Cover of Steps Magazine
One of my biggest accomplishments this year, other than graduating college, was my photo of Marco Lemus making the Cover of CSUSM’s Steps Magazine.
FUNES DIGITAL ART CONTEST
I have been chosen by the Cal State faculty to be the coordinator for the 2012 Funes Digital Art Contest. Here is the poster I created for the event.
CSUSM Men’s Basketball V.S. Fresno Pacific
My 2nd internship assignment was to photograph the Cal State Men’s Basketball game as they took on Fresno Pacific at our home court at Mira Costa College. Yep, we play our home games at Mira Costa. The lighting in the gym isn’t the greatest, but I managed the best that I could. It was another test for me shooting indoors and getting action shots but I’m pretty happy with my progress so far. The CSUSM Cougars, ended up beating Fresno Pacific in a close game 71-69. Here are some shots I took at the game.
First Internship Assignment: Bill Walton “In the Executive’s Chair”
I recently took a photography internship at Cal State San Marcos to fulfill the last three credits I need to graduate. My first assignment was to photograph legendary basketball player, Bill Walton, as he gave a speech as part of CSUSM’s “In the Executive’s Chair Series.” I have always been used to taking photos outdoors, mostly doing landscapes, so some of my assignments will be a challenge. I look forward to improving my skills in indoor photography. The Bill Walton assignment was a lot of fun. Mr. Walton is a very motivational speaker and even though I was just there to take photos, I learned a lot about his philosophy on business and on life in general. It was a great experience. Here are a few photos from the meeting.
MOPA Artist Inspiration Week
This past week we were asked to visit the Infinite Balance Exhibit at the Museum Of Photographic Arts (MOPA) in San Diego. Each of the Artists in the exhibit are on the shortlisted for the Prix Pictet, which is the world’s leading prize in photography and sustainability. After viewing all the photos, we were given the task of choosing one of the photographer’s featured in the exhibit, and then take photos of our own that reflected our chosen photographer’s style.
The photographer I chose was Thomas Joshua Cooper. Cooper’s photos consist of stunning black and white landscapes, most of them containing water in some way or another. The deep contrasts between black and white in the images are what stood out most to me. The white really pops, but does not overshadow the deep black and gray tones. Many of his photos contain a beautiful ethereal glow, usually the white glow of crashing water contrasted against sharp black and grays.
To reflect Thomas Joshua Cooper’s style I traveled to the beach to take my photos like I have many times before. I focused on getting close up shots of the ocean and crashing waves. I tried to create as much contrast as I could in the photos, creating really stark black and whites. These images really fit the black and white beach collage I did a few weeks back, I even featured one of those shots, a static shot of ocean foam, in this series as well. Here are the photos that I took trying to best reflect the style of Thomas Joshua Cooper.
Museum of Man Contest
My entries for the Museum of Man contest, featuring historical sites around San Diego County including Tierra Miguel, Rincon, Balboa Park, the Oceanside Pier, and the Gaslamp Quarter.
CSUSM Soccer photos
Today in our digital photo sketchbook class we took photos of a soccer game between Cal State San Marcos and San Diego Christian. The Cougars ended up winning the game 4-2. Here are a few of my favorite photos I took from today.
Jessica Dimmock: The Ninth Floor
We also watched The Ninth Floor by Jessica Dimmock. The film is a series of narrative portraits about people who who live on the ninth floor of a building that has slowly been turned into a haven of drugs and depression. The story focuses on three individuals, the owner of the building named Joe Smith, a couple named Dionn & Rachel, and a girl named Jessie. Joe Smith started accepting drugs instead of money for rent and then the building really started going downhill. At the end of the film, we learn that nobody really knows what happened to Joe Smith. The couple, Dionn and Rachel, are featured in the film through pictures as addicted to drugs. But as time progresses, Rachel gets pregnant. Their healthy baby is born, and there is touching audio of Dionn taking about how important his baby daughter is in his life, and how he is taking the steps towards making life better for his family. Jessie is a girl also addicted to drugs and at sometimes the audio during the film shows how bad she actually is. The end says she is trying to kick the drug habit and is on the right path. Here are a few examples of photos from the film.
Inside Out Project
The video we watched tonight was about the artist JR who won the 2011 TED award. Each recipient of this award is awarded $100,ooo and “One wish to rule the world.” JR takes portrait photographs of people from all around the world, and then installs huge prints of them on paper, in public places in different areas of the globe.
One project he did was taking photos of people from both Israel and Palestine who were from the same occupation, and then put their portraits up in the streets. He would then ask people if they could tell the difference between the two, which they couldn’t. Another project he did was in the favelas in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. He took the portrait of a grandmother of one of three kids that were murdered, and pasted it on a stairway. He also put faces and eyes all over the rest of the favelas. What was interesting was that media wasn’t allowed in so they couldn’t find out was going on, unless they went in after the project and actually found the subject of the portrait to get the story.
JR’s one wish was the following: “I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world…INSIDE OUT.” This global art project consists of sending JR a portrait of your own, which he will turn blow up to a huge size and send back to you. He then asks that you install it somewhere in the public so that you can tell your own story. Here are a few examples of JR’s project and a video of his TED presentation.
https://ted.com/talks/view/id/1085www.insideoutproject.net/
Digital Photo Sketchbook: Food Week
Tonight was my first class meeting in Digital Photo Sketchbook, and our first task was to find a blog that deals with food and write about what we liked about it. The blog I chose to write about was 101cookbooks.com. On this particular blog, Heidi Swanson shares different recipes that intersect her “life, travels and interests.” What drew me to this blog was not only the delicious food, but also how beautiful the photos of the food were. The lighting and shadows in the pictures add a certain mood to the images that showcase the food and ingredients perfectly. On of my favorite posts on the site is the TLT sandwich recipe. I’m a huge fan of sandwiches so this post caught my eye. The close up images of the sandwich are amazing and will make you hungry for sure. Here are a few examples of the photos.
Marita Redondo
Marita Redondo is an artist who combines art and photography very beautifully. In a post on her blog, she uploaded some book pages that were based on a trip to Africa she made. The pictures are great, they feature landscapes of Africa with animals such as lions, elephants, birds, gazelle and cheetahs.
Her book pages also feature pictures of local tribes people from the areas she visited. Some of the pages include a photo on one side of a page spread, with an artwork done on the other side, such as a sketch or painting. She also decided to superimpose writing on some of the pages as well.
Marita’s painting’s are incredible, and I am also a fan of her drawings. The way she decided to lay out the pages of her book was interesting as well. The background color in the pages makes the pictures in the foreground really pop.
The words on the pages look to a served as diary entries for Marita while she was visiting Africa. One of my favorite page spreads from her book is the one that has a painting of a lion on the left page, with sketches of more lions on the right. They are stunning pieces of art. Here are a few images from Marita Redondo’s book.
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