Here's Some Love

I feel like this blog needs a little lovin'. I've been posting all my photography on my other blog, but since people are still checking this one out, I'm going to post some of my recent photography:

Contest

I entered the following photo in the photographic society contest on adventure:

The Greatest Adventure. 5/17/2011 – 6:56 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 7.1 | Shutter Speed: 1/250 | Nikon D5000

I took this photo while I was doing my portrait shots. I love the lines of the railroad, and they way they can symbolize moving towards the future. I thought it would be great to have my models walking together & holding hands toward the future together. 

Love really is a great adventure, so I though it was appropriate for the contest. I used a medium to small aperture. I wanted people to see that it was a railroad, but I wanted it to be blurry in the distance. I really like the way it turned out.

I chose to enter this contest because I am a member of the photographic society. I had a better chance at winning in photographic society than I did in a big contest with lots more contestants. I didn't win anything for this photo, but I'm really glad I entered it anyway. It was a good experience.

It was the first contest. I submitted the photo on May 23 2011.

Link to photographic society blog: http://www.byuiphotographics.blogspot.com/

My Poster!

A Beautiful Weed. 24x36 in. 6/4/2011 – 7:38 PM. Rexburg, ID. 

F-Stop: 5.6 | Shutter Speed: 1/320 | Nikon D5000

I adjusted the levels, the saturation, and the contrast to make the white parts of the dandelion pop. Then I selected the middle of the dadelion & used a smart sharpen filter to give it extra sharpness and a good focal point. I used a brush at 30% opacity & flow to soften the edges on the area that I sharpened.

I had a really hard time deciding what photo to print. I wanted it to be something that will look good in my home, since I'd be spending quite a bit on it. I chose this one because it is very simple, has a clear focal point, nice background blur, and it just intrigues me. When I look at it I think this phrase, "If life gives you obnoxious weeds, turn them into fireworks." haha. Sorta cheesy, but I really like it. When I took the picture the sun was setting so the light was reflecting off of the seed things just perfectly. I was using a 55-200 mm lens, and the largest aperture is 5.6, so I used that, and then I got on my tippy toes and zoomed down on the dandelion. I composed the shot trying to use the rule of thirds, and leaving a lot of space on the left hand side. I love the way it turned out, but I wish my print looked more like it does on the computer screen. It might have looked really cool in metalic? Oh well, it's still a great poster :)

Fine Art Template

 Dandelion 6/4/2011 – 7:46 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 5.6 | Shutter Speed: 1/200 | Nikon D5000

I really like this photo, so I created my template with it in mind. I used shapes to create the places where the photo would go, and then did a clipping mask [like we were shown in class]. I also edited the photo's levels.

HDR Wheel Barrow. 5/25/2011 – 12:36 PM. Bannack, MT.

F-Stop: 2.2 | Shutter Speed: 1/4000 | Nikon D5000

This was one of my favorite photos from Bannack, so I decided to use it in my fine art template. I used the same template to create this as I did the one above.

Night Photography

Blurred Lights:

 Moving Water. 6/10/2011 – 10:05 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 10 | Shutter Speed: 3 seconds | Nikon D5000 | Tripod

I wanted to try something a little different for my blurred lights. I took a shot of the river as the water moved. The light was reflecting in a cool way, and I really like the way it turned out. I edited the levels to make more contrast.

 Twinkle. 6/10/2011 – 10:07. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 25 | Shutter Speed: 10 seconds | Nikon D5000 | Tripod

I liked the way that the light twinkled when I kept the shutter open for a long time. I tried to capture both the light, and the moving water in this shot. I also edited the levels.

Light Sketching:

 Light Graffiti. 6/10/2010 – 11:38 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 9 | Shutter Speed: 13 seconds | Nikon D3100 | Tripod

For this photo, I used an LED flashlight to write my name on the side of a dumpster. The long shutter speed captured and blurred the light. It was really cool! I didn't edit this photo. 

Light Painting

 TRON! 6/10/2011 – 12:25 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 5.3 | Shutter Speed: 15 Seconds | Nikon D3100 | Tripod

This technique was thought up by Brandon Fegenbush! Sarah Luke and I helped out with it as well. We took the flashlights and painted the light on the front and back of the motorcycle (I didn't help with this one, since I was obviously the model, but it is the one I have on my SD card). It was a lot of fun. I edited the levels to make the color pop a little more.

Camera Motion:

 Colors. 6/10/2011 – 10:20 PM. Rexburg, ID

F-Stop: 11 | Shutter Speed: 2 seconds | Nikon D5000

I thought the colorful lights at the Rex/Fat Cats would look cool for this technique. I focused on the lights and took the picture. I moved the camera in a square during the two seconds that the shutter was open. I edited the blacks in camera raw to make the background a little darker.

Just For Fun:

 Barrel. 6/10/2011 – 10:34 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 11 | Shutter Speed: 13 Seconds | Nikon D5000 | Tripod

I love the way this photo turned out! It almost looks HDR. All I did was use a long shutter speed, and this is what I got. The photo was a little more orange than I wanted it to be, so I added a blue photo filter adjustment layer.

Coppers. 6/10/2011 – 10:49 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 13 | Shutter Speed: 10 Seconds | Nikon D5000 | Tripod

A Rexburg police officer decided to stop by and check on us while we were taking pictures, so I snapped a photo of his cool lights! I love the way it turned out.

Scanography

I'm taking a graphic design class this semester as well, and I scanned this wire whisk for one of my projects there. I think they are pretty sweet, so I wanted to post them. What I did in most of the scans was I moved the whisk as it was scanning, which created some pretty awesome effects!

One Scan:

 Earrings! 6/5/2011 – 8:30 PM. Rexburg ID. :)

Lexmark 2500 Scanner. 300 dpi.

For this, I just arranged all the earrings on the scanner, and closed the lid as much as it would close. The room was dark, so not too much light seeped in from the edges. The shadows turned out really cool!

KitKat. 6/5/2011 – 8:00 PM. Rexburg, ID
Lexmark 2500 Scanner.
With this scan, I opened and closed the lid in two second increments to create the black and white stripes. They ended up being purple, so I darkened them using levels in Photoshop.

Collage:

Hoops. 6/5/2011 – 8:30 PM. Rexburg, ID.

Lexmark 2500 Printer

I scanned each pair of earrings, and then I selected each one and copied and pasted them all into the same document. Next, I rotated and copied each one. I resized the blue ones to make the smaller pair. I did it all in photoshop.

Originals:

Edge Effects

 Dandelion. 6/4/2011 – 7:38 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 5.6 | Shutter Speed: 1/320 | Nikon D5000

Wow! I never realized how awesome dandelions are! With the sun going down, the lighting was perfect, reflecting off the seed things and making them look like fireworks! I edited the levels and the contrast, and then did the sprayed edge effect [number 9].

 Blossoms. 6/4/2011 – 7:26 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 5.6 | Shutter Speed: 1/160 | Nikon D5000

The tree next to my apartment is blossoming, so I took some pictures. I edited the levels and the contrast, and then I followed directions from the book to give it a burned border [number 13]

Purple Flowers. 6/4/2011 – 7:44 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 10 | Shutter Speed: 1/200 | Nikon D5000

I edited the levels on this and then gave it the double fade border [number 12].

Rustell & Dexter. 5/17/2011 – 7:55 PM. Rexburg, ID.

F-Stop: 7.1 | Shutter Speed: 1/250 | Nikon D5000

I wanted to try this edge effect on a portrait so I went back and found one. I really like the way this turned out. I edited the photos levels, and gave it a slight vignette. Then I did the burned border edge [number 13].