Digital Transfers

For the next part of the postcard project we are doing digital transfers. The pictures I plan on using are landscapes I took in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. 

Sense of Place

My idea of a sense of place is a place that you feel connected to, or a part of in some way. For example, when I'm backpacking and you are far enough in the wilderness that you can't hear sounds like highways and other human noises, I feel a sense of place. I spent a lot of the summer traveling, and I found while sightseeing it was very hard to have a sense of place, but when I stopped and interacted with locals, and lived with families from that place, it was a lot easier to feel a connection to the culture and to the place itself. Here are some pictures I took while backpacking, they represent my feeling of sense of place.

New York

I recently got back from New York. We went on a crazy museum streak and we visited The Met, MOMA, Copper Hewitt, Museum or Art and Design, Museum of Natural History, Parsons (The New School), The Whitney, The Guggenheim, we explored the High Line and went to the top of the Rock. Here are some the the pictures I took.

Food

I might be little ahead of the game here, but the project after the post card project will be a food photography project. I am not entirely sure of the specifications of the project, but I've been brainstorming ways I could connect this to my thesis for the year. I was thinking a lot about food from different places, and how it is important to explore foods and try new things while wandering and adventuring. Then I had the idea of cooking food and plating it in the shape of the country of origin. I'm not entirely sure how good this idea is but I wanted to write it down before I forgot it. I did a little research and found some examples of things that are similar to my idea. I also found some interesting food collages that I liked.

Julie's Kitchen, Food, Food Collage, Digital Photography

Julie's Kitchen, Food, Food Collage, Digital Photography

Andrea Bricco, Casa de Perrin, Food and Plating

Andrea Bricco, Casa de Perrin, Food and Plating

IB Thesis

In IB Art we choose a thesis for the year. This year I am going to be incorporating the theme of wandering and exploring into my art. Here is a link to my thesis presentation:

Zanna's Thesis Presentation!!

Postcards

The next project we will work on is a postcard project. We will be taking film we shot over the summer (I will be using photos from Italy) and creating a series of postcards. I'm thinking about using this series of door pictures I took while I was in Italy. I will print 7-10 pictures of different doors that I took pictures of and I will apply different printing methods. I will make a cyanotype for one postcard, a gum bichromate for another, scan some images into the computer and edit and print it digitally, I will print some on semi-matte paper and hand paint them. This works really well with my thesis for the year (my thesis is wandering/exploring).

Julian Smart, Untitled 1, Gum Bichromate

Pirkko Holm: Map 2, multiple coated cyanotype

Appropriation: Banksy

In class we are studying art appropriation. Art appropriation is the idea of using previous works of art to create something new, intentional borrowing or copying of a pre-existing work. Below are some of Banksy's works, he has taken existing works and altered them. He has altered the work to communicate his slightly satirical message.

Banksy, untitled, appropriation of Millet's “The Gleaners” mixed media.

"Banksy of England" Banksy

"Show Me Monet" Banksy

Dustin Yellin

I found this Ted Talk by the artist Dustin Yellin. He creates 3D sculptures with many layers of glass. I think for a future project I might print on multiple sheets of glass and create some sort of image created when I put the sheets of glass back to front.

Dustin Yellin, "Psychogeography 43" mixed media, glass, 2014

Final Draft Part 1

This is the final draft of our first project. 

Analog Photo, Glossy Fiber Based Paper, 11x14 

Paper Types

This is information on paper types that I found on this website.

Paper Types

There are two general types of paper as well. The first is fiber-based paper (often shortened to FB). Fiber paper is known to produce really good tones and be very stable after processing. Museums and exhibitions often use this paper for prints due to the quality and archival nature. On the downside, due to the porous nature of the material, it takes a longer time for chemicals to saturate the paper fully. Fiber paper is also very fragile when wet, so it has to air dry as opposed to being dried in a machine.

The other type of paper is resin-coated paper (often shortened to RC). RC paper is quick to process, but slightly less stable after development. Because the chemicals only affect the outer layer of the paper, the developing and fixing process is quicker. It’s also much sturdier, so the paper can be dried in a matter of minutes using a rolling drying machine instead of hours or days hang drying or screen drying.

Paper Finishes

Glossy

Glossy Paper

A glossy finish has a high reflectivity and smooth texture. It gives the impression of richer contrast and emphasizes the details and sharpness of an image. Even slightly out of focus images can look really bad on glossy paper. High contrast images also often look too surreal or odd on glossy paper. When displaying your prints, glossy paper needs to be positioned carefully in relation to light sources or glare will make viewing the image difficult.

Matte

Matte paper has a rougher texture and low reflectivity. It tends to mask imperfections and provide a softer look. In contrast to glossy papers, if an image is driven by sharp details, it will look significantly less dramatic on matte paper. Sharp images tend to look a tiny bit soft when printed on matte paper. It looks absolutely great behind the glass of a frame since the texture allows a microscopic bit of space between much of the surface and the glass itself.

Matte Paper

Semi-Matte, Luster, Pearl

Semi-Matte Paper

There are a number of finishes that fall in between glossy and matte: not totally shiny, but not totally rough. Depending on the brand and the type of paper, these finishes may be called semi-matte, luster, pearl or satin. For the vast majority of images, these in-between finishes work wonderfully. Of course, your final choice of finish will be based on your personal preference. Most darkroom-savvy photography have one or two favorites. You’ll rarely see a museum exhibition where each photo is printed on a different paper, so the choice isn’t normally based on the content of the images. Once you start printing for yourself, you’re sure to find one that fits your style.

Book Making

We started the year by learning about Japanese book binding techniques. These are some examples of some books. I tried the standard binding technique and the tortoise shell technique. 

I really liked this one. 

I made a book with binding similar to the book with orange thread and the blue thread.

Hand Painting

For our first project, one of the photographs needs to be hand painted. I tried out hand painting last year, and I really enjoyed it. Usually hand painting looks best on portraits or landscapes. I am more inclined to hand paint landscapes as I am very interested in the natural world and exploration (I am thinking about maybe having exploration/wandering have something to do with my thesis for IB Art). However, I was also interested in seeing what hand painted portraits look like.

I did some research and discovered a New York based artist named Jessie Dinan. Here are some of her portraits:

Jessie Dinan

Jessie Dinan

You can find more of her work on her website: http://www.jessiedinan.com/

Landscapes

While in Italy I saw lots of amazing landscapes. I shot mostly on film, but I got a few digitally as well. My host brother and I also had fun playing with the shutter speed to get the lightning on a particularly stormy night.

Sant'Andrea, Elba Island, Italy

View from Capoliveri, Elba Island

Costa Corallina, Sardinia, Italy

Lightning!!

Back for Senior Year

I spent the majority of my summer traveling through Italy with a group of Italian teenagers. We spent time in Milan, Florence, Rome, Elba, and we ended the adventure with two weeks at my exchange sisters summer home in Sardinia. It was definitely an eventful summer, and now I have an Italian family and a mess of Italian friends. The remainder of the summer was spent in Wisconsin and Minnesota with my cousins, and adventuring around the Pacific Northwest with my friends. In Italy I saw a lot of art, architecture, and amazing landscapes, all while making the most of my short lived independence. Throughout the summer I experimented with long exposure shots of the stars and lightning storms both digitally and on film. I have also been taking a lot of landscapes.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Backpacking through said forest

More forest

Marciana Alta, Elba Island, Italy

Semester 2 Final

This is the final project for this year. I have put a link to the slideshow in the previous sentence, but due to a glitch in the blogger program, the pictures will appear slightly distorted. Because of this, I have also imported my photos as a movie. Again, there might be problems with the photos being blurry due another glitch in blogger. Please excuse these problems. Aside these technical problems, the assignment was to take 20-25 of our best photos from the entire year and put them in a portfolio. My year in this digital photography class was really fun, and I learned a lot about using my camera, editing programs, and much more. I had such a good time with my friends wandering around downtown taking pictures. As sad as I am to be finishing this class and this school year, I am super excited for next year and the second year photography class that I will be taking.

Project 11: Stop Motion

Project 11 entailed making a stop motion video. I did this in a partnership with my Italian friend Moni Santagata. We shot the video while on a camping trip. Due to problems uploading the video, it might be a little blurry. Anywho, the first video is below. Through a series of miscommunications, I accidentally joined two groups. The second group of people I am in is with Jaimee Kincaid and Cameron Carlson-Riddle. We made a golfing stop motion video. Here is the link to the second video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBKV9IUP53Q

Project 10: Magazine Mock-Up

Project 10 was a magazine mock-up assignment. We were told choose a theme for a magazine we wished to create, and make a cover page and multiple inside pages. I teamed up with two of my classmates, Jaimee Kincaid and Cameron Carlson-Riddle, and we made a travel blog. We decided to make an online magazine (for extra credit..). Below is the link for our online magazine.

http://lhstravelblog.blogspot.com/

Project 9: Commercial and Fine Art Portraits

Throughout the course of Project Nine, we have been learning the difference between fine art and commercial portraits. We learned how various poses, lights, and backgrounds capture the artist's mood in fine art portrait. In contrast, commercial portraits are supposed to have less of a mood and are supposed to capture the feelings of the model rather than the artist. The end result for this project was a magazine cover and multiple edited fine art portraits.

Fine Art Portrait: Green Light

Fine Art Portrait: Contrast

Fine Art Portrait: Vampire

Above are my fine art portraits. I tried to use the lighting system in the theater to effectively capture various moods in the picture. I also did this by having my model strike various dramatic poses, and telling her to do serious facial expressions. I edited these all differently, but I think that all of the various ways I edited them captures different elements of my personal ascetics.

Contact Sheet: Commercial and Fine Art Portraits 

This is my contact sheet. Shown, are all of my commercial portraits and my fine art portraits. I have displayed both the original photo and the edited photo. The top three rows of the contact sheet contain my fine art portraits, the first picture that appears in the unedited one, and the one following is the edited version. The bottom three rows are my commercial portraits.

Fine Art and Commercial Portrait: Pre-Work

Fine art portraits are photographs in which the photographer uses their personal aesthetics to capture the face or body of a person. They often use neutral backgrounds and heavily edit the photo so the face of the person in the portrait stands out. Magazine covers, or commercial portraits, are pictures that attempt to catch the eye of a passerby. These photographs sometimes include a object or prop. These pictures can be taken either in a studio or in the real world. 

Steve McCurry: I like how the use of color in this cover emphasizes the girls face. The neutral blue background gives the picture certain mood, but does not take anything away from the face of the girl. It effectively draws the eye to the magazine. I also really like the emphasis on the contrast between her dark hair, and the red head scarf.

Martin Schoeller: The digital editing done to the eyes of the man makes the green in the eyes pop out. It gives a otherwise plain photograph a eye catching effect. The way the mans eyes are open wide and the blank expression on his face also gives the picture and interesting and mysterious look. 

Emma Daly: The pose that the man is in, and the black and white editing gives the man and the picture, Benedict Cumberbatch, a very intelligent feel. I really like the simple editing with the words and the border emblazoned in red.  

Kimmy West: I really like the use of the models eyes, it gives the photo a very quirky and flamboyant feel. The plain background and the orange hair also gives the photo a interesting look.

Meghan Camerena: I like the use of the colors blue and yellow in this photograph. Also, the models hair in the photo nicely frames her face, giving the face an angled look. The use of color gives the photo a very happy and carefree feel.

Darren Smith: The darkness in this photograph highlights the man's face and upper body. The photographer nicely edited the photo and effectively used lighting to create a completely black frame. This makes the man stand out, but his dark jacket simultaneously blends him into the background. 

Project 8: Multiple Image Techniques

The idea for this project was to take multiple photos and put them together using Photoshop to create various different effects. The three different types of picture we created were: Panoramas, Multiple Exposure, and High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos. Multiple exposure photos create an element of movement to the photo. HDR photos have the tendency to make photos look every Sci-fi like. And finally, panoramas are used mainly for capturing landscapes. 

Multiple Exposure: Covered Playground

Multiple Exposure: Playing in the Snow

Multiple Exposure: Painting

HDR Edit: Bridlemile

HDR Original

HDR Original

HDR Edit: The Coast

There were multiple ways we were told we were able to create these panoramas. We could either take multiple photos and stitch them together in photoshop, use a setting on our camera to create the panorama, or we could use our iPhones. I created these by using the setting on my iPhone and then I edited the photos in Lightroom.

Panorama: LA Sky

Panorama: Bedroom