Portraits

  



     These are a few of the portraits I took for my assignment! Aerial, in the top left corner, is wearing her "Still Standing" t-shirt outside of the J. Scheidegger center at Lindenwold University. "Still Standing" is the non profit organization she started to help victims of sexual assault and prevent attacks from occurring. She is a fabulous person and I was glad that I got to hang out with her.
     The child in the top right corner was taken by accident when I was trying to get a picture of the polar bear. I was surprised at how good the picture came out to be for a mistake, so I tried to get the mom's attention to make sure it was ok that I had it. Since this was taken at the zoo, she was busy and hurried off. My professor said that it was ok that I had it, so I am relieved. I love how the child's innocence and wonder is captured in this photo while looking at the polar bear swimming. Such a small human next to a huge bear!
     The picture in the lower left hand corner is of a mom outside of the zoo bathroom. I went up and she agreed to let me photograph her for class. She smiled for this photo, but before I went up to her I could tell that she looked frustrated and stressed out. After I left I glanced back and saw her with a whole group of small children.
     The final picture is of a girl I met while looking at the lemurs. They are my favorite, so I was happy to capture this girl next to them. She said she also loved these furry creatures, so I called this photo a double win!

Lighting in class

In class today I had my first attempt to shoot with the lamps and reflectors. Sadly, I did not take the time too really set up and take the light into account to get the exposure right. I was pretty frustrated, but I am hoping that I can practice more in the future when there aren't so many people around and I am feeling better. So far in this class, I think light is something I really struggle with when taking photos. It is also frustrating how easy people make photography look; it is much easier when I am in a room alone trying to teach myself then having a bunch of people around watching. On the bright side, here is a picture of a sleeping gerbil. 😃

 

 

Sunset after rain

These are a few photos I took after it stopped raining and the sun was setting one day. The top two photos are outside of my house, while the bottom is outside of the 7/11 on Mexico Road. I was really impressed with the light that was coming out from behind the clouds in the top photos. Normally the sun is already down by the time I wake up, but with the daylight savings I am now awake to see the sunset. It is so great to be able to capture this on camera.

Diane Arbus

 

     As of now, I think Diane Arbus is my favorite photographer. She took a very large range of photos, however she mainly took pictures of people that were discriminated against and defied social norms; putting them in social situations that showed them as functioning members of society. This takes a lot of bravery and I admire that. Above are just some of the pictures I found that she has taken, but my favorite one is the picture of the two women in the middle. It looks like they are happy and going out for the night like any other persons might do. They may not look normal, but the fact that they are doing normal things shows us that they are just like us. These photos, in my opinion, show that there is some hope for humanity.