Category: Virtual Coffeehouse #2 (Page 2 of 2)

  Title: Light my way home

     I was midway through cleaning my home when I noticed the shadow of my home’s living room. It was reflected on the window in between trees. Everything clicked for me in that moment, and I was inspired to take a picture of it. As I started looking for the vantage point, certain angles worked better since I wanted the living room to occupy the Space right in the middle of the photograph. Actually, when deciding on the title, nothing seemed right until I thought of “light my way home”. The title made me emotional, so I chose it. Additionally, it seemed just right because while there is light in the foreground, the light in the living room is more outstanding. Moreover, the title reminds me that there is always a warm home to return to no matter how much I explore the world.

Title: Is it this? or is it that?

      Yes, I actually decided on such a title for the photograph. You may be wondering, why? Well, if you have not noticed, in the photo there are some bright and dim lights. If you focus on the bright lights, you will notice that while they seem to be coming from the outside (buildings and such), it is not the case. Similarly to the photo, “Light my way home”, the light is reflected on a window, and they are actually led lights. Making use of windows to be part of the composition is really amazing as can be seen from the resulting photographs. Finally, due to the light pollution, it is hard to see stars in NYC, so I created the illusion of some by spraying some hair spray sparingly on the window right before capturing it. 

Title: Lights here, there, and everywhere.

      This photograph was the third I took and another one in which the vantage point is of great importance. It was actually taken by using the same window as “light my way home” but at different angles. With this one, I chose to focus on lights because we all live in a city with a lot of light. This light can come from many places, but each one has its own shade as we can see in the picture. Also, if you look closely to the top part of the photo you can see some shapes which are actually from a curtain but can blend in due to its similarity, in color, to the clouds.

Autumn Leaves

This photo was taken in Prospect Park today on Sunday after I finished my 5 kilometer run. My favorite season is Fall, and I wanted to capture the beauty in the leaves. I had them displayed on a log with the lake and trees in the distance. The dominant impression are the 2 sweetgum tree leaves. They have a very distinct shape and burgundy color which I think perfectly resembles Fall. I used a little bit of contrast to make the details more pronounced in iPhone’s “Photo” app, however the photo is true to the original.

Brighton Beach

This is another photo taken from today. I moved to Brighton Beach a few months ago and it was nice to be able to capture this. I was waiting for the train to come and thought this looked really nice. You can see the buildings facing each other on one street which lead to the trees in the distance where the road stops. The photo is divided into two parts, the right side is dark and the other half is light, creating rich contrast and color.

Cozy Day at Home

This photo was taken 3 years ago. I used a filter to saturate and bring the photo to life. I enjoy nature and collecting plants which is why I decided to take this. This plant is a succulent(Scientific name: Haworthia Fasciata) and it has a very intricate design on the leaves. It has white spots/lines going across the leaves which all come together into a pattern. Even though it is a small plant that you may not notice at first, with close up photography, you can really highlight a certain object, plant, detail, etc and showcase it to others. I think the filter brings a lot of warmth and makes it appealing to the eye especially the reflection in the window.

Bedford Park Blvd is a very busy area, where people pass each and every day to work, hospitals and school since Lehman College is only three minutes walk from the four train station. This photo is an art also in this photo, the composition makes it one of a kind whereby the shapes and vantage point where by this photo was taking makes it intriguing for the framing of this picture. I also chose this photo because it has space, and also shows people and objects in motion. You can see the train tracks, people crossing the street, cars waiting for the traffic light to switch to green, to proceed movement and also some people filling their cars at the gulf gas station, whiles some people are having conversation beside the tree that is behind the gulf gas station. There is also a internet company named Verizon in the right side of the picture and also the proportions of this photo makes it very interesting to analyze. There is also a gas station filled with cars. Not to forget there is a bird also flying in front of an incoming Nissan rouge which is approaching the traffic light.

This part of the Bronx has been always lively from the noise of cars, motorcycles and more from the train which runs every six to twelve minutes. This is photo is an art, the balance and composition of this photo makes it very interesting to look it. Also you can see trains going at each direction with one going to the last stop, which is Woodlawn and the other facing the direction of New lots Avenue. There is also a white van in this photo that is parked and has a wet ground where people hand wash their cars and there is someone standing there. A lot of project buildings are in this neighborhood. In this photo also you can see the space and scale of how the photo is been taken not only that, but there is a train maintenance station and parking space where most of the trains are serviced not only the four train but others as well like the D and other many. The vantage point of the photographer makes the photo attracting. Cars are parked in the parking lot of a housing projects and also the blue building in the picture is a church and the building adjacent to the train tracks on the right is the building of the New York City Sanitations.

This picture taken in the sunny daytime is an art photo. This is the George Washington bridge, including the neighboring houses around Washington heights and Highbridge. The light which is been reflected by the sun unto the water and the wind blowing over it makes it look like a silver ripple. When you look closer to the bridge you can see cars moving on the bridge heading to New Jersey and also entering New York with a little bit of traffic. You can also see trees and plants around this place which makes it a very comfortable view to stare at, or go rest under the trees and get some shade and fresh air. Also there is a baseball field in this photo, which is close by Lehman College which makes it more of an attraction site to visit for students and others. The empty space that is seen by the reservoir is a parking lot for cars. I chose this photo because of the calming feeling it gives when you stare at it because of how it is surrounded by nature. While I like all the three pictures I prefer the second photo because it gives me more view of the neighborhood and how you get to see the trains and all these nicely built apartment and offices. The focus of this picture is also based on the the water and the bridge. When you also look towards the bridge you can see a straight road and also a tall white building which is the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

“Natural Falls”

“Natural Falls” was taken when I was in Ithaca Falls with my family when we went to visit right during the first week of school and I wanted to take a photo of the beautiful landscape. The main focus of the image is the waterfalls and the focus is sharpest when the photo is taken in the foreground and the background is the waterfall at the center of the image. The vantage point of the photo was also taken from a lower position and then facing up towards the waterfall.

“The Sky’s coastline”

“The Sky’s Coastline” was taken when I was going with my friends to Overpeck County Park in NJ. As we were walking around the park and then crossed a bridge and then continued to walk past until we saw the beautiful view of the sun setting, I decided to take a picture of it. The DOF of the photo was originally meant to be very shallow and keep everything slightly blurred in the background as most of the focus was on the small flowers at the bottom of the photo since I wanted the lighting to be very dark, which gave off a good view of the silhouette of the tree and the tree in the background.

“Night Walk”

“Night Walk” was taken from a train station next to my house. I took this when I was wandering around with my friends late at night and trying to get home and the view overall looked very aesthetic and empty. The dominant impression of this is the train that looks like it’s coming out of nowhere and suddenly appearing in the middle of the night. The vantage point is taken straight on from a further angle to catch the depth of the train.

This was a picture I took from my computer of a recent crime in Brownsville, Brooklyn where I live. Most of the space in the photo is taken up by the computer screen, but you can see a black mask on the right corner of the picture. Now why did I take this photo? For those who don’t know, I write stories in my spare time and this scene is a motivation for a character in one of my current stories. Stuck in a dangerous neighborhood the character is driven to try and live somewhere safer.

This is a photo of me at the computer lab in the Voorhees building, the picture was taken by Ranald. In the photo, you’ll see two different computers, on the left computer you’ll see a blueprint to an art museum. On the other you’ll see the museums interior and what it looks like. If you look even closer you can see the same black mask on the keyboard. Why? In the first photo my character is motivated to move somewhere safer because of the crime in his neighborhood and he would need a lot money to do so. Arts valuable.

I wanted to experiment with the lighting and tried to take a clear photo in a dark environment to give a more nightly theme. Once again you can see the mask below a list of names on the phone screen. These names are characters in my story based on other students I’ve met at City Tech. The image on the screen is a picture of Spain which I’ve always wanted to go to. Lastly, on the keyboard, you can see various tools (screwdrivers, flashlights) in which that character would later use. Finally guessed what my story is about?

 “Festival lottery prize”

I took this photo of the “Festival Lottery Prize “because I wanted to have a theme about the festival for my photo essay.  The meaning of the photo to me is that this is my proof of experience of winning the prized figure. I tried to use the “Rule of Thirds where I had the photo taken where the anime figure is around the edge of the four corners. The background behind this photo is there was a marble lottery where you can pay five dollars for a spin. This photo is how I celebrated at the festival as I managed to win an anime figure as I tried to smile. This will be the first photo to introduce the theme of the festival.

“Festival Mikoshi”

I chose the “Festival Mikoshi”  since the Mikoshi (portable shrine) was a part of the festival’s Japanese aesthetic. The meaning of the photo to me is that it drew me in with it’s colors of yellow and gold. This would be the second photo, and I will transition to it to describe the festival’s culture. How is it that this shrine with lots of gold colors intertwined with the festival? The meaning of the colors that hit me when I first saw bit during the festival.

“Eating Takoyaki Alone at the Festival”

I choose “Eating Takoyaki Alone at the Festival” as I would like to describe the Takoyaki that I ate at the festival. The meaning of the photo to me is the food that I tasted there was during the festival. The focus point of this image is the Takoyaki for I to transition from the festival’s prizes to the Mikoshi, and end it off with the food. This is so I can try to tell a cohesive story with a beginning middle and end with these three photos with the quotes from each Arthur’s we talked about.

Prof. Scanlan’s test post.