le 30 août 2005
Is Sidney a doll, or what? You can't miss those striking eyes - definitely the focus of this photo.
I met my friend Sidney at a family birthday party a couple weeks ago (Same party that this previously posted photo comes from). It took her some time to not shy away from me and my camera, but after a while she was even sharing the candy she caught from the party's piñata.
This image was captured in black & white using only the natural light flooding through the window from a mid-evening Sun on a clear blue day. I kept the aperture open as wide as possible to focus on her alone. Even with a wide open aperture, the motion of her hand could not be frozen. I think it adds to the photo though. This was the last photo Sidney willingly let me take of her that day. She was pretty cooperative up until this point.
le 25 août 2005
Tonight is my last night in Pittsburgh as it turns out. Heading back to Penn State tomorrow.
This picture reminds me of the way Julie is always by my side when I'm home. I think she loves me. She even helps make my bed each morning. This is her beside my bed the other night. It's one of her favorite spots to hang out in my room.
I just love the way she's perched, staring into the light with her eyes squinted. The fur on her neck is sticking straight out and ruffled, and right above her is a photo I took of her when I was a junior in high school for my theatre arts class.
The spotlight is on Julie in this picture. Shadows are all around the edges of the picture, but the lamp casts a perfect halo around Julie's perch on my nightstand. There she is, right beside where I sleep - Julie's always by my side when I'm home.
le 23 août 2005
Took a ride downtown and to Northside yesterday with my Dad. I've really come to love Pittsburgh a lot. This photo was taken behind Heinz Field along the Allegheny River. Usually I capture Pittsburgh faceing North from atop Mt. Washington, but this is something different. Looking South towards home from down low right on the banks of the Allegheny. Love the cloud coverage. We've been having some fantastically blue skies with big white clouds - my favorite.
le 21 août 2005
I decided to shoot in black and white today. It really makes a difference. Black and white has impact that is a lot harder to find in color photos for some reason. The most fantastic color image can find fierce competition in a pretty good black and white image. Go figure.
Here we have a very symmetrical room. The single table in the front center and a big couch behind it. Two identical tables and lamps are flanking the couch. Notice the framed pictures on the right and left - even those seem to be mirror images of each other. So we've got this pretty symmetical room and then...what's this? My little friend Sidney bringing some disorder to an otherwise orderly, symmetrical room. What a cutie.
If I could take this picture again, I would center myself with the table and couch. That's a tall order though, because Sidney is like a cat - she comes and goes as she pleases.
le 19 août 2005
Enter the Holga: My holga cameras and film came yesterday! I picked up the 120S and 120SF (second one has built-in flash). I decided to start with some FujiFilm ISO 800 color film instead of black and white. Remember, this stuff is the crazy 120mm medium-format film, not the common 35mm film.
I finished the roll of 12 shots in about 30 minutes, and headed over to Ritz camera to see if they could actually process the film. They told me as long as the 120mm film was color, they'd be able to develop it - but they couldn't make prints. So for $4 the gave me my 12 negatives. It was up to me to get prints made. I was dying to see how the pictures turned out (if at all).
Well, I don't have a darkroom or a film projector so I took a make-shift light board, and took photos of the negatives with my Canon Digital Rebel. I used photoshop to crop the images and invert the colors. It was a messy process, and I did it kind of quickly because I just wanted to see how they turned out.
I was so pleasantly surprised to find these images on my roll of film! The Holga actually came through and produced holga-quality images! I'm pretty excited about this. I can't wait to shoot some more.
Click here to see the eight of the images I shot today and read an extended description.
le 16 août 2005
It's good to be home.
le 14 août 2005
I spent a good part of the day in the Shadyside area of Pittsburgh. There was an arts festival on Walnut Street (right in front of the AppleStore). Though the weather was too hot for my comfort, the time there was well-spent. I saw a gentleman named Michael Bryant who had a photography booth full of nothing but matted and framed Holga photography of Paris, London, Rome. Holga photography something that I'm really interested in trying out.
A Holga camera is pretty much a cheap, toy camera - made of plastic (including the lense). It takes large 120mm film and is capable of shooting square 6x6cm images or 6x4.5cm images. What's really characteristic of the camera is shooting 6x6 images, which leaves you with heavy vignetting on the edges of the shot. It's a dramatic effect, which I have reproduced in this image that I shot today down the street from the Arts Fest. Read here for more about the charm of Holga cameras.
This is a huge mansion on 5th Avenue in Pittsburgh. It's just a big mish-mash of architectural features. Completely unsymmetrical and in need of repair, it looks like this house has seen better days. It has a lot of character to show for what it's been through. This mansion, and others along 5th Ave. have caught my eye for some time. I finally managed to take a walk down 5th during the festival to check these places out and snap some shots. This one particularly pleased me because it could so easily be haunted, or Herman Munster could walk out of the front door at any moment.
Side note: My dad and I ran into this really cool shop on Walnut Street. I have no idea what it was called, but it was full of posters, t-shirts, and cards with old movie themes and funny quotes, for instance:
to do is to be - socrates
do be do be do - sinatra
le 11 août 2005
Tonight is my last summer night at Penn State this year. It was an action packed season. I managed four jobs and lived on my own for the first time. I achieved a large personal goal I've had for a long time, and in many ways surpassed it (and others). I took this picture underneath the IST Building (where I spend most of my time), and it's very representative of my time spent here this summer.
I took a walkabout on campus today after work - one in the afternoon and one at night. At night, I took notice of the streaking lights snaking down Atherton Street as cars sped past me. Stationary juxtaposed with incredible motion. The "work area ahead" sign is so still. I love the stary-eyed lights in the background. Some of the streaking lights have no beginning or end. Some have no beginning, but come to an end in the middle of their route. Others begin right in the thick of things and rocket out of the frame.
Experiences, knowledge, people, passions: Some I came with but will go on without. Some I found here, and will take with me. Others remain constant - I came with them and will go with them.
le 7 août 2005
Like the rest of University Park in the summer months, the area around Carnegie Hall is inundated with construction. That's why you'll find close ups of its architectural details here, and no full-structure shots. It's the headquarters for the School of Communications, under which you'll find my major of Advertising/PR.
Carnegie Hall is by far one of my favorite building on campus - up there with Schwab Auditorium. The inside is just as classy as the outside looks - white walls, dark trim, the smell of rich mahogany. I love the aged pillars and detailed crown. It's made of stone and brick, affording it much more character than other building around campus. I'm biased towards this style of architecture.
I also love the fact that this building was paid for and named after Andrew Carnegie, a major entrepreneur who hails from my corner of the world: Pittsburgh. You'll find huge "C"s emblazoned along the face of the building, they look glorious.
le 1 août 2005
Here we have Julie sitting (in protest) on whatever work I was trying to get done, instead of petting her. As you already know, Julie hates to have her picture taken. She figures that if I'm sitting so close to her, I should be petting her. If I'm taking her picture, I can't pet her. That to her, is a waste of time.
I love this silhouette of her. I've never seen her without all the details that make up her appearance. You see the simple outline of her face and the scribbled outline of her body. She looks like a sketch. You see her petite nose, but without its trademark white spot. Her billowing white whiskers are indistinguishable except for the tips dipping just below her little chin. This image is a suggestion of Julie, without all the details. In the background, you have one of her favorite windows perches from where she investigates chirping birds and the general goings-on of the outside world.