Avarie Graham

Experimenting with film photography

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:27:00 -0400

Here are some photographs taken with my step-father’s old film camera. I was experimenting with it because I was new to it, and these photos seemed to turn out to be bad quality. However they give the photos a nice feel. I took these images back home in Bermuda and got a lot of the island scenery. The last photo was actually taken of me, and was a mistake, but I love the way it turned out because it was unexpected.

Your Beautiful Eyes by Suren Manvelyan

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:53:50 -0400

Although these photographs are a bit creepy they are so interesting to me. I had no idea that our eyes had this much detail. The way that Suren captured this is amazing. You can obviously tell he used a bright light and professional camera. I can even see the light reflected into the eyeball. It would be interesting to try, however I wouldn’t want to blind anyone. Beautiful photographs nonetheless.

3D effects Photography

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:39:22 -0400

I’ve recently been a fan of 3D effect photography where they use the red and blue hues. It seems easy to replicate and I want to try it out soon. It adds a cool, modern and futuristic effect to the initial photograph.

Alberto Seveso's A Due Colori

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:30:00 -0400

I love Alberto Seveso’s work with ink in water. He used digital photography to capture the vibrant colours and textures the ink seemed to create within the water. Within my drawing class we have been experimenting with creating textures with new mediums. I have been taking photographs of my progress and these photographs are something I still want to try!

Bermuda Houses - Photographs taken by me

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:12:31 -0400

These are some photographs I took over summer for a previous project with my previous university. The objective was to look at colour in a different way. I decided to take photographs of houses located where I live, the Island of Bermuda. The houses here are varied in colour however their roofs stay white. Its a great spectacular for the eye when you come visit.

Yumna Photography (Inspirational Photographer)

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:05:20 -0400

I do not personally know Yumna but have recently been a fan of her work. I actually found out about her through a friend and have been hooked ever since. She seems to document her surrounding and travels in a creative way. She is a brooklyn based photographer and has been promoted through press as well. Check out her website! http://www.yumnaaa.com

Fashion Photography Inspirations

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:37:16 -0400

I have always been interested in fashion photography. Lately I’ve been really into vibrant colours that stand out in the photographs. These are a few examples from one of my favourite fashion blogs http://blog.nastygal.com. For their spring and summer collection they have been incorporating neons and bright colours in their clothes and accessories. I love it!

Frida Kahlo Final

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:10:26 -0400

For our final photograph we used a different Frida Kahlo painting and made into something more modern. Although this was not in a studio setting we thought natural lighting would be best especially since the backdrop consists of natural greenery and plants. The light seems to be coming from the right side of Frida’s face in the painting so it was great when the sunlight caught our muse’s face on the same side. We positioned her in front of a bush, similar to the one in the painting. We edited it in photoshop giving it a warm yellowish tone. I think the overall photograph looks great, and is a good example of a modern day Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo Testing in Natural Light

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:06:00 -0400

For these photographs we decided to take our project outside into a natural light setting. We thought testing would be better in order to get the lighting almost exact to the painting.

Frida Kahlo

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:58:02 -0400

For this project we were supposed to take a popular painting or photograph and try and mimic it using photography and studio lighting. We decided to use Frida Kahlo’s painting. We tried our hardest to copy the lighting, but because her medium is a painting it was hard to determine where the real light source was coming from. We shined a lamp on the right side of the muse’s face to get the dark shadow under her chin. This was our testing and it was hard because we were not in a studio setting.

Some of my best photographs!

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 14:14:16 -0400

Photograph of incense sticks taken in Thailand. Showing depth of field.

View of sunflowers in the sun at my home in Bermuda.

Photograph taken of my friend’s kitten. I was surprised I got it to face me and I love how I captured the texture of its fur well.

Bermuda sunsetting!

Polaroids!

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:59:54 -0400

Last year I purchased an instax mini Polaroid camera and fell in love with it. I now document everything with it. These are a few of my favourite photos, most of which were taken on my Christmas break. I like the way that I can instantly capture a image and see it appear in physical form right before my eyes.

Seeing Space - previous photography project (Kingston University)

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:54:48 -0400

BRIEF: Reconsider the way you look and see. Using a camera you are asked to challenge how we make sense of the world. Using your camera, begin to use the photographic frame, carefully selecting, editing, exploring and revealing your SPACE. Through this personal response, discover reinvent and create a new SPACE. Begin to develop new wats if making sense of the world you have chosen. Consider: light, form, viewpoint, shape, simpliflication, dissection, occupation, repetition, time, magnification, movement, and begin to investigate reinterpretation. Enhance and challenge the audience’s undersdtanding of the space.

PROJECT IDEA: My chosen space was the spaces found in between the web of a dreamcatcher. I took the word space literally and discovered a new way of analyzing that space. The spaces in between dreamcatchers are very significant as the Native Americans believed that nightmares will be caught in them if they are hanged over your bed. Today dreamcatchers are not only used to catch good and bad dreams but to also help us understand them. The openings in the dreamcatchers are often viewed as symbolic of the changes that will occur in your life, so the space is important. I used black cloth as a backdrop ad hung the dreamcatcher onto my desk lamp to highlight the shape and form of the spaces.

Fire and Ice Photoshop Project

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:48:31 -0400

For this fire and ice project, we were meant to find two photographs which we thought represented fire and ice and create a whole new image using photoshop techniques and tools. I chose the image of a snow wolf which had been already altered with a blue-ish tone. I then got an image of fire and started to duplicated it within the mane of the wolf to look like it was in flames. While duplicating this fire layer I resized each layer to different sizes in order to make it look varied in texture. After this was finished, I merged the layers together and started to use the smudge tool and smudged them all together. By doing this the hair of the wolf began to look more realistic and blended. For the final touches I added a reddish tone to the wolf’s eyes to give it a demonic feeling. To do this I just used the paint bucket tool and coloured in the eyes and blurred it after.

Light and slow shutter speed experiements!

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:46:00 -0400

Motion Blur (Slow Shutter Speed)

For this motion blur image I used a shutter speed of 8, an f-stop of 3.5 and ISO 200. I used small key chain flash lights and had my friends create letters with them. I decided to create the word hope. The letters came out clear and precise as I made sure the room was in complete darkness so that the human figures could not be seen. The letters were so effective I think it could be made into its own typeface!

I began really enjoying this project. For the most part my camera’s shutter speed was always consistent using an 8 shutter speed. I was at a friend’s house and began writing words, making shapes and tracing around my friends’ body’s with the flashlight source. We also played around with colors of the light source my wrapping colored tissue paper around the flash light as shown in the triangle image. It turned out to be a great success!

Motion and Stillness Project

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:26:17 -0400

Frozen Action (Fast Shutter Speed)

For this photograph I wanted to capture an object in motion so I figured I would take advantage of the pigeons that roam around the park near my apartment downtown. The shutter speed I used was at 1/200, the f-stop was at 10 and the ISO at 200. I was able to capture the birds just as they flew off into the air. I really love this photo because it looks as if the birds are floating still in space. Because of the fast speed of the shutter I was able to capture a number of shots like this just in time to get them directly in my line of vision.

Frozen Action (Fast Shutter Speed)

I decided to take another photograph of the birds in order to experiment with different angles and ways of motion. To get this exact shot I used a shutter speed of 1/200, f-stop of 4.5 and ISO of 200. While the birds were on the ground, I made a sudden motion to scare them and was able to snap the camera just in time to get their wings in motion, almost as if they are dancing. I feel like it made for a beautiful image.

Photoshop Photo Editing Project

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:22:30 -0400

Photograph before editing, found online via “under-exposed photographs”.

Photo After Editing: I found this underexposed photograph online and thought it would be a good idea to expose as it had a variety of bright colors. I adjusted the levels correctly so that the colors were more visible. I then used the dodge tool to darken some areas. I adjusted the hue and saturation the photograph had an overall nice tone. I then added the blur tool to add a depth of field as if the sheds in the distance were more blurred than the ones closest to the viewer.

Depth of Field Project

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:18:52 -0400

SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD. Aperture: F. Stop: f9 Shutter Speed: 1/200 ISO: 200 38mm. For this photograph my aperture setting was on F9. I wanted to get the cityscape in the background to be much more detailed and have the flower in the foreground to be blurred. This was the result I got. I still like the fact that both images are fairly visible yet still out of focus.

GREATER DEPTH OF FIELD. Aperture: F Stop: f32 Shutter Speed: 1/20 ISO: 200 34mm. For this photograph my aperture was f32. This lead for my subject matter in the foreground to be much more clear and visible, yet most of the cityscape in the background is also visible and not as out of focus as I expected. I liked this compositional idea because I wanted to take advantage of the amazing view from my window and the bright color and organic shape of the flower against the square like scene.

Moody Fruit Project

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:16:00 -0400

For this project we were meant to look at fruit in an entirely different way with the help of light and shadow. For this photograph I got a bunch of apples and placed them on a cotton scarf in order for the light source not to reflect. I then made sure the sun outside was bright enough to seep through my blinds. This made a “behind bars” effect.

The photos were taken on auto with a shutter speed of 1/10, ISO of 200 and an F-stop of 16. I’m very pleased with this photo, and I love the way it looks as if the apples have emerged from darkness coming from the top left corner.

TESTERS

Inspirational Photographer Project

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:14:00 -0400

Hengki Koentjoro was born in March 24, 1963 in Semarang, central java, Indonesia. Koentjoro explores the mystical beauty of nature through black and white photography, always finding a way to make common and ordinary things, unusual.[1] This photograph entitled “Toads” is one of the many works Koentjoro has taken under his theme of “Aquanaut”. “An Aquanaut is any individual who remains underwater, exposed to the ambient pressure, long enough to come into equilibrium with his or her breathing media.” “Aquanaut derives from the Latin word aqua (“water”) plus the Greek nautes (“sailor”), by analogy to the similar construction “astronaut””.[2]

Hengki Koentjoro tends to only use natural light in all of his works focusing on the beautiful aspect of nature. In this image, the primary light source is the sunlight above the ocean’s depths, which casts a shadow on the people swimming. The bright and intense source of sunlight creates a dramatic effect on the shadows, making the human figures ambiguous as they take on a un-humanlike shape and form. This can evoke a sense fear of what is unfamiliar or unknown. In order to capture this, the photographer had to be underneath the figures, and looking above.

I believe that the message the artist was trying to convey in this photograph is that humans can easily take on different qualities and attributes that enable them to seem less human-like and more alien. Entitling the photograph “Toads” further proves that when stripped of our human features, it is not hard to become something similar to that of a creature or animal. I also believe Koentjoro wants to promote becoming one with nature.

[1] Hengki Koentjoro Photography Profile http://www.koentjoro.com/profile.php

[2] Hengki Koentjoro Flickr Collections AQUANAUThttp://www.flickr.com/photos/21290636@N06/sets/72157625966299677/