Photo Project Part X

Tight Arm II, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This is the final photo of my project. I tried to present them at random or when I was finished with a print, but this was definitely one of my favorites and thought it would be a good end to the project. It also pairs well with the picture of my father's arm which you can see here.

I had a lot of fun doing this photo with the ever-so-patient Nick. I had been thinking about tights as a way to play with the idea of skin and color, and Nick had no qualms with putting tights over his arm for the sake of this photographic idea. Thank you!

There are no entire bodies in any of my shots which really works with my original idea of deconstructing the body or presenting aspects of beauty out of context (like in this photo, tights are taken out of context). However, that is the way I see it. People I have shown my project to, including my family, friends, and photo class peers, see many different emotions and themes including humor, depression, loneliness, happiness and many other feelings.

This weekend I'm going to put all the photos together in one post and hopefully start some sort of discussion with random viewers on the internet. I'm pretty much baring my soul through this project and I want to know what strangers think.

Photo Project Part IX

dressing, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

I asked Nick to take his shirt off so I could take a picture of him putting it back on to make some point about the way people adorn or cover their bodies, but then mid-movement I saw him do this and told him to freeze. This pose was just so natural and perfect and exactly what I was looking for.

I'm not very good at posing people, but I find wonderful poses when I ask them move about as they normally would with little to no direction.

This picture fits in neatly with the rest of the project with the texture of the shirt and trees and the suggestion of covering the body/daily activity taken out of context. This might actually be the one picture of this project that represent my original idea. You can read about it here.

Photo Project Part VIII

Lace Socks, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

Much of my project relies on the human body and texture. This photo idea is no different because I thought these lace socks would add a fun pattern and interesting shadows. However this photo seems to give off a much more playful and weird tone then the rest of my project. I don't know if it's because the lace seems childish or that a foot missing from one sock, but the emotion is different.

To me it feels odd and empty in a funny but uncomfortable way because of the missing foot. I can't quite explain it and I'm not even sure I like it.

Photo Project Part VII

rose heart, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This was a very unplanned photo and it made it into my photo project at the last minute. Nick had just woken up and was laying outside in the sun. The roses were in full bloom and some, like this rose, had fallen from the bush. I placed the rose on his chest and then thought, "oh! I should take a picture of this!"

I didn't plan much of this project. The idea of what I wanted to do floated around in my mind and then I experimented with subjects until what I imagined came to life.

My creative process works and learns through doing, sort of like cooking. Let's say you know you want something savory, but you don't have a recipe. So you pull a bunch of ingredients that you think will go well together to make a savory meal. No directions, no plans, just making do with what you have. It doesn't always work well the first time so there is room for improvement though experiment and the knowledge gained from previous trials.

I would like to improve on this image by shooting at a different time of day and with grass instead of cement as a background.

Photo Project VI

textured hands, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

I really enjoy photographing hands. To me they are an interesting part of the body that can express a surprising amount of character and emotion. I am all about texture when it comes to black and white film, and hands are perfect for that. I also added some face-mask cream to Nick's hands because it cracks while it dries and can me shaped into things like putty would.

I took a lot of care with this photo in organizing foreground and background (sometimes I get so excited about a subject I forget to look at the background). I made sure that Nick's hands were high enough above the ground so that the cement would look soft in contrast to all the texture happening with his hands.

The word of the day is texture. Go out and experiment with it! It's candy for the eyes.

You can find the beginning of this project here.

Photo Project Part V

mint profile, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This is a scanned negative. The other pictures for my project were actually self-developed and then scanned, but now I can't scan the rest because I turned in the project yesterday (I haven't been keeping up with posting about it).

This one couples well with with another picture of Nick with mint leaves and mustard flowers in his mouth. I see it as an example of you are what you eat, but the emotion of his face with the closed eyes goes much farther than saying. There is something associated there with the powers of nature and beauty, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Posting these photos is a bit like baring my soul to strangers who see many different things in it about my emotions. I learned that yesterday when my project was critiqued by the class. They saw so many deep and different emotions and it blew me away. I worked so hard taking and developing all of those photographs that maybe my soul really is a part of them.

Coat in the Kitchen

Coat, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

Underexposed, dark, a little out of focus and blurry... It wasn't even meant to be a picture, just a shot on a roll of film to make sure a camera worked. However, every mistake made in this photo is making me love it more. It's so mysterious and simple, a contradiction that I can live with.

I must take another photo of that coat!

Backyard

Backyard, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This is part of the backyard from a roll of black and white that I took with the Yashica Mat 24G the day the camera arrived to make sure it worked (but mainly because I was so freaking excited to use it).

I have a scanner that scans 35mm and slide film so I no longer have to pay for prints (I'm making hardly any monies) but that scanner doesn't scan 120 size film. I was very disappointed when I found out. Luckily, the photo lab at school scans 120! The program is very delicate after being manhandled by many students, so this picture was scanned as a color for some reason. All the other black and white negatives were scanned as they were, but for some reason the scanner refused this photo its natural mono-ness.

Technology is messing with me. (I will deny any and all operator error today).

Medium Format Love!

I don't think it is possible for me to be anymore in love with medium format. Te quality of these photos is just outstanding! And I just love the colors the the film (Kodak Portra 160 vivid color) I'm using right now. Vivid color and neutral color are my two favorite films made by Kodak because they look so great after development and I hardly ever have to use any photoshop touch-ups. The only part of these photos that I edited were the addition of my website.

These four pictures and the previous post of the Celtic band photo are the start of my portfolio. I need something to show that isn't personal photography to prove that I can take photos for other people and not just myself. That doesn't mean I'm not being creative or having fun, because I totally am. I mean look, there is a llama and a city girl! It's great!

Kavanaugh Brothers Celtic Experience

Kavanaugh Brothers Celtic Experience, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

My first band photo! Also, my first roll of medium format color film. This film is amazing. The detail, the color, just wow, blows my mind.

So this is a great band that has played at a few epic parties. They play Celtic and Americana music as well as a few fan favorite of mine like John Lennon's "Oh Yoko!" They asked me to take a picture of them after the party and I was more than happy too. They're a great group of guys that are fantastic musicians, check them out!

BART I love you

BART, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

I used to take BART everywhere in the bay area. This was taken on a quiet morning with a point and shoot camera I bought for 1$. I still have that camera and use it rarely (so rare that the roll of film I last used in it was expired). It is a great little camera to carry around when you want to take a photo quickly and discreetly in a well lit area. It is also a great camera to experiment with if you want to play around with sun flares, shadows or test light situations because it is using a quick shutter speed (probably 1/500 of a second) that would probably not be used if a manual camera was in it's place.

That being said, the little 1$ camera reminds me to use shutter speeds I wouldn't normally in certain lighting situations and to never stop experimenting.

Falling Through the Cracks

Beach Wood, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

Sometimes there are photos that I don't like and forget about. Then, months later I look at it again and decided that it is interesting enough to share. I'll give this photo a chance.
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I am scanning some 120 negatives tomorrow that I'm really excited about. There will be some nice pictures of Nick, Eric, an Irish band, Natasha and Robin, and a picture that my dad took of random people at a party. I'm also stoked to take some couples pictures with my medium format camera so that I can start building up a portfolio. Things are definitely happening now! I'm excited to be busy doing things I love.

Mary's Wedding

Mary's wedding was the first wedding I've been to that I enjoyed being present for. The decorations were a beautiful representation of a romantic California past with antique farming equipment, a model t ford, candy, flowers, a barn, old cameras and twinkle lights. The wedding and reception were outside and it couldn't have been a nicer day. I was busy throughout the day doing a photo booth set up for the bride (which was a lot of fun) but managed to sneak in a few film snap shots. I also had my tripod ready at my side for the evening.

I made sure to pay a lot of attention to the wedding photographer to get a grasp of what I would be getting myself into if I were to choose that path. The photography would be no problem (once I had the equipment) nor would scheduling the shots for the day(I'm an excellent and organized planner), but I would definitely need help on the business end. I have a lot to think about.

San Francisco, I can see the sky!

I'm not a big city scape kind of person nor am I very professional with a digital camera, but I did have fun taking pictures of the city. These photos are actually from a trip that my photo class went on. We had a lot of fun and I was very happy to learn more about digital cameras from my classmates who are far more technically advanced than I am when it comes to digital photography and Photoshop. It was a fantastically nerdy day as small groups of us ran around the ferry building talking photography and lugging around tripods, lenses, film, and cameras.

I might take a digital photography class over summer. I'm slightly anxious about the idea because I like to remain true to my love of film, however I want to create images that can be reprinted and manipulated easily if needed for my future online shop. However, it is not even an issue right now because I don't own a DSLR camera, I've been borrowing one. I'm hoping that I can make enough money with selling prints to buy cameras and related equipment. We'll see.

More Black and White, Please

I can tell from flickr, tumblr and photography labs that though film is really popular right now, black and white film just isn't as popular as color film. A lot of people are all entranced with film and swear to film only, yet they shy away from black and white. I find it strange that film purists don't use black and white. It's like saying you only eat authentic Mexican food but then only eat at Chevys. That's not a very good analogy, but hopefully I make sense.

Black and white film can teach anyone who uses film how to be a better photographer. It teaches awareness of shadows and light, composition, contrast, style, grain, aperture, texture, shutter speed, and much more. It's a film that will always be classy, dramatic, artistic, and versatile. Most importantly, it takes practice to think in black and white so that your photos won't come out flat and disappointing. Anyone can take a color film picture, but the building block of black and white film definitely makes a difference in the quality and beauty of that picture. You with me?

Mojito

Mojito, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

I could really go for one right now.

In other news:
I am starting to bring my online shop together. I have already purchased 11X14 mattes that will be used to frame 8X10 picture so that when they arrive they can be displayed immediately or put in a frame. I may sell smaller and larger sizes depending on demand (if there is any).

I will probably sell stickers and mugs that will have my images on them, but probably manipulated on Photoshop to be more mug/sticker like. I will eventually sell more photo related things and hopefully pick up some commissioned work from people who like my stuff and want me to take pictures of them or document an event (like a wedding, engagement, birthday, fashion, anything).

This is what I want to do and I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen.

I will keep updates here and on facebook. Please, spread my art and websites around!