Digital Photography II, Blog #13, Final Project

My friend who died in December, he was a creative writer.  In recent years he has been doing a lot more poetry than he did in the past.  For my final project for this class I wanted to take the images that his poems conjured and illustrate them with photographs.  Often given time and budget restraints I could not create the image that filled my mind when reading his poems, but here is what I did come up with.

I’m not going to post the poems I was illustrating here.  Most of them are posted on his poetry blog.  It was a dream of his to be published one day, a dream that obviously will not come to fruition now.  So, if you want to know what poems I’m illustrating, you’ll just have to check out his blog and guess for yourself.  http://youknowfrommybrain.blogspot.com/

Digital Photography II, Blog #12, Inspirations

What inspires me to be creative?

For me, words more than anything inspire and shape my creativity.  I love to make what Reddit calls Quotes Porn and what my photography teacher calls Image and Text, photos that have some relevant quote or bit of text laid over the image.  The poetry of Pablo Neruda is a specific example of words that inspire me, his poem “Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines” has been my favorite since I was 13 or so.  Here is a link to it.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tonight-i-can-write-the-saddest-lines/

I have seen many examples of photographs that I think are wonderful and that I’d love to emulate in some form or fashion one day.  But so far I have only seen one photographer’s body of work that stands out enough in my mind for me to call him a favorite.  I would love to take photos similar to his someday, but I sincerely doubt I’ll ever be able to pull it off.  Clark Little and his photos of waves….stunning.  http://www.clarklittlephotography.com/

And, to wrap it up, here is an image and text piece I put together for my boyfriend.  He really liked the movie The Grey, but thought all the photos put together with the poem from the movie were a little too frou frou.

Digital Photography II, Blog #11, A Photo I Love

This blog assignment is to be any photo I’ve taken this semester that I love.  To be honest there aren’t many photos I’ve taken this semester that I’m not turning in already that really move me.  But I do like the two I’m going to post a lot.

“Why do you amaze me?
Why do you fool me into thinkin’ that I’m kind of in love with you?”-The Avett Brothers

Digital Photography II, Blog #10, Portrait

For this blog we were assigned to do portraits.  I originally planned this photo shoot for a friend of mine to showcase a necklace one of her friend’s designed.  But she couldn’t make the shoot, so I had my sisters stand in.  After seeing the necklace I had a couple of ideas for it.  First, to create a sorceress look.  And second to go with a lost in the woods theme.  I have two sisters, so I split the ideas between them.  This is what we ended up with.

“We could change the world, we could strike the chord
We are the lost ones, we are the lost ones
We could re-write history, if only you and me
We are the lost ones, we are the lost ones” -”Change the World (Lost Ones)” Anberlin

Digital Photography II, Blog #9, Room

For this post we are supposed to capture the character of a room.

I work at the U.S.S. North Carolina and recently toured it for the first time since I was a very young child.  I spend 4 hours up there reading and photographing everything.  I still haven’t completely finished the tour.  This is a photo of the hallway leading to the engine room.  If I remember/understood correctly, the tubes on the wall (which is what grabbed my attention and prompted me to take the photo) were used to send messages from one part of the ship to other parts of the ship.

“I awoke and faintly bouncing around the room, the echo of whomever spoke.” -Phish, “Bouncing around the Room”

Ava, 1 Year Portraits, and her First Birthday Party, March 2013

Heather contacted me and asked me to photography her adorable daughter to commemorate the milestone of her turning one.  She also asked me to photograph Ava’s first birthday party.  Being as Ava’s birthday is the same day as mine, I was happy to spend it at a birthday party, even if it wasn’t my own.

Whew, toddlers are quick.  I’m still trying to decide whether I will continue to photograph them or not, but Ava sure is a sweetheart, and it was such fun to photograph her, especially at her party.

Digital Photography II, Blog #8, Sequence

For this blog we were assigned to do a sequence of photos, either to capture an action sequence or to tell a story.

I’ve been wanting to use the little family of mob guys that I collected with my friend who died in a photo all semester, so I decided to use them for this one.  I couldn’t decide what to do with them at first, and then I thought they should have board game night which turned ugly at the end when there was a sore loser.  I was a bit rushed on this one, I was trying to get it finished before my appointment to have surgery to remove my wisdom teeth.  Had I not been rushed I would have done the second and third photo a little differently, more close-up on some sort of action.  I was hoping that the entire set-up would be visible in each photo, but with such small figures and such a large game board, that didn’t work out.

Anyway, here you have it, Game night with the Mob.

“Baby, even the losers, keep a little bit of pride, they get lucky sometimes.” -Tom Petty, “Even the Losers”

Bridal Portraits, Kelley, February 2013

Kelley booked me almost a year ago to photograph her wedding this April, and I was happy to work with her.  She asked about a contract, which I had not considered before, so she is the reason I have now put together Wedding Photography Contracts, which made me feel like I was making my business that much more professional.  I’ve been looking forward to shooting her wedding, anyway, and then she contacted me late last year and asked if I might do a Bridal Portrait Session, too.

This was my first time doing Bridal Portraits, and I think they came out well considering.  We were originally supposed to shoot at the Arboretum, which I am already familiar with, but rain forced us to come up with a back-up plan, which ended up being the setting for the shoot.  We did her portraits at the UNCW Wise Alumni House, a place with sentimental value for her since she worked for UNCW until recently.

Her parents came along, too, and kept her smiling for the photos, all of them were such a joy to work with.

Digital Photography II, Blog #7, Composite

For this blog we are required to composite photos together to create a new reality.

Shortly before this semester started, one of my best friend’s, someone I’ve known for 10 years, died unexpectedly.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to find the motivation to go to class.  If I hadn’t already enrolled in the class, I wouldn’t have done it so close on the heels of losing my friend.  I knew I needed to finish the class since I was already signed up, and the way I reconciled the issue was to incorporate my friend into my work for the class as much as possible.

I took the background photo at the park today, and I thought the light looked kind-of ethereal, and cool.  Maybe a lil other-worldly.  That’s when I decided that for my composite I was going to bring my friend back as a ghost.  I found an old photo I took of him that seemed appropriate to the setting, and copied him over to the scene.  This way he gets to be somewhere that he can’t anymore.  It reflects both a fantasy (him being there) and reality (he’s a ghost, he isn’t really).

“So, what’s it feel like to be a ghost? Are you up for this?” -Taking Back Sunday

Portraits, Tonya, March 2013

Tonya agreed last year shortly before my battery charger died to allow me to use her for practice with my new camera.  She also helped me out with my Environmental Portrait project, and I appreciate her being such a good sport.

It’s been many months since we first discussed this, but I’m glad we finally got to the Arboretum to do this session.  I made an effort to concentrate more on close-up photos than I normally do.