Author Archives: Sean Nurse

About Sean Nurse

Sean Mario Nurse Design background My background in design started like everyone else’s, as a basic interest as a child. Drawing and playing with Lego’s was the beginning of a fascination I had with building and making things from nothing. My father was a contractor and an architect and I had always aspired to be like him. My first real experience with design programs was in high school when I took my first architectural design classes. I learned the basics of Auto Cad and Photoshop and my professor encouraged me to pursue architecture in college. In college I gained more experience in Auto Cad and developed confidence in my abilities to understand the constantly changing program. I hope to learn more about the other programs used for design and hope to broaden my skills.

Learning Log – FInal Project – Suggestions

My partner suggested that I look out for glare and to work on framing the subject properly.  Also I should take more pictures using the macro setting and use the narrow and deep focus to give depth.  I’m going to go out and take more pictures this week and focus on framing and avoiding glare.  I will also work towards visiting more locations for longer periods of time so that my best pictures don’t all come from one place.

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Lights – 11/15/12 – Learning Log 7

I think that this is one of my groups best pictures.  The subject is well lit on by the sidelight and the lines form in a unique pattern on his chest. I imagine the lights as armor.  The lighting also makes the picture look more serious and the pose matches the seriousness of it.

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Brooklyn Historical Society Vs. Greenwood Cemetery

There was a big difference in going to the Brooklyn Historical Society and looking at maps, and going to the cemetery and seeing the space in person.  I understand that the topography has not changed since it was farm land, confirming that the land was never actually turned into lots for homes.  The scale of the place became much more real to me than looking at the maps.  Being that we only covered a small part of the cemetery in our time there it puts in perspective that the cemetery is incredibly large.  This is also shown in the maps in that the area that was supposed to be used for homes is also a small percentage of the entire cemetery.  Overall being there in person was of course much more helpful in putting its scale into perspective but I am thankful for the knowledge I gained from the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Land

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Learning Log 5 – Portrait Basics

1. When shooting a portrait it is most important to have lighting direction and the right amount of lighting.  Also the framing can do a lot to help the portrait look balanced.

2. Broad lighting falls more on the side of the face with the ear showing.  Short lighting is more focused on the center of the face.

3. The main light lights the subject directly and/or is reflected onto the subject.

4. The fill light helps to balance and diffuse the light on the subject.

5. The background light brightens the background to give contrast between the background and the subject.

Digital Photography Learning Log 5

This is my favorite picture from today because the lighting really matches the mood and it is very well framed on the subject(Ming Yin).  It could have been better lit on the subject but the darkness reflects the tone of the image.

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Learning Log 4 – Brooklyn Historical Society

BHS

Brooklyn Historical Society

The trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society was very educational for many reasons.  We got to see daguerreotypes up close, primary sources in the history of Brooklyn.  We also got to see the work of photographers living in Brooklyn as well as historical documents that actually helped us learn about the cemetery we are going to visit.  The photographs illustrated how much time has changed from the 1800’s to now with our photographic technology.  It seems that photos were emore often meant for the wealthy and rarely taken in the past, therefore a lot of time and care was put into making the photographs beautiful and decorative.  As oppose to today where we can quickly snap a shot and it is immediately beautiful crisp and in color, ready for us to view.

What most fascinated me was that we got to investigate documents by thinking critically and compiling evidence.  For example with my groups map of the cemetery we were able to figure out  that the cemetery had greatly expanded from what it once was and at one point was farm land and was going to be sold for housing lots.  I would have loved to learn more than that about it’s history which is why I think I will one day go back and look at more documents.

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Botanic Garden – Sean Nurse

Botanic Garden Pond

This is my favorite image I took today because it is calming and brings me right back to the garden.  It calms me and there is some level of symmetry that makes me enjoy the composition of it as oppose to many of the other pictures I took today.

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Lighting Direction – Sean Nurse

This picture is my favorite because it really conveys emotion.  I call it the married couple because it looks like the two flowers are together and upright and there is a third flower that is sad and drooping.  I think the shadow also helps to highlight the emotion.

sunflowers backlight

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In-Class

The terms positive and negative space never really made sense to me before but now I understand what the concept of it is.  Positive space is taken up by the subject and leaves little of the background.  The background is the negative space.  I think that this knowledge will be very helpful to me both as a photographer and as a graphic designer.  I now understand that this framing is very important and can convey many different things.

For example; this picture has a lot of negative space which helps to make the chair look small.  More positive space would help it look bigger.

-Sean Nurse

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Homework 1

Digital Photography 1

 

Homework 1

Thomas Holton The Lams of Ludlow Street

 

  1. The image is a casual portrait of the Lam family, some of which are eating.
  2. The intention of the photo is unclear, though it is very serious it could mean a number of things.  It shows the family in a very casual setting and seems to just focus on the subject in focus.
  3. The emphasis is on the young man sitting on a chair; he appears to be eating and staring intensely at the camera.  The subject appears to be front-lit with very little shadow in the picture.
  4. The selective focus helps the image because it focuses on the expression of the subject in focus.  It also helps that the viewer is eye level with the subject in the focus.
  5. There is a High Contrast in the image that focuses on the brightest area of the image, which is the main subject.  The image shows a deep space but still focuses on the far end of the space.
  6. The image reveals the two children in the front of the deep space out of focus, both are at different distances and the one closest to the front is the most out of focus.
  7. The image makes the viewer serious and focused.  Also it shows calm in an area where there are many other things going on.  No one else in the image is focused on the camera except for the main subject.
  8. The picture relates to the other images in the series because it uses the same selective focus as in some of the other images and shows the family and the space they live in as the main subject.

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