studio portraits- sylvester

Sylvester and I also took some more standard headshots and full length. Are these or the shadow photos better?

shadows

I took these photos of Sylvester in the photo studio at school. We had a lot of fun playing with the shadows.

I really have picked up some new editing skills from watching these... what do you think?

learning

Hey, you can't say it isn't educational.

WV panoramas

Another assignment for my digital photo editing class was to create two panoramas. I learned to stitch panoramas in Photoshop, but this time they worked more easily, and I'm really pleased with the results. I like making these, and am always looking for interesting and different subjects... Do you know any I could try?

photography promotional card

One of the assignments in my digital photography editing class was to create a promotional card. This is what I came up with first, but I'm working on a few more, with different looks and styles. What type of photography promo card would catch your attention?

timeline

I created this timeline of the early history of photography. I am no expert, but I'm currently taking a history of photography class, so if you have any questions let me know, and I'll do some research, and do my best to answer them! (click on a date or the matching image of a little more info on that development.)

that look

I love taking portraits, and I love capturing those little looks people make... the goofy, sad, serious, mad, gorgeous, etc.
When I did a photo shoot of my best friend Karen, I got a lot of good photos. The two below aren't my favorites, but I love them because they capture two of her expressions that I know very well...
The first is how she looks at me when I say or do something dumb... it is her "Really?!?" look.
The second is her expressions when she says something ridicules, or something that she knows I won't like, but is hoping that by being pretty and cheerful, I'll agree.

promised slideshow

Here is the slideshow I promised! It was my first time photographing a pregnant woman, so let me know what you think, I'd love some critiques and tips for next time.

baby bump

Last week I photographed a pregnant woman in the studio. Her name is Erin, and she is one of the cutest expecting women I've seen. These are my three favorite photos from our shoot. I will post more in a slide-show tomorrow, so be sure to check them out, and let me know what you think of my first attempt at photographing a baby bump!

funny photo-bunny

Perfect catch.



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photos of spring

Spring is erupting with a burst around the Steel City... here are some images to prove it.

form

Sometimes it is useful to focus simply on lines, shapes, and forms when composing an image. The resulting image often does not tell a story, carry deep meaning, etc., but it can be visually pleasing, and I enjoy using this technique because I think it improves my eye by sharpening my compositional awareness. What do you think of these photographs, for which I made a conscious effort to capture simple forms?

funny photo- my own

Saw these as I was walking from school to Point State Park.




Because one sign wouldn't have gotten the message across?

posing- angles

Continuing with posing models...
The angle of the sitter is very important. As I said in the video, it is not as flattering to be facing straight on to the camera, and is usually better to be slightly angled. Sometimes though facing front gives a different look, and can be interesting.
This is an example, the same pose, but she turned a little for the second image. Which do you think is better?

posing women

I think the two most important things to consider when posing a model, especially a girl, in the photo studio are angle of the body, and position of the head. I have developed some tried-and-true poses and lighting set ups which I like to use, and then branch off of.
I made this video to explain the basics of what I like to do in terms of the two above mentioned elements of posing. If it is not clear, or doesn't answer some questions you have, about modeling or posing a model, please let me know, and I'll try to make a more clear presentation.
Over the next few days I will post some of the studio portraits I've taken to give you some ideas for actual positions, rather than just techniques.

how I often feel

I'm posting this because it shows exactly how I feel right now.


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photojournalism-costumes

I have been working on a photojournalism multimedia presentation for my reporting class. The subject is the making of costumes for the Point Park University Pittsburgh Playhouse productions of Light in the Piazza.
These are some of the photos from the night of dress rehearsal, when all the actors were getting into their costumes. I really enjoyed taking these pictures because theater types are always fun to photography. They see a photographer, and pose, lovin the camera! It makes for fun and easy pictures. Actors are also fun to photograph in the studio, because I don't have to worry about posing them, since they have so much fun modeling.
Due to the lighting situation I had to shoot on a high ISO (meaning the photographs are grainier and less sharp). I am considering converting some of them to black and white, which could make the grain in the pictures look more natural. Do you think it would take away from the message of the images?

portrait editing

In my digital photo editing class we learned how to edit portraits. Since portraiture is my favorite type of photography, I taught myself some basic techniques prior to this lesson, but some of the methods were new to me. While the effects are subtle, they really make a difference in the overall photo.
Here are both the before and after pictures, so you can compare. I blurred her skin slightly, to decrease blemishes and to make it look glowy, and brightened her eyes by lightening some areas, and darkening others. The edits needed on her photos are rather minimal, because her skin was already clear, and there wasn't much to fix overall. But the little things still make it a better photograph.
One of the topics brought up in class was the ethics of editing portraits... Is it moral to remove some zits? How far can you go in making a subject look better/perfect?

look like a model

I am working on putting together a little video on how to pose women models in the photography studio. So I asked one of my sisters if she would mind coming in to sit for me. Of course she didn't mind, and actually loved it. I have photographed her more times than I can count, and we really know how to work with each other now.
After a bit, I didn't feel like directing her anymore, so I just said "act like a model," and she did. These are a few of the resulting images.

photo illustrations

One assignment in my digital photo editing class was to take photos with a theme or concept during class, then next week to bring the images, and edited them into a photo illustration. I took photos of the melting snow, and all the debris left behind in it (you can see some of those photos in earlier posts).
I found that these were really hard to combine. I was feeling goofy, so this is what I came up with. Hopefully it fulfills the assignment!
I have to do another, and am stumped as to what to create. I've looked through my photos from that day, and feel they are better as single images... I'm sure a brilliant photo illustration could be made from them, but I can't figure out what.

funny photo- subject

Sometimes a great subject is all a photo needs.


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podcast

This is a podcast about photography as art... I was sick when I made it, so please excuse the awkwardness of my voice. The students I interviewed, in order, are
Andrew Woehrel, junior English major
Ana Bird, senior global cultural studies major
Chris Dettore, junior sports, art, and entertainment management major
Gabrielle Mazza, junior photojournalism major
The Pensive Oil Painter, sophomore global cultural studies major

podcast sound bite

melting snow-trash

These are a few of the snow debris pictures I took as the Pittsburgh snow melted away. I was editing them in my photography class, and my friend who was at the next computer kept looking over, and saying loudly "eeew, gross!" to each one. I have to agree with her.

spring emerging

It feels like Spring! The snow is melting, showing grass, shrubs, and lots of trash. I went on a photo walk and took lots of pictures of all the debris left by the melting snow. Most of them are disgusting. Here are a few that are nice, and show the changing of seasons.
Tomorrow I'll post some of the grosser ones.

funny photo-kitten

As well as being a completely cute, this photo is well composed. I especially like it because when we had kittens, they would crawl into our shoes like this.


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cemetery slide-show

Here is the slide-show of my freshmen/sophomore cemetery photos as promised.

My photography teacher, Chris Rolinson, once mentioned in class that taking photos of a cemetery was something all college freshmen did, trying to be cool and original... This made me sad, because I had been planning to go photograph a beautiful cemetery near where I live.
So trying to fight the norm, and not make typical freshmen pictures, I didn't take photos of that cemetery as a freshman.
When I was a sophomore, it was fall, and the grave stones looked soooo pretty in the sunset I couldn't resist anymore. I was teased relentlessly by my friend Karen Bullock, and for awhile after that she would ask how my freshman photos had turned out.
Although I took the pictures, I never put them on flickr, or showed them to anyone. As I was sorting some images I came across them, and decided it was time. Here is one of my favorites, and I will put up a full slide-show tomorrow.

incredible detail

I really admire macro photography, or any close-ups that have crazy sharp detail, but have not tried to do it much myself.
During a photo critique in class last week I saw one of these photos, was really impressed, and am inspired to try some myself. I won't have as fantastic a subject, but maybe I'll be able to create some nice, detailed, close-ups.
I'd like to do something different and unusual. What subject would be good for this project?
These photos are by Travis Mitzel