6 Lighting

The point of this assignment was to show how lighting can affect the mood of a photograph. I didn't really plan this photo shoot. I find that I take better and more interesting pictures if I don't plan things out. With that being said, the pose Briana is was inspired by Briana and Marisa goofing around. While Briana tried to keep the same pose it was difficult for me to shoot at the same angle. I like Briana's pose because it adds a certain sense of mystery. I feel that this pose is very delicate and shows vulnerability as well as fragility.

First photo (top left): I was using a tungsten light. I raised the light to the height of about 5 feet. The light was placed slightly behind her behind her. I'm not so sure what feeling this type of lighting gives. I would say this is my go to light set up because its simple and easy to set up.

Second photo (top middle): For this picture I believe I used two tungsten lights. I used one light to light the background and one to light her. I feel that this lighting gives a gloomier and colder mood. I also cropped this picture a bit.


Third photo (top right): This was a very simple set up. I was only using one tungsten light and I had it right in front of her... maybe a little to her right, based on the shadow created from her nose. The background was completely black, remember that my background was white. I feel this lighting is very beautiful and adds a sense of mystery and darkness.

Forth photo (bottom left): In this picture I didn't light Briana, instead I just lit the background. This is a pretty good set up if you only want the silhouette. However, I just noticed that because she was wearing a knit thing on her head it looks like she has a beard. I was using a tungsten light.

Fifth photo (bottom middle): Out of all 6 pictures I think this is one of my favorites. I was setting up the strobe and I hadn't plugged the cord into the camera yet. I noticed how soft and beautiful the light looked so I took a picture. Unfortunately, it came out green. I think that's one of things I like about it, though. But when I uploaded it to the computer the picture was completely black so I had to photoshop it. First I lightened it and then I did a bit of lighting effects just to make it look less flat. I like how this picture looks because it looks old timey, like a portrait taken a hundred years ago. I don't like that it looks so grainy and unfortunately, when I uploaded it to weebly it showed rings of light or something on the right side of the picture that weren't there when I was editing.

Sixth photo (bottom right): For this picture I was using the strobe light so it's really bright. I tried to pull it away from her so it wouldn't be so harsh but it was already as far as it could go. I feel that this set up would be more fitting if she was facing the camera and smiling, it's very bright and cheery. I like this set up because it makes her skin look so beautiful.

Pictures With Deeper Meaning

Our assignment was to take a picture of a person that has a deeper meaning than the viewer may realize. This time my model was Marisa. We talked for awhile to try to find a deeper truth about her. I felt like my first idea was pretty good but it didn't really work out as well as I had hoped. My first idea was how many people are more in love with the idea of love than the actual person they're with. My second idea came as I was shooting. Because I was using a fisheye lens baby and I noticed how blurred it made her face. So my second idea is that many people feel that they can't be themselves and have to pretend to be something they're not.

This was a very simple photo shoot. I shot inside the class room and the only lighting I had was from the fluorescent lights and whatever light came through the door. I was using a fish eye Lens Baby which created the blurred look.

Awkward Pictures: Diane Arbus

My picture of Darrian

Original Diane Arbus photo

 For my attempt at Diane Arbus' style I used Darrian as my model. I actually had to reshoot my picture because the first time I tried they didn't quite work and I didn't really like them. I took Darrian outside and sat her on a bench. I was having difficulty with the lighting though. It was a pretty cloudy day and they kept moving in front of the sun and by the time I would get the camera adjusted it would be sunny again. This one of the shots where the clouds suddenly moved out of the way of the sun.

The photo is overexposed but I feel that it works better than my other pictures. The trees in the background are out of focus, which keeps the viewer focused on Darrian. I had her make the same face as the lady in Arbus' photo. However, it doesn't seem exactly like the expression of the lady in the other photo. I feel that if Darrian had lipstick on it would exaggerate the expression a bit more. Luckily, Darrian is naturally awkward so it doesn't look staged.

I hope you liked it :)

Sally Mann's Style

 

Sally Mann

Sally Mann

The top two images are of my little sister Sara. I was attempting to duplicate Sally Mann's style. Sally Mann's models alway seem to have something that sticks out about them that makes them look kind of different and weird. One of the things that sticks out about Sara is that she has vitiligo, which has turned some of her skin, as well as her hair, white. I had her part her hair differently than she usually does so we could see it. My sister was actually being kind of difficult with me so I'm lucky I even got the shots.

I placed her against a black background and used tungsten lighting. I had her stand up and open her eyes wide. After the shoot I put the photos in photoshop and changed it to grayscale and duotone with black and a copper type color. I added a duplicate layer and did a gaussian blur and erased it where I wanted it in focus.

What I like about these two photos is that they seem to have a deeper emotional feel to it. I can't quite figure out why that is though.

I hope you enjoyed it :3 

New School Year 2011

SUMMER INTENSIVE 2011

Unfortunately I got really sick during the summer intensive so I was not able to take many pictures :(

Street Photography with Adam

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from that day. I acheived this shot by putting my camera on Adam's dashboard while he was driving and put it on a really slow shutter speed. One of my favorite things about this picture is that you can still see the buildings and they look so far away.

Thanks again Adam! :D

Final

I took the above photo on May 21, 2011. At first glance this pretty little girl seems completely normal besides the fact that she's in a wheel chair. But infact this little girl is sick. She has cancer. I was at the Celebration of Champions when I took this. The Celebration of Champions have been going on for 16 years. It celebrates all the children who are going through cancer, beat cancer, or sadly lost the battle to cancer.

My family goes every year since my brother had cancer. We've been going at least 5 years (I think). The reason why I decided to use this picture for one of my final photos because it is a picture I felt that actually had meaning. When you think of cancer you don't really think of a child who looks this happy or well. I really like this picture because of that fact. Even though she's sick she's still smiling and happy and I think that's what I like most.

This is my second picture for my final. There really isn't a deep meaning to this one. I took this one on May 30, 2011. I was kind of freaking out because I didn't know what to do for my final so I called up my friend Adam Ghahate, who is a photo stutdent in college, and he took me to Down Town and Seaport Village. The kind of photography Adam does is street photography, which I had never done. It  is incredibly fun. I was having a blast running around everywhere and taking pictures.

The reason why I decide to use the photo above for my final is because I don't really take pictures of the ocean or buildings. I felt that for my first time this picture is really good. I will also be posting other pictures I took on our adventure.

I hope you enjoyed them :)

Bye :3

Rough Draft of Prop H8 Brochure

Below is the rough draft of my "Prop H8" brochure. Keep in mind that it is divided into 6 panels, 3 on top and 3 on bottom. This took quite awhile to do and it's not that great. It is pretty simple and I still need to add my business card (as soon as I finish it). Designing is just not my niche...

5 Photo Series

Probably for the rest of the year I'm going to be doing photo series of fives. I finally thought of a good idea that I actually care about, childhood cancer. When my brother was twelve years old he was diagnosed with two brain tumors, which we later found out were cancerous. My brother was in the hospital for months, although it felt like a year. I remember that he looked the same before and immediately after his surgery but a few weeks later when my mom took me to visit him I thought we went into the wrong room. How could the puffed up boy on steroids be my skin and bones brother? I was about to ask my mom "Where's Miguel? Are you sure we have the right room?" when he had greeted me by shouting "Hey Tina!" I never knew someone could physically change so fast, it amazed me.

Every month me and my brother go to a cancer support group meeting for teens with cancer and their siblings. I have friends who have cancer and friends who's brother or sister has cancer. I've suffered losing quite a few of them to this horrible illness. Everyday I'm thankful that my brother has survived and has been cancer free for almost 7 years.

My idea is to obtain a picture of a cancer patient before they were diagnosed with cancer and capture a photo of when they are fighting the cancer.

The images below of my brother helped inspire this idea

Miguel at age 12

Miguel and my dad at Celebration of Champions

Miguel was going through cancer treatment (if you look closely you can see that he was bald)

Me and Miguel years later at Celebration of Champions

By this point Miguel had beaten his cancer

My brother, Miguel, age 18

Glowing Lights

I took the following photos at my friend Cindy's house when I spent the night. They were created by taking glow sticks and doing various things with them while shooting at a very low shutter speed. I then went into to photoshop, copied the color, and pasted it to a black background. I also changed the brightness and contrast. I hope you enjoy them :)

Rough Draft of Artist Statement

*The following has been edited to protect myself from creepers

Christina Cervantes

b. 1995

"Some City", "Some State"

Biography

Christina Cervantes found her true passion at the age of 14 when she attended a summer intensive for photography in the summer of 2009. Since then she has studied photography at "Name Of My School" for 2 years. Her work has been featured in the Summer Intensive Show (2010), the "AOMS" (abbreviation of my school) brochure (2010), and in the Grand Theater multiple years. She has only done one solo exhibition titled "Prop H8". She hopes to be a professional photographer when she grows up.

Artist's Statement

My exhibition "Prop H8" deals with the stress and emotional distress of being part of the LGBT community. It is an attempt at opening people's eyes and minds. Most of my work takes the still young faces and bodies of teenagers, who are not straight, and puts them in edgy, shocking, and emotionally painful scenes, settings, and scenarios. Occasionally my work will feature adults, young children, straight people, and cheerful scenes.

My personal objective is to not sugar coat what's going on but instead expose some of the suffering and thoughts of the gay community. I have no interest in creating "pretty pictures". My photos show the pain of hiding who you are, hiding your love, bullying, and suicide. I show victims of hate and prejudice hoping that my viewers will understand my message.

My work is influenced by the gay community, the news, and my friends. When I hear or see an issue that pertains to being gay it inspires me and it makes me wish I was invisible so I could take a picture and it'd be raw. I like to try to make the viewer feel like they're right there in that scene.

Most of my work is in color. The purpose of that is so it will be easier for the viewer to put themselves in that scene. Something I like to do with my photos is bring you close up to what's happening or stand at a distance that someone might stand at. By doing this you focus on the subject. I want the viewer to be right there. I want them to be stuck in that specific moment in time.

My Weebly

I wasn't exactly sure where on my blog to put this so I'm putting it here :D

My portfolio

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http://muffinsphotography.weebly.com/ 

Check it out and enjoy :3

Japan's Earthquake Causes Tsunami, Fires, and Landslides

To view the entire story please click here

I don't know any prayers but if anyone viewing this does, please, pray for my grandmother's family, the Fuda family, and my dear friend Jin and his family as well as everyone else effected by this horrible disaster.

The earthquake was at 8.9! One of the worst to ever hit Japan. Later, a tsunami with waves 30 feet high hit. I don't know what else to say.... I'm not a very religious person but even I will be praying for them tonight.

Business Cards

So this is my first business card. I've blocked out my cell so scary/creepy people can't call me and I blocked out my email because I dislike spam. I only have this one to post for now but more are on the way :3

The font I used is called Sketch Rockwell. I decided to used that font for this one because my logo (which is a muffin) is kind of rough and isn't perfect. I made my logo last year in Art 1-2 when we were starting linoleum prints. I had kept a few of my first practice prints and this is one of them. All I needed to do was scan it into my computer and do some photoshop and poof I have a logo. I'm actually considering printing this card on cardboard because it's more interesting and more durable. 

Second Semester

On Wednesday Ms. Miles met with the juniors and sophomore and told us that for the second half of the year she wants us to think of 10 new ideas that we might like to try or do for a senior ex. Yesterday we went to Balboa Park and saw the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA). The show we saw there was called "New Realities: Jerry Uelsmann + Maggie Taylor." I got a lot of ideas and inspiration there. So here is my list of things I would like to do or try:

1. Dark room trickery as done by Jerry Uelsman
2. Black and white photography
3. The innocence of children
4. The happiest moments of our day
5. Portraits that look like they were shot in the 60's-80's (may go with #2)
6. My family
7. Cancer
8. Abandoned buildings 
9. Genetic disorders
10. From child to teenager to adult
11. Teen angst
12. Gay rights
13. Fantasy (such as Maggie Taylor)
14. Abuse

Okay so I thought of more than just 10 but I guess that's kinda good. This list isn't really in order but the top 9 I'd really like to do but as for the  rest I'm not so sure about but I'll try them.

#8 The Pledge of Allegiance

Pledge of Allegiance

The photo above was taken Wednesday, January 12, 2011. My model was my dearest little sister Sara. In this picture she is holding a paper with the words of the Pledge of Allegiance printed on it but after the part where it says "with liberty and justice for all" there is a red * and under that sentence is the sentence "*unless you're gay."

The reason why I decided to use my 10 year old sister instead of one of my classmates is because it represents that if parents, adults and other people say that something is bad or wrong that children do listen and are influenced by our words and actions. The reason I put "*unless you're gay" at the end is because many people feel that because the LGBT community doesn't have the same rights as a straight person that our nation is not as free and just as we say it is. I originally wanted to shoot in the Grand Theatre but I felt that the background of the school may make the photo more interesting and there would be more natural colors. For the editing I simply changed the contrast and used a tutorial to learn how to darken the edges of the picture.


This is usually the point in my blog that I would rant about how unfair and unjust society is but I really don't know what to say that I haven't said before. I often wonder how many people have to say one thing and how many times they have to say it for something to change. To be honest sometimes I can get so disappointed in my country. Don't get me wrong, I love living here, I love what I have and I'm thankful for it. But if you say "liberty and justice for all" and "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." people will hold you to that and will be extremely angry when their unalienable rights are violated. I know people will say that life isn't fair but when it says clear as day in black and white that this is how it is then that's how it should be! No excuses!


I hope you enjoy the picture
Till next time


Links:
The Declaration of Independence  

#7? It Gets Better

The picture above was inspired by all the people who submitted videos for the It Gets Better project. I would first like to say that in order to get all these pictures I had to watch every single one of these videos, take a screen capture, and edit them individually. Before I go on to talk about the picture I would like to give special thanks to:

Hilary Clinton,

Rob from Sydney, Australia,

Summer and Oscar,

Nick,

Wes Anderson,

Adam Lambert,

Brian,

David,

Sarah Silverman,

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet,

President Obama,

Jewel,

Zachary Quinto,

Kermit the Frog,

"hauntednursery",

Jack from Taking Back Sunday,

Ryan James Yezak,

Terry and Dan,

Densil,

Ke$ha,

Margaret Cho,

Jill Craig and Shelly Taylor

Thank you all so much. Your videos and your kind words makes a difference and inspired me as well as others.

On to talking about the picture. One of the reasons why I wanted to do a picture about the It Gets Better Project is because at the time suicides committed by homosexual teenagers was a big thing on the news. It really upset me that these poor kids were bullied to death because of something they can't change. I wanted to let people know that it does actually get better and if the only way I can do that is through my art and photography then I'm going to do it. The first video that I watched was Ryan James Yezak's video for the It Gets Better project. That got me started on watching so many videos for the project. I thought "What if I took a screen-capture of everyone who made a video for the project and made a collage of all of them?" I think I was kind of in over my head though. I want to actually watch every video I included in it and because of that it would take me at least 5 minutes just to find a picture, sometimes even longer. After I took it I had to edit each individually. It just took way too long. I chose a few of my favorites and included them. A few of them are celebrities and the reason I included them is to show "Look, it's that really famous person, your idol, they've had problems too."

To be quite honest with myself I don't like it. I feel that there was no skill required to do this. It's plain. It's boring. It doesn't make me feel anything. I showed my mom and she said it was good but that's my mom so I don't think it really counts. I asked my friend Andrew, who has always been honest with me, what he thought about it and he said that he didn't like it as much as the others that I've done. My response to that was "Yeah, I think 'not one of my best works' might be a complement to this picture :/" I'm not sure if it gets the point that I'm trying to make across. I'm actually kind of disappointed in myself and I may not use this at all.

I get side tracked a lot when writing these reflections because I feel so strongly about the subject but this time I put it at the end. Yes, being a bisexual teen at this time isn't the easiest thing for me, especially when I know that some people won't accept me because of it, but I know that it will get better. Everything bad that has happened to me has made me a stronger, better person and in the end when I look back I think "Man, that was awful! That sucked! I never want to go through that again! But now I stand up for myself. Now I'm stronger. Now I see how other people feel." I believe everything happens for a reason. Maybe the reason those poor children died is because now people finally pay attention. Now people see that it actually hurts people! People are starting to take things more seriously and I think that's a good thing. Hopefully the people who committed suicide because of bullying will not die in vain. I know that I refuse to let them die in vain.

Please enjoy the links below

Bye :)

It Gets Better Project

Ryan James Yezak's blog

Why it Gets Better for LGBT Youth

What's Going On

Hey guys, it's been awhile. Sorry for not posting any new pictures lately but I promise you I'm working on them and I'm still alive. A lot of stuff has been going on lately. The holiday's are coming up and so are progress reports. This year has been one of the busiest and stressful years yet. I'm trying to keep my head above water so to speak. Trying to not drown in school work and chores. Unfortunately it has taken me away from what I love most which is photography. I'm hoping that during this break I'll be able to take more pictures. I have quite a few ideas. Here is a list of some of the ideas I have:

• Don't Ask Don't Tell: A soldier holding both the american flag and the gay flag
• Wedding Day: 2 women getting married while people are protesting it
• A student being told to take off a pro-gay shirt while another student has a shirt that says "God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" 
  
• Children saying the pledge of allegiance under the US flag, words printed on a paper "for liberty and justice for all* ......... *unless you're gay"
• Last picture: group photo of all my non-straight models with someone holding up a sign that says "This is Who We Are"

So that's what you have to look forward to. I'm currently working on the It Gets Better collage. If I do all the photos above that'll put me to 13 pictures then I'll only need 2 more.

One of the other things that's been stressing me out is that I met most of the kids that I'll be traveling with to Australia. They're really nothing like me. Many, almost of them, are pretty rich. Almost all are white and look pretty conservative. I felt completely alone and no one talked to me. The only people I really talked to were the leaders and that was because we started talking about photography. Later in the car my mom told me that maybe I shouldn't tell them I'm bisexual because doesn't want me outcasted even more. I really agree with her too. I had a nightmare that they found out and hated me for it and did horrible things to me, then I got kicked out of the program. I'm probably making this a bigger deal then it actually is but I'm still terrified...

Well that's what's going on. Thank you to all my viewers especially those of you in other countries! I hope all of you enjoy my blog. More pictures are on the way!

Bye :D

#6 Gay Teen Suicide

"Gay Teen Suicide"

Fact: Suicide is 2 to 3 times higher for LGBT youth!
1 out of 3 queer kids have tried to kill themselves!
Kids rejected by their parents are 8 times more likely to kill themselves! 

The above photos are about gay teen suicide. When I heard about the suicides due to anti-gay bullying it really hurt my soul. I know how it is when a loved one attempts suicide but I can't imagine how much it must hurt for someone to lose a loved one due to suicide. One of the things that I hate about these recent news stories is that people are acting like this is something new. It's nothing new, this has been going on for a long time but I'm glad that it's finally getting attention and people are realizing that what they say can really affect someone. I can't really link you to any of the recent gay suicide stories because there are just so many to filter through and at the moment I just do not have the time, nor the heart, to do so.

In these images my model is Darrian. You remember her from last year in photo 1-2. For this shoot I did actually learn how to tie a noose knot and everything. I did not actually hang my model, I love her far too much to even consider it! The shot above was created by her holding onto a branch of a tree and I just realized that I should have included that tree trunk.... dang it.

The reason why I have 2 photos uploaded is that I could not decide which one to use and I really need some help picking. It would be very helpful if you could comment on this post and tell me which you like best. It's okay if you do it as an anon too. What makes it so hard to choose is that both the pictures were photoshopped the same way, the only thing that's different is that one is in black and white and the other's in color. Instead of telling you every step I went through when editing I'll just give you the link to what tutorial I used. I used a tutorial called Ghosting an Image. For the one that's in color I did things a little differently though. For the color one I only effected the legs and feet. A few people told me that I should edit out the person in the background but Ms. Miles actually likes the person back there. It kind of makes the viewer wonder "Why isn't the person in the back doing anything about it?!"

The feeling of these pictures is dark. But I'm not so sure......it some how doesn't feel dark enough to me. I'm considering re-shooting because I'm not 100% satisfied with my images from this shoot. I'm not quite satisfied because it almost looks like she's just jumping off the chair and I feel that it doesn't have that big of an impact on the viewer. Oh well. If I have time to re-shoot I will. I'm pretty excited about my next project though. I'm taking screenshots of everyone who has done a video for the It Gets Better Project, editing them at least 40% (so I can't get sued), and putting them together as a collage.

Well that's all for now

Check out the links below

Bye :3

Links:

Darrian's Photography Blog

Ghosting an Image

It Gets Better