Messages in the Library

When I was in the library a little while ago I found these post it's around. I thought it was sweet and decided to take pictures of them all. They're not terribly wonderful photos, but I really liked the nice messages and how they stuck them to related things. I think they all speak for themselves.

Nature Photos

I really like orange tones in nature photography so I used the shade white balance setting a lot. White balance was the main thing I played with and had the most fun and success with. I tried playing with the focus but all the out of focus shots I took just left me feeling like I forgot to my my glasses on..... not a pleasant feeling....... 

I used the tungsten setting for this one. I took some with a cloudy and shade WB setting, but I think the blue tone fits a lot better. It makes the orange stand out a lot more. When the background was more orange it got distracting. 

5 Day Assignment

Taken while I was home. This is my dog Tempy. This is the photo I had meant to submit for critique in class, but I think the other was probably better for that in the end. I'm really biased, but I like this picture of her a lot. It really show's how sweet she is. The thing that bothers me is the mat on the left, it was hard to control the surroundings though. 

I took this while doing some sedimentology field work. We were on the side of I-88 about half way up one of the out crops there. We're studying a formation of rocks called the Helderberg group. 

This was during my chem lab. We were doing titrations 

My self. I was kind of at a lack of what to do that day, but I've always thought ears were interesting and I like my earrings, so why not? 

Another one of my dolls. I like the lighting and composition on this one. It's really hard to get his eyes lit well because they're so closed, but they show up well here. 

Geology Lab Work

We've been going to this outcrop on the side of I-88 for my sedimentology class and the view from it is beautiful. 

The rocks in the front are the layer below me, I'm another few feet up from those. I liked how this picture shows a lot of distance. 

Closer up on the mountains. It was a beautiful day.

I decided to play with my second lens some more. I don't use it often because of it's insane distance. You can get a good idea of how far the high way was in the first picture and this is how far my lens can zoom. It's kind of ridiculous. 

Shooting in the other direction. It's just such a nice view. Sadly though I was a week late to capture all the fall colors. 

Another one with the outcrop in the foreground. It's just such a different perspective up there. 

My dogs, Tempy and Jovie

One of the things I always try to do when I'm home is photograph my dogs. Try being the key word here, my dogs are extremely active and don't like to stay still. Especially once they notice you giving them any attention (photographic very included). They're also weirdly skittish around cameras, Tempy's gotten more used to it (she usually shoves her nose into) just Jovie runs from it *sigh* But I tried. I have a third dog, a soft coated wheaten terrier name Max, but he'd almost 14 and just sleeps most of the day. I decided to leave him be. 

Tempy: Almost 2 year old Swissnees (half siwss mountain dog half pyranees). She's about 100 lbs, big baby. 

Not great focus, but this picture really shows her personality. She's a really sweet and happy dog. 

She makes funny faces. 

It's her specialty. 

I really love the breed. They're absolutely gorgeous dogs, and they have such sweet dispositions.

Jovie: Almost 1 year old Swissnees. Tempy's young sister (same parents a litter later)

Again, not a great picture, it got over exposed and it was beyond editing help, but Jovie's really hard to photograph since she usually runs from it.... 

Like I said, she's pretty camera shy. She also has a weird love of being under the chairs. If the recliner is up, it's like her den, she'll get pretty territorial. 

A lot of people think they're part St Bernard cause of the droopy eyes. 

If there's a sock near by, Jovie will inevitably find it, so we tend to have them laying around the house..... 

They're both just big babies. They absolutely love to cuddle. 

Fencing!

I decided to use fencing as my subject because it's something I really like and has a lot of opportunity for interesting shots. I also thought it would be an interesting subject because what you end up with is basically out of your control, I'm just capturing whatever the fencer's decided to do. I liked the random aspect of it and the challenge of trying to capture the perfect moment and I was happy with a lot of the results. 

These first two were taken at a Sabre tournament my friend (in the red socks) and I went to not long ago. This one is kind of classic crossed blades action shot. I liked the slight blur on the sabre's and both the poses are captured in the middle of the attack. 

This is my favorite shot. I love the bend in the one blade. Most people don't realize how much these blades can bend from speed alone. Sabre especially, we get whipped by them blades all the time, more often than taking a direct hit. This shows and proves that perfectly. 

This is at the club here on campus. 

Some of the equipment. Someone just set their mask, glove and foil down and I thought it looked cool. 

Sometimes attacks don't go as planned...........

Artist Interview

I interviewed Bob Hyndman, my dad. Yes it was convenient for me, but I also thought it would be interesting. I've grown up around him and his work and his influence as an artist. I can't say I have the same love of fish that he has but he's definitely been a huge artistic influence in my life.

What motivates you to make your artwork?

I’ve never really thought about what motivates me to create art. It’s always been something I’ve just done, part of being who I am, how I think and see things. I would say that what motivated me to create much of the work I have done is curiosity. I have always been very curious about complicated things. I like the discovery process of solving complicated ideas, usually of my own creation. My art is often a solution to my own visual conundrum.  


I think it's interesting that his driving force is curiosity and that art is his solution to working it out. Curiosity is a driving force for pretty much everything, yet I don't hear it as a reason for art very often. 

What are you trying to communicate through your artwork?

At its essence, whether abstract or realistic, my work is about complicated space. I love the contrast of a smooth undulating surface juxtaposed and sharply defined edges, the predictable verses chaos.

I remember watching him doodle on a napkin once and watching the pen. He rarely lifted it from the napkin, squiggles everywhere, and eventually it made a face. His description here reminds me of that, it was a chaotic mass of squiggles and scribbles and yet, I could tell what it was because of his line and space control. 

What's your favorite subject matter?

Fish. They are a reoccurring theme in any media I work in. When I was young I thought for the longest time I was going to be an oceanographer, the next Jacques Cousteau. That interest has carried over into my art.

It's funny how often I see science and art go together. He's been making ceramic fish sculptures since I was little. He's always loved fishing and  using fish as a subject matter. Art is most fun when you're using a subject matter you like, right?

I don't have any pictures right now, but I'll update the post once he's sent one.