Reflections?

The nature of nature.
What it means?
Deeper thinking.
Quality of light on surfaces of all kinds.
How was this made?
Do you ever feel like you're drowning (figuratively)?
Trees are good.
Double exposure plug-in for the Hipstamatic app, that's how!
Write to me about the content, the swirling and simultaneous stillness.

Light Painting

The simplicity of the extended shutter is capable of producing so much in the way of creative ideas and possibilities that it seems never ending. We took a period last Friday and hung out in the theater to do some light painting, but the theater was so dark we discovered that we had some problems around focus and length of shutter opening. Plunging ahead, there were some interesting photos that resulted from our experiments, but the smooth line and the inherent possibilities with color (we used a black light on the striped shirt that Clara wore) became a focus of the time we had together.

I also set up a camera for some additional work in the classroom this morning and spent some effort to make the light more three dimensional in appearance as it got closer and farther away from the camera lens. Here are a few of what I consider the more interesting ones.

Jackson Portraits

Ahh.. rough and rougher. There's just something about the manipulated photo that I find more sensitive and meaningful than just a straight shot, but I would have appreciated a bit more "clarity" with these because the subject is my grandson. While the brighter one of the two seems more "grungy", I think the pose and the point of view offer a kind of "uplifting" image. The other one, darker and more somber, has somewhat of a lonely feeling to it, with the plain background, the striped trousers and the single soda bottle as a toy.

More Camera Effects

Here are a couple that are simple long exposure pre-fire and/or post-fire with the flash used to help solidify the subject. This technique creates really interesting "paths" and blends of color and shape, for an otherworldly appearance of the backgrounds and areas around "flashed" subjects.

Special Effects for Your Photos

The simplest way of producing a special effect is one that I already gave all of you with the last video I sent, double exposure. Now, double exposure works best when you can find a way to "blend" two photos like you can do so easily in PhotoShop (we will look at that later this week), but simply cutting an d pasting one layer on top of another and altering the opacity of the top layer can do some interesting things to an image as well. 

As you all know, I've upgraded my "Hipstamatic" iPhone app to include the new multi-exposure button, and here are a few photos taken with that "Mobile Photography" camera app.

Here is another image I created using the free software application called "Gimp", and if you have a personal computer, you might want to try it with a download from the web. It's for iMac or PC.

...and finally, here's a video I made for you about using "Acorn" filters to manipulate your images. I would like to have you work with these for a couple of days, add to your portfolio of work, and post to your blog your favorite two. Describe, analyze (elements & principles - I'll email you a sheet to help with your writing) and interpret (meaning, feeling?, attitude!) your pieces and why you chose them to post. Don't forget to post your portrait. The video for acorn is below.

The Edge of Water

This week's Photography problem is to photograph water, and this weekend turned out to be a perfect time for the assignment as there is water, water everywhere! Yesterday was occupied with cleaning the house in the morning and taking most of the afternoon to do some artwork in my studio and catch up on some extraneous email and research for class assignments.

I did get outside in the rain for a bit around one o'clock as I figured the light might be brightest at that time. Well, needless to say, the light wasn't bright at any time today and we've had lights on in the house all day! SO, here are a couple of pictures I got while I was out. The reflections in the diffused light are pretty good, but sometimes, if you are given that the photographer knows how to compose a shot, it is the subject that is the most important aspect. Here I have found humor (irony?), beauty in the flow of water, and the feeling of a "rainy day". I've posted the photos in that order.

3D Again... Group Shot

Our school celebrates the concept of diversity so well that I think we sometimes forget that there are, in fact, groups of learners in our school that feel at times they are on the outside looking in. They really aren't unless they want to be.

I went into Dan's room this morning to investigate the newly formed "Geek Club" with the idea of creating a "group shot", which was this weeks assignment for Digital Photo (Q1). I was amazed (but not really surprised - they are, after all, self described "geeks") at the enthusiasm from the group around creating a piece of photographic art in the traditions of "old school" stereoscopic imagery, you know, right lens blue and left lens red. Once I explained what I was up to they were all enthusiastic performers/actors who "struck a pose" for a photo and then were able to "freeze" their action while I shifted the camera slightly to the right and captured a second shot. The irony of the moment was not at all lost on them. What a great group to work with! 3D glasses are needed to observe the desired effect!

A previous post from last year http://mdihsdigphoto.blogspot.com/2012/05/3d-imagery.html showed this "process" with a group of my digital photographers.