35mm

This semester, I am taking a 35 mm class which has allowed me to get in touch with my roots and also have my first successes and failures using a wet lab! I have been using my grandmother's camera again which really has been a humbling experience in many ways. My appreciation for this fine art really has been rejuvenated as well as my style because of the heightened attention to detail needed to compose and create every image on a limited memory space. It really has been such an amazing experience to be able to become reacquainted with my first "baby" which is such a straight forward and simplistic piece of equipment that requires SO much more thought and technique to master. Here are a few of my scanned images up until this point in the semester.

The following photos were my first attempts at spotting, burning, and dodging in the the lab for my vantage point assignment.

This was for my assignment 'Photo of a Friend'. I shot some in digital but I must say, I am a fan of the film. The top is the one I turned in while the bottom two are ones I just loved and my teacher thought would be worth the time develop .

This photo was created from an overexposed negative. I was told not to waste my time because it would just frustrate me before or if I got the print correct. It was definitely worth my time :)

Last but not least, self portrait. My fundamentals teacher last year always told us to be conscious of everything put into our image because it can be both beneficial or detrimental and distracting if not positioned carefully or put in by accident. Every aspect of this photograph has an underlining meaning to indicate to the viewer what I am as of now. This has been my most difficult to create technique wise so far in the darkroom because of all the dodging and burning involved. I love the overall product and really feel it captured what I wanted to capture but is also open for interpretation. Interpret away :)

Team Pancakes

Once again, I was able to see my boys in Our Living Memory perform :) They played at the Gaslight in Gilroy and opened for Watchers and Hunters. Their set included a few new songs and honestly, was the heaviest I had even seen them play. They were so heavy infact, they were able to play an encore song. Now that's metal! After the show we got our usual Denny's fix. This time was a little different considering Sam, the bassist, and Evin, the guitar tech, had matching pancake tattoos. There became a huge debate about the subject while they binged on their short stacks. Even after heavy persuasion, Johnathen, the drummer, my friend Raeann, and I remained team french toast.

Gypsy

This shoot was done at the beginning of August just for fun but I figured I'd edit them :) This is my friend Raeann, she has modeled for me before many times during my semesters at the Academy but since I moved from the Bay, I don't get to see her very often. This was a session we did spur of the moment after The Cool Tour. Rae took me to some abandon houses in Walnut Creek that really got my mind going.

The image below is one of my favorites because it reminds me of a promo shot the singer Imogen Heap published for her third album. I hope you enjoy!

Brows and Branches

For my photo class, we were asked to take a photo of a friend. Knowing someone who had taken this class before, I started brainstorming and actually got the concept for this shoot after eating homemade enchiladas and passing out from exhaustion!

I chose Annika as the friend for this photo because she has a stoic beauty that is both elegant and innocent. I was so happy she agreed to let me shoot her since it was the weekend of her birthday! Happy Birthday once again Annika! You are an amazing woman and have influenced me in so many ways.

Project Pinhole

In my film class, we learned to make simple pinhole cameras and then had the opportunity to try them out. I LOVED the concept so much! I researched pinhole photos on the web and found some that are my current inspirations for a pinhole series that are featured in this post. Hopefully I'll be doing the series in the next few weeks! I'll post as soon as I finish!