agree with what he is saying. An observer could also look at a painting and determine it means something completely different than the painter. Additionally, I believe that a picture is what the photographer is using to 'remember' a specific event or person so in my mind they are really the same type of art.

Contemporary Photographer - JH ENGSTRÖM - BIOGRAPHY

JH Engström was born in 1969 in Karlstad, Sweden. Although he grew up in Sweden he spent a lot of time in Paris and France while growing up. In1997 he graduated from the Photography and Film Department at Gothenburg University and published his first book called Shelter (Bokförlaget DN, 1997). He moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1998 to work on a book called Trying to Dance, and returned home to Engstrom to complete the project in 2001. In addition to photography he is involved in film making. He currently lives between Paris, Stockholm and Östra Ämtervik where he continues to exhibit his work internationally.
I chose his work based on a book he created called From Back Home (together with Anders Petersen, Max Ström in 2009). The photographs are varied and make you feel as if you have truly returned home to the ordinary everyday life that is reality. He received the 2009 Author Book award at "Les Recontres d´Arles Photographie" for From Back Home.

Portrait Tori

Recreation assignment 2

Assignment 2

My photograph was taken by Napoleon Sarony.  It is said that Mr. Sarony photographed at least 30,000 celebrities and 200,000 regular people.  When he died over 500,000 negatives were found in his studio.   He was born in Quebec, Canada in 1821, the same year his namesake, Napoleon I died.  The interesting story about Mr. Sarony is that he made history by winning a lawsuit in the United States Supreme Court for a photograph of Oscar Wilde that a company used in an ad.  The case was historical because he won copyright protection of the picture and set a precedent for future cases. 

A few people that Mr. Sarony photographed were Winston Churchill, Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde, a famous author.  The most often used photo of Mark Twains was Twain’s least favorite.  He stated it was “the damned old libel” because he felt the photo was libelous against what he truly looked like, claiming he was 30 years old when he was actually 60.  The photo I chose to recreate was of Oscar Wilde, taken in 1882.  The photo is called ‘Oscar Wilde ¾ Length Sarony Portrait 1882’.  This particular photo was not the picture involved in the lawsuit.

I don’t know that this photograph is one of the most famous or well-known but Mr. Sarony photographed Oscar Wilde numerous times and the picture is recognizable as being the work of the same man.  Reading the history of this photo and seeing the pictures of Winston Churchill and Mark Twain makes you want to learn more about the man/photographer that was Napoleon Sarony.

Sarony took this shot using nothing in the background so as not to distract the eye from Mr. Wilde.  The shadowing and his pose give the picture a dramatic effect that also seems mysterious.  It appears to me that it portrays Oscar Wilde as someone of importance and wealth.  I like the somber appearance the picture gives, it appears as if he is thinking of some long ago dream or something out of his reach.  The brightness on the right side of his coat and shadows on the left make it appear as if Mr. Sarony used side lighting to create that effect.  The picture is well balanced with the amount of light and darkness, creating a line down the center for the difference.  The contrast of his hand on the dark left side gives the perspective of continuity with the lines of the jacket.

Mr. Wilde was born close to the famine and the Year of Revolution in England so I chose to photograph a woman that may have lived in that time frame.  I used vertical lines for the background as opposed to a plain wall to give the photo depth and more visual interest.  I also used shading and low vibrancy to enhance the sober face of someone who may have lived in those difficult times. I believe it also provides a bit of dramatic effect.  My photograph represents an attitude of how it may have felt at the time in history as well as to mirror the somberness of Mr. Wilde’s life.  Although he was a famous writer, his life ended sadly.  He was imprisoned for 2 years of hard labor for gross indecency after a 4 year love affair with Lord Alfred Bosie Douglas.  After he was released from prison his relationship with Lord Douglas ended and he spent his final 3 years wandering around Europe until his death in 1900.