LIGHT

This semester I'm taking a digital photography class and our first assignment was to photograph anything we wanted and observe how lighting interacts with the subjects. Basically, the only requirement for this assignment was to expose images properly. Got it! I wanted to wait to post what I shot until after I received my grade, which took much longer than I expected.

The feedback I got from my classmates and professor were all very positive. The suggestions my professor made were to adjust the levels on the photo of my cat to bring out the detail of my cat's fur and to try dodging the trees in the last photo so that they aren't nearly black. I was rather pleased with my work for this project and printed the lotus flower and fluorescent light strip to include in my final portfolio.

I'll keep posting my work from photo assignments throughout the semester. I have a critique on depth of field coming up, so I'll share those photos after they're graded. Stay tuned!

edit: I had more photos for the project but the blogger image uploader is being very uncooperative at the moment!

IT'S HERE!

Back around March of this year, Lomography announced that they'd be releasing a new film: lomochrome purple. This film is tinted purple and, from what I've seen, produces some crazy cool images! So thrilled over this and since this is the first batch lomography was releasing, I naturally had to snag some. I preorded five rolls which were expected to be delivered by July. As time went on, I forgot about the film but as July neared, I remembered these little gems should be arriving in my mailbox soon! Nope. Turns out Lomography didn't even receive the film from Europe until the last week or so of July and I received mine yesterday. But no worries! I'm just glad that it's here now. Of course I instantly loaded it into my Kodak Ektanar since I've still got a roll of black and white film in my Holga. I'm so giddy thinking about how my photos are going to turn out!

Here's some examples that Lomography released with the announcement of the new film:How gorgeous are the colors of these images?! I'd feel like a fool if I didn't purchase this film!

SEATTLE, PT. 1

As promised, I'm finally sharing some of my photos from my trip to Seattle! Now that I'm going through my library and sorting out which photos to post, I kind of wish that I would have taken more. I think that having a memory of an experience is more precious than stopping what you're doing to snap a photo, though, and I'm really grateful that I was able to travel to and spend a few days in such a wonderful city! This post is going to focus on architectures/exteriors; I wanted to organize the content I posted instead of just dumping a whole bunch.

If I looked out of the hotel room window, I faced a gorgeous view of the Space Needle and a bunch of sleek skyscrapers. The one on the right was my favorite.

 It was difficult to capture the extreme deconstructivistic style of the EMP museum. The place was huge and had so many different elements to it. The inside was just as interesting and chaotic; it contained warped holographic purple ceilings. This by far has been the most unique museum I've ever attended. The exhibits there were so interesting! While I was there, they had an exhibit on the black leather jacket, video games, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, and sci-fi and horror films. And I saw that they had posted on facebook a few days ago that they are currently holding the iron throne from Game of Thrones that is used on the set! I want to go back to sit on a chair!
The infamous gum wall in Post Alley next to Pike Place market. I don't chew gum so I couldn't make a contribution!
The photo on the left is the wall right across from the gum wall and, in my opinion, was much more interesting. I think part of the reason why I love seeing so many wheat pastes in one spot is because in St. Louis they're very uncommon to find and are removed as soon as possible. The photo on the right is the side of a hair salon named Vain. It was quite clear that Seattle is a place that thrives off of art and creative energy. 

Blue trees right outside of the shopping center downtown.

This is the view from the top of the Space Needle. Looking out and seeing the skyline and mountains was absolutely breathtaking.

HI!

Hi, everyone! I think we all know what I'm about to say, but I apologize for the lack of posts over the weeks! So here's a picture of my face. I took two classes over the summer and it was extremely time consuming, but now that I'm finished I will be updating more. Hopefully... I still have a bunch of photos from Seattle that I have yet to share and a roll of film in my camera that I've been neglecting. I've been excitedly waiting to receive a few rolls of Lomography's brand new Lomochrome purple film, which is expected to be delivered sometime this month. Now that I'm done with school, I've been playing a lot of video games and have finally been able to get back into the gym. I'm going to read some of the books that are on my shelf waiting for me and am going to take a stab at paper sculpting. Yay! If you'd like to keep up with me on more of a regular basis, you can follow me on instagram or twitter. I promise to post again soon!

DESPAIR

  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back with their fifth album Mosquito and just yesterday released a video for the single Despair. This is my favorite track off the album, so naturally I was pretty excited about the video. It first opens with Karen O singing a capella in a bar, which is absolutely beautiful. I was really happy to see this extended version of the song used for the video. She has such a strong voice, yet it's so vulnerable at the same time. Everything works so well together in this video. The images are simple and fitting to the song without taking away from it. The ending of this is the best though; I just can't help but smile whenever I see the band having such a fun time on top of the Empire State Building. And can we just talk about how great that yellow pantsuit is? 

NIRVANA: TAKING PUNK TO THE MASSES

The driving force behind my trip to Seattle back in March was the Taking Punk to the Masses exhibit at the EMP Museum. As soon as I read the news years ago that there was going to be an exhibition dedicated to Nirvana on display, I knew I had to see it. Nirvana is a band that I grew up listening to, so they hold a special place in my heart. Their music certainly helped me to feel like less of some sort of outcast during early adolescence and just embrace who I am and still does so to this day. 

I couldn't believe just how much stuff was there! I had seen some of these objects before in books, online, and in Kurt's Journals but to see it in person was mind blowing. By the time I got to the end I was moved to tears. Being able to see and experience so much tangible memorabilia was such an emotional experience for me. I felt that this was as close as I could have physically gotten to the band, which was a bit overwhelming. This was certainly one of those moving events that I'll forever cherish. That day, I left the museum feeling awe-struck and a ridiculous sense of joy. Needless to say, it was well worth the trip!

TODAY'S LOOK - 5.25.2013

top: American Apparel | leggings: Black Milk | boots: Underground London

Well, it has been quite some time since I've done an outfit post! The rain caused it to finally cool off a bit, which made it possible to wear more than just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, a rarity in the humid Midwest summers. My friend Emma took this photo of me on Saturday while we were visiting some of the contemporary art museums in St. Louis. The quality of this isn't so great since I robbed it from Instagram, but I really love the location. The architecture of both museums was crisp and minimalistic, which is right up my alley! I took a handful of photos while we were there but none of the art since that's prohibited. One museum is home to Richard Serra's Joe, a site specific spiral sculpture that twists and turns and is large enough that you're able to walk through it like a labyrinth. Joe is a permanent piece at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts so visitors are allowed to photograph it. Expect photos of that soon and also some architectural shots!

If you're at all curious about the art on display, which includes works from Donald Judd, Lari Pittman, Mika Taanila, and Kerry James Marshall, check out the exhibitions pages at camstl.org and pulitzerarts.org.