Sunday, November 29, 2009

John Cameron. 11/30/09. Artist - Bob Croslin

This week I wanted to find an artist that focused on the basics. Color basics. Where colors compliment each other. Not necessarily in every image, but just to see if the photographer used it in any of their work. I wanted to look at some ESPN photographers, and I found Bob Croslin. He works for many clients, but I came across him, when I was looking at some ESPN photography.
By Bob Croslin
Right here, as you can see, the orange is complimenting the blue. The colors look good together, and it makes the photo successful. As I've mentioned, I want to focus in sports photography, and my teacher said not to always focus on the technical parts with lighting and poses, but not to forget about color. I looked through Bob Croslin's website, and he has a really nice website. I really like his lighting skills. Over the past couple of months, I have talked about dodging and burning on the highlights, but it looks like he doesn't do heavy work in photoshop to do this. Rather he does a lot of the work while taking the photograph. So that has to be appreciated.
By Bob Croslin
Like the image above, the lighting is very clean cut. The shadows and highlights are popping out, and it doesn't look fake like. Sometimes the style can look surreal. It look's as though there's a small vignette, which is something I'm also really getting into. I couldn't find many of his images that I liked of his website to paste on here. But it gives you an idea. Bob's website is www.bobcroslin.com . A lot of his images have the sky as the background. As in a lot of the background. This is something i've also been looking at getting into. Where you expose for the sky, and light up the subject. I just think it makes photographs look really clean cut and interesting. Bob Croslin works for clients such as ESPN, WWE, Atlantic Records, SONY, Newsweek, MSNBC and many more.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

John Cameron. 11/25/09. Idea/Concept Blog

So this week I have the aid of some ideas by having a meeting with my teacher Tom. I have been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about concepts, and ideas. But not about the artistic styles of photography. In relation to colors complimenting each other and other stuff like that. A few years ago, I used to take other art foundation classes, and I remember that i would always try to use colors that compliment each other, because I always thought that it made the piece of work look correct and better (Like an orange shirt with a blue sky).
Photo shoot of Dustin Snipes. Photographing High School Basketball athletes. 2009
I'm going to look into doing stuff like this for my next couple of images, but I tried a shoot yesterday where I inserted myself in the photograph. For some of my previous classes, I would do an assignment or portfolio, and then insert myself at the end, to show where I stand and how I am at the time of the assignment. So I intend to do this to this class. Over the semester, I have been looking at numerous artists, and also blogs. A lot of artists like to show their photo shoots, and how they set up the shot. So I want to do this, but make it a nice photograph. Insert myself in the image, of taking a photograph of someone. But i'll give it nice lighting and so on. I tried it out yesterday, but the whole shoot just didn't work out. My court that I wanted to shoot at was in use, it was raining, and I didn't have model. But here is what I tried out.
Self Portrait, Digital Photograph, 2009, 13"x19" - by John Cameron

Sunday, November 22, 2009

John Cameron. 11/22/09. Artist - Chase Jarvis

Chase Jarvis is awesome and that's all there is to it. We do artist statements every week and we have to compliment the photographer on how good they are, and why they are good. We look at their work and see how we can maybe relate to the work and try to work in the same standards to be a successful photographer. Chase Jarvis is unbelievably talented at what he does, and it's really fun to see what he builds in his work.
Water - by Chase Jarvis - Digital Photograph 2009
Chase Jarvis has a real concern for using objects and equipment to the highest of standards. As photographers, we consistently try to use objects to make our work look interesting. Chase does this so well and it's something to look up to and try to emulate. This image above shows a series of work that he did, where he photographed earth, wind, water, and fire. The photo shoot is on his blog at www.chasejarvis.com and it's just a fun shoot and something really cool to watch. The thing with his work is that, when people see it, I know they have to say "wow". I mean, look at this image above, that process of getting the water to do that is just an example of excellence.
By Chase Jarvis - digital photograph
He uses the similar technique of dodging and burning of the shadows and highlights, or if he doesn't, his image technique is what I'm looking to get into as I have showed throughout my blog for class. Another thing that I really liked about Chase was where he did a shoot with snow skiing. He used flashes at a very fast rate to capture a skier flying over jumps. There were like 8 frames a second, and flashes were fired every time. This photo shoot is also on his blog, and it's fun to watch. This was cool because it was a challenge for Chase to see if it worked and if the flashes could have enough power to go off for every image. It worked and the results are amazing. Here is one of the results. If you don't think it's cool, beat it. ha
By Chase Jarvis - Digital Photograph, 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

John Cameron. 11/18/09. Idea/Concept Blog

I ended up doing a shoot yesterday. It kind of happened by luck.... sort of. I have been trying to photograph a friend, but things have just been coming up and I haven't been able to squeeze him into my schedule. So I realized that Thanksgiving was coming and that I needed to get it done. I was going to try and photograph him, with a relationship to being dirty. Playing sports makes you sweat, and you get very dirty. Your clothes smell, and they need to be cleaned. However, my model managed to get a black eye on the weekend, so this changed my plan. I might do the dirty (as in mud and sweat) photograph later.
Brotherly Love - Digital Photograph, 20"x30" 2009. - By John Cameron
So this is Brad, and he has a black eye. I wanted to make it look as though he was serious and upset. I wanted to show that this is Brad. A guy who is sitting on his football field and will do anything for his team mates. Even cop a black eye if there is a fight. I didn't want to do a photograph around fighting, but when I saw his black eye, I realized that I had to photograph it. I play sports, and sometimes on the field, things can get out of control and fights can occur. When this occurs, you want to protect your brothers on your team. So I wanted to show this in the photograph. Brad is sitting on his turf, looking straight down in the camera, this is something I haven't done in my portfolio yet.

I'm probably going to do another shoot on Friday or early next week. I intend to relate it around practicing. I feel as though practice is huge in sports, and without it you cannot get better. So I plan to relate that around studying for a test and practicing for a speech. I had to write a paper on a speech I did about practicing for a speech. I talked about how I need to practice my speech many times so I can do better in the critique. That relates to sports so much. So I'm going to relate it to basketball an play around with that.

Mid Term Critique video response - John Cameron 11/18/09

After watching my video, I got really good feedback from it. Something that can't be given from other students. I feel that I did well in my critique, and that my thoughts were taken in well from other students. But no one knows yourself, more than yourself. If that makes sense. So I could really see where I spoke differently, than what I would usually do if it was just a one on one conversation.

When you see yourself on video, it puts you in a seat, just like another viewer. Except you see all the errors just like everyone else. During my speech, in the first couple of minutes, I spoke okay, but I know that I can do ten times better. There were times where I was trying to explain a photograph, and I paused for a split second. After going through my speech many times before the class, I thought that I was set, and ready to go. But, I guess I just froze up in the speech at times. It wasn't too bad, but there were a few pauses to confuse it up just a tiny bit. From this, I know that I need to practice my speech even more before a critique, so it can flow better in front of the class. I also need to relax and take my time. I think I froze up a few times, because I was looking for the right word to explain my thoughts. So, I need to make sure I get all of the correct words through my head before the speech next time, so I can insert the correct words when I need to.

But When we see the visiting artists come to VCU, I don't think they have a speech, or ideas thought in their head. I think they just go from photograph to photograph, and speak about what they were going through at the time of each piece. So this might be an option also. But practicing before the critique is still a must, and figuring out what important words are needed for each photograph is vital also.

I was very pleased with how students responded to my work. I felt that it was all positive in a way to make my photographs even better. For the viewers to respond and say things that really related to my style of work, made me realize that they understood what I said in the beginning of the critique. I felt that it was important for me to give feedback on some responses, and then also to just take some responses in and have no reply for their response. I didn't want to act like I knew everything, and then have an answer for every response given to me. I wanted to give respect to the students, and listen to what they had to say. When I saw this in the video, I think it worked well. It looked like I was confident in my responses to questions, because I had practiced before the speech. Before the critique, I asked myself what questions may be asked. So I could be prepared during the critique and this worked well.




Sunday, November 15, 2009

John Cameron. 11/15/09. Artist - Kevin Winzeler

By Kevin Winzeler
This week I had a friend recommend me to checkout Kevin Winzeler. I really adore his work. It's really clean cut and I like his style of photography. He consistently changes up his styles by changing angles, using different techniques such as panning, and focuses of wide angle scenes. I remember reading a quote from Tim Tadder last week where it mentioned how photographers need to concentrate on taking strong photographs. Winzeler does this. When you look at his photography, you feel as though he is like the top student in your school.
By Kevin Winzeler
Kevin Winzeler has a strong talent in lighting and I can tell that he really concentrates on that in all of his photography. I think lighting is key, in making good photography and Winzeler definitely inserts nice lighting scenes in his work. His strong skills give you something to work for and also make you work harder to create clean cut imagery like him. When I saw his website, I just thought that I have to do strong lighting in my work, consistently. It just makes images look so clean in my opinion.
By Kevin Winzeler
His website is www.kevinwinzeler.com and he also has a blog on there that is really cool also. He has videos of shoots that take place and it's just amazing to watch him work. This guy is off the chain, and is dominating photography.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

John Cameron. 11/11/09. Idea/Concept Blog

This week, I have come up with the idea of getting outside and shooting on location once again. So far I've got 3 studio images, and one location image. So I want to even it up a little. I plan to get two more ideas to shoot for Friday. But I am concerned with weather as it has been raining for 2 days straight, and it's scheduled to continue. I shoot on Fridays for this assignment, so I may have to think of another few ideas for the studio, if need be.
Broken. Digital Photograph, 20"x30" 2009 by John Cameron
From last week, I took a photograph of an athlete showing injury. I really wanted to focus on the expression on the face, and the wallet. I am happy with how it turned out. His expression shows that he isn't acting and that he is thinking hard about his concern.

But for this week, I intend to get a team-mate near a basketball court. My friend plays rugby now, but I want to show how Basketball is still in his heart. My friend played basketball at his High School and he talks about how he misses it, and how hard the practices were. My idea is to do a basic portrait shot. I want to have him sitting on a bench, and have the hoop in the background. I want to show him in his current part of life. He has a dog and he's in college with mother who is very ill with cancer. This guy is one of the nicest guys around and I feel as though a photograph of him during this time in life, will be appreciated by him very much. So I want to have him sitting, with his dog, with athletic clothes on. I want him to look up into the sky, in an act of hope.

Artist Lecture - Shimon Attie. John Cameron. 11/11/09.

By Shimon Attie
I thought that Shimon Attie was a really smart artist. His thought process in his work was very dominant and successful. But I feel as though the technical difficulties really effected his lecture. From this, I really see that checking equipment before a lecture is vital. It's the most important part to make sure the vibe is positive and I feel as though everyone was a little upset from this.

By Shimon Attie
But, Shimon Attie managed to pull it off. He never showed any signs of being nervous or upset by the technical difficulties, and his work was very interesting. A lot of his work was definitely new to me and I liked his style of thinking about conceptual ideas. At first I thought his night photographs were plain old night photographs, but the projections he got from buildings in Berlin before World War II were important and amazing parts to his photographs. Attie's thought process in his work was a lot more deeper than the other visiting artists. I feel as though he wanted to research into the story behind his photography/art work. This made his projects work very successfully because their meanings were important to the environment that they were set in.

By Shimon Attie
I feel as though Attie has succeeded as being an artist in relation to art. Because he has taken on many styles of art and isn't just a "photographer". Hearing him talk about his process in making his work definitely helped him also. I really liked how he mentioned how he took a small generator, projector, and camera to take his night photographs right after he graduated from college. I felt as though I could relate to him as a student using basic equipment to get assignments done. As I have mentioned before, I have done long exposure night photography and that's a similarity I had with him.

To then see the part where he projected neon lit writing on the sides of buildings, showed his growth as an artist and how he has changed. The project was documented on video, and reactions were seen from the public to see the unique style of art.
By Shimon Attie

Sunday, November 8, 2009

John Cameron. 11/08/09. Artist - George Kamper

By George Kamper
The thing I love most about this class/blog, is that you find really nice work and hard working artists. I find new artists every week, but sometimes I will find an extremely talented artist and this week I have. His name is George Kamper, and his work is amazingly clean cut and beautiful. His lighting and photoshop techniques are a true talent, and I adore his work. I have really been focusing on this style, this semester, but Kamper's range of work is really interesting to look at.
By George Kamper
His website is www.georgekamper.com and he has a wide range of photographs from sports, conceptual, fashion, and portraits. As you can see with the image above, he has similar styles to what I have been researching all semester. Where there is strong dodging and burning on the shadows and highlights. But with Kamper's work, it's very diverse and he can shoot anything. In another one of my classes, we have come across a type of photographer known as a "Generalist". Where the photographer shoots everything, and how it's hard for them to be a specialist at a certain style of photography. But Kamper takes the cake and dominates photography in my opinion.
By George Kamper
George Kamper works primarily in New York and Miami. For my next image in my portfolio, I wanted to focus on a location shot, like this one above. Where it shows the environment, and nice lighting. Where it may be in the evening. I'll look to do this Friday, and have it up next week.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

John Cameron. 11/05/09. Idea/Concept Blog

Last week I mentioned that I want to show a photograph relating around injury. I have felt from my previous photographs, that setting up scenes is good for me, and I want to continue doing that. But this time, I'm going to do it outside. At first I wanted to do an image where it looked like the injured person was laying down, and I wanted to focus on their face. But, I just had my mid-term critique and it seemed as though the close body shot received good remarks. So my idea is to photograph a friend, outside, looking up to him, and then to have some bandages on him. The way that I'm going to make it conceptual, is by making the subject hold a wallet. I plan to put band-aids all over the wallet and also put them on the subject. I want to show that playing a sport in college can hurt your wallet. You have to put a lot of time into playing a sport and it really makes it tough to find a part-time job with flexible hours.

John Pabelbon, Boston, MA, 2007 by Walter Iooss
The image above is by Walter Iooss. Not really what I want to photograph, but a similar angle.
I want to get at a low angle, so that I can focus on the wallet, and the face to show that it's a decision that you have to make when playing a sport. You can play, make friends for a lifetime, and have them if needed in the future, or decide to not play to make it through college.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

John Cameron. 11/01/09. Artist - Jodie Otte

Over the past few weeks I have been looking at conceptual artists and haven't really been looking at artists that shoot sports related photographs. So I wanted to get back into seeing some imgaes that involve sports, but may have a little conceptual meaning to them.
By Jodie Ottie
I went onto google and searched NFL sports photographs. I wanted to find some photographs of athletes maybe in the studio doing something conceptual, but I found this image above. It obviously came up because of the NFL on the football, and I loved the image. I don't know exactly what the image means, but I assume, that it evolves around a NFL player that might feel as though his life is the NFL, but his baby is the major part in his life. She has another similar image on her website of a baby in a baseball glove that is also interesting.

I saw comparisons to my other photographs, where I have used other objects to define another meaning. Jodie Otte is a photographer that specializes in child and baby photography, but she also has many other genre's that can be seen on flickr. Her website is www.jottephotography.com and she has a style that I really like. She has nice lighting skills, and I also like her low f/stop style where the focus is always on the subject to give the background a nice blur. She works out of Maryland and has done shoots in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where I have been many times.

I have gathered ideas from her work, where I can maybe use large objects to relate to some of my athletic friends.