I don't live down near the coast, so it was tough for me to get any open water photos. I opted to take photos of water around my area, and with my luck, everything was frozen thanks to this cold spell we're in!
The photo of the water in the glass was me trying to be slightly creative. I know it drifts out of the scope of the assignment of bodies of water, but I thought it'd be fun.
Hi folks....
It is very important for you to put your full size and original photos in your Google Drive. If you have a Facebook or Instagram account and you copy your photos back from there, they are very tiny and too small to use for this class... Also, if you email yourself your photos from your phone, very often they will come through too small to be of much use.
It is super important that the EXIF information (Metadata) travel with your images and that they are the full size that your camera created them at the time of exposure. I need to see this to help teach you about your shooting but also to verify it is your work and that you have taken it for this class, during the time the class is in session.
To make sure the metadata stays with your photo, use a cable to transfer your photos full size or if you do email them (much slower) open one as a test in Photoshop then choose menu item File>File Info.
I would say these are my best shots for this assignment. My mother in law lives on Milford beach so I was fortunate enough to get some really nice shots at different times. I also featured a few really good ones from a hike this week.
These by the sea shots were taken on a very cold morning with an overcast skyline. The wind was blowing and the water was rough out at Nathan Hale Park. My last shot of the three was taken the same morning from the Quinnipiac River by Front Street and Grand Avenue, a complete contrast in water moment. On the river I was able to catch some light shining on the water that I was able to bring out in Lightroom.
I had a hard time finding some ideas to photograph, but here goes nothin'! Oh, and of course, my phone dies on me just as I was in the middle of getting "creative" and as the sun started to go down so I had no chance to recharge and get back out.
I decided to pursue surrealism and the assorted visual works
of David Lynch for inspiration on these assignments. I’ve always been drawn to
photographic images and other visual forms of art that bend or break reality in
some way. Growing up, I was introduced to surrealists like Salvador Dali, H.R.
Giger, and Francis Bacon. Their influence can be felt on many of the films I
enjoy. David Lynch is a man of many talents, and his creative output is vast
and bizarre. As much as I love film, especially visually-striking ones, David’s
particular style of film never really spoke to me in the way it did to those I
socialized with. For the most part, his work only succeeded in frustrating me and
making me feel alienated. For some unexplained reason, I recently decided to
give his series, Twin Peaks another chance after many false starts
throughout the years, and it just clicked for me this time. I’ve been slowly
exploring his vast career ever since.
David is known for employing a dream-like atmosphere, especially in his film and television work. Plot is not usually the primary focus. His artistic efforts are more about the overall experience and how they make the audience feel. Each piece he produces is like a psychological journey. He puts images in front of the viewer that are intended to make them think or react in some way. A significant portion of his output can be upsetting for many people. The subject matter often deals with the absurd or the grotesque. I will do my best to be mindful that not everyone’s sensibilities are like my own, and will try to remain as respectful as I can with the work I turn in. It is not my intention to be offensive in any way, but some of the subject matter may be unavoidable. If I happen to upset anyone, I apologize.
For my first submission, I wanted to reinterpret some of
David’s traditional photography. Old factories, power plants, and examples of urban
decay appear in a great deal of Lynch’s work. I too, share his fascination with
those things. I was able to capture my photos in the areas of State Street,
Grand Avenue, East Street, and Long Wharf Drive. I tried to include some subtle
distortions in a few of these photos, but they are largely untouched in that
regard for the most part. As much as I’d like to get started building dreams
and nightmares of my own design, I am a bit rusty on Photoshop. It would have
been a mistake to just jump into my interpretation of Eraserhead without
some practice. I chose to do this submission entirely in black and white
because that is how his own series on factories and power plants is presented.
I did not see any that showed otherwise.
I enjoy video games a great deal, so these final three photos are me using Lynch's style to reinterpret Simon Belmont approaching Dracula's castle in the first Castlevania.
Just a friendly reminder of what the expectations are....
Photo I
You have posted 50 pictures for assignment 1 in your google drive folder labeled Assignment 1. Create a sub-folder there and name it edits or edited.... put your 10 best edited pieces there. I do look in your folder and unless you are working at this level, at a minimum, your portfolio will suffer... Put your best 5 or 6 images here on the blog by Monday morning.
Photo II
You have settled on a project or theme, that you have discussed with me. You ask for advice on how to accomplish that theme in the time and space we have for this class. You are posting new work each week, and refining your them with each passing week. It is a continuous process....Post your work here on the blog as well as putting the bulk of your shooting in your google drive.... also create a sub folder titled edits, where you put your best edited work.
Attendance is taken on Monday morning for work posted during the past week.
