Painting With Light

This week Cherish, Kristan, Quint and I went out to a dark baseball field and used a long exposure to create our own nighttime baseball scene. Here's the result:

As the weather warms up, Columbia's baseball leagues begin once again at parks and schools around town, including night games.


Here's a lighting diagram of how we did it:

Audio Slideshow Research

When researching audio slideshows, I thought it would be interesting to try to find some regarding civil war events like that of the upcoming final project. Unfortunately, this (below) was the only one I could find, and I’m not crazy about it. It seems a little too typical and too short. The audio sounds good, but opening with gunshots and closing with music seemed a little too predictable. The lack of depth in the sole interview left the entire project feeling flat.

http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x731683125/AUDIO-SLIDESHOW-2007-Civil-War-Reenactment

Because this video was below the standard I’d want to personally watch or create, I also thought I’d comment on a POY documentary winner, “Waiting For Death.” This slideshow was done incredibly well. The audio is clear and compelling, with incredibly impactful quotes chosen. The story, though incredibly simple and common, is driven forward by these quotes. The stills used are of excellent quality, and detail shots from the scenes representing the man’s oncoming death are used in a very professional way. The same representation is used in the opening referring to the rotting statue, which is incredibly strong imagery. Overall, the audio and visuals work together to make this piece have such impact, something too few slideshows manage to do.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/ed_shneidmanff_ss,0,3414993.htmlstory

Multiple Flash

This week Jeremy and I photographed students playing volleyball at night using two SB-800 flashes as the image's key lights. Here's the resulting image:

Students enjoy the spring weather while playing volleyball on the Stankowski sand volleyball courts in the evening. The courts were recently opened for the season.

Here's a lighting diagram of how we did it:

Here's an interview my classmate Quint did using a green screen:

Balance/Fill

This week I used my flash as a fill light as opposed to being the key light. I sat down with Jack Smithey, a strategic communications student at the university, as he played banjo on the quad around high noon on a sunny day. I used the flash to fill in his face, eliminating distracting shadows caused by his hat. Here's the resulting image:

MU student Jack Smithey plays banjo on Francis Quadrangle. Having already learned guitar, Smithey has been practicing banjo since Christmas.

Here's a lighting diagram to show how I did it:

I also used my flash to balance an indoor setting with the brightness of a sunny day. To do this I went to Yogoluv, a local frozen yogurt bar, to try to show how business was picking up due to the sunny weather. I bounced my flash off the ceiling to brighten the inside setting. Though I didn't choose it as my select, here's one resulting image from the shoot:

(Left to right) Brenda Liewalt, Brittany Kenhagan and Emily Hartwood enjoy frozen yogurt on Sunday afternoon as temperatures reach the mid-70s.

Color Correction

This week I worked on using flash in bad lighting environment's. To do this, I went to local bike shop Cycle Extreme and took pictures of bike mechanic Benjamin Moore at work. The lights were fluorescent and gave off a light-orange or peach colored tint. In order to make the image's colors look normal, I used a light orange gel (Roscosun 1/2 CTO) over the flash and changed my camera's white balance settings to fluorescent. Here's the resulting image:

Here's the lighting diagram of how I made it:

Single Flash Assignment

For this assignment I took my new SB-600 flash out and used it in multiple low-light situations. First, I photographed students playing billiards at Mort's in the new MU Student Center using direct flash. I then used bounce flash to photograph another student filling her car with gas, reflecting my flash off the gas pump itself to light the situation.

MU student Kelli Dawson fills her car with gas at the Conoco station for $3.39 a gallon. Despite the recent spike in gas prices, Dawson considers purchasing gas unavoidable as she lives off campus and drives to class daily.

MU student Karl Chwiesiuk plays billiards at Mort's in the recently completed MU Student Center.

Though I chose the above image as my select, a lot of other images from the billiards shoot turned out well. Though the lighting is imperfect, I particularly like the content of this one from a journalistic, interaction-based standpoint.

(From left to right) Trevor Howes, Michael Owens and Karl Chwiesiuk watch as Tom Collins takes his turn. The four students regularly play billiards at Mort's in the MU Student Center.

Here's a lighting diagram for how I created my two selects:

Metal/Glass Assignment

For this assignment I worked on shooting metal while my classmate Sarah shot glass. For metal, I used an iPod with broken shards of CD's surrounding it to represent the change in technology that has overcome the music industry in the last decade. In order to keep the iPod's shape and writing visible,  I used a reflector and generally low lighting so as not to blow out the color. Below is the photo and lighting diagram.

Between 1999 and 2009 U.S. CD sales were cut in half, forcing music retail stores to cut back on stock or go out of business. This decline in sales is largely attributed to the rise of digital technology and online piracy.

Here's a rough sketch of how I lit the scene:

Studio Portrait

Here are a couple portraits of classmate Dak Dillon from the studio:

Dak Dillon’s demanding schedule revolves around photography. The 21-year-old photographs sports, portraits, events and more for clientele in the central Missouri area while studying photojournalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
 

Dak Dillon almost always keeps his camera on him. Having shot private photography for over four years and studied photojournalism at the University of Missouri for the past three, Dillon’s time and energy is devoted to photography.

Lighting Diagram:

Inspirational Portrait (additional link)

For some reason that portrait photo isn't showing up on my computer any more. If it's not working, here's a link to a google image:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.janicedugas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/andy-warhol.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.janicedugas.com/top-10-paid-prices-for-photographs/&usg=__9Pw2tVQwx0rwejOgZWMG3Ml3lwg=&h=255&w=250&sz=17&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=FQO1ZcmZZcYNOM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=166&ei=0kFUTbOxOoudgQeg2_38CA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drobert%2Bmapplethorpe%2Bandy%2Bwarhol%2B1987%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1217%26bih%3D656%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=561&vpy=98&dur=379&hovh=173&hovw=170&tx=115&ty=80&oei=0kFUTbOxOoudgQeg2_38CA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0

Inspirational Portrait

Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe's 1987 portrait of Andy Warhol is, to me, a perfect example of a portrait revealing the character of the subject while retaining the image quality required of any great photograph. Using geometry to his advantage, Mapplethorpe centers Warhol's head in front of a light circle on a dark backdrop, moving the viewer's eyes immediately to Warhol's face. The artist's eyes show sadness, and combined with his expression gives the viewer the sense that Warhol was troubled. This lines up with Warhol's shy yet sincere and introspective personality, and becomes especially powerful when considering the portrait was made shortly before his untimely death. Between the use of the geometrical background and capturing such a sincere, emotional expression, Mapplethorpe was able to turn his portrait into as artistic a statement as the works of Warhol himself, simplistic but powerful, capturing a mood the artist never managed in a number self-portraits.