Week 9 EOC: Emotional Photo

When I had to choose a famous photograph to write about for my EOC this week, I decided once again to think a little more outside the box and go with a photo that really touches hoe with me. I wanted to choose a photograph that relates more with the type of work that I plan to be doing myself, instead of being like everyone else and choosing a photo that would just be way too common. I’m a very unique person so I try to make my work stand out that way also. With that being said I decided to choose a photo that I was able to find from this week’s game on Thanksgiving of the Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo trying to throw the ball from inside the pocket. In this photo you can clearly see that he is attempting to look down the field to find an open receiver to catch the ball and make a touchdown. This particular game was played against the Miami Dolphins who actually ended up losing the game in the last few seconds of it by one point, the final score being 20-19. Also in this photo it displays great sportsmanship of the team members of the Cowboys offensive team trying to help keep their quarterback protected to make that play complete. The emotional attachment I have to this particular photo aside from the fact that obviously I’m a die hard Dallas fan but the fact that my main goal I actually have set for myself is to be the main photographer that works for the team in the near future. I want to be that particular photographer that is down on the sidelines of the Dallas stadium capturing this particular photo and have it known by anyone looking at it knowing exactly which game and which specific play it was.  

Week 9 BOC: Cyber Monday

For this week’s BOC I went and searched for the best lens that I have wanted for the longest time and found it listed in the sale for cyber Monday. I have been wanted this lens ever since I read somewhere from another famous sports photographer. He recommends that this is one of the best lenses to shoot sports from a far range. Of course I still need to get the better camera body to go with the lens but first thing is first. The particular lens I have found and am ready to purchase to help me get the better photos that will help me to increase my money making flow is a Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L IS (Image Stabilizer) USM Autofocus Lens. This lens can be found on B & H Photo’s website listed under the holiday specials and gift ideas section. It just happens to be the very first one at the top of the list when you click on the link that will take you into the section of lenses and flashes. The going rated special price for this particular lens is $1,614.00 with an instant savings of  $140.00 bringing the total down to $1,444.00 and the shipping is free within the USA. This particular special offer ends on January 7, 2012. There is also that option to buy it used and save a pretty penny or two, but who knows the real quality of an item that has been used and how many more great shots you can actually get from it. That buying price is listed at $1,299.00. Honestly, I think I’ll take my chance and spend the extra and buy the brand new one at least that way I have a little better of a guarantee and warranty on the newer lens.

Week 8 Photo challenge: Combat Photography

For this week’s photo challenge of a combat photographer, I was a little confused on exactly what was required for this challenge. So I had the opportunity to talk to a couple different people and asked them what their interpretation was of the assignment. I got a couple different answers to my question and decided to take the second answer and go for that approach on this challenge. I decided to capture a photograph of myself having a pillow fight with myself. I set my camera up on my tripod next to my kitchen so I could have enough light without having to use a flash. I was using my 50mm lens and had the f/stop set all the way down to an f/1.8 aperture. I also had the ISO set at 400 due to the minimal amount of light that was available. I had the shutter speed set at 1/125 of a second. I took various shots to try and create the illusion of the idea that there was actually two of me battling each other. I wanted it to look more real than fake so I made sure that I had different shirts on and that my hair was styled differently. With having taken many different shots there actually was only 1 shot from each direction that actually worked well with each other. Once I had gotten the two that worked I took them and uploaded them into bridge first to correct the lighting of them, following up with them in photo shop. After getting the first image lined up I took the second image and used the magnetic lasso tool and cut myself out of the other image and lined myself up in the new photo. After that was done then it lead you to the image you see before you the final product of my version of a combat photograph.

Week 8 EOC: What makes a Photograph Great?

What do I think makes a photograph great? That is actually a harder question to answer than most people would think. When it comes to making and creating a great photograph, there are many things that come into factor with the whole process. With what many will think it is not the printer that makes a great photograph or the camera its self, no it’s the person that is actually looking through the viewfinder at that particular moment in time. Every person that aspires to become the next great photographer thinks they have what it takes to be the best. Well that is true in some sense of the word; every person sees things in a different aspect than the next person. What may look great to one person may not have the same exact effect on the next person. “Every image needs strong underlying compositional order so that it grabs the eye from a hundred feet away.” A great photo has to have something in the image that is going to make the viewer look at it and say something that is going to express the greatness behind your photo that will always be in your mind when you or anyone else ever looks at that photograph. A great photograph is one that will get out there to the right person and will end up being published all around the world. A great photograph will be great to the extreme of a Pulitzer Prize. A photographer knows when they are taking the photograph whether or not that photo is going to be classified as a great photo. A true photographer has the eye to see a great photo as it emerges unlike someone that is just taking photos as a hobby for fun.

Week 7 Photo Challenge: Manet

For this week’s weekly photo challenge I decided to choose a famous painting that was painted by Edouard Manet. It is called the “surprised nymph”. I chose this particular painting because after viewing the film in class this week when they began to gradually great a little more artistic with the small amounts of nudity in the photographs. When the whole time the famous painters had already been painting nudity into their artwork. That is how people would view it as was art not some kind of pornography. This particular painting was actually painted on a canvas with oil paints in the year 1861. The Nymphs are spirits of fields, woods, streams, of nature in general, personifying its fecundity and gracefulness. They were considered secondary deities; nevertheless, they were respected, sometimes feared and prayed to. This painting was created in Paris, France and falls under the style of Realism, and is in the genre of mythological paintings. It to this day resides in the gallery of Museo Nacional de Bellas, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This painting to me looks like she was sitting in the woods alone as if she was thinking about something very important and decided to remove her clothing while she was thinking, and she had gotten startled by someone that snuck up on her and surprised her. Argo, the whole name of the painting “Surprised Nymph.” To fulfill this weekly challenge I took this painting into photo shop and used the text tool to add my personal watermark to it as I do when I make and finish editing all my own photographs.

Week 7 EOC: Adult Content

After watching the film Gentlemen’s Relish, I have come to find that the way things were starting to develop back in those times were being portrayed as so true. It was not something that was taken very lightly in the beginning. The art form of paintings that you would find during that time of nude woman was not uncommon at all. It wasn’t unnatural to see that. Now a day seeing that type of work based in photography no one will turn a strange eye away from it. During that era as it was being introduced in the world of photography people would try to find it a little obscene at first, until they had the opportunity to really view it as beauty in its own form.  In its time it was also a way to start getting it out there as a form of pornography but in a subtle then it is perceived as today. As far as how the photographer got hoaxed into doing the type of nude photography is not that uncommon. There are many different types of people these days that will try and work that same idea into the world of photography today with out it falling more into the porn industry. There is always a middleman that is trying to get out of it everything that he can financially. With that being said, today its even better with all the copyright laws that we have in place it makes it a lot easier for someone’s photos to stay controlled by the actual photographer. Instead of by the middleman who wants to try and squeeze what he can out of it as shown in the film.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Collage

For this week’s photo challenge, we had to challenge ourselves to come up with a great idea for a collage. After watching the movie in class it shows that you can always change that you are if you truly believe and find the passion that you may have for something. The main idea for that is to really go forward and push you to make that change in life. The idea I came up with for my collage has a lot to do with the career choice and field of photography I want and plan to pursue in my life. I felt that I should truly express my real passion for the sport that one day I plan to work alongside permanently. With my special field choice in the photography world I’m planning on being a sports photographer I had to represent my team in this collage. So I decided to take 5 different photographs that I had taken over a year ago in an earlier class and edited them beautifully. I started out with a blank document in photo shop and sized it up to be a 5x7. I picked and chose the 5 still life shots that I had edited and placed them all around the blank document as I thought they fit well. I also had to resize them so they would all fit accordingly. I followed that by setting up my camera on my tripod in my room to capture a self portrait of me in my jersey and my logoed pillow matched up well with the concept. I used my 50mm lens and had the iso turned up to 800 based on the ambient light I had in my room. I had the f/stop set at the lowest stop of an f/1.8 to get that little depth. I had to turn the shutter speed way down to 1/60 sec just to get the right kind of light. Finally after I captured the right shot that I wanted to use I placed it into photo shop and did a little touch up on it and added a nice vignette to help accentuate the photo. I then added it to the collage in the correct spot for it to get the final look that you see before you.

Week 6 EOC: How Art Changed Me

Deciding to come to this school in particular was a huge decision for me. When I thought about going to school to pursue my dream as a photographer and get my degree in this field, I thought seriously about it and didn’t want to go anywhere else but to The Art Institute of Las Vegas. By choosing to attend this school I have had more hands on experience and by having the opportunity to work with other professional photographers in different areas of photography. Before coming to this school, I looked at photography as more of a small passion/hobby. As I have grown with going to school here, I have become more and more passionate as my love for photography has grown. By attending school here I have learned more than I would have ever known just by trying to figure out this stuff on my own. As far as how art has changed me, I have grown into more of having a stronger passion for the sports area of the field in photography. Being able to attend an art school rather than a regular community college, has way more advantages for me in getting to elaborate on the whole idea of art as a whole. The best part about it is the classes are way smaller and it gives you that opportunity to be a little more one on one with the teachers who generally work in the field of study. I feel that I have more chances to get better feedback and critiques from them on how my work is rather then having the average Joe look at it and say its great just to make me happy with myself. Learning more about how to improve my work and get the skills I need for my degree has made me more open to challenge and improve my art in a way that no one else will be able to duplicate. It really gives me that chance to seriously put myself into my art the best way that I can professionally.  

Weekly Photo Challenge: Editing A Photo

For this particular photo challenge, I chose to set up at the desk in the lobby of my apartment building. I asked special permission to set up and take a photograph in their area. I decided to set up the camera on the tripod from an angle back behind myself so that way the image I was editing could be seen on the screen of my laptop. I decided to use my 50mm lens so that way I could try to have a little more depth of field in the background. I had used the ambient light that was coming from the lights above me.  With the light that was coming from them still wasn’t that bright that I had to actually turn the ISO up to 800. I had the shutter speed set at 1/125sec and then had the f/stop set at f/1.8 the lowest setting on that particular lens. The flash was not fired in this shot at all. I finally after the shot was finally captured the way that I wanted it to look like, I took the photo and placed it into photo shop to do some final editing. With this picture I decided to remain dressed in the same clothes from my interview to help it look as if I was actually sitting in some kind of business atmosphere to help make this photograph fit the challenge even more. The image that I decided to make it look like I was editing it was an image that I took a couple of weeks ago in another class. The male in the photo is actually another one of my instructors and the lady is a model that we were actually using that day for that particular shoot.