Week 3- Aura Martinez

      This first shot was taken at Nathan Hale beach in East Haven. I found this piece of drift wood that was striking in shape and texture. It happened to be the day after the storm and the cloudy conditions made the lighting tricky to work with. I adjusted the levels and the saturation to make the wood stand out from the surrounding rocks and background.

This next shot was taken of a broken down pier behind the Coast Guard station in East Haven. I thought that the view from underneath the pier was catching to the eye, especially because of the repetition of the pilings. 

       I took this shot of an eroded pipe laying amongst the rocks at the beach. I liked how the clearly man made object contrasted the natural features around it.

        This shot was taken of barnacles on a rock underneath the pier. I liked how intricate the clusters of barnacles were. I used the smart sharpen filter to bring out all of the details in the formations. I also adjusted the saturation to bring out the colors in the kelp.

        These next few shots were taken at Silvers Sands State park in Milford. The sun and time of day provided much better lighting and shadows. I took this shot of a fence at the beach. I was drawn to the repetition and patterns created by both the fence and the snow. I adjusted the levels to help bring out some of the features of the snow.

      This shot was taken of a shell encased in a block of ice. I liked the shadow being cast by the block of ice as well as the through hole in the shell.

     This shot was taken of a tidal pool at Silver Sands. It was a fairly windy day which created some really cool ripples in the water. I liked how the ripples and movement of the water gave the shot life.

        This last shot was taken of some tall grass blowing in the wind. I liked how the blue of the sky and white of the snow made the color of the grass stand out.

Shadows and Light Week 4

Took this gadget that my son has and placed it on the driveway to see how it comes out with the shadow from the sun hitting it.

 

One of my wife's lawn statues placed on the driveway.  The shadow outlines this rabbit.

One of the Christmas decoration of a deer before putting it away.

 

Front door at my house with light shining in.

Icicles hanging off at my mother's apartment.

At the beach chasing after this seagull.

On my mother's living room wall the light through the window was reflecting and captured the lines from the blind and the shadow of the bird feeder. Also you can see the lines from the blind on the lamp shade.

Snow and icicles coming off the garage.

 My basement blinds. There must have been a bird on the bushes in front. Looks like there is a shadow of one.

A log washed ashore from the beach.

Assignment for this week...

So sorry that I exceeded my quota for traffic on my website... it will reset tomorrow at Midnight for the new month.. in the meantime, here is the assignment for this week and next...

You can Google the artists mentioned....

Week 3

Assignment: By the Sea

Look at Weston's work at Point Lobos, California. What kind of light did he photograph under? How did he move in and compose what ever he was looking at? For each photograph, consider the point of view Weston and the camera position.

Weston got down, got close to these rock forms on the beach. I want you to do the same

Read this short biography of Ansel Adams.Watch this slide show of selected images from his classic work in Yosemite National Park.

Look at these digital books by John Paul Caponigro.

You are to visit the beach, and look carefully at form, light, composition and line. Examine tidal pools, rock formations and sand patterns with the curiosity and freshness of a young child, say a toddler. Move in close, fill the frame. Submit your best two images on the class blog and post 6-10 or more to your online album. (Links in academic expectations below). If you live well inland and would prefer to visit a waterfall or brook with moving water, that would work too.

Week 4

Shadows and Light

Consider this gallery of photographs by amateur Greek photographer, George Christakos. Notice how the photographs are about the quality of light... and shadow.

Or this series at Smashing Magazine... which ideas can you use?

Shadows take on a materiality that is just as strong as the architectural elements depicted, perhaps stronger. Use the widest focal length setting on your lens. Look for shadows as geometric form this week. Start around your home, downtown, or anywhere your travels take you. Look down, look up, fill the frame.

Light reflecting directly off water can be interesting... throw in dramatic clouds...perhaps at sunset... convert to black and white...

Chairs, railings, your back deck, light streaming in through windows casting shadows.... shadows made by people walking downtown...

Read this short Wikipedia entry on Minor White.

Read Equivalence: The Perennial Trend Minor White, PSA Journal, Vol. 29, No. 7, pp. 17-21, 1963

How can we use light as poetic metaphor?

Submit your best two images on the class blog and post 6-10 or more to your online album. (Links in academic expectations below).

"A very receptive state of mind... not unlike a sheet of film itself - seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second's exposure conceives a life in it". -Minor White

In Windowsill Daydreaming (left), Minor White has found a projection of light rather than shadow to photograph. Can you find a beam of light to photograph?

Long Wharf After the Storm

All these pictures were taken near the war memorial at Long Wharf in New Haven

 

Remembering all of those that have fought in all our wars.

 

 Do not disturb the geese!!

The calm after the storm

Peaceful

 

I tried to get closer but the geese were in the way.

 

Those dang geese!!

 

 

Drifting Away

 

God's Creation

 

 

Week 3 at the beach

This photo was taken at the beach in the town I grew up of Branford.  Here on one end of the beach is a stone wall with many different shapes of rocks. I was also able to capture some shadowing from the sun on the rocks.

At the point there is an area near where I use to fish as a kid which had an old broken down dock for boats.  The upright pillars have a unique shape and lines to them.

Here is some big rocks in the same area of the old dock. If you look at it long enough it almost resembles a shark or monster. Of course that is how I would probably see it if I were a young child or toddler looking at this.

Near the rock in previous picture is this small channel of water cutting through this high grass.

On the beach was this clump of seaweed which I think resembles beans along with what looks to be some broken up bamboo.

I tried to get as close as I could to this guy. I like how your able to see the lines on his beak and the pupils in its eyes.  His webbed feet came out good in this photo.

Some more different shaped rocks at the beach.  This one has some snow and ice.

At the end of the beach is this long straight concrete wall. If I was a younger kid or toddler, looking up at this wall from the sand, it would be very tall.

Not much of a wave but then again this is Connecticut.

I came across this seaweed on top of this block of ice. I thought it looked pretty neat but I'm not sure that the lighting on this was quite right.

Extra Shot

NYC from Hoboken, NJ

Watchung Reservation - Berkeley Heights, New Jersey

I feel that I am gaining more understanding of the different adjustments in Photoshop and becoming slightly more brave with adjusting colors. There were different goals for each of these pictures for which colors I was trying to highlight.

Overall Color Balance

Overall Color Balance

Grey/Desaturation

Reds

Yellows/Blues

Overall Color Balance

Week 2 - Aura Martinez

 This shot was taken of a building in Hamden. I liked how the geometric building accents and heavy shadows create the illusion of stairs. I got in close to the building so that its features became the focal point.

This shot was taken of a stone wall on the Quinnipiac Campus. I liked how the curve of the wall draws your eye through the picture. I used the smart sharpen filter as mentioned in your edit of Anthony's photograph to bring out the detail in the wall. 

 This shot was taken of the library at Yale. I was drawn to the intricate stone work on the facade of the building. I adjusted the levels to enhance the lighting and add depth to the picture. I also adjusted the hue/saturation to bring out the colors in the stone.

This shot was taken of the Beinecke rare book library at Yale. I liked the repetition and geometric pattern that was created by the exterior of the building. I adjusted the levels to include more true blacks and bring out the colors in the stone.

This photograph was taken of a stone sculpture outside of the Beinecke library at Yale. I liked how a reflection of the stone could be seen in the office windows behind it. I darkened the windows behind the stone so that the reflection would become more apparent and the eye would be less distracted by the blinds. 

This shot was taken of a building across the street from the Eli Whitney Museum. Although not including the sky was mentioned in the video, I liked how the silver building was reflecting the colors of the sky, creating a blue-ish tone. I used the smart sharpen filter to sharpen the lines of the metal sheets. I also like how the curve of the building and the metal sheets draw your eye and give a sense of perspective.

 The last image was taken inside of the Beinecke rare book library at Yale.  I focused on the immense glass case which houses all of the books. I thought that the glass structure enclosing the books had nice lighting and create more geometric shapes and linear patterns.