My Last Craft II Blog: Abstract Photography

So, for my final project in Craft class, I chose to do abstractions using medium format photography. I really loved taking those photos and love how they came out, so I decided to go look up abstract photography. What I found is very beautiful, and very different from what I am used to. They are all color photographs and they are zoomed out more and actually make it clear what they images are of. When I think about photo abstractions, I always thought to make the objects more ambiguous and to just focus on shadows and shapes and composition. But I suppose this does not always have to be the case.:

Leave Frost

© Tony Sweet

A Brush with Flair

© Tom Anderson

oTo

© Milena Kertova

Steel Fork

© Katarina Mansson

On Fire

© Jim Miotke

July in Denmark

© Evy Johansen

Eyes

© Elizabeth J Bernier

In these photos, the photographers used a wide and beautiful range of colors and they used their subjects to their full advantages. Instead of trying to make the viewer not recognize the subject, they decided to use the subject to allow viewers to see it in new and exciting ways. Some are more zoomed in and others show most of the subject, but either way, the viewer still knows what they're looking at. It's as if the photographer is trying to show the beauty of the objects, and not the shapes, colors, and compositions that you can find in them. All in all I think these photos are fantastic and I can't stop looking at them and all the colors and textures in the images. Perhaps I'll try to take photos like these next time I decide to do a project on abstractions.

Michael Mironov

So, as I was looking for large format photos to go with my last journal, I came across a large format photographer named Michael Mironov. I was instantly attracted to his fantastic print quality and all the great textures in his work. I decided to make this week's journal about his work because I was so drawn to it and I thought it was a great example of the possibilities of large format photography.

I love the composition in this one, but I think I am most drawn to the textures in the trees (especially the one in the front) and how each blade of grass can be seen.

This image has great depth and amazing details. I love the way each door is framed by the door in front of it and then ends with a view of a tree placed perfectly within the frame of a window.

The water here seems to be both hectic and calming. I love the soft, foggy surface in contrast to the crazy, intense rapids.

This image I enjoy for the same reasons mentioned above. However, in this one I also love all the lines of texture in each splash of water and how it resembles hair or fur.

This image intrigued me because I loved the creepy, mysterious, almost dreamlike feeling it gives off. All the boards and buildings seem to be wobbly and falling down and there is a very extreme sense of depth that goes back into the image. Also, I think the almost white sky really adds to it because it intensifies the contrast in the print and makes the whole scene really pop out more. I just love the sense of uneasiness this photo gives off.

I have always been particularly interested in waterfalls because they're always so beautiful and very photogenic. However, I love this image not only for the waterfall, but for it's amazing contrast. I love how the high contrast intensifies the textures in the ground and the rocks, but at the same time is balanced out by the water, which is softer and more gray. I also love the depth and how it draws the eye from the top of the waterfall to the bottom of the rocks. It creates a lot of movement that really makes the viewer feel as if they are part of the waterfall and going through the stream and all the rocks into the nice, calm pool.

Large Format Photography

David Ward

I love the sense of depth and the blue tones in this one. It's almost surreal, even though it's just a bunch of rocks on the beach. It's also very calming.

I think this one has great colors reflected in the water; I love how the orange and green blend together and contrast each other. I also think the mist at the edge of the waterfall is very beautiful.

Kim Weston

I love the composition of this one and the shape that is created by the tutu as the dancer reaches down. I also love the contrast and how you can still see textures and folds in the tutu even though most of it is white.

I just thought this one was a pretty landscape. I love the dark blue evening lighting against the snow (it really adds to the atmosphere). I also really like the depth and all the large, triangular shapes created by the mountains.

Matt Bigwood

I love the crazy focus in this one (I'm assuming it was a special lens). The weird spiral around the edge really draws the eye to the center of the image, especially to the woman and the little girl and it makes the image seem almost dream or memory-like. Without it, I think this would just be a simple little park picture.

Chapman Baehler

I wasn't sure what to make my journal about this week, so I decided to just find a portrait photographer who's work I found interesting. I came across Chapman Baehler, who mostly photographs bands/singers. (Some musicians he's photographed include: Iggy Pop, Nine Inch Nails, Kelly Clarkson, John Mayer, Nickleback, Korn, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Alanis Morissette, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Rascal Flatts.) I really enjoy his work, not only because they're great photographs with interesting colors and compositions, but because he actually goes outside to shoot his subjects. I normally don't like staying in a studio because I get bored way too easily with it, so I thought it was interesting to find a photographer who also likes to go out to shoot.

BEHEADED!!!!! lol XD

(Ok, so this last one isn't a musician, but I just love this image. I love the girl's pose because it makes her look really young and playful and I love the way her dress is hanging. I also like the vignetting, the old-looking house, and the dark, neutral tones, because of how it makes the mood seem a bit creepier and more dream-like.

Also, I included this one just to show something he's done that WASN'T of a famous band/singer.)

Medium Format Photography

Midnight - Jeff Spirer

I don't know if I really like this photo, but I posted it because it shows how slow medium format film is.

Gloomy Porch - Jason Vanhoy

I love the soft lighting in this one and the shadows. The whole image just gives off are really cool, creepy feeling.

Patricia Eifel

Child - Bas Hoeben

This one caught my eye because I love the hair. I love the swirl design to it and how it almost doesn't seem like it's really the girl's hair.

Adrian Bach

I found this and thought it would be good to post because it's in color, as opposed to all the other ones. I love the reflection in it and how it makes an interesting new shape to the slide.

Fill Flash Photography: Week II

(no flash)

(fill flash)

I love how there are still great shadow in this one even though the photographer used a flash.

I like the soft shadow in this one.

There aren't many, but I like the shadows on the ground.

Fill Flash Photography

So for this week I decided to look up images that were made using fill flash. The first two are comparisons between no fill flash and fill flash. The other three are just really cool photos I found that were taken using a fill flash.

I LOVE the birds in this one! It makes the image look very dynamic. And I like the contrast between the dark clouds and the bright light.

I really like the dark tones in this one and the vignette around the edges. I also like how the white dress stands out from the rest of the image and I think the canted angle that it was taken at is very successful.

Brokeback Mountain, much? lol XD

I really like the dark sky in this one and the highlight in the grass.

Yousuf Karsh

HEY! ANY OF THESE PEOPLE/NAMES LOOK FAMILIAR? XP

Alexander Calder

Barnett Newman

Edward Steichen

Henry Moore

Man Ray

Pablo Picasso

Just like Annie Liebovitz, Yousuf Karsh photographs celebrities and other famous folk (this is not why I like these 2 artists, though...that's just irony). As I was looking through Karsh's work, I came across an image of Alexander Calder and recognized the name from 3D class. Then I found Barnett Newman and was like, "OMG THE BARNETT BOOK!" So I decided for this journal, I would post Karsh's portraits of artists we've learned about at DCAD (besides, I think it's more fun when you recognize the model ^_^ lol).

Anyways, I chose to post a blog about Yousuf Karsh's work because his black and white portraits are amazing. I love his choice lighting and I think it's great that his portraits aren't just the same old standard sitting poses. Some are close up, others are farther away and include parts of the room and/or artwork in the background. I also love the facial expressions. They all seem like what the person really looked like as opposed to some fake cheesy pose. They also go with the background. For instance, Henry Moore is very calm and almost expressionless in his image. Behind him is one of his sculptures, which also looks very calm and (seeing as how the figures don't have any faces) expressionless. Edward Steichen looks very intuitive, like he's pondering something as he's smoking his cigar (and I absolutely LOVE the smoke in the background, btw). Man Ray looks kind of silly and fun and playful, as does the handprint next to him, which reminds me of when kids finger paint and make handprints like that. And so on...

So, basically, I really enjoy Yousuf Karsh's portrait photography because I think they're very interesting representations of the famous people he photographs.

Portrait Photography: Annie Liebovitz

(Renaissance Lighting?)

(Butterfly Lighting)

(Side Lighting)

(idk what lighting this is...)

(haha...I just put this one in b/c Jim Carey is hilarious)

(oh, and I believe this is side lighting)

So I became interested in Annie Liebovitz's work when I was doing my emulation project. I decided to look through her portraits for different lighting situations that we were learning in class. I guess they were easier to recognize than I had expected. :)