Weekly Challenge 4

I was not allowed to use any Photoshop techniques whatsoever, so I chose to focus on natural beauty.   I selected these images because of their soft tone and color scheme. My goal was to keep it alluring and gentle through selective focus and simplicity. 

 

20 Layers

Every onion has its layers. Pull them back and discover a whole new specimen

WC3

For HDR as my challenge, I went around to my local car dump to find places with enough detail that I could photograph. I played around with selective focus, color schemes (and lack of), and composition. Although I found some interesting cars, I was bummed the sky was so grey this weekend, because I couldn't get any interesting shots of cloud formations. However, I will probably keep playing around with different textures and objects to photograph using HDR methouds t until I find a better replacement model. 

WC2

This week, I worked on setup and conpletion of photographing my own shoot, not something I found in nature. Think RED. I eliminated any other color so the eye could focus on the composition and subject of the photo. By photographing berries naturally colored red, the brain convinces the eye that it is red without even writing or using red itself. 

Cheers to concentration!

My conc. marriage is going to focus on how cultural traditions and sacred history differ from country to country, and community to community.....

• Special traditions  
• Sacred holidays and what occurs
• Societal norms/sterotypes
• Language (ASL and other standard langs)
• General hardships/setbacks due to religion or lifestyle choices
•  Obstacles people face because of their history conflict btwn cultures

....these are all topics I want to address. I'd love to begin with urban-based ideas and then progress to more rural, sentimental aspects of culture.

This would be one of the middle pieces--highlighting native American stereotypes and cultural pride

Medium: graphite based with Photoshop overlay

So I decided to dust off my good ol fractal program and put it to use! I overlayed and layered many fractals on top of this photo of my sister that I took, and thus this puppy was born. I'm not sure what I will put it towards--concentration maybe if I make it more cultural--but nonetheless it's always good to pull art out of your butt sometimes.

Weekly Challenge 1

 Over the summer, I found myself fascinated with the life of bees and wasps. So it was no surprise that I chose to emulate Eric Tourneret (the bee photographer) for my first weekly challenge! This photo I found intriguing, because it as if the wasp is climbing its way to the pollen. I used the natural sunlight to illuminate the leaves and 'furs' on the edges of the plant, and multiple filters on the background to emphasis the wasp and sunflowers! 

Summer Works!

After spending time away from the States over the summer, I found myself fascinated with Japanese culture. The lush greenery and almost surreal waters hypnotized me. While touring the country, I was inspired by the architecture and traditions. Something that was surprising to me was that no one could tour these two areas. 

 This top image of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan, has been a part of the land for as long as hisotrians can remember. It's covered with very thin sheets of real gold, and surrounded by lush islands and millions of people swooning over it :) The architecture and poise it represents is so inspiring to me as an artist. 

This photo, of the Emperor's Palace Bridge, is so sacred to the history and culture of Japan that no one is even allowed on the bridge. Security guards hover over every photographer, protecting the country's emperor from harm.