Hero Post-Up/Down

During my Up/Down shoot I had visioned using the swing set however they weren't as interesting as I thought they would be. I ended up using the fireman's pole and the spinning ride. For both of these shots I laid on my back getting the shot from underneath my subject. The spinning ride was the most difficult, I had my shutter speed at 1/20 second and was trying hard not to move so I wouldn't get the subject blurry but still getting the background blurry. I had him run around with the contraption and then jump on, quickly getting the shot before he fell. They sky was in my favor, it was not too sunny to where I wouldn't be able to get the shot I wanted. In the end I couldn't decide which image I wanted to use for my hero post so I decided to use both.

Hero Post-Updated-Time

My initial idea for my Time post was going to be at the train station with people running to the train trying to catch it. I instead used the Santa Monica pier where there were more people around to create the motion that I wanted. I had my subject placed in the center of the pier with people walking around him. Because I couldn't use a tripod I had to position myself sitting down against a trash can to stabilize myself and camera. Another issue I had was people being too polite. I needed the people to walk around my subject but many people would stop and apologize for getting in the shot. Or some would go around. We had to wait for swarms of people to walk by to get what I needed. I took this image right after sunset. I had imagined more lights being on but they didn't turn on until late.

Before the edit

Because of the issue with many people trying to be polite I had to use to images and merge them together to create an image with a lot of people walking by.

Hero Post-Change

My thought for the Change project was to work around the bipolar disorder. The constant change between emotion at times can be uncontrollable. My original model was going to be a 46 year old woman who is bipolar but she had cancelled on me last minute. Thanks to Patricia and Juan I was still able to accomplish what I was looking for. I used two techniques with split lighting and the beauty dish. I wanted to use spilt lighting because it creates a strong moody image, darkening the sides to make it more dramatic for their neutral face. I kept the split lighting but added a reflector to make the image where they are smiling a bit brighter. The middle images were used with the beauty dish to show the detail of the running mascara and tears falling down the face.

Before the editing

Up/Down & Change

Up/Down

When I think of Up/Down a children's playground comes to mind. The swing was one of my favorite things when growing up, going super high as if going up into space and then crashing back down to earth. I plan on using multiple attractions at the playground and seeing which would work best to describe the feeling of the world spinning and turning. I plan on using a male model, growing up boys played more rough on the jungle gym and were more wiling to jump from the high places. 

Change

With the subject of change I want to focus on the constant changing emotions of the the bipolar disorder. I want to show the constant struggle people deal with not being able to control their moods. From what I've been told by my sisters friend who is bipolar, even though she takes her medication there are still times she can't control her emotions. I plan on doing a 9 photo grid showing each emotion in depth; the sudden change between happiness to anger. I will also try this concept using a long exposure and capture the fast movement.

Culture

Hero Shot

Latin-American

My work emphasizes on the dual personality/culture my family has. We are Latinas but often get confused for different ethnicities because of our fair skin. My goal was to shoot the American styled photos as soft and subtle and the Latina side as bold and loud. During the shoot I was having trouble with the sun. We had to go during mid-day because of conflicting issues with my model. It was troublesome but I was able to get images I was happy with. I used my external flash to make sure my subject was properly lit all around and would help with the harsh shadows the sun was causing. During the photo shoot we heard a rattle snake approaching so we decided we would end it at that location. Professor Schafer helped me with the edits and I was able to play with the highlights and shadows to get the image where I wanted it. With the second image I kept going back and forth between making the image warmer or leaving it the way it looks like now. I ended leaving it a little bit cool, when making it warmer it made my subjects skin too red. 

Before the editing

Pre-Production: Culture

My goal is to take pictures of the mexican styled woman and a classic american woman. I'm using the same subject throughout my photos while only changing her clothes and hair styles. My goal is to show both sides of the Mexican-American woman side. My sister and I are always subject to this topic as sometimes people don't know we are spanish speaking-mexicans and will speak spanish trying to avoid us in conversation or say something rude not knowing we understand what they are saying. I plan on shooting my subject out in the hills for the mexican style photos and inside a home or room for the americanized style photos. 

Direction & TIme

Direction

It was difficult to shoot this image as some of the lights outside were uncontrollable and made the image different than what I had in mind. The settings used were ISO 100, f5 and the shutter speed at 2 minutes and 43 seconds. While the shutter speed was still open I moved the camera up slowly, in order to get more of the sky in the image. I merged this image with one that I had taken of the compass. There is a saying that the north star will always help you find your way home. Although it was not my initial idea for direction, the saying mentioned above helped with the new approach.


           



























Time

My initial goal for time was to have people around the train station, watching them move around as the train came closer and closer. Upon arriving at the train station it was lonely with only one person waiting. I decided to use this image because it depicted time as being wasted or forgotten. She had expected the train to arrive from what it said on their website however the kiosk mentioned another time she had to wait 2 hours for her train to arrive. I cropped the image and made it tighter to emphasize the empty train tracks.

Time Part 2

Unable to get the original image I wanted for the concept of time, I decided to try another approach, aging. Although it would take years to photograph 1 subject to show the passing of time I decided to shoot a family. I took a picture of each of my subjects and then merged them into one. The difficult process was finding the right way to place each subject. If I over lapped them, it would create a weird new person, if I left too much space it looked like an old 80s family photo. I liked using the approach with the three generations, it shows what to expect in the future.