Angel of the Sea

12/5/12

This picture of the ocean was taken in Ireland and the other picture of me was taken in Arkansas. I wanted to use the ocean picture because the exploding water off the rocks made for a tremendous shot. I found the picture of me jumping over a crevasse from a hiking trip in Arkansas. I used the clone tool to cover my feet with the spray and also used it to replace my pinky that was cut off during the selection of the original photo. Then I adjusted the light and contrast of my body in order for the dark of the rocks and my figure to fit into the picture with the white of the spray. After all of this was adjusted I wasn't too excited and it didn't seem "Mysterical" enough. I then googled angel wings and found this set on journeyofpossibilities.com. After selecting the wings I put them in the picture with me and moved the wing layer behind my body. I then used the skew tool on transform to fit the wings to the positioning of my body. Lastly I attempted at putting shadows under my arms with the burn tool but for some reason it didn't come out as a grey color which I would have liked more. 

"Cross" Walk

12/4/12

Camera: Sony 330

Lens: 18-55 mm

Shutter Speed: 0.5 sec

F-Stop: f/3.5

ISO: 100

Focal Length: 18 mm

Tripod: Yes

This picture was difficult for me to get all of the car lights blurring because the street lights were so bright and overpowering. The tint to the picture is from the street lights also. I positioned like this to get both of the crosses on the church in the background as well as the bench in the foreground. I like the lines in this piece with the street lights and the car lights flowing at perpendicular angles. I also but the back edges on the picture in order to contrast the lights and make the center of the picture brighter.

Mountain Glow

12/4/12

Camera: Sony

Lens: 18-55mm

Shutter Speed: 15.0 Sec.

F-Stop: 4.5

ISO: 100

Focal Length: 30.0 mm

Tripod: Yes

It took me a while to find where the camera was shooting and how close I needed to get to have the glow stick bright enough. After I found this out though I really wanted to create a picture in a picture. Therefore I decided to try and draw in a green mountain over the horizon of lights behind me. It was very difficult to get the right height to match on both sides of the horizon but on this one I got very lucky and it turned out to line up perfect. After getting it on the computer I realized that the lights in the background were very blurry. To fix this I used the color selection tool to highlight the green, then I selected the inverse and turned the rest of the picture to black and white. This accents the green well and keeps the focus on the "mountain" and not on the horizon line.

Run Turkey Run

11/22/12

Camera: Sony 330

Lens: 18-55mm

Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec.

F-Stop: f/5.6

ISO: 100

Focal Length: 55.0 mm

Tripod: No

White Out

12/4/12

Camera: Sony 330

Lens: 18-55mm

Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec

F-Stop: f/9

ISO: 100

Focal Length: 35.0mm

Tripod: No

Shreddy

12/4/12

Camera: Sony 330

Lens: 18-55mm

Shutter Speed: 1/15 Sec

F-Stop: f/9

ISO: 100

Focal Length: 18.0mm

Tripod: No

Happiness

I sat outside of Walmart for about two hours watching people going in and out. It occurred to me that you could easily distinguish the people having a good day and those who weren't. The other day my mom asked me to watch a movie with her called Peaceful Warrior. The movie focuses on how people perceive life and achieving happiness. I decided to pursue this myself by taking a picture of people the exact moment I asked, "Are You Happy?". I concluded that in taking the picture before they had time to think you allow me to unveil if they were telling the truth. With these two men in the above pictures there was a surprising result. I was sitting on the bench watching the cars pass when the man on the right rode up on an old mountain bike. He asked how my day was going. I responded well, and asked him if I could take a picture of him while asking a question. At first he was hesitant but then he agreed. As I focused the camera on this face I asked, "Are You Happy?". He smiled and said yes without hesitation. I thanked him and he entered the store with a smile on his face. The man on the right had been watching from in front of the door and walked my way. I asked how his day was going and he said it had been long. He was about to be done with his shift of ringing the bell for the Salvation Army so I asked him also if I could take his picture. He asked if it was for a survey. I kind of laughed and said no I was just a student at Rocky. Again I said I would take the picture when I asked him a question so as to capture his expression. When I asked, "Are You Happy?", he bluntly said no. It took me by surprise. He said, " Give me some money and I'll be happy". At first I thought that he was kidding then I thought he must meant donate, but then he said, "Isn't that what makes us happy?" It baffled me that a man that rang a bell all day and saw countless people giving money as donations, considered that money was the root of happiness.