your work displayed in public.

As I recall you're doing film work which has it's own challenges and limitations. The thing about that kind of photography is that it takes planning and it's not a simple shoot more and cull. I hope you are moving into the digital world in the classes you take. Not that it makes that much difference in the basic skills of imaging and imagination--funny how those two words are so similar!

Are you doing any studio work in your classes? Classic lighting and such? Hope so 'cause it opens new opportunities for making pictures and gives you more control as well as seeing it in the wild.

You Go!

1st semester was film. Second semester should have been film, except that they only offer it in the fall, so my second semester was working with color. I could have done either film or digital - I chose digital to make it easier to get files to manipulate. Next semester I'm back to film (with pickier, but more professional, paper in the darkroom).

The shoot for the theater production was digital. So shoot more and cull - with tricky lighting. Black box theater, which fools the light meter in the camera because of the contrast between the lit subjects and the black walls.

I'll have to see when studio work comes in. The courses for majors had several non-photography prerequisites, which I skipped since I was just taking courses here and there. So I may be taking a break from photography to pick up the prerequisites. There will be studio work eventally. Maybe the spring semester - maybe later.

Keep up the good work.
You can now start your "Brag Book"

i tried to view your photo but the BJ website is for subscribers only. where can we see your work? do you have an instagram or flickr account? what kinds of photography are you drawn to (i.e. fine art, street photography, architectural, photojournalism, portraiture, etc)?

...and in honor of your DU name, here's a cane toad i photographed in my studio a couple years back:

I know I'm not supposed to, since she's invasive. But she can't help it if stupid humans transported her to places outside of south/central America.

I have pretty broad interests in photography - and haven't settled on a particular one yet. My Color III class, for example was mostly self-directed (it was small and combined with the final course for majors - and there were only two of us in Color III). My weekly projects were mastering color manipulation in Photoshop (correcting color in underwater images; I'm used to using Paintshop Pro), macro, event - focusing on spontaneous interactions, and story-telling ((1) fixed in place - focusing on the final resting place of an early community resident) and (2) getting ready for the 2023 farm season at my CSA).

At the end of my first critique, the instructor asked what I wanted to do next, and my response was "not people," and then I went to my nephew's baby shower and they wanted pictures but didn't have a photographer - and I had my camera - so that was my second project. What I hate are posed people photos - so from that aspect, what I'm drawn to is something close to street photography - spontaneous but focused around a specific event (lots of theater, very young children at church camp, my nephew's baby shower). In film/B&W - more landscapes, although I dabbled in less traditional portraits. Formal story-telling is new to me - I've previously looked at stand-alone photos (or themed collections of photos) rather than story-telling. I don't know where that is going yet - but if I go through with a major, the CSA project may end up being my senior project.

I have a good eye for composition and for taking/selecting photos that capture human interactions.

I don't yet have a place online where you can go to see my photos. I've been thinking about building one since I think some of my photos are marketable. I posted a couple of threads here earlier.

https://democraticunderground.com/1036108188 (Photo of a B&W film shot - so quality is much lower than the original)
https://democraticunderground.com/1036112182 (macro)
https://democraticunderground.com/1036113468 (story-telling - view from a fixed location (a grave) - there were 10 images in this collection)
https://democraticunderground.com/1036114380 (story-telling - preparing the farm for the annual CSA - the series includes images of people I don't have permission to share online)

Here's the image that was in the Beacon Journal. Some people seem to be able to see it - and others not. (They do have a pay-wall, so I'm not sure if it is timing.)



(It's a black-box theater, the series was taken in a single viewing with only natural lighting using a camera with a crop sensor - so I was pushing my camera, and my luck! I usually do these shoots over a series of days and know when the magic moments are, and what adjustments I need to make for lighting - and I've never shot in a black box theater before which really messes with exposure.)

i remember seeing the self portrait when you posted it.

i don't know where you're at, but i get back to the US every couple months....if i'm ever near your town, i'd like to do some shooting with you.

keep photographing people...it will grow on you. i don't do enough of it but i want to do more. here's an "environmental" portrait i did a few years ago. i call it "el viverista" which is "the nurseryman" in spanish. i wish i had gotten his arms and hands in the shot, but i'm so obsessed with detail and i really wanted his eyes to stand out and if i stood back for a wider view, i'm afraid that would have all been lost. i'm learning every day.

And good choice to stay close - his eyes are rally special. (I might even be tempted to lighten them just a tad in post-processing to highlight them even more.