Favorites from this Semester

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Ben Thomas: CityShrinker

To learn more about my inspiration for this project, you can view my PowerPoint presentation on Ben Thomas here.

Tilt Shift: First Successful Attempt

So, for this, I took an old picture I had from a trip to Chicago over Winter Break that had the right perspective.

Before

After

I had to crop out the building on the left because it looked a little strange for just a couple stories of it to be in focus, detracting from the overall effect. I really like the way the shop fronts and cars at the light work, I think that came out very well. However, the foreground, or bottom of the picture, is very empty and just... blah. I had tried cropping that out too, but then the street lights in the middle of the picture looked strange cut off at the bottom. In the future, I'll try to make sure my photographs have more going on throughout the entire image.

In the end, I'm pretty happy with the final result. I could certainly use some more practice to get the perfect look, but I think I'm on the right track.

Tutorial used: http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/tilt-shift-photoshop/

A Trip to the International Center of Photography: Greg Girard

ATM and Aircraft Carrier, Yokosuka Navy Base, Japan, 2008

On Saturday I visited the International Center of Photography with my mother and brother. Although I have been to several art museums before, I had never been to one that strictly focused on photography. It was very interesting to see different photographer's works and see how they look at the world through their camera.

All of the collections were very interesting, but one that really caught my eye was Greg Girard's collection of pictures from Japan. He took them at various American Army and Navy bases and documented how the bases can seem like a little slice of the U.S., even on the other side of the world.

The first picture that caught my eye (above), did exactly just that.Upon first glance, it looks like a picture that could have been taken right here in America. The familiar late night ATM window with 5 minute parking just outside. The Pepsi truck parked there, perhaps filling up a nearby vending machine. With a quick glance, no one would question its location. Certainly, the aircraft carrier isn't as ordinary as the rest of the scene, but a naval base in America certainly isn't questionable. The one thing that gives it away is the license plate on the car. With the rest of the night-time photography giving off a blue, purple, or green hue, the reds and oranges of the car's taillights really draw the eye. In this picture, the license plate is the one thing that suggests to the viewer that maybe this photograph wasn't taken in the country he or she originally thought it to be in.

Photography Studio Display, Okinawa, Japan, 2009

This next photograph has quite a different effect. When the viewer first sees it, it is easy to ascertain that this store front may be located in an Asian city. Upon closer inspection though, one will notice that one of these framed pictures is not like the others. Despite being dressed in traditional Asian clothes, the larger family portrait on the left is of an American family, unlike all the other portraits in the display. The lighting highlights the American family, and their picture more prominent. In addition, the white matte and thin frame accentuate it more than the portraits on the right with darker and more muted colors. Also, being located in the center of the picture draw the viewer's eye.

Overall, Girard's photographs were quite interesting, and I think the subject matter really made the photographs fascinating.

Final Project Proposal: Tilt-Shift Photography

Ben Thomas

In the past, I've been drawn to photographing miniatures and creating new worlds. In my final project, I would like to turn that around and make the real world miniature. Even before taking this class and getting into photography I have been fascinated by the whimsy and playfulness of Tilt-Shift photography (and videography). Since I do not have access to a real tilt-shift lens, I will be reproducing the effects in post-production (also known as "miniature faking"). A good deal of research (online and in the library) will be done on the process of miniature faking, as well as a look on the mechanics behind actual tilt-shift photography.

After the research, I plan to have a series of 3 to 5 prints. The subject matter is yet to be determined, but I would like to focus on looking at a setting I am very familiar with in a new way. Potential subjects for the shoot are:

• The College of New Jersey
• Bridgewater, New Jersey (my residence for the past 12 years)
• Morris Plains, New Jersey (where I lived most of my early childhood)

To guide my research, I will be examining the works of Ben Thomas.

Noa Emberson

Production Schedule:
April 5 - 22 Shooting
April 18 - 25 Post Production
April 25 - May 1 Printing

Useful Links:
http://bryansolarski.viewbook.com/album/little_world?p=1&s=UA-16761192-4#1
http://tiltshifted.com/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/tilt-shift-fakes/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/tilt-shift1-2miniatures/
http://creativefan.com//10-tilt-shift-tutorials-for-photography-and-photoshop/
http://visualphotoguide.com/tilt-shift-photoshop-tutorial-how-to-make-fake-miniature-scenes/
http://www.thephotoargus.com/inspiration/35-examples-of-amazing-tilt-shift-photography/

Final Image: The Death of Painting

Lighting played a huge role in this project and I think that's where I learned the most in this recreation. I checked out a light kit from Kendall's equipment facilities and even though I didn't have any gels, I bounced the light off of different colored paper to achieve the effect I was going for. I was really looking to bring a warmth to the piece, so I used orange paper to reflect the light. After much playing around (and a few too many shots that made the set look like it was supporting a bad fake tan) I finally found the right balance.

This project was much more pre-production heavy than any of the other projects I've done so far and that made me realize how important time management is. Not only did I have to factor in time to build the set, but also time to find the materials needed. I didn't paint the building early enough, so while shooting I was still adding more coats of paint. Under the bright lights you could still see the Pop-Tarts logo through the light-colored paint, which then, in turn, left me with more post-production work than I had originally intended.

Death of Painting: Test Shots