Lesson Learned

Again, I stayed up until 5 am to go take pictures in the park....(I really need to find somewhere around here that I can go to at anytime and there should be no people)  I knew this was going to be a quick shoot anyway because I was using a smoke bomb, and I only had one.  I've been saving this blue smoke bomb for about 4 or 5 years?  I really wanted to use it in a photo shoot, but had no idea what the best way was.  And it was so much more precious since I only had one.  Finally, the other day, I thought of an idea!  This morning I was excited, because I actually had an exact way I wanted the photo to look and I couldn't wait to get it on camera.

But.....As I was doing some tests shots I forgot to put the camera back on self-timer/remote mode before I lit the smoke bomb.  So I lit the smoke bomb, and quickly dropped the lighter, positioned my hands to hide the remote and still be able to click away, and the camera wasn't taking the picture...so I started panicking and remembered I forgot to put it in remote mode and I quickly ran to the camera to change settings - while inhaling, practically the entire blue smoke cloud - and it was too late.  The smoke didn't last long in the jar and it quickly was swept away, up into the sky.  I remember turning around and watching it disappear into the air.  I was so upset and cursing myself because I had one chance, one smoke bomb, and I really screwed it up...

But I took a few shots after, since I thought it was neat that the smoke bomb stained the jar blue, and I found a website online where I can buy a pack of smoke bombs and so I will just have to try this again. And the lesson I learned was to always remember to check that I am in remote mode when I need to be shooting with my remote!

Enjoy!

Morning Light

I stayed up until 7:30 am.  I was about to go to bed around 4:30 am, but heard birds, looked out my window, and saw light breaking already.  Since I've been wanting to watch the sunrise, I decided to stay up since I wasn't too tired.  I also decided it would be the perfect time to go to the park and take photos because no one would be around. I learned that my remote doesn't have a very long range, so I had to keep running back and forth to set the self timer.  It was also really difficult to choose between the color or black and white versions, because there were different reasons that I like about them.  I really loved watching sky the sky become light instead of watching it become night; refreshing.

To My Flickr


(also hydrangea is one of my favorite flowers)

Photo Final

For my final project in Advanced Traditional Processes class, I chose to use my self as the subject.
I was inspired by photographers Cindy Sherman, Francesca Woodman, and Gabriela Herman.  I like the idea of combining the familiar and the strange.  So I set out to photograph myself in natural landscape and then use my self as the model/object in the photos.  The 'strange' part of the photos was where I captured the movement.  I became just a creepy, or whimsical figure in the landscape.  I set my camera on a tripod, used the self timer, and shot on a slow shutter speed.  I wore a white nightgown.

Here is one of my favorites:

I really enjoyed this project.  I learned a lot!  It pushed me out of my comfort zone because I would have the chance of people who may see me acting ridiculous running and twirling around in fields (which did happen a handful of times).  I also learned more how to develop the best black and white prints I can.  I still have a lot to learn to get it perfect with skill, and not just luck.

I got a lot of great feedback during the critique.  This may become my 'thing", the type of photos I take, I just need to explore more with it.

It was also my first time developing on 11"x13" pieces of paper.  It was really exciting and I think they look so good!