Oops.....

I think I accidentally deleted all the comments on my posts..... *sigh* Sorry.

Wedding Photos

Obviously these aren't my photo's but I thought I'd share some. Tracy Buyce was my sister's photographer and she was absolutely wonderful. She was professional but also very friendly and personable which made us all comfortable which is one thing we discussed during our first project. She captured a lot of great moments that I know my sister and brother in law are glad to have. I just pulled out a few of my favorites. 

This is one of my favorites, though it's better if you know him. My dad was giving his welcome speech and he's not one to tear up, so Tracy capturing this moment was really sweet and a great memory to have (and great blackmail! I kid....).

This is Tracy's website and a link to the rest of the photos: http://www.traceybuyce.com/megan-ben-glen-sanders-mansion-saratoga-springs-ny-photographer/

If you have the time, I'm sure Tracy and my sister would appreciate you leaving a comment there!

Nighttime Adventures

Just wanted to share some photo's I took Tuesday night. My roommate and I were in the geology lab late finishing up some lab work and walked home around 1 AM and when we left the science building it was super foggy out. It was really cool looking with the lights so I decided to take a few pictures. 

That's my roommate walking ahead.

What motivates me....

1. What motivates you to make photographs? When the motivation is internal, how do you benefit from your photography? If the motivation is external, what results do you hope for?


I'm not completely sure what motivates me to make photographs, I've always been interested and loved taking pictures, ever since I was a kid. The first thing coming to mind about why I take them is to preserve a memory. I guess I just want to capture something beautiful/meaningful/interesting/special and capture it and save it. I have a terrible memory and Im a very visual person, so I like to have the memory, especially a photo memory preserved. I also like to be able to share things about myself with other people and photography and art has always been a way I feel comfortable doing that. When my motivation is internal and I know the photographs are to please me first and others second, I feel less pressure and that's always nice. I know what I like and can aim for that and I think that if people see how happy you are with something they'll notice, I know I like to see an artist happy with their work and having fun doing it and sometimes you just need to do something for yourself. When the motivation is external I aim to meet the goal given to me and please whoever is expecting the photographs. I like to make people happy so I want to make sure they're happy with the results. My sister got married just before I came back to school and seeing her happy with her wedding photos and the photographer's happiness in taking them and that she had fun taking them is really nice to see. 




2. What interests and inspires you as an artist in your broader life? For you, what connections are there between what inspires you and your photography?


I always have so much trouble answering the question what inspires me. I guess that's probably because a lot of things do. I feel like I draw inspiration from everything around me. I try to look at things from different points of view and think of things in ways people might not normally think. I still have a long way to go with that, but I try. My friends and family are definitely a huge inspiration to me. A lot of my family (my dad, uncles, aunts, grandfather...etc) are all artists, some professional, some more casual, and most of my friends have varying levels of interests in art and seeing their work and motivation is really inspiring to me. I also draw a lot of inspiration from my geology major. I find a lot of what I study very beautiful and I like to try to show that to people who don't understand it as well. My advisor has a tapestry on his wall that is beautiful even if you don't know what it is and I think that's really cool. I also really wanted to learn to photograph better because of my dolls, like the one I used in the object assignment. I have a few of those and I never really felt fully capable of capturing their beauty to my satisfaction and one of the reasons I have them is because I want to be able to customize them and  then share them. I see them as beautiful pieces of art and I want to showcase that. Same with sewing. A lot of my friends and I sew costumes and while there is a lot of satisfaction in just doing that, I really wanted to be able to then share that with other people. It's really nice to be able to share what you love with others. I try t use what I learn from my friends and family and think about what inspires me and bring that into any photograph I take. No matter the subject there's always a way to make it special. 

Composition Project

Balanced

Close

Far

High

Low

Over

Unbalanced

Under

Overall I'm not really satisfied with my pictures this time. My shoot ended up being a bit rushed because I had a lot of other work to do too so I didn't get to invest as much time as I would have liked into it. The unbalanced photo is my personal favorite, I like the texture in the purple bird and the cropping. 

Dungeon Canyon by Eliot Porter (Intimate Landscapes)

1. Photo draws your eye, catches your interest. 

I found it very eye catching. When you get down to the basic shapes in this photo it's very simple, but the way it's broken up still manages to draw you in. The stratification in the rocks in the foreground draw your eye in right towards the lighter colored one in the background.

2. Angle or point of view. 

I like the point of view of looking through an opening like this. It gives the photo differently layers that lead to the next. 

3. Makes the viewer think or react emotionally. 

I think this could depend on the viewer. As a geology it makes me think a lot. I wonder about what the rocks are and what could have caused the structures visible in the picture. I think to people less interested in that would just see it as a cool pictures of rocks, not much more. 

4. Has a message, or pushes barriers. 

I don't think there's any message or barrier pushing here... But personally, I'm not sure it needs this to still be an enjoyable picture. None of Eliot Porter's work is what I would call boundary pushing. It's much softer and more for the simple enjoyment of the beauty of nature. 

5. The subject matter is interesting. 

I find it very interesting. My love of rocks aside, the rocks are simple and the division of them is simple there's still plenty to look at. 

6. Tells a story. 

Once again, maybe to some people. I see a story. I see a story about how the rocks were formed, about what they might have been before formation and about where they might go after weathering. 

7. Catches the ‘critical moment’ when action is at it’s peak?

I don't think there was any critical moment to catch. The rocks have been there for a while and there is a very good chance they're still there. On the other hand it captured it still captured a moment that one day (not one day soon, but still one day) will no longer exist. 

8. Clear focus of photo (both the sharpness and primary subject matter). 

The photo is very clear focus wise, the primary subject matter could be slightly up for debate, but I sould call the furthest back, lightest colored rock the subject, but really I feel like the whole picture of the subject. In the end it's all the same rock, but the eye is most drawn towards that lighter part. 

9. Design elements: composition, framing, lines, movement. 

I think all of the design elements are well captured in this photo. I like the composition and framing of the rocks and think they're simple but strong. The edge's of each cliff is an interesting line that moves you through the picture and each ridge on the side of the outcrop draws you in deeper. 

10. Lighting interesting 

The lighting is a big part of how this picture works out and I think he did is very successfully. The on rock being highlighted and the others in shadow accentuate the one rock even more. And give this photo a main subject. 

11. Technically proficient (exposure, focus, etc) 

Every thing is focused well and exposed well to give it a nice contrast. 

12. Good printing: frame, paper, size, all match content. 

This is hard to tell in the book.....

Object Assignment

Silver Creek Flooding

Looking down on Silver Creek

The stream is moving much faster than usual due to the flooding. It was measured at 1 m/s. 

The brown color is from all the sediments that aren't normally picked up in the stream being picked up due to the faster speeds. 

A lot more water on the waterfall than usual. 

I found a squirrel on my trip back to my dorm. 

Portrait Assignment and Questions

1. I felt uncomfortable being photographed, I always have. Even when family takes pictures I get uncomfortable. I feel really awkward and don't know what to do and it makes me super aware of what I'm doing and how it would look in a photo. I'm also very uncomfortable with people I don't know, nothing against Adam, not his fault. 

2. Even though I was uncomfortable we got through it cause Adam made a lot of jokes and we just laughed about it. I think lightening the mood helps most anyone feel more comfortable in most situations.  It can get people to act more naturally, even when they feel pressured by having pictures taken.