Photography Reality Assignment (Given 4/4/16)

        For this assignment, I have been asked to make three composite images that involve at least two images in each. Considering that each of the images used had to have been taken by me, I chose to use a couple of images I have taken before and used them as my material for this project. Here's what the following pictures involve respectively:

1. I had taken a picture of myself sitting on a rock wall on campus, so I used that and a picture of a painting I was working on to make it look like I was sort of interacting with the world that I displayed on the painting itself.
2. As you may remember the picture I took involving the dinosaur figures and Godzilla, I took one of those others shots and inserted him into a picture I took during my trip to New York. Godzilla is a Kaiju monster known to attack cities if given a reason to, or if he simply feels like he needs to vent out his anger, so I felt it was a good idea to bring him into the background. (My apologies to any Godzilla fans if I got the size wrong.)
3. Here at Ramapo, we have a couple of fine works of art around the campus grounds, including this statue which currently has some nice flowers ground around it right now. Of course, we also have our arch which is very important to Ramapo. So I pictured what it would look like if both structures became one. Lo and behold, I managed to make it look like the two became one, and tried my best to make it fit in with the lighting. Look closely and you can also see that I made him fit with the shadow as well.

Stephan Wolfert's Shakespearean Theatre Workshop

        I along with my classmates have spent a portion of time to attend a Shakespeare theatre workshop being led by Stephan Wolfert. During this, he had everyone get up after a bit of an introduction, and do a bit of an exercise through walking around in a circle, eventually having us stop and then walk with having one point in our body be the focus of our stride. After that, some of the acting students got up and demonstrated a portion of one of Shakespeare's works, in which Wolfert then gave some comments on how they could make it better than before, to which each of the three that I got to see did an excellent job before and after. Overall, I believe this was an great experience to spectate, even if I wasn't able to see the full thing.

Rubin Museum Visit: Steve McCurry

        Me and a bunch of classmates took the time to visit the Rubin Museum on Saturday in New York. At first, I thought the museum’s exhibit was either going to be in a big room, or a hallway. Instead, I was surprised to see the museum is actually comprised of multiple, medium-sized floors with a different exhibit in each. It was still interesting in structure and had a nice layout for documentary photographer Steve McCurry’s exhibit, which we were there to see. I was overall amazed by the pictures that were shown on the walls, as well as some of the objects or artifacts on display.
        Of the many pieces by McCurry that were displayed, the one that stood out to me the most was the one entitled Tailor Carrying His Sewing Machine. This was taken in Porbandar, 1983. The area was being flooded by the monsoon waters, and McCurry took this shot of a man who was walking in the flood, carrying his machine. It stood out to me due to what was displayed in the picture. Not only was the man getting himself to safety, but he was bringing his machine as well, showing he values the trade he takes part in. Another thing that stuck out to me was the story behind it, where it states even after his attempts, the machine wasn't able to function. After the picture was featured in a magazine, he was eventually given a new one for free by the manufacturer. That's why I find this work the most interesting.

Artist Talk: CHiKA

        As the artist CHiKA visited the campus, I was glad to learn from her presentation about what she creates, how she envisions it, etc. I must admit that she impressed me with how she did her projects, such as SHiKAKU, a lighting setup that creates what she calls a ‘light symphony,’ and the sound that plays around it changes as people get close to the setup. As someone who used to like to think of ways to build gadgets or object with interesting purposes or functions, this really brought back some of those thoughts I used to think of when I was younger. Some of the other projects, like the mapping done on a building in Mexico (which was called JIKU) was interesting to see as well, as people on the streets were able to see eye-catching visuals while music was being played. Overall, I think CHiKA's visit was informative and inspirational too.

Light, Form and Color (Photography Project 1)

As part of my first Photography Project, I was requested to take at least 50 different pictures indoors or outdoors that served as great examples towards the use of light, form and color. Then I would pick 5 of the bunch that I found to be my favorite. After taking plenty of time figuring out what to try out, I chose these to be my top picks.

1. During a trip to New York, we stopped at a mall/food court by the river where you could see Ellis Island. Inside was this amazing colored lights setup, and luckily I had my camera with me at the time. So, I put a little focus into the setup and allowed the sky to be clear in the shot, that way there wouldn't be a huge brightness in the shot.
2. Putting some old figures into use, I took these four dinosaurs, positioned them and chose the shot that seemed to be more appealing to look at. This was that shot, as I took some others, either with a different setting or angle.
3. I thought I could capture the sunset at my relative's house, and managed to get the interesting combination of the light still being there, but the night sky also begins to come into view. Like the last entry, this was one of a few shots.
4. As a fan of laser tag and things that fire, I used to buy Nerf stuff whenever I was allowed to, and also had a certain kind of Laser Tag set that could be played with those who owned it, or on the TV. While I can't remember where the camo pistol came from (birthday gift or toy from the store), I decided to put that in the shot too. I liked the idea of stacking them so that they'd be all together in a special kind of fashion.
5. This last shot has me use another thing I used to collect all the time. As a fan of Capcom's blue warrior, Mega Man, I'd get action figures of all sorts, and some of the setups involved different arrangements of these collectibles. So here is Bass threatening Magnet Man with some enemies around them.

All in all, this was an interesting assignment and I was glad to put some of my old paraphernalia to good use again.

Photography Assignment (Given 2/8/16)

As part of an assignment in my photography class, we were to take pictures and experiment with perspective. By choosing two scenes on the college campus with great space, I needed to take a picture from where I wanted to start. Then, for the first two images below the main one, I took several steps forwards before taking another picture. The two images below the other row are similar, but this time I was to zoom in instead of moving in closer.

What I found out was that zooming in can compromise brightness sometimes. This is especially true since when I had my camera accidentally on Auto Mode, taking the picture zoomed in would activate the flash. Either way, it was interesting to figure this out. My favorite probably is the one taken in the hallway, because you can easily tell the difference in brightness when comparing the pictures.

Photography Assignment (Given 2/1/16)

Here is another post regarding one of my assignments. This time, I have to post a total of four pictures. However, I had to take two separate images and take the same ones twice, but use a different setting for the camera between pictures. The first subject is a house plant we had on the kitchen table, and the other is a Superman plush (I'm not sure if 'plush' is accurate though) that I got back in California's Six Flags. I placed him on the bush in our yard since it was hard to stand him up without some sort of support.

The assignment had me use both the portrait and landscape modes respectively for each picture. Through this, I found how this affected the outcome of the shot. While the difference for the plant is the most obvious, you might want to look closer to spot the difference in the outdoor Superman picture. I believe that one was my favorite to take because I got to use something I normally wouldn't use to set up the scene.