Single Cell on a Serpent's Tongue

Today wasn't the greatest. I was and still am completely exhausted (emotionally and physically). I could've been found in a million places. I need to sleep more.

Well, Danny and I had to shoot a picture with the similar lighting of a picture of David Bowie. We tried a million different combinations to achieve the lighting, but we couldn't do it. When Luke showed us the correct setup I was pretty upset at myself. I didn't think hard enough/creatively. The soft box was to be placed far away from the backdrop and close to the subject. A light is placed behind the subject and hits the background to get a portion of it lit. How did I not think of that? It was a challenge for sure, but I want to move onto another photo so I can be more thoughtful about the setup. 

But despite my frustration, today thought me quite a few things. There are so many different combinations and you can't just go for a simple setup. You really have to pay attention to close details. Ex: look at the eyes, backdrop, shadows, accents, etc. I need to keep my eyes open to these things. They say so much about how the photo was lit. 

Digital Ash

Today I was able to use the flash equipment with Danny. I had a ridiculous amount of fun, almost too much (and I think Danny would agree). Luke basically told us to set everything up and figure it out. Having that freedom put us in a situation with good feelings/energy. We weren't worried that we would take shitty pictures or mess up. If the lighting didn't satisfy us, we played around with it. This whole experience was fantastic; it was filled with new knowledge and laughter.

I specifically learned about the general use of all the equipment we were given. I think a major part of flash photography is getting a feel for what the "ideal" lighting would be. If there was a shadow, we'd have to reposition the light to get rid of it. Certain times we found ourselves adjusting the cloth over the umbrellas so we could get better lighting.

I also learned about histograms (I forgot the exact name Luke called it) on photos. Histograms are an accurate representation of exposure for a specific photo. Here's a visual representation:

The left most part of the histogram indicates a dark exposure, and the right most part indicates a very light exposure. In the histogram above, the picture is an almost perfect distribution of tones. There really is no just thing as a bad histogram (in some cases highlights may be blown out), but histograms are just, well, histograms. In some cases, you might want a picture that has more darks than lights, and that's perfectly fine. But of course if you want to get the best picture, the histogram is really useful tool.

Shooting with the equipment today was such a great experience. I can't believe how much fun we had and how much we learned. I personally think it was all that light and heat that got to us, but that's another blog post...  I can't wait for what's in store for tomorrow. 

It's a Fate We Can't Escape

I am currently exploring my terrain in photography. I have an affinity for nature landscape photography and I always have. Many days I find myself on Flickr stumbling through thousands of photos, wishing I could capture something just as great. Although I do believe I can capture beautiful landscapes, I also think I'd need some better equipment to work with. This isn't necessarily true, I was reading on a website and it said that "the best camera in the world won’t take good photos if a monkey’s using it," which is spot on. Ideally, I would like to purchase a new lens (still not sure what to buy, feel free to leave suggestions). I was looking at some landscape photographers and there are many I like. Ian Plant's work really intrigues me. He has a series of photographs called "Dreamscapes." His photographs are truly dreamlike, and that's something I really enjoy about his work. I can't really explain why I enjoy it so much, but it's so beautiful. He stated that his work "relies on long exposures, unique lighting conditions, non-traditional perspectives, and special natural events." Given the circumstance that all of the previously mentioned above work together to provide the right conditions, he captures his dreamscapes. Before seeing his work, I've always been interested in taking photographs with long exposure for landscapes. I can't seem to find interesting places to photograph on a regular basis. I will be doing a lot of traveling this year so I will have more opportunities to get nice pictures. Here is one of Ian's pieces: 

Another photographer I found is Alexandre Buisse. His work is more realistic and not as dreamy as Plant's. My favorite picture of his, although not a nature landscape, is quite marvelous. 

It's titled "Chasing Ghosts." The shot isn't one that is hard to achieve (long exposure gets that ghost quality) but it's artistry is something to appreciate. 

I'm not sure if would want to do more dreamy landscapes or realistic ones. I don't want to limit myself, but I'm sure with a lot of practice and experimentation I will find myself liking one over the other. 

I watched some Terry Richardson interviews. When he first started, he just had a snapshot camera. He would show up to an entire job with just ONE snapshot camera. Obviously everyone thought he was crazy, and I guess that's what to expect when you do something that's so different from the norm. He eventually realized that if he used two cameras he could shoot quicker. I was looking at the setup he currently uses and it's just a one light setup... and it's a built in flash. That actually blows my mind. I've read a lot about him all over the internet, and whether you love him or hate him there's no denying that he took risks and explored a terrain that wasn't necessarily accepted/liked in the professional photographer community. 

Snowship

I've been busy studying for midterms. At least it'll all be over tomorrow. I've been looking at lens and I've decided I'm going to get a Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300 mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED. I also am working on a painting, and I'm not sure where it's going quite yet. I want to spend a lot of time on it this weekend.

I've also been looking at colleges and programs. I don't know what I want to do yet. I can't digest the fact that I'll be going to college, probably going away from home, and making a life of my own. I have no idea where the time has gone.

Lighting

Key Light- most important light used in a lighting set up 

Fill- illuminate areas that are in shadow when lit by a key light 

Hair light- accents the crown and shoulders of the subject

Kicker- a light placed at an angle behind the person, on the other side of the subject from where your key light is, helps define an unlit side of a face 

Rembrandt Light- single light source which is placed approximately 45 degrees offset from the subject and a bit higher than eye level, and lights the side of the face that is farthest from the camera (creates a triangle on the face, also known as a chiaroscuro)

Hatchet Light-  lighting on both sides of the head that creates a relative shadow cutting right down the front of the face

Loop Light- a light source is placed above and slightly behind the subject so the light runs down the nose and creates a loop shaped shadow

Paramount/Butterfly Light- a lighting that casts butterfly-shaped shadow below the nose

Sidelight- lighting that emphasizes texture as well as the emotion and depth of your subject in a more dramatic way

Backlight- shooting into the light source which then creates silhouettes 

Hot Lights- lights that stay on all the time 

Cool Light- lights  that are highly energy efficient, cool running and silent power and provide a smooth and bright light 

Monolights- self contained flash unit

Snoot- a tube (or similar object) that is placed over a studio light or flash that allows the photographer to control direction and radius of the light beam

Soft Box- a lighting device that creates even and diffused light light by passing the light through some diffusing material 

Umbrella-  diffusion device when using artificial lighting, and is also a glare shield and shade

Shoot Though Umbrella- produces very soft light and spreads it throughout the environment you are shooting in

Gobo- derived from "Go Between," it's a physical template placed in front of a lighting source to control the shape of emitted light

Reflector- a reflective surface used to redirect light towards a given subject

Bare Bulb Flash- a strobe without any modifiers 

Flash Ratio- a way to describe the mix between ambient light and light from your flash

Flash Meter- a device that is used to determine the correct exposure for a photograph

Incident-light meter- aimed at the light source and measures the light source falling directly on a scene and is not influenced by the reflectance of the subject being photographed.

Reflected-light meter- reflected metering reads the intensity of light reflecting off the subject and may vary according to variances in tonality, color, contrast, background, surface, or shape

I'm Not Morbid, I'm Just Forgetful

Well, here's to another new year I guess. I'm not into new years resolutions that much, but I think I'm ready for some changes and I'm ready to enforce them.

2012 was the best year for me. So many new experiences for me and they all changed my life in different aspects. I've been able to be emotionally stable for a while now, and that was always pretty hard for me.

I really want to lose weight and be healthy, most importantly. I'm going to start eating better and working out more. Eating junk food makes me feel really shitty about myself, and I don't want to feel like that anymore. So I want to completely change my diet and I'm ready to do it. I'm more determined than ever.

Also, this isn't really a new years resolution, it's more like something I've been working on for a while. I just want to be conscious about my surroundings and peers. I feel like I often overlook little things that make a difference. I want to take it easy and not live such a rushed life style. It seems pretty difficult sometimes, but it's not impossible. We often compromise quality for convenience, and I don't think that always needs to be the case. When it comes to my peers, I want to listen more carefully and speak more passionately. I want to chose my words carefully and notice the choice of words by others. I have a desire to grasp onto these things and embrace language and emotions.

I'd like to end this post with sharing this: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/17-lessons-i-learned-in-2012/#rHx7xEjKJB9zBzK1.01

A great list of things to always keep in mind.