Final Project: Longboarding Advertisements

For this assignment, I really wanted to do something with action photography. It is probably the most interesting aspect of photography in my opinion, and it is something I really enjoy doing. I also wanted to work with text since it is something I have struggled with in the past. These two ideas led me to create a series of longboarding photographs where I used text and action shots to create advertisements for various aspects of longboards. From boards, to trucks, to wheels, I tried various methods to draw the viewer's attention such as highlight certain aspects of the photograph with color.

Assignment 5

 For this photograph I really wanted to emphasize the plasticity of the hands. That coupled with the odd look of the gooey seeds created what I thought to be a pretty eerie picture.

For this photograph I really just wanted to play with lighting on a white background. I liked the sharp angles the glass made when "reconstructed". I found it really interesting how the light hit the different parts of the glass.

For this photograph I took this candid shot and tried to really experiment with all of the different sliders and setting in camera raw. I touched almost ever single slider at least a little bit in order to create this psychedelic, surreal looking photograph.

 For this photograph I was trying to recreate a film still from the movie Kickass. My friend does downhill longboard racing and therefore has a set of leathers. I found it really interesting how the leathers were really similar to the costumes seen in the film stills of the movie.

Blog Prompt 26

Brainstorms! (In an effort to expand, improve, add complexity, and push your final projects further, please pick 10 of the following to discuss.)

1. Ideas sometimes grow out of irritation. What is a negative thought you are having about your project? What is the opposite of this negative thought? How could you implement a change in your project so that this negative thought will subside? 

                I am kind of concerned that people are sick of me doing longboarding photographs… It is something I am                   passionate about and I really enjoy taking the pictures. I like that they are spontaneous and there is the ability                 to catch that “one” shot.

2. Type twenty words or phrases that relate to your project.

Speed, color, words, text, motion, freeze, action, movement, black and white, angles, crooked, advertisement, sell, board, wheels, legs, concrete, spin, talking through actions, stoke

3. At the deepest core, describe why you like this project. Dig deep!

I really like action photography. I think the contrasting thrill of getting the perfect shot with the disappointment of missing a good opportunity makes the positive outcomes very interesting. I think this is why I mostly did animal photography when I first started. I think now that I am more involved in longboarding this is essentially a progression of my animal photography.

4. Expand your project. If time, money, materials, etc would not affect you, how would you expand your project?

I would love to try and set up professional lighting for some of the shoots. I think it would really help the photographs if they had some help with the lighting. Also, a slightly faster camera/memory card would be nice.

5. Contract your project. What would it boil down to if squeezed and contracted to its simplest form?

Breaking it down, my project seems to consist of a skater, a product usually highlighted with color, and a small amount of text to draw the reader in and learn about the highlighted product.

6. Look at one of your images. Redesign it entirely.

I significantly changed fonts and font colors. Placement and angles of the fonts also shifted significantly.

7. Divide your project into three components. Rearrange and reassemble them in your mind.

Background. Skater. Text. It would be interesting to try and put the text on the skater or use the skater as the background with text overlaying it.

8. List your assumptions about your project. Reverse these.

I would assume I would take pictures of some aspect of skating or longboarding. (The opposite would be…taking a picture without anything skating or longboarding related) I would assume there will be text involved in order to convey a message. (no text, convey the message some other way)

9. What would your project look like 100 years ago? What would your project look like 100 years in the future?

I don’t think this project would have been remotely possible 100 years ago… Not only because of camera technology, but just because there was nothing really like skateboarding. Maybe bicycle photos or other kinds of downhill sport photos. I think the market for these photos has grown significantly over 100 years. 100 years into the future I think a completely new sport would be able to be photographed. (maybe hoverboarding would be real!)

10. Remove something from your project. How does it change?

This gave me an idea to try and remove the trucks and wheels from an ad… hover board? May end up not being very serious, but it would be interesting.

In Class Assignment 6

Word: Curly

Cut up

3D

Motion

Word: Dissect

Word: Dexterity

Binary

In Class Work

Blog Prompt 25

You as Curator
Look through the list of recent entrants to this call for photography.
http://pdncuratorawards.com/entries.shtml
Pretend you are curating a show and choose 7 photographers to include in your show. Describe why you would pick those particular artists and what about their work stands out to you.

John F Martin: I really like the series he has on here. The combination of painting and photography is really interesting and has a cool look to it.

Nicole Rosario: I really like her photographs. They are all in black and white, but the subject matter she chooses is all very interesting and very cool to look at. Her work with shapes and lines is astounding.

Scott J Newell: I really like his circular cropping for all of his photographs. It makes his breathtaking landscapes even more interesting. Very telescope-ish.

Sean Williams: I love the lighting in his photographs. The perspectives and lighting touch ups give his photographs an almost surreal feel. They are very cool and very interesting.

Francesca Catastini: Her photographs are very cool. They are visually jarring, since there is almost something really unusual in every shot. The lighting and compositions are perfect. I really like her work.

Patrice Aguilar: Her shots of horses are amazing! They are all so clear, and the action is frozen perfectly. It is really cool to see such large animals in action like this.

Lisa DiLillo: I love the colors and shapes of her photographs. A lot of the photographs are so close they are almost abstract. Very cool work.