Seeing Double (Sandwiched Negatives)

This project did not require a specific roll; rather, I attempted to take different negatives from different rolls (from this semester and last semester) and combine them to create a unique image. This was incredibly challenging, as the two images needed to compliment each other perfectly in order for the result to be effective. If one edge of one was lighter or darker than the rest, then it could create an abnormality in the overall image that could be very distracting. I tried multiple developing techniques to try and get them to work, but many of them did not turn out well.

This is an example of a negative that was too opaque. Because the flowers in the vase was so dense, it completely eliminated the lower half of the statue image.

I spent a lot of time working with this image. The problem was that the right side of the landscape was darker and therefore created a darker side of the image, which was very distracting. I tried developing the darker side of the image for less time, but since the change in lighting was gradual, this only created a solid line where I had pulled the paper partially out of the developer.

Portals

I spent a considerable amount of time on this assignment. The focus was portals, anything that seemed to be a doorway or passage leading towards something else. I went to the Downtown Mall to shoot this roll, and got some pretty good results.

This picture turned out nicely, but was probably the least related to the subject of the roll.

I really liked how this picture turned out. The lighting and contrast was difficult to deal with in the darkroom because the interior where the reflection is is much darker than the brick wall surrounding the glass.

I like this picture simply because it's an example of both an open and closed portal. The roll was mean to focus on both and I liked how this picture shows both.

This print turned into a very nice hand-colored print. I like it because you can see into the doorway and see the stairs leading away from the door, but you cannot see where the stairs go. Even though this is an example of an open portal, what lies beyond it is still unclear.

Entry #2: Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon was an American photographer who became renowned for his sense of style and beauty that was conveyed through his artwork. His photographs showed his subjects displaying a great deal of emotion, breaking the standard technique of fashion photography that had subjects stand in almost emotionless poses. His work was used for various fashion magazines, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Life.
In addition to fashion photography, Avedon began to branch out during the 1960's to document issues such as the Berlin Wall, Vietnam War protestors, mental hospital patients and Civil Rights activists. He also created two famous portraits of The Beatles that featured heavy solarization.

Avedon's style of photography became well-known for its minimalist aspects and attempt to capture the "personality and soul of the subject". His photographs typically show the subject looking directly into the camera against a plain white background. He would often use uncomfortable questions to lead his subjects toward a particular emotional reaction. This allowed him to capture aspects of his subjects' personality and emotions that many other photographers could not.

This photograph impressed me because it does exactly what Avedon attempted in all his photographs: it captures the emotions of the subjects in great detail while still being an aesthetically pleasing photograph. This photograph shows a great deal of action. The two women appear to be in the middle of some action that is captured in this picture. The frozen action conveys a strong sense of movement which is what makes this photograph so interesting. The subjects look very alive, rather than passive. The symmetry between the two of them is interesting and makes this picture look more dramatic.

Mirrors

My first roll for Photo II focused on mirrors and reflective objects. I found plenty of both to use as subjects for this roll.

The subject of this first picture is my sister. I had her stand facing the sun and hold the mirror up so we can see the reflection of her face in the mirror, but not her actual face. The background is mostly obscured because of the intense backlighting. This draws more attention to her face in the mirror.

This picture is an example of direct lighting. I used my dad's soprano saxophone as the subject. The body and keys are very reflective and created very hard light under the bright night light that I used here. There is a very short depth-of-field as well, as only a short section of the instrument is in focus.

This last picture was extremely difficult to light correctly. The subject is my sister sitting at a table reflected in the darkened glass doorway to the living room. The glass made a good medium for getting a reflection, but since it was so dark, much of the light was absorbed, making it hard to judge the lighting correctly. I was very pleased with this result.

While the main focus of this roll was mirrors, I also experimented with shiny objects or things that refract light. For this print, I took a wine glass and lit some rubbing alcohol on fire inside the glass. I turned all the lights off to accentuate the effect.

Hand-Colored Print

My first assignment of Photo II was to make a print that shows good composition. I had a lot of negatives to choose from that I developed last semester. I chose this print from the Still Life roll that I shot in early January. This was the first print I developed using fiber paper. There was a lot of white space on the print which made it good for hand-coloring.

Entry #1: Silhouettes

Taking a successful backlit photograph requires going against some basic rules that are normally used to take well-lit pictures. First, it is important that the subject has a well-defined shape that will be easily recognizable against a bright background. An ideal background would be something like a sunset or floodlight. This lights the back of the subject while leaving the front darkened. Use the light meter on the background and adjust the shutter speed and aperture accordingly. This will make the background bright and well-exposed while the subject is dark. Finally, make sure that the subject is in focus. The clear, well-defined shape of the subject adds to the intensity of silhouette photographs. Here are some examples of silhouette photography.

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/tree-silhouette.shtml 

http://danfingerman.com/wedding/ 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angeliquephotography/946008469/ 

Still Life

I had a lot of fun arranging different still lifes for this roll. I made different themed still lifes with different objects I found around my house. The last one I made was my favorite.

 

This first still life was made by arranging different photo albums and my digital camera for a photography theme. 

  
The last still life I made was an experiment with arranging glasses and water to see what type of effects I could make. I took food coloring and took a picture of it as it dispersed through the water in the glass. The picture below took the longest to arrange.

Vintage

For the Vintage roll, I took pictures of various old objects I found around my house. After making prints, we used sepia toner to make them look older.