Tight: A Creepy Little House

Alright, So I cannot tell a lie. I definitely own a 300mm, but it is currently being lent out to someone. I ended up using my next tightest focal length, which is the tight end of my 24-105mm. All of these photos are shot at 105mm.

 These photos were taken on a little excursion that I went on with another class. We went to an extremely old home in Washington City to shoot with a model, and the old decrepit details of this home were so unreal and cool that it was the perfect opportunity to shoot some detail shots. While I know that I said shooting with only a wide lens was difficult, I found challenges with just shooting tight as well. some shots that I wanted to take required a wider focal length. I definitely see the benefit of having multiple lenses, and being able to change them out quickly and efficiently.

I love shooting tight, for multiple reasons. 

• The first, is the fact that I can get in very close without being intrusive of the subject that I am shooting (Fun fact: Shooting long focal lengths at wedding receptions is great, because I don't get the cheesy posed shots, and I feel a little bit like I'm on safari hahah). 
• The second is the fact that I'm obsessed with the compression that is created. Though I only have a couple of photographs of a person here, the compression that is created by a long focal length is very flattering to most people. 
• The third is that i love the added depth of field. Though this lens is an f/4, the bokeh in the back of the images resembles that of my 50mm at around a 2.8, because of the fact that I'm' so far away from the subject. 

One of the biggest benefits that I see for using a tight lens as a photojournalist, is the fact that you are able to capture so much detail, without having to be up in the subject's face. It gives you more of an opportunity to get in close.  

Bracketing Assignment

Each of these photos were taken in a jpeg format, and have not been edited. This was a really interesting exercise for me. I never shoot my photos at what the camera thinks is a "proper" exposure, so it was really interesting for me to see the variation in light and depth of field as I bracketed these. I also think that these photos can be used as a great example of not only depth of field, but the fact that camera settings go hand in hand with each other. When you change one variable, in order to get a similar exposure, another variable must be changed too. I'm learning a lot about my camera's metering settings this semester.

Exposure Bracketing

 f/4 1000 ISO100

f/5.6 1000 ISO100

 f/8.0 1000 ISO100

f/11 1000 ISO100

f/16 1000 ISO100

Equivalent Settings

 f/4 4000 ISO100

 f/5.6 2000 ISO100

 f/8 1000 ISO100

 f/11 500 ISO100

f/16 250 ISO100

Wide: A day in the life of an amateur panoramist.

I shot these photos with my 14mm prime. I primarily use this lens for landscape and astrophotography, because of the mixture of its speed and focal length, but when I get the chance to use it for portraiture, it's always a fun and interesting experience. My sister has begun her journey into the photography world, and received the assignment to make some panoramic photos, so I followed her on her assignment. 

The first thing that i want to take note of is the fact that this lens has to be manually focused, which was definitely a struggle as I was following around a moving subject, so please excuse these if they are not all tack sharp.

I think that one of the most beneficial parts of using this wide angle, is the fact that the audience has the opportunity to see the whole picture. Though 14mm is quite wide, it is just under what the human eye would see at approximately 17mm, it gives the illusion that the photo was actually taken by a human eye. The amount of data captured by this lens is similar to what you would have seen, had you actually been there. 

One of the most difficult things about using solely this lens to shoot these images, is the amount of distortion that this lens creates, and because of that, it makes the images seem surreal, and not necessarily in a good way, when dealing with documentary photographs. 

It was also very difficult for me, as an artistic portraiture photographer, to get the closeup images that I wanted, because this focal length encompasses such a great distance. This, along with the fact that getting close to things distorts them were challenges for me. It was very difficult for me to capture detail in these shots. 

I really appreciated this exercise, because to be quite honest, if I had the time for it I would have whipped out a different lens for just about every shot that I took. It was interesting for me to be confined to one lens, and have to create interesting shots using one focal length.

 *fun fact* good thing she had me with her, because she couldn't figure out why all of her photos were underexposed hahah. The above photo is of her freaking out a little bit.

Axioms

Whenever I get a weird and great idea for a photo, I drag my sister out as my model. After shooting the image above, I realized that this was the PERFECT location to take my axiom photos, as well. Luckily, she's a runner and didn't mind helping. 

Fast Shutter

1/200 : f5

Deep Aperture

1/640 : 1.8

Slow Shutter

1/10 : f4

Deep Aperture

1/160 : f11

Yannis Behrakis

Photo by Yannis Behrakis

I find the photography of Yannis Behrakis quite compelling. Especially having a little bit of background knowledge on the Syrian refugee crisis. I read several interviews with Behrakis as I was researching him. I found it interesting that he has been covering the refugee crisis for quite sometime, but that recently it has had more of a relative impact on him, because he was photographing refugees landing in his homeland. Behrakis talked about the fact that his father was a refugee. I would guess that as Behrakis photographs the refugees of present day, that he imagines his father in one of those tiny, crowded boats, escaping in hopes of a better life for his future family. Although I know that Behrakis did not take the image of Aylan Kurdi, when I think of the refugee crisis, this is the photograph that my mind cannot help but wander back to. Though he did not take the particular image that I'm speaking of, I'm sure that he has seen similar scenes as he photographs the refugees landing on the Greek Island that he shoots on. Just looking at the photographs of this tragic event makes my heart sad. I cannot imagine what it would be like to actually be there, witnessing this tragedy with my own eyes. I also cannot imagine how difficult it would be to feel compelled to sit back and photograph everything, though I do understand how important it is to do so. I would not doubt that as he witnesses the hardships of these people, that he could also feel compelled to help them. As we talked about in class, there seems to be a trend of both aesthetic contrast, and symbolic contrast in Behrakis's images. Generally in photography we are taught that high contrast images are not flattering "portraiture" but it does bring a sense of real life into the images, and that is exactly what I think Behrakis is attempting to accomplish with this technical choice. Through his chosen camera settings he is showing, in a very real way, what these people are going through.


I chose the image above, because I thought that the contrast between the Greek, and European flags with the refugee boat in the background was quite significant. As an artist, so many symbolic thoughts ran through my mind. The perspective that shows the flags as quite larger than the small boat seems symbolic of the fact that these people are accomplishing an extremely big, and difficult thing. It also stresses how small the boats are that these people are forced to travel in, which is something that I cannot get past as I looked through Behrakis's photographs. I also find it interesting that the flags are somewhat out of focus, leaving just enough detail to tell what they are. I would imagine that this 4-5 km boat ride seemed like an eternity to these poor refugees, and that their goal seemed difficult to reach, and out of focus. I also get a sense of uncertainty from the depth of field choice of Behrakis.

The Life of Nicole as Told by Nicole

Photo by Maddie Kolu

I'm a 22 year old college senior (graduating this semester... YAY!) majoring in Art with an emphasis in Photography. When I began my college career, I was headed in the health science direction, and shortly thereafter discovered that I can't handle blood, and I absolutely hate needles. So I quickly changed my major to my one true love, photography. I discovered my love for photography as a child, when I ordered a blue Pokemon film camera from a cereal box. I carried it with me everywhere, and transitioned from camera to camera until eventually, in 2008, I graduated to my first DLSR. Throughout high school I experimented with all different types of photography, and came to the conclusion that my main interest was in portraiture. I've been taking senior, and family portraits since around 2010, and just recently in 2015 took the plunge into wedding, engagement, and bridal photography. I would say that my strong point is individual portraiture.

Inventory:
Canon 5D Classic
Canon 20D

Canon 50mm 1.8
Canon 24-105mm
Canon 75-300mm
Rokinon 14mm 1.8

And a few other odds and ends...


In this class, I'm hoping to gain a greater appreciation for the work that photojournalists do. I feel as though the work that photojournalists do is completely different than my portraiture, and I'm interested in learning about what they're thinking as they're shooting, and how to tell a story with a photograph, which I feel is a critical talent that photojournalists possess.