Moviestravaganza

Movie Week Extravaganza!



Pecker
This movie was hilarious. Plus it had Christina Ricci in the movie which all the more made it one of the movies to watch for me last week.
As our school director would say "Happy Shooting" - with this movie it gives a new definition in doing just that.
There is no faster way to grow as a photographer than to consume a steady diet of good photography. This is exactly what Pecker did, he took a whole lot of pictures and eventually found some good ones but most them were bad of course. The dialogue and the humor in this movie is something that would have us (geeks like us called photographers) laughing till the next day. Seriously imagine hearing the words "I love you more than Kodak" again and one would just have flashbacks of scenes from the movie. For me it would be the scene where they were throwing film to the old guy - so funny. Nowadays it would be more like "I love you as much as Canon" or better yet I love you more than Lightroom. Right guys?
Picture the classic Pecker maneuver of clicking the shutter then moving the camera right away - try doing that with a 1/60th and you'll see blur in most purest form.
Technically the movie is not there to teach us or show us how its done but to make us laugh and understand how taking pictures could mold us.
Though on a serious note, I think this movie actually tells us something. In what we do we must be mindful on how it may affect the person we photograph and consider the implications for us photographers as well.
For the Pecker in each of us. Click!





O Brother Where Art Thou
This too was funny but I mainly observed the technical skill and effort put into this movie. After watching the short documentary on how the film was edited digitally it made me take a look at each scene of the movie in a whole new perspective.
This was a feat for the producers and directors but I would say it was all worth it. This movie was way ahead of its game when it came out and it has now been a technical standard ever since.
Until today song of The SOGGY BOTTOM BOYS still brings back scenes from the movie and reminding me of the fun and adventures they endured in the movie.
Now seriously what is up the pomade?
Im just in constant sorrow thinking about that.




Manufactured Landscapes - Edward Burtynsky
Seeing the spectacular landscapes by Edward Burtynsky was inspiring.
I would always remember the short scene where he and his team was denied entry to a mine in China because they had no business there since nothing was beautiful and I guess an mediator explained that "through Mr. Burtynsky's lens this will be beautiful and he can show you" - or something along those lines. Imagine having that capability to make things beautiful and show it to the people and change the way they see it as well. Now the beauty and detail that he shows in his work is only half of the picture. These manufactured landscapes also show us how mankind is making use of the envrironment. The photographer also has a political agenda of course on how people change the world. I could only imagine the planning and logistics involved for their trip. Seeing this documentary made me respect photographers like Edward Burtynsky who not only for their spectacular works of art but are out there shooting for a purpose that everyone should see.

IS3 Paolo - Infrared Photography

As the title suggests this genre of photography deals with the infrared spectrum. These are the color not visible to the human eye. This for me is totally interesting and I choose to learn more about this genre. Pictures like these (featured) can be achieved nowadays in three ways. First is by using an infrared filter that is attached in front of the camera lens to filter out colors except that of infrared. Second is by having a camera sensor modified to only filter in infrared, yup you heard me. This means that a certain digital camera when modified can only take infrared images. For people with more than one camera the latter is the best option but for most of us who have less for now can work with using filters for now. This is also achieved by post process with the help of popular software for editing such as Adobe etc. Film also has infrared technology through the use of specific infrared film and infrared filters as well. Infrared has different attributes compared to what we normally see. Clear skies turn very dark, foliage such as grass and leaves come up opaque in images. Remember infrared rays of light are invisible to the human eye and the camera. However the camera with some modification (discussed above) is able to capture the infrared light reflected by subjects. Common subjects are trees, landscapes and clouds. There are a lot of things to consider for infrared shooting, focusing is entirely different because as professionals describe it the focusing mechanism in the camera is not designed for that use actually it is designed inversely for visible light and color. Long shutter speeds and small apertures are used most often than not to achieve crisp infared images. For most photographers we are used to fast shutters and wide openings, in this case one has to master working the other way around.




Learn more about Infrared Photography:

http://www.galitz.co.il/en/articles/IR.shtml
http://www.naturfotograf.com/UV_IR_rev00.html
http://www.lifepixel.com/



Slideshow Pictures

Photographer on the beach

I like the color of the sky in this picture which light to dark amber and how it reflects to the sea. It gives me a feeling of surrealism looking at images like these.


Pink Sky

In this photo the sky is pink with the trees gray, it shows me an imaginative world very different to what we usually see.


Blue Sky , White Trees


I like how this type op photography is affected by the temperature and the time. Gives us all a sense of looking at our subjects differently.

Whew! Armstrong...

Today we were asked to shoot 100 yes One Hundred frames of a single subject keeping in mind the things that we decide on before we click the shutter because post processing is not an option. Roughly 3 hours or so is alloted for us to think of something to shoot a hundred times different - which I found out was not easy at all. So I decided to go home and thought of having Armstrong my Saxophone as my subject. For everyone's delight, Yes I am a jazz musician by heart since I was 9 or 10 years old way before I even picked up a camera. Nowadays I just don't have time to play it as much as i did before maybe because of school *wink and work. So there I was taking weird angles of my subject then 20 or so frames later I think I already ran out of ideas. So I tried going outside (which did not work well), using mirrors, different backgrounds, and last but not the least I used an external flash with a wireless trigger and played with the aperture and shutter speed a little bit.

Chase Jarvis

Known for his commercial work worldwide, Chase Jarvis' name is paramount to the business scene worldwide for innovative and success for his clients. At 35 he is the youngest photographer to date named Hasselblad Master and Nikon Master. Amidst his busy schedule scouring the globe for projects and contract shoots he still finds time to impart his skill and his knowledge. He is a proud photographer but still keeps his feet in the ground. He gives lectures/speeches on photography and urges all photographers to pride their work and share their talent.
Chase works with a team of assistants who in their own right are artists/photographers as well.

Read more on:
http://www.chasejarvis.com

Feast your eyes...

NYGARD Fashion Show


Featuring the fall collection of the NYGARD Brands this event was a Pink event for the Breast Cancer Society. Mr. Peter Nygard donated $600,000 to the society. They have always supported the cancer society for many years now. Feast your eyes on the clothes the people and the models. I myself was drawn to the eyes of the models and atendees. Maybe because I'm not looking at it in the fashion sense but this event was a blast. I had the time of my life clicking away. Also making sure that strobes were flashing whenever they need it as well. We got to meet the who's who in the fashion photography in the local scene as well as a good number of press photographers for the local publications. The head photographer for Mr. Nygard was a very cool guy. He told us a lot of stories on how his liestyle is affected by his job and how he loves it.

Grand Prix Mania

To everyone's surprise this day was all about us having fun and maybe attempt to get some good shots on our attempted mastery of the shutter speed. Sprint Carts were the highlight of the day for me, which I had more fun driving than shooting. Whew! good thing we only needed to submit at least 2 good pictures. Mini golf, Big Pillow and Batting Cages were fun too but I spent most of my time shooting for those activities. I would surely want to go back and shoot more, now that i know what I should be shooting for especially in the carts. Jessica and Gabriele ought to learn to drive faster as well hehe. Till the next outdoor activity/shoot class of 2009.

Metal, Cement, Wood and Sky

Shooting Lines

This theme was fun for me. Exploring the many downtown alleyways and environs I was able to see the lines in different subjects. From metal cabinets to cement markings to wooden walls and even the sky. I guess the challenge for me was coming up with unique subjects to present the theme. Given that lines are in almost everything that we see it was challenging for me to come up with something different. In some images I was actually greeted by well appreciated shadows in forms of lines that I was not expecting at all.