Timing is Everything

After almost 500 shots, I chose this image as my favorite. My original idea was to photograph a water droplet hitting a surface (either more water or a countertop). I was encouraged to try getting a spill if the droplet became too elusive.

This image was taken during the third set of shots and this was the third color of water and the third background I used. With dark purple water in a clear bowl and a piece of paper that looks like water underneath and behind the bowl, this is the image I liked the most. The colors seem to merge together from the foreground to the back ground.

My setup included two small flash units on either side of the bowl set at 1/4 power and a turkey baster above to drop the water. I used a 60mm macro lens on my Nikon D80 DSLR camera. The exposure was set at 1/60 of a second at f/36.

For Becca

This was an AWESOME assignment!! At first, I thought it was crap. I held my tongue and when it all started coming together, I changed my mind. We pulled four words out of a "hat" and had to come up with a final image either showing those words or giving the impression of them. The four words were a theme, two objects and a type of person. My words were EXTRAVAGANT, UMBRELLA, NECKTIE, NARCISSIST.

I dipped back into my photo files from the past for this image of extravagant Buckingham Palace (God save the Queen!). The sky is actually from a photo I took at Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC. The rest of the pictures were taken in the parking lot at Randolph Community College.

My thanks goes out to Rebecca Helms for being my narcissist four times in this image, to George Ulrich for wearing the necktie and holding the umbrella, to Constance Ulrich for the use of her car, to Irene Townsend for the lighting assistance, and to John Rash for the teeny tiny bit of Photoshop help. ;o)

Whew! I'm glad THAT'S finished!

Breakfast Revisited

For those of you who have been following my blog from the beginning (Hi Mom!), you may remember the very first photograph I posted. I took the advice of my instructor and fellow classmates and reshot the breakfast assignment. I am MUCH happier with the result.

With a focal length of 62mm and exposure an of 1/30 of a second at f/5.6, I used the rear lighting from the window and a slight fill light off to my left.

Congratulations Jennie and Ivan!

On Friday, September 25, 2009, Jennie Stevens and Ivan Cheng were married in Browns Summit, NC at Tuscany Gardens. Jennie’s children were included in the ceremony as maid of honor and best man. There are no words to express how happy I am for Jennie, Ivan, Jonathan and Savannah and I wish them all every happiness in their new family!

Self Promo 3

For my third self-promotional photograph, I chose to photograph a

piece of jewelry. It took hours of playing with lighting to find a

combination that showed the color of the jewel and also made it

shine. I used the edge of my bathtub to try to get a reflection of the

ring. When that didn't work, I used a piece of white plexiglass.

I placed a small softbox behind the ring, a small flash underneath

the plexiglass, and another flash to the left of the rest of the setup.

After all that, I felt better about the color and shine of the ring,

but still wanted a reflection. So I cut the ring out and created a

reflection for it in another PhotoShop document.

I shot the ring with my Nikon D80 DSLR and a 60mm macro lens. My

exposure time was 1/200 of a second at f/32.

Two Zoos

Lots of people seem to get Asheboro and Asheville mixed up in North Carolina. I always say that Asheboro is the one with the zoo. Being a photography student has at least one nice perk; we get into the zoo for free. The polar bear is one of my favorites at the NC Zoo. I love the complementary colors!

The elephant habitat is becoming one of my favorites because the watering hole is so close to the observation deck, which means the elephants hang out close enough to view and photograph.

The leopard and orangutan photographs were taken at the zoo in Dublin, Ireland two years ago before I moved to Asheboro for photography school.

That's why they're the teachers

This past Monday, photographer Rick Smith came to our class and spent the day with us. He gave us an assignment and set us loose for part of the day. When we came back with our completed assignments, we got the chance to see the ideas everyone else had come up with, and receive a critique from a professional photographer. My attempt was given praise for composition but criticism for other aspects. I took the feedback and ideas for making it better and reshot it the next day.

The photograph on the left was shot at f/8 @ 1/80 of

a second, ISO 200. The photograph on the right was shot at f/8 @ 1/30 of a second, ISO 200. With both, I used a Speedotron power pack and flash with a softbox in the RCC studio. This was a fun assignment and I enjoyed the day. Thanks for joining us Rick Smith!

Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens

On my last trip to Charleston, SC I went to Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens to scout out a possible photo shoot site. Unfortunately, there were too many people milling around the grounds that day. As I was leaving, I passed an old house and decided to stop the car, go back and take pictures of it. On the walk back up the road, I found a peaceful scene. Some of the trees bent over the dirt road, creating a natural arch.

When I reached the old house I had seen, I went in to investigate and found mostly dirt and spiders. My favorite view of the spiders and the house was from OUTSIDE.

I finished photographing the house and had had enough of the mosquitos feasting on me so I walked back toward my car and decided to take some photos of the cornfield. My favorites were actually IN the cornfield.

This place, which I mistakenly called Boone's Farm all day, was beautiful and historic. Visit in person or online today!

Lizzie

For this week’s Commercial Photography assignment, the task was to shoot a cover for the book Us and Them: A History of Intolerance in America. I chose the story Harriet Jacobs Owns Herself as my inspiration. This story details the experience of a runaway North Carolina slave girl. Pictured here is a new friend I met on Daniel Island, SC posing as Harriet Jacobs.

This photograph was shot with my Nikon D80 DSLR and a 200mm lens. The lighting was sunlight that was filtered through the trees surrounding the property. The exposure was 1/13 sec at f/5.6.

This is the barn used as the backdrop for my photograph.

Jack's Cosmic Dogs

On a recent trip to Charleston, SC I was introduced to one of the oddest, funkiest, and most endearing roadside hot dog stands / restaurants. Located at 2805 Hwy 17 North in Mt. Pleasant, SC, Jack's Cosmic Dogs provided visual stimulation as well as the power to WOW my taste buds with the best hot dog I've ever eaten.

The quirkiness of this space is vividly displayed by everything inside and outside of it. From the vintage coolers and vending machines, to the chandeliers made of tea cups and spoons, to the 1980s video game in the corner, Jack's Cosmic Dogs is the place to visit for good food and lots of fun.

Puddle Jumpers

For a self-promotional assignment, I wanted to photograph my neighbor's three-year-old son on the playground. His personality leaves me chuckling every time I see him. We hit the playground a little late in the evening, but I wasn't going to miss the chance to capture his energy on film. Unfortunately, he wanted to play UNDER the playground equipment where the light was even worse. I quietly consulted with my neighbor about my plan B and she agreed to let him play in the giant puddle that was the volleyball court. Big sister wanted to get in on the fun so here they are, splashing in the water and having a wonderful time.

I DID volunteer to wash their clothes when I was finished taking photos. I had splashed a little myself and laundry was definitely on my TO DO list.

Image Destruction

On Monday, our class was honored by the presence of professional photographer Dan Routh. Our assignment was to come to class with an "edgy" portrait. Edgy was left open to interpretation. We proceeded, with our photos, into PhotoShop where we were encouraged to play and destroy or images. The first image below was the original photograph. The second and third were my efforts at destruction.

Thanks to Dan for spending the day with us!

Old School Artwork

I took this photograph last semester for Large Format class. After scanning the ektachrome film, I emailed it to my uncle who used a program he loves to make it look like a painting. The instructor for the class had told me that the composition of my image looked like one of the old master paintings. Now it really does.

This image was taken in a dark studio at RCC with a Sinar F-1 Large Format camera and one Speedotron flash unit. The flash was set close to the left and a white fill card was set close to the right of the scene. After metering the flash until it read f/16, I set my aperture to f/45 to achieve maximum depth of field and left the shutter open until I had popped the flash eight times.

Breakfast

As breakfast is "the most important meal of the day", I thought it only fitting to start my blog with a photo of it. This was a client assignment for my Photographic Illustration class and was just as enjoyable to photograph as it was to eat afterward.

To light this image, I sat a small table right next to a window and added a touch of fill light from the left side facing a fill card on the right. My Nikon D80 was set on 1/60 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400. I used a focal length of 52mm on a 28-200 mm lens.