Conceptual Photography, Part 2

Welcome back everyone! This will be my last installment of this two-part series on conceptual photography. Not last ever.  I may come back to it someday, haha, but for now, we will be moving on next week. :)

I feel a bit guilty about the photos I posted last week with the question of what word I was conveying.  The word was actually existence, and I realize that it may have not been obvious.  That is the project I have been working on for the last 4 weeks. It was exhausting, but also very rewarding. I will post some of my final images later.

How does one symbolically and conceptually represent a word such as existence? It wasn't easy...and if I had to do it again, even with a little bit of experience under my belt, it still wouldn't be easy.  I didn't choose the simplest way to go either: "... images that show how things exist, though seemingly in a state of disuse, decay, disheveled disarray, somehow forgotten in our modern times though once the center of the lives of the people who called them their own. Things which emanate a life force all their own; invisible to all but those who will pay attention.  It truly is simply a matter of will…the will to care, the will to watch and listen." (JOURNAL)  This is how I introduced my project...yeah...I'm certain they wouldn't expect much after that spew, right? HA!

I forced myself to challenge myself to become better than ever before.  I was given the tools, it was only a matter of how I chose to use them.

Color:  Color could make or break the meaning of the scene you are creating.  Earthy tones lend a calm, serenity -type feeling, whereas bold bright colors will elicit excitement, and possibly, elevated heart rates. Ever wonder why the Las Vegas sign is red? Ok, I know you probably haven't, but work with me here.  :) Advertising specialists know that the color red can elicit excitement, passion, energy, etc.  Ever wonder about those bright neon lights in casinos?   Again, work with me here. :)  They keep the body stimulated and perhaps lessen feelings of fatigue in casino-goers. For further reading, and for researching using colors in your photos, check out http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm

Analysis:  First thing I did, was look up the definition of the word.  OK, yeah, I knew what it meant, but it actually made a difference to read the actual, Merriam-Webster definition.  It gave me something to work with. A bit of further research certainly didn't hurt, and I advise it.  Look up examples of your word, especially if it is as abstract as existence.  You probably aren't going to find inspiration from another artist, and that is OK.  Be the first!  How neat is that?  My love of Philosophy lead me to well, Philosophy, and that was the direction I took with my project.

Abstraction:  Move in, soften the focus of your lens, use a macro lens/tube outside of its intended uses (REALLY fun).  This is something I didn't utilize in this project.  I have utilized it in the past, however, and absolutely loved the results. You can really sharpen your creativity by even just "playing around" with the different effects you can produce.  I highly suggest that everyone try their hand at creating some fun abstract images.

Symbolism:  Find objects and items that represent, in an indirect or even direct way, the message or word you are conveying.  In the beginning, I found myself in quite a few cemeteries.  Death is a part of existence, and the grave images ended up summing up my project-story.  It is interesting that I shot the end of my project, in the beginning, but that is the way these things go sometimes.

Attitude:  OK, this one is something I didn't learn in class, but I feel personally that it is just as important as the others.  I sometimes take myself way to seriously...I will get stuck and then I make it worse by...well, totally freaking out about it.  Full-blown anxiety, at times.  Not only is this not healthy, but it also creates a block.  At least in me.  We have all heard of "writer's block".  What I am speaking of is the same thing, but for a photographer, or other visual artist.  Don't beat yourself up, breath, and if needed, take a step back.  Just walk away for a couple of hours. If it is close to the time your assignment is due, email your instructor.  You would be surprised how understanding they are about these things... :)

These are my absolute favorite images from my project.  They weren't in B&W when I turned them in, but you will see one of them is now...me and my love of B&W....

The quote above was from my journal entry in class, in W3.
I wanted to make sure I referenced
where the quote came from. :)

I am not going to leave you with a question this week, just a request.  Give me your thoughts on this topic.  Share with me your ideas on what I shared, what I perhaps didn't share that I should have, and if you want, I even encourage your feedback about my images.  I take criticism very well, FYI.

Until next time, have a great week!

Seriously, what is that?!

Greetings fellow shooters, Tuesday Ambassador here again wondering what in the world I should write about this week. The first thing that comes to mind is that I have not been in a shooting class for some time due to our previous extended winter break. This was about the exact time that I had acquired my strobe equipment and was required to take a self-portrait with my newly acquired equipment. I did much experimenting with the new strobes capturing various subjects, but the one subject that was eating at me the most was me. Perhaps this may have been a mistake on my part in getting the T2i instead of the T3i three years ago. But would you really want an articulating screen as a complete newbie with cameras, regardless of any protection plan you put on it?

Now maybe it was a just a coincidence that in the time of our break, while being away from my studio, I was bored. Bored at my buddies house in the middle of the night and I had been itching to take pictures, but had forgotten one of my tripods at the studio. Of course my buddy is so tired after we watched a video on YouTube that he crashed on his bed soon after. Meanwhile, thinking back about the video it later occurred to me of a unique, yet a potentially destructible way of creating art from the camera. You guys may or may not like this as I have gotten mixed reviews from the people closest to me, but none-the-less a couple of photos are posted below. I think the consensus so far is that you either love it or you hate it.

You are probably wondering one of two things; why am I seeing this, or what did you do to get that? Well, this is much of the reason why my T2i ended up broken in the first place. Although, at the time it was apparent that the lens’s mounting points were broken but the camera functioned as normal with no visual signs of damage.  I kept at it after the fact. Needless to say, I had a feeling that they would need to check the camera as well and so they were both shipped the next day. I ended up acquiring the T3i as a substitute while the T2i was out being looked at. Can one get camera sick? It may be why I had not been shooting much because of the lack of control I had for the T3i at the time. Then I notice looking through the viewfinder that I would be returning the T3i regardless of the outcome of my T2i. This is why I did more “drop” tests keeping well aware of not actually dropping the camera this time. Below you will find the T3i photos of the “drop” test before returning it to establish a brand new, flawless T3i. In case you have not figured it out by now, my T2i is no more. L

These were all done in various lighting situations, so color balance was a concern, however, not important after seeing how they turned out. Yes, the process is simple and may potentially be damaging to any camera but call me crazy when I say that I knew my camera’s demise would come soon after experimenting with this hazardous option. So it’s obvious that this is a do at your own risk project. However, this could not have come at a better time as Studio Photography will be on my next round of studies and I figure that having the articulating LCD screen will help out immensely when it comes time to capture some self-portraits.

With all that said, I do miss my camera but now that I have my control back on the now T3i, I want to kick myself for not getting it in the first place. Often times I wonder if this was meant to happen the way it did. Either way, tell me what you guys think. Am I headed anywhere with this? 

Stay tuned next Tuesday to find out the first subjects I captured with my new T3i. Let’s just hope I did not lose grip on them too. Pun definitely intended.

Have a wonderful day and keep shooting,

Your Tuesday Ambassador

And as always, thanks for reading.

A Photographic Challenge

Saturday Ambassador

Looking for an interesting challenge for your photographic skills? Consider abstraction:

 

Abstract, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, Digital composite

 

You can create it, as in the digital composite above, with Photoshop's blending modes, effects and a bit of imagination. Or, you can find it:

 

 

Industrial Abstract, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, Digital photograph

 

Either way, learning to see abstraction is a very good artistic exercise and will expand your horizons as a photographer. Knowing what the subject is surpasses the point of such art; abstraction is in the approach, an intentional effort of the part of the photographer to display only certain characteristics or qualities of the subject.

 

If anyone would like to delve into the art of abstraction, email small JPEG files to ambassadorsaturday@gmail.com and I'd be pleased to display them in my next post. Please include your name with the image if you'd like credit for it.

 

~Saturday Ambassador