Abstract Expressionism

Barnett Newman was an abstract expressionist painter. His paintings are minimalistic. Here, i tried to recreate a couple of his paintings from scratch in photoshop. Then, with a DSLR, i shot a few photos that mimicked Newman's style.

HDR series - Christmas Tree

For this series, I explored the process of HDR photography. I experimented with different subject matter before finding something that worked. Once I found something that produced images that I was happy with, I explored different angles. These HDRs are close ups of my Christmas tree. I liked the way the ornaments looked in close-ups either from the top or from the side view.

With this series, I wanted to expand my horizon of HDR photography. Before this series, I had no idea what an HDR image was or how to make one. After this series, I've learned more about HDR photography. I now have a better understanding of what will work in an HDR photograph and what will not.

W. Eugene Smith

Eugene Smith uses under and over exposure to heighten the emotion of his images. He uses darkness and brightness to tell the story of the subject of his photographs. Many of his photographs are documenting people during times of war. In the last photograph. Smith used dodging and burning to heighten the contrast of the smoke in the sky. The two opposing colors represent the two sides that are fighting the war. At the foreground of the photo there is what appears to be barren land that has been destroyed most likely by the warfare taking place. In the foreground there are also soldiers. Some of the soldiers are facing towards the explosion while the others are facing away. 

October 31st

I was walking through an abandoned building documenting the rising problem of graffiti in the area. While walking through the building, i stepped on a weak spot and fell through the floor. It was dark and there was an indescribable odor. The only source of light i had was the flash on my camera. I began taking photos and i discovered i was not alone. There were various creatures that were attracted to the flash on the camera. I made my out as fast as possible, as i was being chased. Once i found an exit, i turned around to catch a glimpse of one of the creatures closing themselves back off into the darkness.

BTW Homecoming 2014

Homecoming week at Booker T. Washington high school.

Light

These are the images I created using light as subject matter. At first, I wasn't sure about how i was going to go about doing this, but as time went on i figured out how light is, and it became easier to capture light as subject matter.

About Light

To me, this image is obviously about light because it shows how light moves and fades. It shows how light creates shadows. This image shows how light can create gradients.

This photograph is a landscape by a body of water. There are many buildings along the shore. The buildings appear to be old and in poor condition. Some of the buildings are falling apart. There are boats in the water. It is a clear day, and the sky is blue. The photograph has been taken from above the scene. The saturation is high and the colors are very vibrant. This photograph was taken by Senol Zorlu.

"Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

  To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield..."

 -Lord Alfred Tennyson

This is an excerpt is from the poem Ulysses. From my perspective, these lines are saying that despite age, one should never lose their will to live life and have new experiences. People should always be looking for ways to improve themselves and to learn new things.

Hand Scan

This is a scan of a hand. In Photoshop i edited the picture by cropping it down, turning up the contrast, desaturating the image and manipulating the levels. 

Experimental Pinhole Photography

Pinhole photography is a form of analog photography. Pinhole photography is a great outlet to use to learn and understand the basic principles of photography, such as that light travels in straight paths, etc. Pinhole photography also has lots of things that can be manipulated. Therefore, pinhole photography is a great opportunity to get creative and try some experimental techniques.

For example, experimental photography can mean you experiment and manipulate hoe the final image will look by manipulating the picture-taking process. In this photo, for instance, using a double exposure technique, you can make it appear as if you have overlapped two images.

Experimental photography can also mean experimenting with what you use as the camera itself. In this instance, using a pumpkin. Once you understand how pinhole photography works, the possibilities are almost endless.

Brassaï

Brassaï was a Hungarian-born photographer that became known in Paris in the 19th century.

Brassaï explored photography at night. He experimented with using the lighting that was available at night. He published a book of his collection, which was called Paris De Nuit (Paris At Night). The subjects of his work was often prostitutes, pimps, etc. Since some of his photos were shot in bars and clubs, he sometimes used a flash bulb to get a better shot.

Summer

I was visiting my aunt & uncle in Missouri. It was a rainy day. After the rain subsided, we noticed there was a rainbow. We had never seen both ends of a rainbow before so we all raced outside to take pictures. 

My family drove to St. Louis to spend the weekend there. We arrived at the hotel that afternoon and spent the rest of the day exploring the hotel. 

Because of my enthusiasm for animals, I insisted that we visit the zoo. The next day we visited the St. Louis zoo. 

On our last day in St. Louis, on our way back, we stopped at a science center. They had camels in the front that people could ride and pet. Inside there were a lot of interactive displays.

 A few weeks later, my family took a trip to Dallas. Since my aunt is a big fan of the show Dallas, while we were in Dallas, we visited Southfork Ranch, the location where the show is filmed.