And It's Been Awhile...

It’s been a whole year since I’ve really done a ton on here - way to go, self!

Motivation and inspiration to do any photo stuff has been scarce. That’s okay though! I’ll do what I can muster up.

-KP

Adam Elmakias is cool. (Release the RAW)

Adam Elmakias has started doing this thing (I’ve been calling it a photo challenge) he calls "Release the RAW” where he releases a RAW file of one of his images and you get to take it and edit it and submit it to the twitter thread and he reviews them the next week on Twitch (and also uploads it to Youtube) and also screen-records himself editing it.

It’s SUPER COOL.

I tried the first couple but have been off of it the last few.

It’s really cool to see the thread of everyone’s edits, but my favorite is seeing his final edits on his Insta and trying to replicate that on my own, then watching him go through it. I’ve already learned a ton just from watching two videos. I also like that I can read the metadata in Lightroom to see what equipment/settings he used to catch the shot.

I think I’m going to start doing blog posts posting my edits and some cool stuff I got out of that week’s challenge.

If anyone reads this and wants to join in, links are below for what you’ll need:

Adam’s Twitter (Where he shares the dropbox link for the RAW photo)

Adam’s Insta

Adam’s Twitch

Adam’s Youtube Channel

-KP

Dang.

I’m really bad at keeping this thing updated. Nobody looks at it though?

Updates: Have not been good at keeping up with photo stuff (surprise surprise) but hoping to learn and get back in the game. Also really like film aesthetic. Planning to (finally) get a 50mm soon.

I think that’s about it.

See ya in another 500 years ;)

New Stuff!

It only took a month and a half, but I’ve got new images in my gallery now! Super proud of them. A really nice portrait shot and a series of 3 church shots. I’ve been trying to experiment with editing, and watching a lot of youtube videos (especially Peter McKinnon).

We’ll see what happens next!

-KP

I'm Back!

Not that anyone looks at my website anyway (I know I don't), but I've finally got all the technology needed to continue working on my photography. Which means, when I get organized enough, I can start posting things to this site again.

YAY! 

 

In all honesty, it's been kind of rough for me lately, and Ive been lacking motivation to do....really anything. But I'm going to try to get back into this, especially since summer/busy work season is coming to an end. 

Adv. Studio (Thank You, Chris Smith)

This semester is my last here at NKU, which means it’s also my last semester as a photo student. I’m glad I chose to pursue this minor. Since I pretty much finished up the classes for my major last semester, this semester has felt like I’m a photo major. Part of that is due to my Advanced Studio class. Fridays at 9am. Until 3pm. Sounded scary at first, but it wasn’t! That time frame allows you to get your work done to your best ability and lets you focus on one project at a time. It also gives you a week to shoot the project (helpful).

Chris has been an awesome professor and makes sure we're really learning stuff, which I have (yay!) Thanks, Chris!

 

I learned that I'm really bad at telling people how to pose. I learned that all ads are photoshopped. ALL OF THEM. I learned how to use strobe lights (very cool). Lighting is everything. I discovered I am capable of recreating an ad. I learned that if I put my mind to it, I CAN make it to class at 9 and make it through the whole 6 hours. I learned I’m not awful at photography!

Below is a gallery of final/semi-final products from each project we did.

My favorites are: the first portrait, the middle two white-backgrounded fashion shots, and the propped Jones Soda shot.

 

 

Styles of Photographing

People obviously have different styles in their artwork and the way they approach it. I think I have figured out mine.

With photography, I feel like people are either dedicating time to go out and shoot, or are more of a bring-your-camera-along kind of person. You have the people who specifically plan places to go to just to take photos, who plan every shot they want to take, who seem to have a purpose to their photos (let’s call them the “Photo” people). On the other hand, you have the people who make sure they bring their cameras along wherever they’re headed, who want to take pictures, and do, but that’s not necessarily their sole purpose (let’s call them the “Picture” people).

I think both ways are great and produce great photos.

I think my personal approach is the second one. I love photography and the art of taking a great photo. When it comes down to it, though, I just don’t think the way we’re typically told to think about photographing. I sometimes feel like my main concern when photographing is to just document the space/person/whatever the subject may be. Of course, I want to document it in an accurate, technically and compositionally good way, but my main thought is just capturing it. I feel like the more planning I put into a photo, the worse it gets. Not in all cases, but generally speaking. First, I thought maybe I’m just not taking photography as seriously as (what seems to be) everyone else, or my skill level isn’t as good. But the more I’ve thought about it, I think this is just my style. Less planning, more doing. Which is NOT how I handle anything else in life.

Personas: Color Portraits, 1979-1985 ~ Cincinnati Art Museum ~ 3/24/17

This exhibition contained the works of three photographers (Neal Slavin, Stephen Milanowski, and Ron Gilbert). All photos were taken between 1979 and 1985 – when color photography was just becoming more common. The photos focus on people of different “groups” (like co-workers, cheerleaders, twins, etc). They show a peak into the lives of these people/groups.

Something that inspired me about the exhibition was that the photos were of normal, everyday people, but showing them in not-necessarily-everyday situations (even though for them, it is normal). They didn’t have to be shown doing anything extraordinary in the typical sense, but it was still interesting. I hope this will affect my work by reminding me that not every photograph has to be “the best” as long as it evokes an interest.

One weakness I thought the exhibition had was that there were only 14 photos total and was in one room. I would have liked to have seen more. It was also kind of hard to find – the room was back surrounded by where mostly paintings (old ones, too) were, so it took a while to find and didn’t feel like it was in the right spot. Each photographer’s photos were not in any sort of order, either. I think it might have been better if they had each person’s work grouped together rather than intermixed. I think if there were more photos and it was organized and located somewhere else it could be more successful. It felt like it was too short/small of a visit to that room for it to be an exhibition.

When I first started looking at the exhibition, I felt a little disappointed; the photos didn’t seem necessarily special. As I kept looking though, I started to appreciate it more. Even though some of the photos maybe didn’t seem technically overwhelmingly good, I started feeling like I was looking at an old family photo album and catching a glimpse into the past or wondering what was happening when the photo was taken and if there was some story about it that I’d get to hear from my Aunt or Grandma or someone. I think that feeling is really important, so that made up for the initial disappointment. While some of the photos were less interesting, there were a couple that really caught my attention – my favorite was Neal Slavin’s “International Twins Association, Muncie, Indiana” (1976).

Dorothea Lange Was Cool

For a few days this past week / weekend my house was off the grid (more or less). Due to cable company problems, our house phone, internet, and cable was off. I thought it would be much worse than it was, but the only real problem I ran into was not being able to look up little things that popped into my head, or work on homework. Luckily the weather was nice, and it was all pretty peaceful. Of course, movies helped get us through the silence.

While I primarily relied on DVDs, I tried to watch what was on the few channels we could get without cable (while they weren’t blinking out). The TV gods were generous and Saturday morning I was able to catch most of a documentary about the famous photographer, Dorothea Lange. (Thank you PBS/CET Arts!)

This episode of American Masters talked about Dorothea both as a photographer and as a person. Her story was told through friends and family, and of course through photos.

 

Things I Learned:

-Dorothea has a bajillion more works other than Migrant Mother

-The subject of Migrant Mother was named Florence Thompson, who first did not like the attention her photograph got. Because of it, though, she later got donations sent to help her get better when she was terminally ill.

-Dorothea married a man named Maynard & later in life re-married to a man named Paul. They loved eachother very much.

-She became ill with cancer and Paul took care of her through it all.

-She died 3 months before her solo show at the Museum of Modern Art

-Her spirit/attitude reminded me of my grandma

-She was a cool lady

 

 

*The thing I watched was:      Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning - An American Masters Presentation

Interview With A Vampire (JK, it's Virginia)

Today I had the opportunity to sit down and interview the one and only Virginia Imhof! Virginia is a Photo major with a Spanish minor here at NKU. 

 

Who inspires you the most?

I guess Pinterest and Google are where I go to find inspiration for my art. 

What about like not for art? Like inspiration as a person?

Umm...I guess like things I read, like books and stuff, I see personality traits or attributions I like and try to apply them to myself.

 

What is your least favorite artistic trend?

Old or older people posting pictures of their food before they eat it. It's dumb.

 

What is your favorite music to listen to while making work?

I like to switch it up a lot. 

-ZZ Ward (blues/rap/folk/rock?)

-rock                  -sometimes pop

-90's jams (if I need to stay awake)

 

What is your favorite social media platform and why?

Instagram. I think it's easier to promote artwork, in my opinion. At least for photography.

 

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Australia, Italy, and Ireland.

 

What TV show are you watching right now?

The embarassing one or the other one? Actually, they're all kind of embarrassing haha. 

-Hey, Arnold!          -Dawson's Creek          -Glee

 

Who are 3 artists you are looking at right now?

1) Bryan Adam Castillo - he does really interesting double exposures, colors, and layering.

2) Annie Leibovitz - she has a wide range of work, aaaand she did a project where she reimagined Disney Princesses, so why would I not like her??

3) Lindsey Dupuis Bledsoe -  she does fashion photography and celebrity head shots. She has interesting things she comments on and uses Instagram really wisely. 

 

Check out Virginia's work at: virginiagracephotography.com 

-KP

Me? Homecoming Photographer?

I am currently the Director of Public Relations for APB (the Activities Programming Board). Among other things, one of my jobs is to photograph our events (YAY for getting paid to take pictures!)

This past week was Homecoming here at NKU, which is put on by APB. Therefore, I got to take a bunch of pictures at the different events – which was different than normal because of how many people showed up to the homecoming events! So sometimes I was a little bit anxious about taking pictures and CONSTANTLY criticizing myself. Looking back at all the images I got, they’re OK….but most are not up to my own standards I put on myself. Whether it be a blurry image, poorly composed, “why did I have it set like that?”, etc. But it was experience, which is never a bad thing.

My biggest struggle was photographing the Nearly Naked Run (an annual event where people race in their underwear). First, I was super uncomfortable looking at/taking pictures of guys in their underwear (not a pretty sight). Then it was figuring out what setting to best capture the race, should I have moved from my position at the start/finish line? Should I have gotten more audience reactions?

The best photo-op was the concert – rapper, K Camp. Nobody was allowed to stand past the stage line, except for me J Being able to be the only one past the human-barricade made me feel like a “real band photographer”. I’m not entirely happy with all the photos, and would have liked to move around more, but that small privilege gave me a confidence boost I needed.

I’m looking forward to more opportunities like this one after graduation!

 

-KP

  

K Camp & his photo/video person (AKA my competition)

K Camp & his photo/video person (AKA my competition)

Welcome!

Waddup Fam!

This is Kylie. This is my blog :)

More professional posts to come!

-KP