Ashley

My friend, Ashley agreed to model for me one cold, Sunday afternoon in November.  She did wonderfully.  She has so much personality and a wonderful attitude.  She was so fun to work with.  "Thanks so much Ashley!"

      

A Few Portraits from Portfolio

"Word Salad"

My final assignment in my digital imaging class was a montage.  Each student received: a type of person, theme, and 2-3 items.  Since your words are luck of the draw you can imagine the excitement and apprehension this project created.  My type of person was "bourgeois" (meaning middle to upper class), My items I had to include were: "tree, retro hairstyle, and ascot."  Lastly my theme was "expectations."
The image you see is almost exactly what came to my mind the problem was finding models who would fit the part.   I couldn't wait to shoot! One Sunday, I looked over at some friends in church and "saw my picture."  I had to trouble shoot numerous times.  My lens kept fogging up.  I was shooting through the back doorway of my parents home in the cold while the fire heated the front end of the lens from across the room.  Motion blur was an issue; Also, having enough fill without changing my white balance from the warm amber look was difficult.
I had a couple images I really liked, but this one struck me.  I did some blurring in photoshop to the background and added some ornaments to my Christmas tree. Some would call it neurotic; I call it attention to detail.  I have learned it's the little things that matter most in life, as well as photography.  Merry Christmas!!!

Object Lighting

My object lighting class for the last 8 weeks focused on learning how to light any object despite its shape and texture.  We were asked to put together a small portfolio consisting of work we did throughout the mini-mester or that we shot specifically for portfolio.  I did choose some of the images like my pepper but here are a couple additions.

Holli "Hepburn"

After the busiest semester I needed to get in the studio and shoot for me.  I asked, Holli, a first year photography student to model for me.  I can see Audrey Hepburn in Holli because of her facial resemblance, grace, and sweet smile.  Holli has the sweetest spirit about her.  She did wonderfully.  She has been asked to model a lot lately.  She is beautiful on the outside, but it is her humble and sincere spirit that spoke to me.  That was what I wanted to focus on in this shoot.  We are not defined by what we wear, our tatoos or piercings, hair or skin color.  I chose black and white so our focus is drawn to what's important, the person.   I photographed Holli with my Canon Rebel XTI and Nikon D300.

"My Hero of the Day"

Between church services I had the opportunity to photograph a beautiful 1955 Ford Truck. My scheduled model cancelled at the last minute. I immediately tried to think of any other male model I could call at the last minute, that would fit my scene.  Brayden came to play with me.  He did wonderfully.  All he required was to sit in my lap and take pictures himself as a break every now and then.  This darling baby sits behind me in church...needless to say he had peanut butter M&Ms waiting for him Sunday night.  I set up the scene with two alien bee lights and used my Canon Rebel XTI with the 24-105mm.

"She Walks In Beauty..."

My sister and I have always loved the old classic movies.  When my teacher gave me the opportunity to photograph someone utilizing Hurrell's style of old Hollywood images I immediately started researching.  I asked my sister to come to the studio.  She soon discovered modeling is not easy work but, she did a great job. (I only fussed at her a little bit. lol)   Isn't she beautiful?!
Studio hot lots were used with a 24-105mm portrait lens on my Canon Rebel XTI. ISO 200.

My favorite thing: FRUIT!

I was told vegetables with seeds are technically fruits.  For the fruit assignment I chose strawberries (my favorite) then headed to the grocery store check out but the peppers caught my eye. They were so vibrant ! So, I tossed one in the basket.  Once I began shooting in the studio the afterthought purchase ended up becoming my "star."  The color was so bold.  Food is usually shot backlit.  This assignment encompassed food photography, but added something new called "light painting."  This image was one of my "light painting" images.  All lights were turned off and the shutter opened for 3.2 seconds on my Canon Rebel XTI.  During that time, I used the light gun to "paint" my set.  My camera position was high and slightly tilted above the table top.  My square yellow plate from home was turned so the lines would be diagonal for a more interesting effect.  I may not call it a fruit but it is beautiful and edible in its own right.

Chocolate Assignment

This table top image was created in studio with a farrell light and a digital scanning back for a medium format Hasselblad camera.  This was my first experience with the scanning backs.  I loved it.  I wanted to take a popular chocolate, but connect it back to nature. I took it a step farther and added "dirt"(cocoa powder) in the background.  Despite popular belief; chocolate is healthy in moderation and is frankly a lot of fun to shoot.

HDR

Saturday afternoon, before the sun went down, I ventured out to shoot some HDR while a few of the fall colors are around.  My sister and I used to play with this old tractor chassis down in our pasture.  The texture caught my eye.















I used a Canon 40D f4@1/5 of a second with only ambient lighting.

Water Assignment

My object lighting class was given an assignment that required us to shoot an image that portrays "water."  The difficult aspect of the project was to shoot an original image that brings only the word water to mind.  I photographed a vase of water containing blue food coloring; while a classmate used a coffee stirring straw to drop water into the vase.  f5.6 @1/125 accompanied by a Vivitar 285.  I used 2:750 hot lights to illuminate the white partition walls that was placed on three sides of the vase.  The reflections of the lights on the glass produced the above image.  I used photoshop to clean off a few imperfections on the vase in the image and increased saturation in select areas.

Central Park, New York City

I recently got the opportunity to go to New York City to the annual Photo Expo.  What would any school trip be without a few assignments?  I shot my panoramic assignment in Central Park, at the Ice Skating Rink.  It was captured with my Canon Rebel XTI.  The aperture remained at f4 and I bracketed the shutter speed to ensure proper exposures.  "Serendipity" may have been my favorite part New York, but Central Park was a close second.

Photo Safari in Downtown Asheboro

Last Wednesday my Object Lighting class shot on location in downtown Asheboro. Our teacher asked us to shoot anything that caught our eye and disregard the "rules of photography." The point of the project was to encourage us to be more aware of the things we walk by each day, that have the potential of being a nice photograph. My images were not as abstract as my classmates, but I thoroughly enjoyed the "fun shooting" in the middle of a very stressful semester.

I produced the image above by combining these 2 images and doing some fun tricks in Photoshop.  This became one of my favorites!

This image challenged me.  However, I can say I learned a lot through trial and error in Photoshop. I got close to what I envisioned as the final image.

All of the above images were captured with my Canon Rebel XTI.  I used a fill card to help illuminate some shadowed areas in addition to the ambient light.

Lumin Project

This is a "Lumin Project" that was done for my Photo Finishing class. This particular image was made by combining the leaf of my choice and placing it on light sensitive paper in the sunlight. A piece of glass was placed on top to ensure contact between the leaf and the paper. The heat and the sun combined produced the image after 15 minutes of exposure. I then scanned the image and was able to make enhancements in Photoshop. I highly recommend trying this photographic activity.

Sunflower Fields Back Home

Captured with Canon Rebel XTI: f8 @ 1/250 with ISO 200: ambient light.