Color

This past week we had our first theme shoot due, color. Obviously, the color I picked was red, the best color ever! I like how the candle photo turned out, I really put a lot of effort into that one, laying down the white sheet, adjusting the lighting, and I'm proud of how it turned out. The first two flower ones however, were taken more hastily because the flowers were wilting, and it shows. Either way, as a whole my color shoot turned out better than I expected. :)

Painting

This week I've been having way to much fun with photoshop. :D I was fooling around with these photos when I realized you can make them look like a painting, with the paint stroke filters. I really like how they turned out, now I'm a photographer and a painter. :)

Portraits

This quarter in photography class we were assigned a portrait assignment, and these are my first photos ever with a lighting kit! I have to say I really enjoyed working with a model, (who just happens to be my best friend Luis!) experimenting with the lighting position, and changing backdrops and outfits. These were by far my best photos, even though every shot was fantastic and adorable thanks to Luis! I had to play around a little with exposure in camera raw and then saturation in photoshop, because he either looked to dark or just bright orange, but either way I loved how these photos turned out, especially the one with the black backdrop. When I was shooting, he did whatever felt good and the tilting of his body, while completely unplanned, turned out to be the most interesting of all the photos. I find that my favorite photos always are the unplanned ones.

Railroad to Nowhere

 

      This is a photo I took in New York City at the High Line Park, which is 2 miles of abandoned, elevated railroad in the middle of the city. I have to say that my best photos are from New York, and this one is one of my favorites. The park was the highlight of my trip and all the unique things I found there were very inspiring. I think that this photo really captures the essence of the park, how something once abandoned and ugly can be turned into something beautiful and lively by just letting nature grow. This photo was a bit tricky to take because of the setting sun, so the ISO was at about 800 or 1600, giving the photo a good amount of light but a little too much noise. Also I found that the colors didn't quite pop like I wanted them too, thankfully there is such a thing as photoshop and saturation adjustments.

       When I entered this piece into my school's art show, I knew it would be a hit, but I never knew that a professional painter would want to turn it into a piece so she could sell it at her art gallery. This painter is someone I've known for a while, Sue Averell, because she is one of the many artists at the art show that my grandparents started, The Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale. Even though it's just a seasonal event, it leaves an impression that lasts for the whole year, and Sue, who is famous for her use of colors, is one of my favorite artists, and my first friend at the show.

Albus Dumbledore the Wizard

And here is the latest edition to my animal farm, Albus Dumbledore. Much to my dismay naming him after a wizard from Harry Potter didn't give him magical powers but we keep him anyways because he's so cute. On the day that I took this photo, I came home to him sleeping on the top of our couch, looking as Cavalier-ish as always. Originally I took this photo without flash, but I love the way it makes a gradient of light on the wall, and since Albus was still half asleep I didn't have to worry about the reflection of light in his eyes.

The Fonz

This is The Fonz, or Fonzy for short. He's my lovely guinea pig and while giving him a bath and a hair cut, he looked way too cute to pass up the photo op. I swear I left him for a minute to grab hair and nail scissors and I come back to him posing for me. Right after taking this photo with my phone I ran and grabbed my camera but those photos weren't the same. By that time he put his feet back down in the sink, and I wasn't able to capture the same curiosity he expresses in this photo.