Let's talk about school...

About school, first off I just want to say that there are some exceptionally talented people in my class! Some of the work from this first project just blew my socks off! I wish I had copies to share with you but I think that would be some sort of invasion of privacy or something... Lord knows I wouldn't want my work shown without my knowledge for all the world to judge. With that said I have my work posted below for all the world to judge! Eeeek!

Well the way this schedule is going to work from here on out for school is I'll turn my project in on Wed, he'll hopefully return them the following Mon and we'll critique and discuss what changes should of been made. We do a lot of watching as Prof K tears apart our work and makes it his own... it is very interesting watching but in case I didn't mention before he's extremely long winded and can put you to sleep easily! As I sit in the class room I just watch as beautiful images flash before my eyes. There were many flowers (seriously people there are more than flowers out there to photograph!) but occasionally there was one that just took my breath away. I can't describe the lasting effect one image left on me, it may have been one of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen. It was inside looking into a high pitched ceiling with exposed beams and shingles, there was an open window to the right cascading light into the room, everything was white but the textures from the beams and the back side of the shingles just were... wow. It was wow. Prof K was even blown away, suggesting the student enter the picture next year into the photography contest at the San Diego Fair. I'll talk to student A and ask if I can share the picture, I honestly wouldn't mind having it on my wall or something either!

Well, after many floral arrangements, trees and BARK (HEY! That was my idea!) my picture was up to bat. I felt like it was going to be an instant "F", "failure" or "what the F were you thinking?" but to my surprise he made a joke about not needing to burn the image (which was a very common technique he suggested for others). My exposure was a little off, a section of the window was blown out slightly but other than that he said he would of cropped it differently and that was it! I exhaled and survived the first project! To be honest I didn't particularly like the image, I was just trying something out and didn't want to be like the other 10 floral/bark/tree pictures, so I took a chance. It worked out. I did feel like I cheated a little because the picture wasn't personal to me, it wasn't intimate. It lacked my soul but I promise I'm going to do better next time.


Burned - a house partially burnt during the 2007 San Diego Wild Fires

The second project was trying to teach us to focus on color groups. It was broke into two parts. The first I had to use the color wheel to set up my image with complimentary colors (ex. red and cyan, blue and yellow, green and magenta or anything close to those specifics) to make the subject "pop". I shot the yellow fire hydrants against blue skies, Bryan's tonka trunk and blue skies, I went to the farmers market and shot green leafy veg with radishes, and a stupid amount of peppers and various other objects. One main objective was not to stage the shoot which is harder than it sounds! The second part of the project was to shoot a family of colors (ex. blue/cyan/green or red/yellow/orange or various shades of one single color). Again, the farmers market seemed like a great place to shoot but I could not get this perfect image to appear!

Well, having no luck at the farmers market I drove home discouraged. On the drive I passed this sign about firewood and glance back - it's the perfect example of a family of colors! I pulled a big U-turn (totally 100% legal and encouraged here in the great state of CA) and jumped out! Camera a shootin' and feeling better about this subject than the market - I worked it! I must have looked like a crazy lady on the side of a very busy street climbing a chain linked fence and practically laying on the ground trying to get that elusive perfect shot - but I didn't care! HA! Maybe I should get a tee shirt that states "I'm a photography student, leave me alone" printed on it? Then people could just walk away shaking their heads. Oh well! I had fun! I got home and popped my CF into the computer and downloaded the pictures... I must admit that I liked what I saw! They are not perfect but I am pleased with them. After a while of editing them though they started looking a little boring. Hopefully when we do the critique on Mon I'll be able to see them in a fresh light again.

I am ashamed to say that I struggled with the complimentary colors a little. I found plenty of flowers and obvious subjects but nothing that screamed "look at me - I'm original!". So I chose a yellow flower that grows in abundance near my house and laid down on the ground to have the sky back drop it. It's pretty, it does the trick but I'm disappointed with myself over all. Next time I'll work harder. I bet you can't wait to see this one, huh? I'll post them after I get them back on Mon or when I get time next week.

I don't know if it's the late nights working on projects or the kids are a little more high maintenance but I've been exhausted lately! I think I'm going to call it a night and head to bed. Poor J is not feeling too hot so he's been in bed for a couple hours already!

**Oh, on a personal note, my good friend Jenn, from my first maternity shoot, is in the hospital as I type trying to have that baby! I'm sure she wouldn't mind any extra prayers you can send her way for a good delivery. I can't wait to meet her sweet little man! Good luck Jenn!! PUUUUUUSSSSHHHHH!!!! **