Antelope Canyon Part 1

Took a trip down to Antelope Canyon over President's Day Weekend. More images to follow.


Someday I will achieve the level of "Awesomeness."

In The Beginning There Were Gnomes

So I had another assignment in photo lighting. I must admit that my inspiration for this project came a little too late. I know if I had more time that I would have executed these images quite a bit better. I found that I did not have enough time to collect props, scout locations, and refine ideas. Time hates me.

But..... I think I have found something that I would like to pursue. I am in the beginning stages of my concept.. so the idea is a bit rough. Give me time, though, and things will come together in a more concrete manner.

Anyway, the idea is going to be along the lines of humorous/some non-humorous images (all involving garden gnomes) that while they get you laughing/smiling in the beginning, they then have the ability to pull you in and make you think. Some dark humor will be involved. I want to travel the road of social commentary, as well as random humorous things people (or gnomes in this case) might do. I promise that no Gnomes will be harmed during the duration of this project. (well... not too badly!)

The following images deal with the hypocritical nature of religious people. One hears it all the time: "I saw so and so doing (insert something sinister here) and now I see him at church doing (insert something holy here) like the other day never happened."

I hope you all stick around for the adventures of the Gnomes. I promise I will make it worth it.

Depressing, right?

I hope I do not get struck for this one...

Photo Lighting: Take 2

Here is the second lighting assignment I did. It had to do with quality of light (Harsh, Soft, and a mix of warm & cool light). I tried a couple new things this time.

I stepped out from behind the camera to just chat with my subject (who was my sister-in-law Andrea for all the B&W images... she was very good to me and agreed to do her hair different, paint her nails black and add some black eyeliner... Thanks Andrea!) in hopes of getting a few more "real" shots. I also am trying to figure out ways to manipulate my subject/connect with my subject. Not to bad for a first attempt at it, I have confidence that I will get better at it.

I spent more time looking over other people's work, hoping for inspiration on this assignment. It is different designing a project when you are learning the lights for the first time and limited in what you can do with your images. I do believe it helps in the learning process to be constantly looking over other people's work. When you try to imitate someone's work, I believe it helps you understand how they got from point A to point B. You also never know when seeing something is going to trigger some awesome idea.

Photoshop skills are improving. Better than regressing.

I enjoyed the harsh/soft light image making better than the warm/cool light image making, because I really don't like using gels (or at least I haven't figured out how to successfully use gels). I also didn't like it as much, because it really isn't my style. I did have a great model though! Jackie was wonderful and patient and did this for me at the last minute. We also found that tree stump right outside the studio (assuming drawing students were using it), so that was an added bonus.

Finally.. In doing this project I encountered a conundrum of sorts. I decided to be proactive and go to my teacher for some feedback on my "find the strongest images" editing process. I had slimmed down my favorites and had actually spent some quality time with 3 images. Suffice it to say my teacher did not agree with my choices. I liked the ones he picked, but I still like the ones I picked more. So now, I pose this question: Do you submit the images you like for grading, or do you submit the images you know your teacher liked (and thus know you would get a better grade on it)?

Images I liked:

Images my teacher liked:
Warm/Cool Light Image:

Tree Study 1

Well... here is my first landscape/tree attempt for the semester. I think it has merit in being my first real attempt at this. I definitely have room to improve.

I have two versions here. The first is purely black & white. The second is a sepia duatone. Not quite sure which one I like more, I'll think about it some more.