Wednesday, April 7, 2010

diptych's by a dipstick




diptych photography
A diptych is a photograph that uses two different or identical images side by side to form one single artistic statement. The two images can literally be in contact with each other, or separated by a border or frame.

dipstick
A person whose brain capacity is less than or equal to a stick meant for quantifying fluid levels.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Wedding re deux



We had a class on restoring old photographs a couple of weeks ago and I had a choice of which photograph to work on. I chose this one of Bob and Totty.

Bob married Totty on New Years Eve 1970 in Carson, Nevada. They settled in California, raised 3 kids and the rest as they say is history...

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

03242010

I got in my seat just as everyone was starting to watch a presentation on Jay Maisel.

It is pretty interesting to know that a photographer can make so much money that he can buy a building in New York and have it as both home and workshop; granted that he purchased the property in the 70's, and that it was in disrepair, and that it was full of trash... and that it was in the 70's...

I wish I knew what the right investments were back then - not that I could afford to invest then... or now... But to think that JM bought the property in New York for somewhere around 30K - that's unheard of! Anyway, enough mussing about that and time to get back to reality!

This dude, James Maisel is apparently a wizard of color photography! The few photos I saw of his work is a testimony to that fact. He is currently vested in Stock Photography. Maybe I should look into that - it might be a good business venture... hmmmm...

And then we looked at some sites made by some folks who are considered Conceptual Artists. One of them was Miranda July. She is a Performance Artist from the Bay Area who evolved from just taking pictures into making films. She had some interesting work and got people involved in her project. From what I understand, it's been going on for 7 (seven) years. Interesting body of work!

After all these warm up sets we were allowed to work on our assignment. It just takes a while to download and copy all my pictures from the card to my portable hard drive, so while all that is going on I am here tinkering with my blog!

Ahhhh... wait, I think it's done!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Histograms, Layers and Curves

Today started out dark and dreary - it was muggy! eyuchk!
I had all sorts of hurdles before making it to class and so
I make it in by 8:15.

Today's topic was interesting. We played around with our histogram.
I learned how to clean my images by gauging the true spectrum of black and white, shadow and highlights, sharp and dull...

Here are my transformed images...

Original...


First change...


Next...


And then Kirstyn threw me for a loop with curves...


Kewl huh!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Spring Forward - wake up early...(ier!)

I didn't want to get up yet, but the alarm just kept going off on my iPhone! It's 6:30 am but the truth of the matter was - it's still o'dark hundred hours outside... sigh*** Time to go start my day to get to my 8am class on time - i pray...

So here I am, it's 8:00 am and - well, I thought that with all the massive amounts of electronic gear on campus, the college would at least have a system that updates time on all the computer systems they own - but noooot! because of our visitor's status at the CMAS lab, we've been scheduled to have Photoshop access only between 8am and 10:59am; and that being the case, our access to the PS software hinged on the internal time records of the hub we belong to.
I guess we got overlooked because - no Photoshop just yet!

Oh well... I feel like I have been cheated of an hours worth of sleep! :(
Hey! btw, where on earth is Rachel?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Appalachian Documentary

We were back in the photo lab at Shima 150 this 8am.
Our objective - watch a couple of documentary films about the lives in Appalachia.

The first film was by Elizabeth Barret; The title - Stranger With A Camera. It explores the fatal 1967 conflict between a documentary filmmaker and his unintended subject.



Hugh O'Connor was a Canadian filmmaker who traveled to eastern Kentucky to document the poverty stricken community of Appalachia. In the process of filming he unluckily crossed paths with Hobart Ison, a property owner who strongly felt that his boundaries were being invaded by outsiders. A rushed confrontation left O'Connor dead and Ison in the center of a controversy with lots of questions.

The second film was another Appalachian documentary by Shelby Lee Adams. This film presented "a study on the true meaning of pictures."

Adams followed the lives of a few families in Appalachia and exposed their lives on film.



Both films disturbed me. The harsh reality of the stark living conditions in Kentucky's coal mining communities; and the people, their lifestyles and their living situations all made me realize how lucky I am. By no means am I saying that I am better than the subjects of these documentaries, but by comparison of living standards, I feel very blessed.

I know we were only supposed to watch the films and observe the photographic quality of the prints, but it was difficult to overlook other presented facts. The documentary covered everything that went on behind the print itself. The still pictures were infused with supporting evidences caught on audio and video format. Hearing the actors speak (often inaudibly because of a strong accent) and watching them in their surroundings, all worked to show how poverty, lack of decent education and raw survival instincts mix up a potent stew called an Appalachian Hillbilly. But as Mary Ellen Clark said on the film,"even if they are poor, that doesn't mean they are stupid" - proves all too well how these people survive and persevere in a harsh environment.

I had to take some time to ponder things after watching these films and that took up my entire morning!

And then we viewed Tony's work! - Good Job Tony!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Lighting and the gray card

How is it possible that I forgot we meet in the lab today? Thanks to short memory, I had to walk back to my car and re-park myself in the Shima lot; which was of course full of cars circling the lot like vultures scanning the place for movement. To be exact - I was late again for 8am!!!

Anyway, today we played around with white balancing on our cams and talked about the effects of lighting on our subject in relevance to portraiture. We had Jack share some of his experience and knowledge and I for one found this quite interesting.

Here are some photographs I took in class...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010


It's 8:05 and i'm late... again!

Today, we study the concept of color curves. We learn how to manipulate and correct the images in PS. I caught on real quick this time cuz I was focused (TOTALLY)...

Anywhooo, this is my project on color curves! I used a photo of my baby boy Krakle. He's only 6 months old but he's turning into a huge, heavy, feisty miny monster. He loves to commandeer the bed and just can't decide which part of the mattress he wants for himself. He's a little sweetie though - I luv my little buddy!

Monday, February 22, 2010

My Take on Hockney

It's 8:30 and we're to turn in all assignments due from last week. Once again I'm trying to figure how to set my stuff up on this blog. Our project is a tribute of sorts to the artistic stylings of David Hockney. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hockney

Here is my montage of pictures ala Hockney!




Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Daniel KASSER experience

8 am on February 1, 2010 found me in the Reynolds Gallery at UOP for a class field trip. We were there to view the works of Daniel Kasser, a Visual Arts Artist and Instructor at the university.

My simple mind tells me - Daniel Kasser is a frustrated landscape photographer.

His pieces at the exhibit showcased beautiful landscapes as mere backdrops to objects he then ps'd on to the photographs. The mostly pastoral pieces were all pleasing to study. It wasn't too far out to grasp and I think the addition of well matched objects as subjects to the photograph enhanced the picture.

My favorite pieces were his works that showed less obvious patching. They were his later projects (based on the tag number of the pieces) and they presented a surreal but also realistic vista. These pieces pulled me in for a closer examination. It forced me to look for the patch.



DK's work reminds me of an artist painter named Vladimir Kush. They share a similar style of surrealism. DK works in digital photography while VK uses paintings to play with the observers mind. Both are great artists - and just like Kasser, VK's works are more interesting in the later stages of his production.



http://web.mac.com/danielkasser/iWeb/DanielKasser/Home.html
http://www.vladimirkush.com/originals.php