Week 4 EOC: Photo Challenge

For this week’s photo challenge we were supposed to get a photograph of ourselves inside a photography store. Now you might be asking yourself why then am I standing at the front doors of a photography store well the reason is that the store was closed and not open yet when I got to the store. I had only one day in which I was able to go and that was on a Sunday which unknown to me at the time Wolfe Camera also known as Ritz Camera did not open there doors until 11:00am on Sunday. I was early and not able to wait around till the store officially opened I took a few shots. I liked the way this one came out for a few reasons, the way you can see inside the store on the left hand side of the photograph, the photographs on the front door, the reflection of the parking lot on the right hand side of the photograph, and lastly the company’s website on the door I would have entered had the store been open. I feel that even though I wasn't able to capture a photograph inside the store I still was able to capture a photograph that could be used for this assignment or even as a promotional advertisement. I have been a long time customer of Ritz Camera in fact I bought my very first 35mm SLR camera from Ritz when I was in high school. I still own it to this day it was a Pentax K1000. I also bought my first digital SLR from Ritz camera, a Pentax K20D. I have bought may products from Ritz Camera over the years and will probably go on to purchase my next camera with them as well.

Week 4 EOC: Plans for photography shopping

For this weeks photo challenge I am planning to go to either Casey's Camera or Wolf Camera to talk to the people in the shop and take my picture in the shop. Wolf Camera is more of a consumer store than a prosumer or professional photo shop. Casey's camera is prosumer and more of a professional photography shop here in Las Vegas. http://www.caseyscamera.com/ is the link to Casey's Camera website and http://www.wolfcamera.com/ is the website for Wolf Camera. I have used both of these shops in the past and will continue to use them in the future.

Week 3 Eoc: You Amazing

Sitting on top of a overlook in the Lake Mead recreation area I watch as the boats splashed by and people laughed and played near the shores edge. As I sat and watched from my vantage point wondering if this was the spot to take my photograph for this weeks assignment I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. turning to look in the direction of the movement I watched as a small coyote trotted over the ridge of the hill just below me and then down the small walk path headed to the lake shore below. I snapped a few photographs as I watched the coyote disappear into the brush along the shoreline. In that moment I realised this was the spot for me.
What makes a spot or photograph amazing, is it the beauty told from the photograph itself or is it the story that accompanies the photograph. While some would or could say this is a boring photograph in someways I suppose they could be correct, but to me it is a photograph that represents a vast area teaming with life from birds, to fish, to people and of course the occasional coyote. I took this photograph near Rocky Point in the Lake Mead recreation area using a second camera set on a tripod with a timer.

Week 3 EOC: My Commitment

There are many different types of photography business’s here in the Las Vegas area. Many of them are strictly portrait or wedding photography businesses; however at Limitless Exposure photography we are a Fine Art, nature, Wildlife and Environmental photographic company. Many photography businesses that specialize in our style of photography usually work only on location and are web based businesses. At Limitless Exposure photography we will be an on location, studio/ gallery and web based company. We will have a strong web based presence for our fine art prints and our stock photography. The studio side of our business will be used for our Fine Art photography and will also serve as a place to construct our prints and art pieces to be showcased in our gallery. Another large portion of our business will be community outreach and involvement. We will work closely with young artists in the community showcasing their work as well as doing seminars and photograph learning events and excursions. Limitless Exposure photography will also work with local businesses, hotels, travel agencies, etc. to provide them with art piece that can be purchased and displayed. Each month our gallery will also host at least one exhibit showcasing a new artist or photographers work. Limitless photography will also be an independent stock photography firm selling or leasing our artwork around the world, rather than using an outside stock photography company. We will also be working with local and national outdoor, nature, or wildlife magazines.

Week 2 EOC: Photo Challenge

Paparazzi a term coined for photographers who tend to hover around celebrity hot spots waiting to catch that perfect photo of a celebrity doing something that the photographer can then turn around and sell to a magazine or newspaper. The term was also given to the photographers because they tend to be like the blood sucking insect from which their name comes from. Personally I do not care for most of these photographers; however there are a few paparazzi that shoot in a more photojournalistic manner still trying to catch the perfect shot of a celebrity or public official yet doing it in a manner that shows that they do have some morals. I can respect the paparazzi photographers that take a photojournalistic or street photography approach to their work. The ones that I really have an issue with are the ones who go out of their way to invade someone privacy and take the photographs that they then try to sell for profit.

It is along these lines that I chose to shoot my above picture of a paparazzi photographer, from my perspective this is all that you would see in most cases if you were a celebrity being hounded by the paparazzi. I wanted to shoot a shallow depth of field so that the lens was the main thing in focus and the camera body and photographer which is me would fall out of focus. The shot is cropped tightly so that the focus is on the in your face attitude of the camera lens. The image is a reflection of myself and my camera in a mirror, shot with a 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 macro lens. I also used and on camera flash to light the photograph and give the spots on the lens to make it appear as if there were other cameras and flashes going off at the same time as I was taking the photograph.



Week 2 EOC: La Dolce Vita

The film La Dolce Vita is about a "Journalist and man-about-town Marcello struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer. Written by Jeff Lewis" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053779/plotsummary)

 From what we were able to watch of the movie in class today I believe showcased what it is and was to be a paparazzi photographer in the 1960's. I think it also holds some relevance to today's paparazzi and how they act and are stereotyped.  We watched one scene from the movie where the paparazzi were chasing the American celebrity down a small road crazily trying to capture that image of her for whatever publication they happen to be working for. That scene for me brought back memories for the car chase from paparazzi that killed Princess Diana a few years ago. Another scene that we watched had the female American movie star sitting in a room full of photographers and press reporters asking questions and snapping photographs as she flirted and moved around the room answering those questions. In that particular scene she reminded me of how many of the celebrities today act in front of the press when they know they are being photographed or filmed and are wanting the attention, Paris Hilton is a prime example of that behavior. All in all there are many scenes within the film that relate to today as well as what was going on back then.

In looking up reviews on this movie there are a lot of mixed reviews about the film itself, somewhere good, some were bad and most of them you could tell were very bias. The following are excerpts of some persons reviews of the film.

Complex And Rambling, 22 May 2009
Author: Lechuguilla from Dallas, Texas
Mostly because of the terrific high contrast, B&W visuals, and the evocative music, this is the only Fellini film I have seen that I have somewhat enjoyed. I recommend it, but not without reservations. It's a complex film with many textured layers of meaning. And, in typical Fellini fashion, it rambles and it meanders. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053779/reviews)

A sprawling epic satire on what Fellini considered the spiritual malaise of modern society…, 12 August 2005
Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Long considered a major filmmaker, Federico Fellini established his reputation through an insistence on the interest-value of his own fantastic and idiosyncratic vision of the world… In so doing, however, he repeatedly lays himself open to charges of egomania, self-indulgence and superficiality; certainly much of his work, if visually extraordinary, is hyperbolic, naïve and incoherent…

I'm with 'The Emperor', 16 July 2005
Author: Slocum from United States
For this film to work, it seems to me that it has to be able to seduce you. You have to feel the appeal of the 'sweet life'. But I found nothing that did that--the homes of the 'rich' seem pretty mundane and tattered and the party guests not particularly attractive or witty. Nothing glitzy or fabulous. And Anita Ekberg? She seems less like a free spirit than someone trying to fake it. Has there ever been a scene performing musicians that were more obviously not actually playing their instruments than the band in the Rock and Roll dance scene? The aliens in the 'Star Wars' bar scene were much more convincing. I found myself trying to figure out if it was *supposed* to look fake and ridiculous--and had to conclude that it wasn't.

Week 1 EOC: Constructed Self Portrait

The above image is a constructed photograph of a self portrait I created of myself, using a self portrait I have taken of myself and a photograph of one of my favorite photographers. The photographer that I chose to use for this particular assignment is Art Wolfe. Art Wolfe has been a wildlife and conservation photographer from more than 30 years. He has photographed on almost every continent, photographing wildlife, people and the environment. He has a home base in Seattle, Washington. Art Wolfe also has his own photography and conservation television series on PBS called “Art Wolfe travels to the edge.”Art Wolfe has also been a photographer for National Geographic and is an elite member of Canon’s “Explorers of light.”Art has a long list of memberships and awards he has won over the years.  Art has also published over 60 photography books from his travels around the world. As a photographer I have been inspired by Art’s work for many years now and have done a lot of research on his photographic style and business model which I plan to use as a model to develop my own business model.

You can find the about image on his website at www.artwolfe.com as well as on http://www.josephsaxton.com/artwolfe which is where I acquired the image for this assignment.

I used Photoshop to create this image by combining both my self portrait and Art’s photograph. I first to my image and cut out my image and then pasted it into the photograph by Art Wolfe, I then made myself somewhat transparent using the opacity bar. The purpose of this was to showcase the beautiful image taken by Art Wolfe while still including myself in the image. I also used layers and selective layering to try and blend the two images together a little better.

Week 1 EOC: Stallions not Unicorns

As a professional photographer I plan to pursue a business in conservation photography, photographing subjects such as people, places, animals and the environment. Inspired by photographers like that of Art Wolfe and it is after his business model I will be following and using as a guide. Art Wolfe has been in the business for 30+ years and has seen a great deal of success in his business even in the current economic times.

As a documentary photographer giving voice to the endangered things of the world that may not be able to have a voice of their own. I will travel the world to document the beauty of the natural world and all that is in it. I will be documenting a wide range of subjects and subject matter, which will one day be able to be used to show generations to come what the world once looked like. I plan on also having a large stock photography collection that can be bought or leased for a variety of different things. Going along with this stock collection I will also have a collection of prints available for sale. Another part of my business will be teaching thru workshops and/ or seminars.

            As I start out it will be myself and my wife running the business, as I grow my business I will eventually get to the point I will need a couple assistants and a couple of photographers to help assist me with photo shoots, lectures, seminars, and travel workshops.

Week 1 My Voice

I am a freelance photographer who specializes in landscape, nature and life's little moments. I am also in the process of starting a studio to be able to shoot portraits, still life, food, and a variety of other things in a controlled environment. I have also shot weddings and other events. My passion for photography started at a young age watching programs like National Geographic and reading the magazines, or looking at all the photographs. I also grew up in the outdoors and have a passion for preserving the outdoors for others to see and admire as well. It is my goal to one day work for National Geographic. A photograph documents a moment in time, that moment can be something like a couple’s wedding or a never before seen animal or plant. As a photographer my goal is to help others see things in nature or themselves in a way they have not been able to before. As a freelance photographer I plan on working for National Geographic and when I’m not traveling the world I will be working for myself in my own studio.