Reminiscing

I thought that I would refer back to my days as a photographer. Back in school when I had all access to all of the equipment that I could dream of having now, but dont. The full access to the dark rooms, the studio, equipment I could check out, and the lenses i could use. The Camera bodies I could try, and the iMac/and printers I could edit on. Those were the days, and here is some of my work from those days that show how much I loved those days, and the resources. Sometimes I wonder why I majored in photography. One look at these images and I remember why. I just have to keep it up, and keep practicing so I don't loose the skills I have set in stone. I hope you enjoy my work, and feel free to comment on the photos.
Before: (left)
These are the materials I had worked with, and this was the final image before I touched it up, and changed colors in Photoshop. As you can see in the before image, the background is Brown, and the Napkin comes up slightly. I also emphasized the browns in the cup as well in the final image

After: (right)
As you can see here, I changed the background to green, emphasized the intensity on the cup, and the contents inside, and also fixed the napkin.

Question:
Which one do you like more? What could I have done differently to make the image better? Do you want a special Hot Chocolate made by me now?
This Hot Chocolate was probably the best I have ever made in my life. The first attempt in photographing it was with real hot cocoa, but it turns out, that it was so hot, that it melted the whipped topping, and cookies before I could capture it. So I poured it into a seperate cup and gave it to a girl in my class. She really enjoyed it. Says it was the best she has had in a long time. Yum! So you may wonder what I did to fix this little problem? I just filled the cup to the top with the whipped cream, and added the syrups, cookies, and mints to it afterwards. This gave me plenty of time to fix what I wanted in the image, and take the picture at multiple angles. Lucky huh!

Camera:	Canon EOS 30D
Exposure:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture:	f/10
Focal Length:	38 mm
ISO Speed:	100

This is a piece of work that inspired me to do another kind of like it. This photo is done by a man named Jerry Uelsman. He is one of my most favorite Black and White Photographers. Jerry would do all of his imaging in the Dark Room, before all of the photo editing on computers began. I can't say that my work inspired by him is the same, the difference is, that mine were images shot seperately, and then layered digitally instead of being layered in the dark room. Amazing isn't it. To check out some of his work go to: http://www.uelsmann.net

In this image, there are actually 4 images layered upon one another. There is the image of the hands, which I bumped up the contrast on, and then the texture of the cracked dirt that I had placed on top of the hands, masking it to the shape of the hands themselves. Then I added the texture of the pond, and molded that to the shape of the hands and made sure the transparency was just right. After that, I added the waterfall, which was not one of my images, since I couldn'te find any waterfalls in Rexburg Idaho, in walking distance. So I found this one off of google. I believe it was a picture of someone's waterfall of their backyard pond :) Then this is what the final image turned out like. This was one of my final digital prints for my Digital Photography class with one of my most admired photography teachers at BYU Idaho: Brian Atkinson. I have him to thank in helping me learn about masking, and for the cracked dirt image that he let me use. He taught me to start keeping a photo library of just textures, so in the future when I have an image that I may want to mask in an image, then I will have a library full of my own photos to use as textures.

This next image was also done for my final project before I graduated with my Bachelors of Arts in Photography Fall 2007. This photo was inspired by a movie called Gataca with Ethan Hawke, and Uma Therman. In the movie the roles that this actor and actress portrayed, go to a piano concert where the Pianoist has five fingers and a thumb on each hand. So I thought I would create an image refering to the idea of what it would be like to be so different, with the ability to have that extra finger on each hand. My model is my friend Shawn, he was a great model, and was also the hands for the above image. I titled this image: Different

More to come soon...

Prop 8

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF PROP 8 DOES NOT PASS

1. Children in public schools will be taught that both traditional marriage and same-sex marriage are okay.

The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage. (§51890)

Therefore, if the definition of marriage is changed, children will be taught that marriage is a relation between any two adults. There will be serious clashes between the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs.

2. Churches will be sued if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings that are open to the public. Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston has already closed its doors because of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

4. Religions that sponsor private schools and which provide housing for married students will be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if it runs counter to church doctrine, or lose tax exemptions and benefits.

5. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages will be sued for hate speech and could be fined by the government. It has already happened in Canada, one of six countries that have legalized gay marriage.

6. It will cost you money. A change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits. Even if courts eventually find in favor of a defender of traditional marriage (highly improbable given today's activist judges), think of the money – your money, your church contributions – that will have to be spent on legal fees.

And think of all the unintended consequences that we cannot even foresee at this time. Where will it end?

It's your children, your grandchildren, your money, and your liberties.

Job Hunting

For all of you that may know, I recently graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Arts, Emphasis in Photography and my minor in Theater. This was back in December, and since then I have been trying to find my way in life after college. Who would have thought that things would be so hard to adjust to, and the change in atmosphere would have been so different. Since Graduation, I feel I haven't accomplished much, and I am almost about to hit my year mark. What I have done is, Read a lot, watch a lot of TV online, and move around a lot. I started working for my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, just working in their yard, and fixing up some things. They are so good to me, and pay me $10 an hour, and include lunch. So this year, I have painted their gate, pillars, and center drive circle thing. Not really sure what it is called, but it looks a lot better. I also go by and do weekly house cleaning chores for them. Other than that, I couldn't really find any work. I did find a lady that seemed really into my work, and I felt it was the perfect job opportunity for me. Although, sad to say, I didn't receive the job, because I hadn't received any Graphic Design experience. So that was my strike one. Who would have thought that a photography major needed to take Graphic Design classes before graduating. I wish I would have known, so I could be working in that studio right now. But I guess that that is not what the Lord had in store for me. So the next step was to continue looking for work. I am not a wedding photographer, I do have to say that is the hardest and most nerve racking part/job of being a photographer. I tried to help Jason Lanier's photo company out, and be a second photographer for him. But the lens that was given to me was new to me, and i had no tripod, so I had no idea of how to really control it, since I hadn't had prior experience with such a long lens. And I am extremely shaky. Not sure why really, but I am, so a tripod would have really helped me out. Anyways, I took the worst photos ever, and I am sure that was a great big step out of the door instead of in.
To Be Continued....