Joe McNally Magnificence

This week, Joe McNally came to Mizzou and worked with my adv. techniques class. We went over to Stephens College and worked with 3 of their ballet students. I will remember this experience forever. I learned so much about lighting and leading the life of a photographer from our short time with him. I really appreciate our photojournalism department, especially Rita, for bringing him to work with us. I used a Nikon D3 to take the following photos, I love that camera.

Advanced Techniques: Color Correction Select

Hot Box Cookies owner David Melnick ices a cookie cake with the message, "Happy Birthday" in the Hot Box Cookies kitchen on November 2, 2009. Melnick started the business last year with 2 of his high school friends.

My New Resume!

Advanced Techniques: Single Flash-Direct Flash

Columbia residents Doris Littrell, Johanna Kramer and Heather Hennkens try and see their children jumping in the moon bounce at the Percussion Phun Family Fun Fest in Columbia, MO on October 21, 2009. The event had face painting, pumpkin decorating and several percussion performance groups for entertainment.

This assignment was rough, but I feel a lot better about my external flash now.

Advanced Techniques: Single Flash-BOUNCE!

Jeremy Zhang,8, thinks about his next move against Ed Hollander during the University of Missouri Chess Club new players tournament in Memorial Union on October 19, 2009. Zhang has been playing for over a year and competes in tournaments regularly.

This assignment was difficult difficult lemon difficult. More to come for direct flash.

Painting With Light Lab..a little late.

So, this week I am working on my actual painting with light project. I am really excited to put it all together, it's going to be great! However, thinking about the project made me realize that I didn't put up my painting with light lab photos. As a class, we went to Rock Bridge Park and learned about, you guessed it..painting with light. It's a different concept to think about light as the subject of the photo, rather than a factor that adds to the subject. Here are a few attempts from that evening:

EVE!

I'm excited to have an ounce of free time to try more painting with light!

Advanced Techniques: "And the leaves that are green turned to brown"-Glass Assignment

For this assignment, we were in partners and one had to shoot metal, while the other had to take photos of a glass object. I opted for the challenge of glass. Columbia is truly putting on one beautiful show for the fall season. The trees are painted with a variety of colors and the wind blows the leaves across campus. I used 2 vases and 4 shot glasses to create tree trunks and went exploring in Peace Park for leaves. My select:

The changing colors of the leaves come inside Lee Hills Hall studio on October 11, 2009. Columbia is covered with a blanket of multi-colored leaves falling from the trees. Fall began this year on September 22, and temperatures have been dropping ever since.

I used a bright-field set up for my objects. I used the light table, a large vertical softbox, a strobe with a snoot and orange gel, a white card and a strobe used for bouncing off the white card. I had an A+B combination with C isolated on the 1250x set at -2. Irene Rojas assisted on this photo shoot.

An Outtake:

**The title comes from the song, Leaves That Are Green, by Simon and Garfunkel.

Advanced Techniques: Classmate Portrait

For the classmate portrait assignment, I worked with Colleen Lefholz. I have been eager to learn about studio lighting for awhile. I learned so much working on this project and I know there is still so much to learn. After talking to Colleen for a bit, I learned that she is a cake decorator. I love food, so I figured that this would be the perfect opportunity to not only use food during a shoot, but bring out a unique part of her life.

Multi-Light Source Select:

Colleen Lefholz licks frosting off a wooden spoon while posing for a portrait on September 28th, 2009. Colleen is a cake decorator during the summer and holidays in her hometown of St. Charles, MO. “When my friends find out that I am a cake decorator, I get a lot of requests for cake.” Colleen said during her portrait session.

Light Diagram:

I used a soft box, a gold reflector and a second light with a blue gel facing the backdrop. I used blue because it contrasted nicely with Colleen's hair color. I metered the situation using a meter connected with a sync cord. It gave me a reading of ISO200, f/13, 1/125 of a second. I bracketed in addition to that reading. Looking back, I think a second soft box on her left would have helped lighten her face and the icing on the wooden spoon.

Single Light:

Colleen Lefholz poses for a portrait on September 28th, 2009 in Lee Hills Hall studio.

Light Diagram:

For the single light portrait, I used a soft box and tried to go for the Rembrandt lighting. I metered ISO200, f/13 and 1/125 of a second. I had Colleen turn her back to me and slowly turn back around with her head directed at me. I wanted to do soft lighting to reflect the Colleen's self proclaimed soft spokeness. I bracketed, but I think I under exposed the image.

Outtakes:

Portrait Example Assignment

This week in Adv. Techniques we have been talking about portraiture. I think a great portrait can reveal the true identity of a subject, even when they are trying to hide it.

This is a portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon. The photo can be found at http://www.richardavedon.com/#s=10&a=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&p=4&at=0. I am only posting this for educational purposes and I take no claim or copyright of this image.

Many portraits of Marilyn Monroe have glamorous or dramatic lighting that added to her public persona. Richard Avedon has a beautiful way of using basic lighting to reveal her exhaustion away from the public eye. Monroe is known for a glamourous public life, while suffering from depression in her private life. I think it's interesting how she is wearing an elegant dress in the photo. It could possibly be a metaphor for the shell of her public life.

Advanced Techniques: 1st Assignment. Copy Stand and Meter Calibration.

For the copy test part of the assignment we had to find two photographs and with a with a white balance setting of tungsten, take a photo of each image. One image had to express emotions through lighting and the other photo was "stump the chump". This means that I couldn't figure out how the photographer lit the photo, so we try and "stump" our teacher with it.

Mood Lighting Select

Untitled by Michael Michaud. Copy test for educational purposes only. I don't take any claim or copyright to this image. Taken from JPG Magazine, issue number 14. Also found at jpgmag.com/photos/306652.

Stump The Chump Select

Lance Armstrong by Annie Leibovitz 1999. Copy test for educational purposes only. I don't take any claim or copyright to this image. Image from Vanity Fair Portraits book.

I chose this photo because the light that reflects off the rain and certain parts of his body confused me.

The second part of this assignment was using the daylight and tungsten white balance settings in a variety of lighting conditions.

Tungsten Exploration Select

Pencil shavings are scattered on the ground next to Grant Blackwell's foot. Blackwell was sitting outside of Lakota Coffee Company working on a drawing of 9th Street in downtown Columbia.

Daylight Exploration Select

Ezra Ryan sits between his father, Frank Ryan's legs at Stephens Lake Park on Monday September 7, 2009. The Ryans sat with other families and the fathers discussed fantasy football.

Turtles

Before going back to school in Columbia, I stopped in St. Louis for a few days to visit Zach. I told him about the photos I took in India and London of the different markets and butcher shops. He remembered an Oriental grocery store in St. Louis that would add something to my collection. The store layout was similar to those of other grocery stores, it was the small details that made the difference. Walking through the meat department, I noticed signs for all parts of different animals, nothing was wasted. Pig liver, chicken feet and packages that had an assortment of parts of the animals filled the aisle. I think it's so interesting what different cultures and religions eat. I am obsessed with the travel channel because I love the shows that look at the different foods from around the world. I am excited to expand on this project about butcher shops and grocery stores around the world.

Life Saver

This past weekend I participated in the American Heart Association's Start! Heart Walk. The team honored my friend, Sara Mckee's father David Mckee, who passed away suddenly last April from a heart attack. Sara is one of the most dedicated people I have ever met. She is on the Start! Heart Walk committee and organized a team for the event. The weather was perfect and the location of the walk was beautiful. My team is still taking donations, which can be sent to me or donated online at:


http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorreg/donorpledge.asp?ievent=292700&supId=268174063&msource=boundlessfun&ref=mf

I could gush for a very long blog post about how impressed or proud I am with Sara for using her experience to help others. It takes a strong person to do that, and I am looking forward to helping her again next year!

Your parents do what??

I am often embarrassed by the response people give me when I tell them that my parents built an orphanage for 50 kids with HIV/AIDS in India. To me, its their job. Going out to Chandrakal was a good reminder to take a step back from the requirements that come with their job and see the bigger picture. First of all, my parents couldn't have picked a better place to build the orphanage. After the monsoon comes, the scenery is painted green and flourishes with color. Neon greens, pinks and purples stick out in the various villages as members of the Banjara tribe are scattered around the area. Driving to the orphanage reminds me of driving through certain parts of Israel, so vast and beautiful.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go out to the orphanage multiple times. The kids know me now and it makes it much easier to take photos without them posing. Here are some of my favorites. My parents are using these and other photos for their non-profit Living India. I am so excited about my new role in their work with these children.



This photo sums up why I came to India.









I am so proud of my parents. 48 children get to be kids, not victims.

Some Singles...

RNDM3">

A man takes a slow drag on his cigarette in the Old Bazaar in Delhi.
RNDM1">

A baby sleeps on an abandoned sheet in Delhi.
RNDM 2">
This is from the story that I am working on about my cousins. Vindetta, the caretaker of the home in Banjara Hills used these lemons in the girls' final meal in India.

I am working on going through the last 4 days worth of photos. I have been picking out some single shots that I like. More updates soon!

Delhi

Delhi is a beautiful city, filled with historical monuments, government buildings and a population of people that thrives of the culture of the capital. Over my 72 hours in Delhi I saw New Delhi, Old Delhi and everything in between. After I arrived, Allen Alfred a longtime friend of my uncle Scott picked me up at the airport along with his son Ralph. We had lunch and then they took me to Allen’s advertising firm. After interning at Fallon, it was interesting to see how an international ad firm works. There were a lot of differences, but the main functions were still the same. After visiting the firm, Michael, Allen’s youngest son showed me the surrounding area of the office. While we were walking a tree had fallen on the road earlier that day, and there was a local news crew covering the story. There were also a ton of news trucks outside the Metro office as there have been some deaths during the construction of the Metro to prepare for the Common Wealth Games. While traveling to and from the firm we passed the government buildings of India. The president’s residence, parliament, and even the department buildings conveyed a sense of strength and beauty through their architecture and red stone motif.

The 2nd day in Delhi, was a very very full day. We went to the Qutab Minar which was filled with incredible stone details. It reminded me of my dad’s photos from Petra.From there, it was off to Old Delhi and the Red Fort. We didn’t go into the Red Fort due to the ridiculous line to get in. Instead we explored the Old Bazaar in the surrounding area for 2 hours, which was a really great experience.

Later, Allen’s sons took me too a local craft fair near their house. It was similar to Shilparamum, a craft fair in Hyderabad, but there were cultural activities also going on. I had a lot of fun seeing the different dances and looking at the different crafts. My favorite part of the evening was when I was able to get up front for a Rajasthan dance performance. Beautiful girls spinning in intricate patterned dresses while the males perform fire-breathing routines. The evening made for some pretty diverse photos.

On my last day, I went to visit the sundials, Jantar Mantar and the Baha’i temple. The sundials were really interesting because of the different shapes they used in order to tell time. The Baha’i temple is shaped like a lotus flower floating in water. The main temple is the lotus and there are pools of water surrounding the temple. When we went inside the temple, the only noise heard was the rustling of bells on jewelry and saris. It was so peaceful to be able to escape the auto horns and yells of “Madam!” for a few moments and sit in silence. I had to leave for the airport shortly after lunch. Even though my trip only lasted for a few days, I got to see so much of the capital of India.