And as we have said goodbye to summer and enter into fall (and dare I say - winter!), the pace of things at Hallmark is picking up as well. We have been learning so much these past few weeks. I keep promising myself I'll blog more, then get home from school on any given day and simply want to relax. But then I know there are people who want to hear what I'm learning and see the pictures I am taking.
We have finally left the black and white world and have entered into the world of color...and with it comes a whole host of new issues! We are going on our last field trip tomorrow - to Shelburne Falls - to take our first (official) pictures in color. The assignment asks us to take pictures of people with warm and cool colors. The first picture we need to take is warm on cool, another is warm on warm, then the third is cool on warm, and the final is cool on cool. The "warm" colors are red, orange, and yellow. They are vivid, bold, and beautiful. The "cool" colors are blue, violet, and the like. Cool colors are soothing. They give a sense of calmness. I'll definitely be sure to post pictures of what I get; I am excited about this assignment.
I've also been able to get home the past 3 weekends. The first weekend in October I went to Crimson Celebration at PBU and got to see a lot of friends. I then drove home to NJ to see my family. Time was short, but fellowship was sweet. Then the second weekend in October was Columbus Day weekend. We had Monday off, and since I knew I'd be heading home this past weekend, I didn't know if I wanted to drive home again....the ride is long and traffic is plenty. But I did, and so glad I did. I got to see a good friend from high school and went apple picking with my mom and nephews. Then I went home again this past weekend for a bridal shower for my sis-in-law (to be). We surprised her with a shower...she figured it out when I walked through the door, knowing - as she said - that they wouldn't do anything without me home. While home, I got to see one of my best girlfriends from high school and then a dear, dear friend from college came and visited on Sunday afternoon and allowed me to take pictures of her for an assignment (see below for details).
I'm staying up in MA this weekend. On Saturday our town has its first annual Pumpkin Fest. I'm hoping to get my first crack at taking pictures at night without a flash. Then on Sunday I am going to do a walk for breast cancer awareness with my roomie in Greenfield. I am reminded of all the people in my life who are struggling with cancer right now, and thankful for the life that I have, and for the many who have lost their lives to cancer.
Then next weekend we are taking a trip to NYC for the PhotoExpo. A few of us are going to drive ourselves down, stay the weekend at my house and go back into Manhattan and Brooklyn. It should be a fun time, and I am thankful to bring some friends home to see where I live.
So it's been busy and continues to be so.
We also had our "firsts" of being in the commercial studio and portrait studios and had assignments for each. In the commercial studio, we had to take photos of rectangular and cylindrical objects; I chose a box of Cheerios and a can of Pringles (salt and vinegar, of course!). We had to light the objects in different ways (front raw light, front diffused light, side raw light, and side diffused light). We had to do the same for both objects.
Here are the pictures from the commercial studio:
Then in the portrait studio, our assignment had us taking a "classically beautiful" portrait of a classmate using studio lights, and the other was "edgy" light of the same subject. It was a challenge to think "edgy" but I eventually got it (with help from one of the instructors). Within the same assignment, we also had to take 2 portraits OUTSIDE of a subject, one having them backlit (it means exactly as worded...that light is "hitting them" from behind - like the sun). The other portrait had to show reflective light, meaning that they are possibly up against a darker building/object, and that one side of their face is darker than the other - it's a classic portrait....the "2-stop" difference. If you have no idea what that means, don't worry, it was foreign to me too. I'll explain it to anyone who wants to know.
Here are the indoor portraits of my classmate Alex:
Here are the outside portraits of Kayla:
We also had an assignment where we needed to capture "stock photography" images depicting fall in New England. We could do this assignment in color, even though we hadn't learned about it yet, b/c so much of what makes fall fall are all the magnificent colors. For this assignment, we needed to take 4 pictures, following these instructions:
1) vertical representation of the subject
2) horizontal representation of the subject that is different than #1
3) a shot of the subject from a viewpoint radically different than either #1 or #2, such as an ant or a giraffe's perspective.
4) an experimental shot of the subject
So this is what I submitted; they are pictures of my classmate Mariana.
As you can see, I am having a lot of fun and being stretched in ways that are challenging my perspective and images that I capture. Aside from all the pictures we're taking, we're also learning new things with the computer (in Lightroom), having classes on Business Writing (resume, cover letters, etc.), Visual Arts, Photo History, Studio Layout (so we see how the bays are set up so we use the equipment properly), and plenty more.
I have many more pictures I can post. Continue to check back, and like I said, hopefully I can get into a better routine of updating with posts and pics!
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