I was always drawn into Flower photography or even landscape photography. I like to control the depth of field in during my shoots. I like to see the details of the flowers by zooming in and blur out the background. By foucusing on subject more. I like how these flowers or plants are way be to bring emotion by showing their colors or controling the picture. Even if it’s outside shots or indoor shots, the light something important. A great example is Alan Shapiro flower photography I like how he’s able to pop out the flowers and show the level of details of the flowers. He even makes some of the flowers to show movement by adding patterns.

https://www.alanshapirophotography.com/Portfolio/Trippin-in-the-garden-on/

Hotkenobi is a photographer that works with different types of toys to create different types of scenarios that are funny, serious, relatable or a recreation of a moment from something. His images are amazing and entertaining to see every time because within every image I can see the fun he has with the toys and fun with posing them in the way that he does. Most of his work seems to be 3 point lighting but he sometimes changes it to a single light from above or just two lights from the sides. He got some of his work published in japanese magazines along and  one time where the famous Stan Lee acknowledged his work and stated in one of his works “Always said work is like play, this photographer takes that one step further…” Seeing this made me realized that even if your work is for fun, or a hobby, or more it can get noticed by the most unexpected people and can even be turned into something more than just a hobby. I’m hoping to one day make something of this.

For my upcoming final project I want my photographs to base it between editorial and contemporary photography that would be printing and posted on Instagram for example. I want my images to represent femininity with a subject and flowers, plants and fruit metaphorically. I base my inspirations heavily with one of my favorite films by Alfred Hitchcock titled Vertigo, as the stem along with inspiration by photographers Philp-Lorca DiCorcia, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Nadine Iijewere and a painting by Edward Hopper. I asked Neira if she would be my model for the 2 days of shooting and she agreed to do so, and I will be having her as my subject along with some flowers, fruit for one shot. In the film Vertigo, even though it’s a film about crime flowers are heavily used throughout the film, and with the dramatic tone of mood I want to try to incorporate a moody yet playful and colorful mood with my photos for the project.

So for my final project I want to do a shoot where figurines are the subjects of the pictures doing many types of things that can range from a fighting pose to something comedic and silly. I have been a toy collector for many years now and have been building up quite a list of them that are all from different franchises. I’ve always wanted to do more with these to make something of them. I want to show it to the world but in a more creative way.

My target audience are toy collectors of all ages, present and future toy companies, so that I can show that there’s much more to these toys besides just sitting on shelves collecting dust. To show that even toys can become a work of art and that they can tell an original story with just one picture whether it be serious or whimsical.

This idea came to me when I remembered that different toy companies would have commercials on tv showing kids playing with these toys and using their imagination to play with the toys. But then I also remembered that the toy story films did a similar idea but the toys were alive and living a life when ever their owner left the room. So i thought maybe I can do something similar with what I have into a series of photos, and one of my inspirations was a toy photographer named Hotkenobi (https://www.instagram.com/hot.kenobi/?hl=en). He mixes up every day items that you would see everywhere and had the toys interact with them to show a type of action and interaction with other characters.

I want to put this into a portfolio to show that I can be creative, and fun. That I’m someone who enjoys what I do and would love to take it beyond one day.

I’ve been really inspired by the work we have done this semester alongside Start Small, Think Big.  With my portfolio in mind, a chord was struck, I want to help the smaller “mom and pop” brands develop their voice, their brand, in this convoluted corporate dominant society.  I’ve reached out to a friend whom recently started a health conscious juicing business named Dvine Greens.  I look to help her capture high resolution photos that she would otherwise not be able to stage for her website, while I get to make my tuition dollars meaningful to someone other than myself.

This market although niche is directly tied to fitness and wellness.  Her most popular offering being the three-day juice cleanse.  As her business grows, I’d like to provide polished photos to match the integrity of these drinks, and their fresh essence.

I’ve provided some of her existing shots, then some that are inspired by food and beverage photographer, Annabelle Breakey.

My final project should be to help my cousin take a photo of his job relate. He is a sushi chef. So I want to help him shoot a portrait and products. which is divided into two days. May 13th was only time his is free, so that day I help him shoot some portraits about his identity. On May 15th I am going to shoot sushi products.

The main audience is commercial for restaurant. I choose this theme because i saw a video about photography is like sushi by Ralph Gibson from The Art of Photography. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXaLeP7pD_M)

I am still searching for more commercial portraits of chefs and sushi products.

Sushi pieces placed between chopsticks, separated on black background. Popular sushi food.

 

Still life paintings are those of staged inanimate objects that might include fruits, flowers, textiles, etc.  Julia Sent’s spin on this is interesting because she creates a completely darkened or empty background that compels the eye towards the subject and accompanying ceramic platforms.  High contrast, yet very simple.  In the this photo, I am drawn by the sense of motion from the placement of the grapes.  The ceramic cup appears to have tipped over, sending the grapes in different directions.  The most notable is the cluster of grapes that dangles at the edge of the table.  The frame is lit mainly from the 3/4 angle, and the grapes look delectable because of this.  It also does a great job of showcasing the wood grain in the areas most immediately surrounding the fruit, but allowing it to blend in to the dark background as you move further away.  Lastly, I appreciate her use of leading lines by placing the cup and its fruit on the convergence lines of the table, which guide the eye to this portion of the frame, and offer perspective.  Although a simplistic photograph, arrangement and composition strengthen its interest.  Bonus photo added just because it reminded me of the exercise during class. Also high contrast and very effective execution.

BONUS::

Tim Wallace is a world class photographer perhaps best known for his captures of transportation mediums.  He brings personality to these inanimate objects by gathering a deeper understanding of their design process, and the purpose they serve.  Ultimately, this helps him decide how best to convey it’s message. I appreciate his attention to detail, especially the shots whose focus is on individual components of automobiles.  His choice of composition excels from the use of depth of field, tight cropping, various lighting techniques. For example, the first photo uses leading lines of the structure to point focus to the Aston Martin.  It is lit from above, the evidence being in the shadow of the pronounced body line that runs across the mid-line from rear quarter panel, through the door, into the front quarter panel.  There are many textures in this frame as well, from the clouds, to the tiled structure, the smooth body lines of the vehicle, and the grain of the gravel. The tight crop works well for the second photo as it shows the center most portion of the wheel, the matte black texture, the metallic of the red brake caliper, and the sheen of the cross-drilled rotor all working in harmoniously around the gold Porsche emblem. I love the mystery that is cast in the third photo, the subtle lighting helps to entice the eye.  If you are unfamiliar with the brand, McLaren, this entices you to want to see more, the car in its entire.

 

Tim Wallace is a internationally recognized corporate and commercial photographer based out of the UK, and often described as conceptual and dramatic. His works with a wide range of industries such as automotive, truck and logistics, aviation, marine, engineering, and freight operations. His clients include McLaren, Peugeot, Jaguar, Land Rover and many other iconic brands. Looking at his work, I am amazed by the sense of wonder he creates with conceptual photographs, showing just enough of a subject to draw the viewer’s eye. In the examples above, I notice that he utilizes show depth of field and light/shadow to create a mysterious yet elegant and whimsical feeling persuading the viewer to want to know more about the scene. In the first photo, I notice that there is a cast of purple color on object and the image is tightly cropped conveying the idea that there is more to see. In the second image, there is a lot of shadow created by a dim over head light making it more mature and serious, the netting and pattern is more textured and defined like you want to reach out and touch it. This image is also cropped tightly leaving a sense that the object goes on beyond what you can see. It gives the feeling that the brand is powerful, elegant and refined. Tim Wallace is beyond talented in this field whether he is capturing the concept of a subject or creating movement using shallow depth of field and dramatic backgrounds.

My concept for my final Advanced photography photo shoot was inspired by the challenges my friends, family and I faced during this past year. Basically, we are all in our early 20’s juggling work, school and a variety of other issues that can become physically, emotionally and psychologically draining on a person’s well being. Speaking for myself and what I’ve experienced from others these various challenges can take us to very dark and negative spaces in our minds, so I want to do a portrait shoot depicting that. I want the shoot to be transitional going from a depressed, stressed, overwhelming and dark feeling to something more hopeful and positive like finding light at the end of the tunnel. My subjects will include myself and four other people (family members, friends, spouse). My audience is young people like us who are also going through some of the most difficult times in our lives trying to be successful and live well but at the same time feeling like we’re running out of time. We fall into pits of depression so deep we often become our own worst enemies doubting ourselves and our abilities thinking we’ll never reach the finish line. I want to see this all narrated by the text from Langston Hughes’ poem Harlem. In the dark scenes, I want to see my subjects in a lot of shadow like partial silhouette in the more positive scenes I want a more hopeful light setting. In the dark settings, my subjects will be wearing dark clothes to add to the mood, in the more positive settings they will be wearing clothing and props that depict what their future aspirations or dreams are. All of this will be back lit in the color red because it represents a feeling of pain and anguish but also passion and strength. This idea can also be explored in a still life by photographing objects representing negative behavior like alcohol, drugs, razor blades and objects representing a person’s aspirations like books, art work, cameras, etc.  My inspirations for concept and lighting are works from Gregory Heisler, Nick Fancher and Jordan Peele’s poster art for his recent horror film “Us.

Lighting

Concept